Results of the february SimTech™ 2024 Injection Molding Challenge
Announcing the winners of our first in a series of SimTech Molding Challenges for 2024, featuring company teams this year! Let’s applaud the outstanding achievements of our winners:
First Place – AGS Technology
Second Place – APTYZ
Third Place – Falcon Plastics!
Congratulations to all participating teams for their remarkable molding skill.
Good to Know: YES! You can put a team together. You only need 3 or more employees to make up a team and off you go? Join the fun and friendly competition while testing your molding skill.
February 2024 SimTech™ Challenge Wrap Up & TEch Specs
The challenge for this month centered around molding cell phone covers, a task that required careful consideration of material properties and cycle times. The chosen material, high density polyethylene, is a semi-crystalline type, which typically requires precise control of melt temperature for optimal performance during the molding process. With a quoted cycle time of 8 seconds, participants faced the task of optimizing the melt temperature to ensure effective polymer flow without unnecessarily prolonging the cycle time.
The key was to provide enough energy to melt the polymer adequately for flow while avoiding excessive heat that could extend the overall cycle time. Several participants adopted this fundamental strategy during the optimization phase. Their efforts paid off, with some achieving cycle times of under six seconds while still producing high-quality parts. Additionally, these successful participants adhered to the “three best” molding best practices which encompass factors such as maintaining consistent process parameters for VPT, cushion, and consistent melt temperature. Furthermore, these efficient molders achieved a remarkable level of process efficiency, surpassing 138%.
This efficiency metric indicates that they were able to produce quality parts within a shorter timeframe compared to the initially quoted cycle time, demonstrating their proficiency in optimizing the molding process. Overall, the participants who followed this strategic approach not only met the challenge requirements but also demonstrated their expertise in molding techniques and process optimization. Well done molders!
Always keep learning.
The top three company winners for february
COMPANY TEAMS consist of companies who have three or more employees participating, and for this month’s challenge, the top three winning companies included:
- 1st Place AGS Technology 137.66
- 2nd Aptyx, Inc. 134.48
- 3rd Falcon Plastics 134.12
The Set-up for for this month’s Top Molder: Jordan grinsbach, ags technology.
To learn more about our monthly SimTech Molding Challenges visit details here. To see how you or your fellow molders ranked this month, check out the leader board by clicking here and select a month from the drop down menu.
As always, we’ll be announcing the over all 2023 ProMolder Champion after we tally all the scores from the entire year. Start earning scores!
In the meantime, get ready for the next month’s challenge! Take advantage and pre-signup. Don’t miss out. Get on the list to win! Until then, keep on learning!
Having Fun with our Competitions?
Imagine the team of skilled molders you could create if SimTech was in your plant 24-7? Your employees could be improving their molding expertise in a safe, low-cost environment, building critical thinking and troubleshooting skills. And you can stage your own friendly in-house competitions. It’s proven that molding simulation is the best and most cost-effective way to become a better molder. You don’t want your employees making their mistakes or trying new techniques on the production floor at an actual machine—now that’s a costly way to learn. The simulation of complex processes is quickly becoming the gold standard of skill development. SimTech is the answer for injection molding.
Here’s just a few of the applications you can employ with SimTech:
Hiring Qualified Employees – Before hiring a potential employee, test their knowledge and skills with problem solving exercises in Simtech.
Technician Promotion – Give your candidates for promotion a test before you make that decision.
In-plant Competitions to promote learning and discussion – Have your own competitions amongst your team. Have a discussion on what process settings work and why.
Just hearing about this? Want to join in on all the fun? Sign up and learn more here.
To learn more about SimTech and all the other skill development courses Paulson offers, visit PaulsonTraining.com or call 1-800-826-1901; or contact us via email info@paulsontraining.com.
