Results of the November SimTech™ 2023 Injection Molding Challenge
First Place goes to Tim Brace of Preformed Line Products, and this month’s Company Spotlight features Preformed Line Products. Congratulations to Tim and to Team Preformed Line Products and all who participated.
As a special note, Preformed Line Products is home to our very first SimTech Injection Molding Champion Johnny Ash!
November 2023 SimTech™ Challenge Wrap Up
This month proved to be the most tightly contested challenge to date, and with that we’re happy to announce the winners beginning with Tim Brace of Preformed Line Products as this month’s Top Molder, followed by Amanda Parker of Preformed Line Products, and Bruno Fernando. Congratulations Tim, Amanda, and Bruno, and congratulations to all who participated and earned scores. Plus, we’d like to give a special shout-out to Falcon Plastics for having the most team participants!!
As for the Champions Leaderboard, our usual molding suspects have once again topped the leaderboard with our former TOP MOLDER Andrea Bricola from Draexlmaier Automotive of America holding tightly to the top spot, closely followed by Alexandru Crai, of OMS Besser Group, and Nick Vanspronsen of Toyota Boshoku, maintaining third.
Shining brightly in the company team spotlight this month are teams Preformed Line Products in first place, followed by Team Aptyx, Inc., and pulling up to third with the most participants, is Team Falcon Plastics.
Lastly, in the spirit of this Thanksgiving season, we want to share how grateful we are for your continued enthusiasm and participation in our challenges, but more importantly, we appreciate and support your continued efforts to improve upon your skills, it takes willingness and dedication. Always keep learning.
Congratulations!! Job well done everyone!
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 test your molding skill.
Special Insight from our Challenge Creators
The top three Individual Winners were separated by only a record 0.04 points! In fact, the top three finishers were separated by just 0.24 points. The most tightly contested monthly challenge to date! The final winning setup from Tim Brace from Preformed Line Products featured a process that minimized the material temperature entering the mold. A standard heating profile with a lower rear zone temperature gradually increasing in temperature up to the nozzle was used.
This month’s challenge featured an amorphous material, polycarbonate (PC) with a 300 Ton machine that was configured with a “general purpose” screw. All top finishers utilized the fill rate control system on the SimTech molding machine, providing the fastest flow rate of the material into the mold without creating fill related defects or high levels of molecular orientation. The top processes all featured a fill rate that started with a faster rate finishing the last 20% of fill with a slow fill rate to eliminate any burning on the part. Additionally, the part had flash, dimensional size issues, short shots, Voids and a no cushion alarm that were all solved using the fill rate control and the pack pressure control. Finally, the cooling time was set at a minimum by utilizing the mold temperature control settings providing adequate cooling rate for the final plastic part. Well done molders!
Individual Winners
- 1st Place Tim Brace, Preformed Line Products 136.84
- 2nd Amanda Parker, Preformed Line Products 136.80
- 3rd Bruno Fernando 136.60
Company Spotlight
The COMPANY category consists of companies who have three or more employees participating, and for this month’s challenge, the top three winning companies included:
- 1st Place Performed Line Products 136.04
- 2nd Aptyx, Inc. 135.37
- 3rd Falcon Plastics 134.70
Champions Leaderboard Winners
- 1st Place Andrea Bricola, Draexlmaier Automotive Group of America 137.16
- 2nd Alexandru Crai from Oms Besser Group 137.12
- 3rd Nick Vanspronsen from Toyota Boshoku 137.08
The Set-up for Tim Brace, this month’s Top Molder.
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.
