Announcing the DECEMBER SimTech™ Injection Molding Challenge Winners and the Overall Injection Molding Champion and Molding Company of the Year!
Congratulations to Andrea Bicola of Draexlmaier Automotive of America! He holds the new championship title as TOP MOLDER for the SimTech™ Injection Molding Challenge!
And a big congratulations to Preformed Line Products as this year’s Molding Company of the Year! (Home of our original TOP MOLDING champion Jonny Ash!)
Congratulations to all who participated. These molding challenges are not for the light hearted.
Now, for the Results of the December SimTech™ 2023 Injection Molding Challenge!
First Place goes to Bruno Fernando, for the INDIVIDUAL category, and First Place goes to Scientific Specialties, Inc. for December’s COMPANY spotlight category.
Congratulations Winners!
December 2023 SimTech™ Challenge Wrap Up from our Expert Instructor and Challenge Creator
Hold onto your seats, molders, we had a record breaking, tightly contested December Challenge, with some incredibly talented molders and molding companies making the spotlight, a great way to finish the year! For example, the top two December Individual Winners were separated by a near record 0.22 points! In fact, the top three finishers were only separated by a total of 0.46 points. Again, one of the most highly contested monthly challenges to date! The final winning setup from Bruno Fernando featured a process that minimized the material temperature entering the mold. He was able to match the material temperature output to within 0.8°C of the front zone. A standard heating profile with a lower rear zone temperature gradually increasing in temperature up to the front zone and nozzle was used. This month’s challenge featured an amorphous material, polystyrene (PS) with a 150 Ton machine that was configured with a “general purpose” screw.
All top finishers utilized the fill rate control system on the SimTech simulated 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 fill rate finishing the last 20% of fill with a slow fill rate to eliminate any burning on the part.
Additionally, the part had dimensional size issues, Sink Marks and Warp 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!
Now, for the rest of the story! With the December Challenge complete we are excited to announce the 2023 Overall Champion. And the winner is Andrea Bricola from Draexlmaier Automotive of America. Andrea accomplished this victory by applying a systematic approach to process development and troubleshooting known as the “Plastics Point of View.” Andrea compounded his efforts with consistency. Not only did he use the PPV approach but he placed first every month except one for 2023.
In fact, our second and third place finishers on the champion’s board all followed a disciplined and consistent systematic approach using PPV. Alexandru Crai from OMS Besser Group, last year’s overall champion placed a close second. And a newcomer to the champion’s board is Nick Vanspronsen from Toyota Boshoku with a very close third place overall.
As we close out the 2023 monthly challenge series, we have seen the differential in scores from the top three places shrink this year. This holds true for not only the champions board but the monthly newcomers as well. The systematic approach using PPV is showing incredibly positive results for all monthly challenge competitors. They are achieving stable and consistent processes much more quickly than in years past.
The goal of Paulson Training is to make injection molding a logical four-variables process followed by simulation and then applied to the production floor. By the viewing the monthly challenge results the bridging of the gap between book knowledge and the production floor application via process simulation is well underway!
Now, let’s take a look at these awesome winners and the scoring! Well done everyone!
Individual Winners for December
- 1st place – Bruno Fernando – 105.05
- 2nd place – Kevin Redline, Scientific Specialties Inc. – 104.83
- 3rd place – Earl Olson, Scientific Specialties Inc. – 104.59
Company Team Winners for December: These are companies who have three or more employees participating, and for this month, the top three winning companies include:
- First Place: Scientific Specialties, with a companywide average score of 104.65
- Second Place: Preformed Line Products, with a companywide average score of 103.81
- Third Place: Aptyx, with a companywide average score of 103.67
Individual Winners Overall for 2023
- 1st place – TOP MOLDER – Andrea Bricola, Draexlmaier Automotive of America (came in 1st place every month except one)
- 2nd place – Alexandru Crai, OMS Besser Group
- 3rd place – Nick Vanspronsen, Toyota Boshoku
Company Team Winners Overall for 2023: These are companies who have three or more employees participating, and who have accumulated enough winning scores throughout the year, and for this month, the top three winning companies include:
- First Place: Preformed Line Products
- Second Place: Scientific Specialties, Inc.
- Third Place: Draexlmaier Automotive of America
Champions Leaderboard Winners: These are individuals who have earned First Place in previous month’s challenges and now enjoy elite status. Their scores will be added to this leaderboard going forward. This month, the winners include:
- 1st place – 2023 MOLDING CHAMPION – Andrea Bricola, Draexlmaier Automotive of America – 105.42
- 2nd place – Alexandru Crai, OMS Besser Grou – 105.33
- 3rd place – Ryan Lane, Millar Industries – 105.30
Congratulations to our individual winners and company winners and to all who participated. Well done!
We’re featuring Bruno Fernando’s winning set-up, our First Place winner for December! Congratulations Bruno!
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.
We’ll be announcing the 2024 SimTech Challenges soon! Watch for details and start flexing your molding muscle! Meanwhile, 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.
