Results of the September SimTech™ 2023 Injection Molding Challenge
First Place goes to Dainius Staniulis of Doloop Solutions, and this month’s Company Spotlight features Team Draxelmaier Automotive of America. Congratulations to Dainius and to Team Draxelmaier Automotive of America and all who participated.
September 2023 SimTech™ Challenge Wrap Up
We’re thrilled to announce the winners for our September Monthly Challenge, and Dainius Staniulis of Doloop Solutions is this month’s Top Molder, followed by Miguel Martinez of Scientific Specialties, Inc., and Vincent Yeh of Oto Inc. Congratulations Dainius, Miguel, and Vincent, and congratulations to all who participated and earned scores.
As for the Champions Leaderboard, once again our former TOP MOLDER Andrea Bricola from Draexlmaier Automotive of America holds the top spot, with Nick Vanspronsen of Toyota Boshoku taking second and Alexandru Crai of OMS Besser Group rounding out third. And shining brightly in the company team spotlight this month are three exceptional molding companies with team Draexlemaier Automotive of America in the top spot, followed by team Preformed Line Products, and team Scientific Specialities Inc. These three gentlemen and three company teams continue to demonstrate superior excellence in molding. 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 on this Month’s Challenge
The top three Individual Winners were separated by only 0.05 points so this month’s challenge was one of the most tightly contested to date. The final winning setup from Dainius Staniulis from Doloop featured a process that minimized the material temperature entering the mold. A standard tapered heating profile was used because this month’s challenge featured an amorphous material polycarbonate (PC) with a machine that was configured with a “general purpose” screw. Consider that PC is a material that can be “shear sensitive'”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. The top processes all featured a fill rate that started with a medium to slow fill rate finishing the last 20% of fill with a slow fill rate.Additionally, the part had dimensional issues that were solved using the pack pressure and Ramp time input. 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 Dainius Staniulis from Doloop 118.29
- 2nd Miguel Martinez from Scientific Specialties 118.25
- 3rd Vincent Yeh from Oto Inc. 118.24
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 Draexlmaier Automotive of America 118.14
- 2nd Preformed Line Products 117.79
- 3rd Scientific Specialties Inc. 117.64
Champions Leaderboard Winners
- 1st Place Andrea Bricola from Draexlmaier Automotive of America 118.76
- 2nd Nick Vanspronsen from Toyota Boshoku 118.69
- 3rd Alexandru Crai from Oms Besser Group 118.66
The Set-up for Dainius Staniulis, 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.
