Tag: moulding

Tech Waste Reduction: Plastic Injection Moulding as An Eco-Friendly Practice

As climate change is upon us, experts urge the competent companies to reduce waste for a more sustainable future. The culture of consumerism and capitalism has accelerated waste production, leading to approximately two billion metric tons of municipal solid waste created across the world, according to Statista. Regrettably, the forecast for the upcoming years is far from being positive since it is expected for the global waste to reach four billion tons by 2050.

One of the biggest culprits in this situation is plastic, a material so indispensable yet harmful to the environment. Plastic pollution has been responsible for years of increased consumption and has affected people’s health, but scaling up good practices can change the course.

Introducing plastic injection moulding is considered an eco-friendly way of reducing waste production, and can help sustain the rise of a circular economy. Let’s learn more about it.

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/tetra-pak-lids-28248443/ 

What does plastic injection moulding provide?

Plastic injection moulding is an efficient manufacturing process through which new products are created without unnecessary waste. While it’s usually done for large products, an injection moulding company can collaborate with innovative entrepreneurs who plan prototyping and low-volume production.

This is how the technology supports the chance of a circular economy, as unused materials are involved in the manufacturing processes by being recycled as many times as possible into production. The machines ensure sustainable manufacturing by:

  • Leveraging exact material measurements that limit production waste;
  • Ensuring mass production through machines with reduced downtime;
  • Being flexible with recyclable, BPA-free plastics while creating high-quality materials;
  • Having a low environmental risk due to a limited chemical exposure and reduced emissions;

How does this sustainable injection moulding differ from traditional procedures?

New techniques for plastic injection moulding help recycle plastic materials efficiently, but there are many other reasons why manufacturers should ditch the traditional methods, such as the following:

  • The high energy consumption in processes such as the melting of plastic materials;
  • The considerable material waste due to the fine-tuning process;
  • The use of virgin plastics is the most harmful to the environment;

Newer technologies and guidelines helped injection moulding follow environmental standards in order to operate more sustainably. According to https://www.hsv-tmp.com/, new plastic injection moulding happens in consideration of zero waste and circular production guidelines.

What makes plastic injection moulding sustainable?

While it still uses plastic materials, injection moulding can be environmentally friendly, whether during the manufacturing process or after. This is where key strategies come and change the game with:

  • Energy-efficient practices, such as advanced heating systems to reduce energy consumption or Energy Management Systems (EMS) that can optimise energy usage;
  • Less material waste can be achieved by improving the mould design with optimised runner systems or implementing lean manufacturing practices;
  • Better selection of materials, such as biodegradable plastics, bio-based plastics, and recycled plastics, that can significantly reduce the environmental impact;

Advanced moulding techniques could go hand in hand with recycling methods, enabling the best materials to be used to create new products that ensure durability and long-term efficiency. This could only happen with the right standards and compliance for both sectors.

What operating standards must moulding companies implement?

Injection moulding facilities can make a difference for the environment by operating according to stringent regulations. These can include quality management systems (QMS), production documentation, and traceability to deliver the best products and come clean in their audits.

Some of the certifications involved include:

  • ISO 9001 for quality management system. The certificate proves the company’s improvement, risk management practices, and qualitative processes;
  • IATF 16949 is the automotive standard. The global standard is required for facilities with specific automotive use, which offers access to the automotive supply chain;
  • ISO 13485 for medical devices. This qualification is necessary for moulding medical devices and equipment that includes rigorous rules for process validation and change control;

Moulding facilities must also follow the infrastructure requirements for audits, which manage processes like traceability, measuring equipment, and the production environment.

What about the standards for recycling efforts?

When it comes to plastic recycling, processes should be easier to implement, but are often met with bureaucratic challenges. Ideally, ISO standards that should function across borders should demonstrate a facility’s capacity to properly manage waste, hence the following standards:

  • ISO 24161:2022 for waste collection and transportation. The guidelines assess the proper vocabulary for waste collection and transportation to reduce issues with responsibility and reporting boundaries;
  • ISO 14001 for Environmental Management System (EMS). This global standard involves the necessity for setting objectives and monitoring progress that apply to emissions or water management;
  • ISO 45001 for Occupational Health. The standard requires companies to identify the hazards and risks present in the area, and implement control with enhanced strategies;

Environmental compliance is still evolving, considering that the pressure of climate change was not this urgent in the past decades. Therefore, keeping up to date with the latest introduction in requirements can be done with the help of a professional advisor, so facilities can continue operating legally and responsibly.

Injection moulding is indispensable, so what products are made with it?

Plastic injection moulding is necessary in more than commercial products, such as vending machine components or equipment housing. The industry is part of an expanded market that needs to be supplied:

  • Medical components: disposal bins, wall mounts, medication trays;
  • Residential construction: roofing vents and railing gaskets;
  • Home products: wire ties and flower pots;
  • Food service: high-temperature serving pans;
  • Toys: high-end collectible models;

Therefore, plastic injection moulding is an important manufacturing process delivering the products we use every day without even noticing. Professionals across diverse industries need injection moulding to keep supplying the necessary products while meeting the most recent environmental standards in order to help fight waste management and operate in relation to the ecosystem.

What’s your take on plastic injection moulding?

As an effort to minimise waste, facilities approach advanced technologies like plastic injection moulding to maximise production while operating in a waste-free manner. This technology is innovative through precise moulding models that reduce waste, and through the use of the right temperatures and practices to create long-lasting products. With the right compliance standards, facilities for recycling and injection moulding could collaborate towards a safer and cleaner future.

UAV Manufacturing 2026: Full Guide to Processes, Technologies, and Market Leaders

The technology of UAV manufacturing has evolved from simple prototypes into a sophisticated global industry, driven by growing demand across both defence and civil sectors. Modern unmanned platforms support security, surveillance, infrastructure monitoring and tactical missions all around the world. The evolution of UAVs reflects the advances in aviation, automation, and ecosystem-level integration.

History and Evolution of UAV Manufacturing

The roots of what we call today’s UAV manufacturing trace back to the early 20th century, when the first prototype of a UAV was created in the United Kingdom to train artillery. This sample was straightforward yet innovative, advancing to highly capable autonomous systems over the decades.

Early military interest caused further developments during World War II and the Cold War, with the first strike UAVs and reconnaissance aircraft being produced. Innovations in microelectronics, radio communications, GNSS, and remote control laid the foundation for later unmanned aerial platforms with higher performance, speed, and endurance.

Types of UAVs and Their Manufacturing Specifics

Contemporary UAV manufacturers produce a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles to meet different mission requirements:

  • Fixed-wing UAVs – offer extended range and endurance for prolonged missions at the expense of structural reinforcement and aerodynamic optimisation
  • Multirotor UAVs – excel in vertical take off and landing for inspections or urban operations, and prioritise improved propulsion and modular payloads
  • Hybrid VTOL – combine both capabilities, but require advanced testing cycles

Classification may also depend on autonomy level, payload capacity, or size, which directly influences UAV manufacturing processes.

Key Materials and Components in UAV Manufacturing

Material engineering is fundamental to efficient UAV manufacturing. Lightweight carbon fibre is widely used to maintain strength while reducing the actual weight of the airframe. Metals like titanium and aluminium remain essential for mounting systems, landing gear, and structural components. Advanced polymers and engineering plastics help to reduce weight in moulding frames and secondary components.

Many modern UAV military producers, like Abris Design group, rely on high-quality UAV materials and solid composites to make their developments more secure and durable when operating in challenging environments.

Advanced Technologies in UAV Manufacturing

Automation and digitalisation now define how a reliable UAV manufacturer scales their production. Intelligent manufacturing commonly incorporates robotic assembly, machine vision, and AI-driven design optimisation. At the system level, advances in avionics, autonomy, and sensors enable refined flight control and mission execution while implementing new standards in the UAV manufacturing processes.

Future Trends in UAV Manufacturing

Looking ahead, UAV manufacturing will be shaped by robust communications protection, machine learning, and deeper interoperability with other systems. Swarm technology is emerging as a growing trend in both military and civil applications, involving coordinated flights of multiple UAVs within a single system. Sustainability will also define the next generation of unmanned platform manufacturers, influencing battery capabilities, energy solutions, and lifecycle management.

MedTech moulding trends to watch

MedTech is a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing sector. Unsurprisingly, industry analysts are always keen to pinpoint the newest transformational medical and life science technologies that are expected to shape future treatment pathways. 

Regional Medical Director of the Global Sumitomo (SHI) Demag team Andrew Sargisson shares his industry insight and global predictions for the medical market, touching upon how these latest trends are influencing investments in medical injection moulding facilities worldwide. 

Thermoplastic and LSR moulding continues to be used extensively to manufacture a huge variety of everyday medical applications. The range is broad and can include implantable components, test tubes, petri dishes, PCR tubes, pipette tips and other labware, as well as medical monitoring devices, drug delivery components and surgical equipment.

In 2023, the global medical injection moulding market size was estimated at USD 22.54 billion. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8% from 2024 to 2030. Much of this growth is being driven by advances in self diagnostics, the home healthcare sector, improved healthcare infrastructures in emerging economies, and an aging population, which WHO predicts will double by 2050.

The medical market, particularly diagnostics, was strongly influenced by the Coronavirus pandemic. As anticipated, there has been a natural levelling-off for pandemic-related consumables.

More recently, there is a stronger leaning in the medical market towards larger strategic and more complex projects, such as drug delivery devices and pen style injectors. This is predominantly due to the global growth in diabetes care, where demand for advanced glucose monitoring and insulin delivery devices is propelling innovation. Testament to demand, credible industry reports forecast that the diabetes device market will surpass USD 68.2 billion by 2032, almost triple its 2022 value. 

With regard to machinery, there is a strong move towards “copy & paste” systems and processes in both Europe and North America. The global medical team at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, led by business development director Anatol Sattel, are also noting more requests for remote system access to historical machine data. This is predominantly to assist with troubleshooting and monitoring validated process settings.

To support these efforts, the company’s R&D team continues to develop an IoT dashboard to facilitate data analysis and visualisation, transfer and storage of know-how, as well as maintenance planning and prediction. Within this assistance system, additional autonomous and interconnected functions are being conceived to provide valuable insight into the machine performance and different production variables.  

The development of process optimisation systems, integrating material and knowledge with simulation tools is probably the most exciting development on the horizon, claims Sargisson. Such systems will enable processors to observe advanced settings and capture deeper processing insights. 

The company’s ultimate vision is an intelligent machine that can independently make predictions about part quality, machine wear and failures and deliver optimisations online. Enabling greater process consistency and allowing for real-time machine maintenance to be adjusted accordingly. 

To support these advances and in order to meet the explicit quality management and validation ISO 13485 standards for medical devices,  Sumitomo (SHI) Demag introduced new machine user parameters, digital quality control and KPI analytics into its IntElect S medical production package. One of these advanced Med-Spec demo cells is now located in Limerick, Ireland. This will enable customers to perform validations, run tool trials and use the facility to provide valuable process optimisation training to technicians.

Also observed during the pandemic, larger scale adoption of home healthcare and smart diagnostic devices, continues to accelerate at pace. 

With significant access to start-up finding, telehealth is the boom-market to watch. It is current exhibiting a CAGR of 19.7% between now and 2030. Online video and audio consultations with physicians and medical consultants are increasingly being used to deliver quality healthcare while simultaneously reducing heavy work and cost burdens. The telehealth segment is split between services and products. Items such as wearable patient monitoring and telecommunication devices accounts for around one third of the market.

For medical moulders already producing vital monitoring devices, including oxygen, weight, glucose and ECG devices, as well as infusion pumps and cannulas etc. and already meeting the exacting healthcare standards, the transition to homecare device production should be relatively seamless.  

High profile acquisitions of diagnostics companies, IPO listings, strategic partnerships, and the rise of virtual care platforms provide further assurance that the diagnostics market is on the cusp of another huge growth curve. This all indicates that there are clearly exciting opportunities ahead for moulders operating in the high tech medical device and diagnostics product development and production space.    

In 2024, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will host its inaugural productivity roadshow. With four stopovers planned for July in the UK and Ireland, including Limerick, customers will be invited to explore all the latest trends, productivity and profit-enhancing technologies. Including medical. Watch this space!