Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE- In order to keep up with the latest industry trends, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Society of Plastics Engineers brought Steve Zenner of RJG in Traverse City, Mich. accompanied by Wayne Vander Zanden of Norstech Plastics Equipment in Burlington to campus. RJG produces comprehensive systems for molders and Norstech produces a variety of plastics processing machinery. Zenner discussed the e-dart system, a groundbreaking technology that measures the pressure inside an injection mold.

Normally, adjustments to a mold are made based on the operator's prediction, which is usually only based on analyzing the finished part. The e-dart system allows the operator to see what is going on inside the mold from exact data, something never done before. Instead of guessing what factor to change during the injection process, operators can pinpoint exactly what is causing the problem.

"If you don't have data, you only have an opinion," said Zenner.

It not only allows operators to fix problems quickly and efficiently, but also allows them to quality check every part and set parameters on the machine to prevent problems. This ensures a quality part every time.

Zenner also mentioned his plans to implement the system on UWP's injection molding machine temporarily. This way, students can experiment with changing different factors in the process and see its effect directly on the part quality.

According to Majid Tabrizi, director of the UWP Center for Plastics Processing Technology, exposing students to the latest technology makes them more competitive when job searching.

"The only way we can have industry stay here is to have a competitive technologically skilled labor force rather than cheap labor," said Tabrizi.

UW-Platteville SPE continually educates its members about industry trends by visiting plastics processing facilities and hosting other speakers. They meet once a month in the Center for Plastics Processing Technology in Russell Hall.

Anyone wanting more information about UW-Platteville SPE or the Center for Plastics Processing Technology may contact Tabrizi at (608) 342-1115 or tabrizi@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Majid Tabrizi, director, Center for Plastics Processing Technology, (608) 342-1115, tabrizi@uwplatt.edu Written by: Krystle Kurdi, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, kurdik@uwplatt.edu