Shop size required

[Bruce]

I'm planning to move to larger premises. I
want to have room for a possiblity of 7 injection molding
machines. 2 x 300, 2 x 175, 3 x 50 ton.
Plus dryers, racking for resin and finished product.
Can anyone refer to any publication for
layouts? What does everone think should
be the absolute minimum shop size for this.
Bruce

[Joe Golden Gate Solutions]

Bruce,

What ever you do space the machines at least 8 feet apart. This will give you the room for all of the "stuff" around the machine. Have the electrician put more outlets than you could ever need mounted all the way around the machine. Have the plumber put 14 air fittings around the base. 2 on each corner and 3 near the operator door and 3 by the back door. Consider using tall machine mounts to get the machine 4+ inches off the floor for easy house keeping. Keep all of the plumbing and electric piping together and have one conection point on the injection end of the machine. Joe

[mike marini]

It is a good idea to use cable tray for power and auxillary feeds through the manufacturing area and "T" off to machines. This will allow ease of adding, relocating or swapping out machines. It will also save on installation costs verses bus duct.

Mounting the auxillary outlets higher than normal will help reduce exposure to water and oil leaks

8' between machines is adequate

You may e-mail me direct if you would like to discuss specifics.

Mike Marini
Plant Systems Moderator
[email protected]

[Louis]

Space between presses depends on the type of work that you will be doing. I know that sounds simple, but if you are just molding and shipping, you don’t need a lot of room for secondary operations.

If you are doing many changeovers, you want to design the space to make those changeovers as efficient as possible. Various tools may require more or less mold cooling, hose connections, sprue pickers, parts separators, driers, feeders/blenders etc.

Depending on the type work, you may want machines facing each other to reduce operator movement; although feet are for walking – walking takes time and time is money.

Given that you are starting with a clean slate, think lean manufacturing. Standardize everything that you can and reduce excess movement. If it does not add value, it adds cost.

[rickbatey]

How do you plan to change molds? That will also affect how much spacing is required between the machines. Also do you plan to automate? That will also require some space. I have seen two layouts that seem to work best: 1-All machines turned the same way with clamp ends toward one end and the injection unit toward the other. The front plattens were used as the center alignment. The only differance was how far they were pushed toward the center of the plant. One on hand the resin and material handling came in at one end with finished product coming from the other. The other method was all water, power and resin (drier and resin fed from a mezzanine) came in at the injection end with finished product out the end; material handling of totes was the only drawback. 2-Machines turned with the clamp ends pointed out toward the outside walls of the facility. All utilities fed down the center overhead, and each row had a seperate crane over them. This shop ran 3-4 resins, with similar parts ran in adjacent machines. It worked well for them. I would place the small machines at the farthest end of the building. They require less boxes/totes/and resin, versus the larger machines. Grouping them by size also is helpful. Rick.