The Future of Plastics…

Many of my friends have been asking me about the future of training as the plastics processing becomes more technical… Plastic Processing Plastics processing will continue to advance towards more technical and capable equipment. As with all technical advances in the industry, the need for fundamental training does not diminish… it actually increases. For example, when molding machines went from […]

Can Gas Entrapment Cause Poor Surface Finish?

An engineer emailed me this question yesterday,,, John My setup technician believes gas entrapment is the cause for poor surface finish on a particular process. When we clean the vents, the appearance improves, but does this make sense, or is there something else causing this? My Response Although most people associate burning or dieseling with […]

Investigating Part Warpage…

A technician asked me this question yesterday… Jason What is the best way to correct for part warpage? My Response Typically, part warpage is the result of variable shrinkage. In most cases, the variations in shrinkage causes the part to buckle, bow, or twist. Unfortunately, there are many causes which will contribute to this including […]

An Overlooked Source of Contamination…

I was at a customer site recently and they were encountering intermittent contamination throughout the plant but could not isolate the source… The Culprit Upon review, the company has instituted very effective procedures for cleaning all of the material delivery, storage, and drying systems. I observed the entire cleaning process and realized they forgot to clean the feedthroat shut-off. […]

Online Videos…

I was asked this question the other day… KG With so much information available online, why do I need training? My Response About 20 years ago, I had a friend who created a library at his company. This contained every relevant textbook, guidebook, magazine, and white paper he could find. He set up chairs, book cases, indexes, and […]