Leading Contract Manufacturer Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Process Development & Training Center with New Technology
June 12, 2018
Contact: Rebecca Murphy
Corporate Marketing Specialist
239 Pleasant Street
Bethel, VT 05032
+1 (802) 234-9941
[email protected]
Bethel, VT – Global plastics and silicone injection molder and contract manufacturer GW Plastics is proud to announce that it has expanded and upgraded its Process Development & Training Center in Royalton, VT to now develop and debug entire manufacturing cells in a dedicated non-production facility. This expansion comes during the 20th anniversary of the Process Development Center, for which GW Plastics achieved RJG certification as a Mold Tryout Facility in 2012 and is currently one of eight companies worldwide to have this certification.
The GW Plastics Process Development & Training Center was founded in 1998 to expedite mold testing and qualification and improve overall speed-to-market. Prior to the foundation of the Process Development Center, a production press would need to be used to test new molds, forcing interruptions of scheduled production. To avoid production backlogs and improve speed-to-market, GW Plastics built a dedicated facility for mold testing and process development.
The Process Development & Training Center has since been responsible for developing production processes for new molds to be introduced to all GW Plastics production facilities worldwide. When a mold arrives at any production facility, the technicians only have to duplicate the process that was developed in the Process Development Center rather than develop a process from scratch. This significantly decreases the downtime on a production machine for doing developmental work and increases speed-to-market. Within 24 hours of a mold being completed at GW Plastics’ in-house moldmaking facility, it is sent to the Process Development Center, eliminating production machine scheduling interruptions.
Over the past 20 years, GW Plastics’ worldwide operations have evolved to house cutting-edge molding and automation technologies, with a focus on Scientific Molding and Lean Manufacturing including advanced electric molding machines and innovative press-side and secondary automation. Many of GW Plastics’ processes now include extensive automation, whether it be a high-speed robot picking parts out of molds or handling a full suite of secondary operations such as pad printing, assembly, laser marking, and component testing.
GW’s Process Development Center recently added two new hybrid electric injection molding machines with hydraulic tiebarless clamping systems. The machines are outfitted with both pneumatic and hydraulic valve gate controls, three hydraulic core pulls, 16 zone integrated hot runner controls, and will be equipped with six axis integrated robots for part removal. The Process Development Center is now able to fully service GW Plastics’ engineering departments in the scientific process development and qualifications phases for entire manufacturing cells, including the machine, mold, and automation. The finished manufacturing cell is then delivered to a GW production facility as a completely automated and qualified manufacturing system.
In addition to investigating and testing these new technologies, GW’s Process Development & Training Center serves as the educational hub of the company. GW Plastics offers RJG injection molding courses open to employees and customers, ranging from Injection Molding Essentials, Systematic Molding, and Decoupled Molding workshops. GW welcomes their customers to these classes to improve their injection molding and tooling knowledge, and to serve as a collaboration and troubleshooting location for new and existing programs. GW Plastics also conducts the Master Molder® certification training internally for GW employees.
Every GW Plastics production facility now has at least one RJG-certified Master Molder® on staff to act as a liaison between the Process Development Center and the production facility. When a production facility receives a new mold and process documentation, the Master Molder® is able to duplicate the process in their own facility and equipment. In addition, all process engineers at the Process Development Center carry industry certifications in order to successfully carry out the process development work, including three Master Molders® and a certified Molding Engineer from the American Injection Molding Institute.
Global market-leading companies trust GW Plastics to deliver their most challenging projects. To learn more about how GW Plastics’ continued growth and advanced manufacturing capabilities can help you succeed with your next product, please visit their booth #1715 at the MD&M East 2018 Exposition in New York City this June 12-14, 2018.
About GW Plastics:
Founded in 1955, GW Plastics has earned a reputation as an industry leader in precision tooling, injection molding, and contract manufacturing serving the world’s most successful companies in the healthcare, automotive safety-critical, and consumer/industrial markets. Specializing in complex injection molded thermoplastic and silicone solutions, GW Plastics excels at close tolerance mold building, precision injection molding, and contract manufacturing. With leading-edge technologies, a Six Sigma quality commitment, and a relentless pursuit of innovation, GW Plastics continues to attract and partner with market leaders who seek consistency of ownership, financial stability, professional leadership, business integrity, a high-tech standardized global manufacturing platform, and a highly-trained and experienced workforce. Headquartered in Bethel, Vermont, the company’s standardized ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO/TS 16949, and FDA-registered, 21 CFR Part 820 compliant manufacturing facilities are located in Bethel and Royalton, Vermont; San Antonio, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Querétaro, Mexico; and Dongguan, China and Sligo, Ireland. GW is a Plastics News Processor of the Year and Sustained Excellence award winner.
Global market-leading OEMs trust GW Plastics to deliver their most challenging projects. For more information, please visit their website at www.GWPlastics.com.
