Clinton Township, Michigan — April 11, 2007 – KUKA Robotics has been selected by Mack Molding's Southern Operations, located in Inman, SC, and Statesville, NC, as its preferred 6-axis robotics supplier for injection molding systems. Mack Molding will use multiple KUKA shelf mount models ranging from 16 to 210 kg to handle their machine tending requirements on injection molding machines (IMMs) ranging in size from 500 to 3350 tons. The robots will be mounted on the IMM platen to handle multiple tasks for current projects and provide the flexibility to handle the increasing complexity of new projects.
"We selected KUKA as our preferred 6 axis robot supplier because of their commitment to the injection molding industry," said Joe Carinci director of operations for Mack Molding’s Southern Division. "No other 6 axis robotic manufacturer that we could find has a product line so directly geared to the injection molding industry. KUKA’s robots are ready to bolt on and operate, a feature we have only found on linear robots in the past. We are also able to use them for precision secondary applications off the press, which allows us to use one type of robot controller for many applications.
This makes setup easier and faster for our process technicians.” "Innovators such as Mack Molding, who was recently named Plastics News’ Processor of the Year, show the commitment to quality and willingness to tackle complex molding projects and processes that are a natural fit for robotics," said Stuart Shepherd, president of KUKA Robotics Corporation. KUKA Robotics manufactures a complete line of 6 axis robots ideally suited for injection molding. KUKA’s 6- axis robot models support payloads ranging from 3kg to 570kg with reaches ranging from 635mm to 3326mm. Mack Molding is a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services.
Mack specializes in plastics design, prototyping, molding, sheet metal fabrication, and medical device manufacturing. The company operates seven facilities throughout the eastern United States. Founded in 1920, Mack is a privately owned business with over 1800 employees in North America. KUKA Robotics Corporation, with its parent company KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg, Germany, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots, with an annual production volume approaching 10,000 units, and an installed base of over 75,000 units. The company’s 5 and 6 axis robots range from 3kg to 570kg payloads, and 635mm to 3700mm reach, all controlled from a common PC based controller platform.
KUKA robots are utilized in a diverse range of industries including the appliance, automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, logistics, food, pharmaceutical, medical, foundry and plastics industries and in multiple applications including material handling, machine loading, assembly, packaging, palletizing, welding, bending, joining, and surface finishing.