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Three suspended cranes and six Verlinde hoists have been used in the injection mould maintenance workshop at Parker Hannifin.

Parker Hannifin, with a global turnover of €11.5bn, is a world leader in movement and control technologies. The Muzillac factory in Brittany, located 25km from Vannes, is a plastics injection specialist for products of the FSCE division and for the automatic assembly of instant fittings. The injection mould maintenance workshop has recently installed three Europont overhead cranes on each one of which is fitted two Verlinde hoists.

The moulding workshop is the core production activity at the Muzillac plant. Twenty-two Engel, Fanuc or Ferromatik injection presses are served by a suspended crane fitted with a 3t Verlinde Eurobloc VT hoist for mould changing operations. These presses are used for the moulding of connectors for small pneumatic hoses and for compressed air system couplings in industrial buildings. For the car industry, five presses are dedicated to the production of motor fuel distribution circuits integrated by Parker Autolive in its manufacturing facilities.

Mickael Le Pon, injection facility production manager, explains: “We carry out between 300 and 350 parts series changes per month involving just as many injection mould changes. To ensure the moulding workshop works at full capacity it is first of all vital that the moulds are in perfect condition and as their manipulation can only be carried out with the suspended crane, the latter must be totally available and reliable.”

Mickael Lepon: “Even if our activity is complex, it has to be understood that it is based in the main on two basic equipment units, plastic injection presses and moulds. To ensure production quantity and quality in phase with our targets, we have to ensure without fail regular inspections and routine maintenance of the moulds because we depend to a large extent on them to guarantee the productivity and the manufacturing quality of our products.”

The 500sqm workshop dedicated to mould routine maintenance consists of three successive square 10m x 10m workstations. After a certain number of duty cycles, the mould is removed, cleaned ultrasonically and the toolmaker is sometimes required to recondition the spindles by electro erosion or replace possible faulty parts.

Verlinde helps Parker Hannifin maintain moulds