Adding Two Additional Aoki ISBM Lines
Auburn, NY Currier Plastics is planning for the arrival of 2 additional Aoki ISBM (Injection Stretch Blow Molding) machines during the first half of 2011. Currier Plastics has been processing with Aoki ISBM’s since 2009. This will make a total of 4 ISBM machines at the Auburn, NY facility.
In the plastics molding industry, it’s easy to find molders that offer either IM (Injection Molding) or BM (Blow Molding), but more rare to find one that does both. “We target customers that can appreciate working with a molder that can offer Design, BM and IM to meet their plastics packaging needs. This approach has been very successful for us,” says Steve Valentino who was recently promoted to Molding Manager at Currier Plastics. “And because we offer all three, the molding processes are better controlled and the parts fit better together.” With new growth in PET container market, Currier found it necessary to add additional machines. “The ISBM processing method has been very favorable to Currier’s business model,” adds Valentino.
The Aoki ISBM is a single stage process consisting of three stations internal to each machine. The resin is injected at the first station through a hot manifold into the preform mold, and then rotated to the second station where the preform is blown while simultaneously stretched into the shape of the cavity and then rotated to the third station where the bottles are ejected directly into shipping containers. The ISBM process is unique because it allows development of thick or thin walls and very specific geometries than that of the more traditional EBM (Extrusion Blow Molding). Because the preform is not cooled down prior to conditioning, less energy is used to manufacture with this method.
Currier Plastics has also found the molds made by Aoki to be of the highest quality, reliability and workmanship and which makes the molding process using them to be consistent and worry-free. The quality engineers at Currier Plastics say that they really like these Aoki ISBM machines because of the exceptional quality and repeatability. “The last bottle measures the same as the first one,” says Lynn Knopp, QA Manager at Currier for eleven years.
Currier Plastics is located in the heart of central New York and has been custom Molding for a variety of industries such as plastic packaging, beauty and cosmetics, amenities, household consumables and medical measuring devices since 1982.
