Milacron Plastics Technologies (Batavia, Ohio / USA; www.milacron.com) has started producing its “Magna Servo” injection moulding machines in the USA. The US plastics machinery manufacturer was producing the machines in India and importing them, but has added production at its Batavia manufacturing facility in response to increased demand.

"We're seeing a lot of demand for our Magna Servo machines in American markets because they're similar in price to standard hydraulics and they provide almost as much energy savings as all-electrics," said Brian Bish, Milacron's hydraulic machine product manager.

Milacron's Indian affiliate, Ferromatik Milacron India, has been producing the Magna Servo machines in India since 2008. The machines are designed to achieve higher energy efficiency than a traditional hydraulic machine by using a variable-speed AC servo motor to drive a fixed-volume gear pump. This can result in cost savings that can make up for the higher cost of the Magna Servo, relative to a comparable hydraulic machine, in six months, Milacron said.

"Pumps that are controlled with servo motors are 40% to 60% more energy-efficient than standard hydraulics or variable-volume types," said Bish. "They're proving to be more reliable and less expensive because they have fewer moving parts."