Japanese-German plastics machinery manufacturer, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag (Schwaig / Germany; www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu), has claimed to set a new world record in the production rate for plastic caps. Together with its partners, Belgian oil and chemicals company Total (Brussels; www.totalrefiningchemicals.com) and French injection mould manufacturer, Plastisud (Castelnaudary; www.plastisud.com), SHI produced HDPE caps with tamper-evident bands and without post-moulding operations at a rate of 190,000 per hour, equating to 1.5 billion per year.

The machine, the “El-Exis SP 420-3000”, makes 1.3g HDPE screw caps on a 96-cavity hot runner mould with a production cycle of just 1.9 seconds. SHI said the fast cycle time resulted from combining its independent hybrid clamp system and optimised injection and plasticising performance with Total’s resin expertise. Total’s HDPE “HD6081” resin, dedicated to still water application, has proved to be the best in achieving the fastest crystallisation, and thus less demoulding time, SHI noted.

SHI’s business development manager packaging, Arnaud Nomblot, said: “The technical breakthrough was made possible thanks to the excellent flow characteristics of the HD6081 material. A cycle time of 1.9s and perfect injection point quality are the result of optimum combined material, machine and mould performance.”