Reducing costs in Thin wall Packaging

[ShiranS]

I hope it's alright to keep posting questions.

Currently the company I work for manufactures thin-wall ice cream tubs with high flow PPCO-block. We do not add the regrind into the same process as we face numerous quality issues. I've been told black spots, poor mixing of regrind and virgin resin are the top reasons. We do not have the capability to compound. We can only dry blend currently.

I've been told that this process cannot be made cheaper. If I can use the regrind it will definielty make the process more efficient and reduce costs. (Obviosuly eliminating the cause of regind will also increase efficiency, which I'm not looking at at the moment) I read that fines are the primary cause for black spots as they tend to degrade much faster. Suppliers of Dedusters say that by using their technology fines can be elimiated and thus black spots eliminated as well. How well does this work? What are the other problems I wil run into trying to dry blend material in thin-wall packaging?

Can I empoly other additives to make the process more efficient? Nucleating agents to reduce cycle times?

Can I use mircocellular foaming to reduce costs? (mucell) or chemical foaming agents from Clariant to reduce material consumption?

How about any cheaper fillers? These ice cream tubs are stored in (-40C) blast freezers.

Any information you can provide will be most appreciated.

 

[Paulkuklych]

Its normal to use virgin material only in thin wall packaging. Using regrind will only give on-going quality and productivity issues (not to mention the headaches & sleepless nights you might experience).

Sounds like you need to do a lot of R&D.

Good luck.

Paul Kuklych

http://www.improve-your-injection-molding.com

 

[ShiranS]

appreciate the reply.