R&B Plastics Machinery

Womer Inducted into Plastics Hall of Fame at NPE 2012

RB Plastics Machinery — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:09:18 +0000

Tim Womer is R&B’s Chief Process Consultant and expert screw designer. We congratulate him on this high honor:

Tim Womer is a country boy. He grew up around the Amish and is a friendly and humble blue-collar guy. But Womer has traveled the world, thanks to his expertise in screw design and a stint as Society of Plastics Engineers president.

Womer hails from tiny Volant, Pa., a town of 135 people, tucked into pastoral western Pennsylvania between New Castle and Sharon, Pa. Youngstown, Ohio, is right across the state line…

Read the entire article on PlasticNews.com >>

An Empirical Study on Barrier Flight

RB Plastics Machinery — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:19:20 +0000

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PlasticsNews.com: R&B reaching out to dairy customers

RB Plastics Machinery — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:17:44 +0000

ORLANDO, FLA. (April 5, 6 p.m. ET) — R&B Plastics Machinery LLC (booth 979) is reaching out to their self-manufacturing and dairy customers by expanding their field service offerings and emphasizing their work with reciprocating blow molding machines…

Read the whole article on PlasticsNews.com >>

The basics of good extrusion screw design

RB Plastics Machinery — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:12:14 +0000

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Gross versus Net

RB Plastics Machinery — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:06:18 +0000

Several years ago, a customer had ordered a new screw for their thin sheet process. They requested a throughput rate of 1600 lb/hr.

The new screw was designed so that 90% of horsepower available was consumed, which resulted in a maximum throughput of approximately 1800 lb/hr at full screw speed.

Shortly after the customer had received and installed the new screw, they called and complained that they were only getting 1200 lb/hr when they had requested 1600 lb/hr. We spent several phone calls trying to diagnose the problem and nothing seem to change the throughput rate of the screw, it stayed at the 1200 lb/hr.

It was then decided that I would have to travel to the customer’s Chicago facility and resolve the problem. After I had received much grief from the company’s General Manager upon my arrival, we went out on the factory floor.

The first thing that I told the customer that we needed to do was to shut the line down so that we could do a rate check directly from the lips of the sheet die. So we did our rate checks at 25, 50, 75 and 100 percent screw speeds. And the rates were within 2% of the theoretical calculated design rates. I was totally baffled as to why we got the expected rates at the die but the GM was complaining that they were only getting approximately 75% of the theoretical rate.

So it was decided to string the sheetline up to see if that gave us any indication as to why they were not getting the full throughput of the screw that they expected.

After stringing up the line, the operator pulled the slitter knives into position. Immediately I knew what was the problem. The knives were set to slit the 48” sheet to 36” wide and they had 6” of trim on each side of the sheet. Well, 36” divided by 48” equals 75% and 75% time 1600 lb/hr equates to 1200 lb/hr!!!

The throughput rates that the GM was seeing in his production report every day was the NET weight excluding the 12” of trim. I had to explain to him that we determine the GROSS throughput rate as what comes out of the die, not what he winds into his rolls.

Believe It or Not!

R&B Expands Reciprocating-Machine Service for Bottling Facilities

RB Plastics Machinery — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:32:41 +0000

Max-Recip™ Impact Screw Improves Blow Molding Production
Saline, MI – Responding to dairies and self-manufacturing bottlers’ requests, R&B Plastics Machinery has expanded its 24/7 fieldservice with a special focus on reciprocating blow molding machines to better address specific needs at bottling plants. R&B has 18 tech-support specialists to work in processing plants throughout North America. The expanded Reciprocating Service includes everything from screws and barrels; hydraulic systems; controls upgrades; parison programming; and emergency repairs, explained Matthew Gifford, Technical Product Manager.

“Typical service calls require immediate attention which requires our service staff to be ready for any variety of machine issues. Our crew is cross-trained to provide the flexibility necessary to respond quickly to whatever they may find in the field. With many facilities reducing their maintenance staff or losing their long-time mechanics, R&B can provide periodic maintenance calls to service equipment and maintain quality performance. This helps prevent repairs and emergency calls. We also see demand growing for machine upgrades, especially Parison controls and trimmers,” Gifford said.

R&B manufactures extrusion, blow-molding and trimmer/de-flash machinery for the plastics industry. Its customers represent diverse end-use markets such as food/beverage, personal care, medical, motor oil/lubricants, household cleaners, detergents, lawn/agricultural chemicals and more.

The company also sees growing interest in its Max-Recip™ Impact Screw, a feed screw specifically developed to support challenging applications such as high-speed bottle production. R&B Plastics Machinery introduced the high-performance screw in February.

“The Max-Recip™ Impact Screw represents a new line of feed screws specifically designed for high throughputs, low melt temperatures and improved mixing capabilities on reciprocating blow molders, most often used to make dairy bottles and other light-weight packaging applications,” Gifford said.

“Processing plants rely on quality containers and on-time delivery, which requires bottle suppliers to run efficient, consistent operations. Tests with our new Max-Recip Impact Screw showed high performance and lower shear for reduced melt temperature,” he explained.

“The Max-Recip Impact Screw has improved throughput rates as compared to the standard OEM screw technology. The new feed screws are made of high quality carbon steel with bi-metallic flight hard-facing and chrome plated for extended production life. This provides long-term durability and performance capabilities, which are critical for manufacturing,” Gifford added.

The new Max-Recip™ Impact screws are for replacements/upgrades as well as new machine screws. The Max 350R2 Recip screw was designed by Tim Womer, R&B’s Chief Process Consultant. Womer has developed more than 5,000 screw designs as well as numerous patents for blow molding, extrusion, and thermoforming applications.

“We believe there are good opportunities to better serve these packaging markets with our expanded Reciprocating Machine Service and the high-performance, Max-Recip™ Impact Screw.The combination providesimproved product quality at maximum throughput,” Gifford said.

R&B’s sister company, Monroe Mold, is based in Monroe, MI. The company makes cold-end tooling and molds for the blow-molding market. Monroe Mold’s new website debuts this week.

Get more information on the expanded Recip Service and Max-Recip™ Impact Screw.

Frank Kennedy Joins R&B Plastics Machinery as Product Sales Manager

RB Plastics Machinery — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:29:01 +0000

Saline, MI – Industry veteran Frank Kennedy, a familiar name to many in the accumulator blow molding market, has joined R&B Plastics Machinery LLC. He will serve as Sales Manager of Blow Molding Products, including Reciprocating, Accumulator, Rotary Index Wheel, Industrial Shuttle, trimmer/de-flash systems and the MAX™ single-screw extruder product line.

Kennedy brings in-depth experience in the blow mold industry having held management, sales, engineering and manufacturing positions in the industry for over thirty years. Most recently, Frank was manager of Davis Standard’s accumulator-head blow molding business. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in Industrial Management. Prior to this he was involved with the development of plastic fuel tanks while an employee at Ford Motor Co. Frank is a senior member of the Society of Plastics Engineers and a member of the SPE Blow Molding Division Board of Directors. He also has volunteered his services for the Society of the Plastics industry, serving on the CEI Committee and the Blow Molding Safety Standards Committee. Last year he was inducted into the Plastic Pioneers Association. Kennedy and his wife reside in the greater Cincinnati area.

The packaging market represents a large percentage of R&B’s customer base, including food/beverage, personal care, medical, motor oil/lubricants, household cleaners, lawn/agricultural chemicals and more. R&B’s sister company, Monroe Mold, specializes in molds and tooling for the blow molding market, specifically for polyolefin packaging products. The machinery and molds also are used in the automotive, industrial/commercial markets and other applications. Monroe’s close proximity to R&B — just 38-miles south in Monroe, MI – makes it ideal for development and testing of prototype molds. Both firms are part of R&B Holding Co. LLC owned by the Talon Group based in Grosse Pointe, MI.

Chili Cook-off Brightens Wintertime at R&B

RB Plastics Machinery — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:53:20 +0000

The first “Annual Chili Cook-off” announcement started a spirited competition between R&B employees. There were ten entries representing all types of chili – mild, medium and hot – and employees ate as much as they liked from the long line of crock pots (all entries were numbered and anonymous so results were a surprise). Two kinds of white chicken-chili and variations on the traditional red kept employees busy tasting all types. Cornbread, rolls and butter, beverages and brownies accompanied the entrée. The January 13 lunch featured a broad selection of chili judged by:

Taste
Texture (“Soupiness”)
Degree of Spice (“too spicey” not necessarily a winner)

Mark Boone, Assembler, and Phil Smith, Plant Supervisor, sampled and judged the chili. They immediately announced results and prizes were distributed on site. The top winner also received a crown to recognize his culinary skills. Chili Cook-off winners were:

1^st Place: Ken Caryl, Product Manager/Sales Engineer
2^nd Place: Mark Wegner, Assembler
3^rd Place: Terry Lloyd, Director of Procurement

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The R&B Chili Cook-off contest is to be an annual winter event.

R&B Plastics Will Be At ANTEC 2012

RB Plastics Machinery — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:48:42 +0000

R&B Plastics at ANTEC 2012

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Community Spirit Drives Success on R&B Train

RB Plastics Machinery — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:46:36 +0000

Community involvement has been part of R&B Plastics Machinery’s mission since its founding 34 years ago. Friendly competition and the holiday spirit helped R&B again take first place in the 36th Annual Saline Christmas Parade, according to Al Hodge, President. The company was one of 65 entries in a small-town parade that attracts up to 70,000 people a year, according to the Saline Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event. This year’s theme was ”A Polar Express,” based on the popular children’s book and movie.

Parade participants had just six weeks to create floats using this theme. R&B’s “float team” was lead by Phil Smith, Plant Supervisor, along with a strong work crew designing, building and decorating the plywood float, complete with special touches like the bell, a cow-catcher and a real smoke machine for the engine’s smokestack. The dedicated team had clever ideas, such as using the original electric sign once affixed to the exterior of the original R&B Machine Tool building (the original parent company to R&B Plastics Machinery), and the engine’s number is the company’s street address.

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The large, two-part float included the company’s flatbed truck disguised as a train engine (complete with black contact paper to hide its white cab), and the passenger car was built to replicate a real train car, including lights, trees, benches and other decorations. An extra-large generator powered the lights. Nearly 20 people rode the car, mostly the children and grandchildren of R&B employees. Other employees walked alongside throwing candy to the crowd, which roared approval as the large float chugged up Michigan Ave. (“Main St. USA”).

Read about our float on PlasticsNews.com >>