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Metrology Equipment for the Plastics Industry

Plastics manufacturing is a major global industry that relies on precise quality control and process optimization to deliver innovative products efficiently. As a leading supplier of metrology equipment, Great Lakes Metrology helps plastics manufacturers achieve their quality and productivity goals through our wide range of measurement technologies and services.

Challenges in Plastics Manufacturing

The plastics production process is complex, involving multiple steps like compounding, molding, trimming, finishing, and assembly. At each stage, many factors can lead to defects and quality issues in plastic parts including:

Material degradation from excessive temperature or shear
Part warpage or shrinkage due to non-uniform cooling
Surface defects like bubbles, voids, sinks, and flash formed during molding
Dimensional variations outside product specifications
Weak welds and poor part fit during assembly

These defects not only reduce product quality but also lead to material waste and production delays that hurt profits. Plastics manufacturers need reliable metrology solutions to identify and correct these issues early.

Metrology for Quality Control

Great Lakes Metrology offers a range of precision measurement tools for quality control and inspection in plastics manufacturing:

Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) use touch probes to measure size, form, location and alignment of plastic parts with micron-level accuracy. CMMs quickly scan samples from each batch to verify critical dimensions and geometric tolerances. This helps detect non-conformances before defective parts advance through production.
Articulated Arms are portable CMMs that enable convenient 3D measurements directly on the production floor. Technicians can use these flexible measuring arms to inspect large or awkwardly shaped plastic components.
Optical Scanners use lasers or structured light to capture highly accurate 3D data on plastic part surfaces. This fast, non-contact scanning quickly finds defects like warpage, shrinkage and flash while also providing reverse engineering data to optimize molds.
Vision Systems use high-resolution cameras to perform automated optical inspection. These systems can detect surface flaws in plastics like bubbles, scratches and discoloration at production speed. Machine vision streamlines inspection versus slower manual techniques.

Metrology Support for New Product Development

During new product development, Great Lakes Metrology provides advanced measurement solutions to help plastics manufacturers refine designs, improve tooling, and speed time-to-market:

3D Scanning quickly converts physical prototypes into precise 3D CAD models to accelerate prototyping iterations and mold design.
Reverse engineering derives CAD models from scans of existing parts to create new tools. This reduces costs versus starting from scratch.
First Article Inspection thoroughly measures the first production samples of new plastic products against design specifications to validate readiness for full production. This confirms tools are producing perfect parts.
Mold flow analysis simulation uses computer modeling to virtually test the fill, pack, and cooling of plastic in new molds and predict potential issues before any physical tooling is produced.

With this simulation-driven design refinement, manufacturers can develop higher quality molds in less time to minimize lead times for plastic products.

Data Management Solutions

To fully realize the benefits of industrial metrology, manufacturers need to efficiently collect, analyze, and share measurement data across the organization. Great Lakes Metrology offers advanced software solutions to meet these needs:

SPC software continuously aggregates measurement statistics for production processes to identify deviations from quality norms. This allows addressing root causes of issues rather than merely catching defects.
Data reporting software compiles inspection results into easily understood reports to share with production teams and management to drive process improvements.
Mold management software centralizes data on all molds and tools to optimize maintenance, performance, and longevity through data insights.
Part tracking uses barcodes, RFID and other technologies to follow plastic components through production and link measured quality data for each piece to provide complete manufacturing traceability.
Data exchange platforms seamlessly integrate metrology data from sensors and inspection systems with plant networking and connectivity to other manufacturing software like MES, ERP, SCM, and PLM systems. This breaks down data silos.

With turnkey data management ecosystems from Great Lakes Metrology, manufacturers gain comprehensive insight into production quality to minimize defects and boost efficiency.

Metrology Equipment Is Worth It for Plastics Manufacturing

Metrology solutions deliver proven value across the plastics production workflow. By reducing defects and waste, optimizing processes, speeding new product launch, and providing data visibility, metrology equipment provides:

Cost savings from less wasted material and energy, higher yields, reduced scrap and rework.
Increased productivity and throughput by eliminating downtime and quality issues slowing output.
Faster time to market for new products by streamlining tooling design and qualification.
Improved compliance with industry and regulatory quality standards through detailed documentation.
Enhanced competitiveness through continuous quality improvement and performance benchmarking.

The moderate upfront investment in metrology equipment offers a quick ROI by unlocking transformative efficiency gains, cost reduction, and quality control for plastics production.

Contact Great Lakes Metrology today to get started.

FAQs About Metrology for Plastics Manufacturers

What are the most critical processes to control with metrology in plastics manufacturing?

Injection molding, thermoforming, extrusion, and additive manufacturing are processes where metrology solutions deliver the highest impact by allowing tight control over critical parameters like temperature, pressure, flow, and clamp force.

Which metrology techniques offer the easiest deployment at my facility?

Portable devices like articulated arms, handheld scanners, and mobile vision systems allow rapid implementation with minimal disruption to production operations.

How can we integrate metrology data with our existing manufacturing software?

With robust data exchange modules and APIs, today’s metrology systems easily network with environmental monitoring systems, MES, ERP, MRP, SCM, and other databases to aggregate quality data enterprise-wide.

Does metrology equipment require dedicated staff to operate?

Many metrology solutions are designed for quick user training or even shop floor operation allowing personnel with minimal expertise to complete basic measurements and quality checks on the line.