Results of the May SimTech™ 2023 Injection Molding Challenge
First Place Goes to Taylor Cook of Falcon Plastics and First Place goes to Draexlmaier Automotive of America for the Company Spotlight. Congratulations to Taylor and to Team Draexlmier Automotive and all those who participated!
May 2023 SimTech™ Challenge Wrap Up
This month’s challenge came with some difficulties. One in particular is the material selected. Acrylic is a plastic that can be shear sensitive so the optimum process must take this characteristic into account. The top finishers shared a common approach to overcome this particular material characteristic. All the top processors targeted a lower material temperature utilizing a combination of the barrel temperature settings, slower screw RPM, and a low back pressure to minimize shear on the material. All used a slower final fill rate to eliminate burn on the part and reduce shear during filling. Finally, all the top processes used nearly identical pressure profile to make the part dimensionally sound at nearly the same cycle. The top three finishers achieved a final score that was within less than 0.4%…Wow!
Excellent work this month…folks!
Now for the results of the May SimTech Challenge.
We’re pleased to announce that Taylor Cook of Falcon Plastics is this month’s Top Molder, followed by Richard Gerard of Edgewell, and new comer Ken Pleil of Southwest Mold for 3rd. Congratulations Taylor, Richard, and Ken, and congratulations to all who participated and earned scores.
Leading the way on the Champions Leaderboard is apparently the unbeatable Andrea Bricola of Draexlmaier Automotive of America, and shining brightly in the company spotlight are three talented molding companies, Team Draexlmeaier Automotive of America, Team Falcon Plastics and Team Preformed Line Products. These three company teams have repeatedly shown their excellence in molding. Congratulations!! Job well done everyone!
Who out there has the skill to out-mold this formidable group? Join the fun and test your molding skill.
Individual Winners
- 1st place – Taylor Cook, Falcon Plastics – 120.810
- 2nd place – Richard Gerard – Edgewell – 120.595
- 3rd place – Ken Pleil Southwest Mold, Inc – 120.356
Company Winners
The COMPANY category consists of companies who have three or more employees participating, and for this month’s challenge, the top three winning companies included:
Company Spotlight:
- Draexlmaier Automotive of America 122.11
- Falcon Plastics 119.79
- Preformed Line Products. 112.68
Champions Leaderboard
- Top Spot – Andrea Bricola Draexlmaier Automotive of America 122.434
The Set-up for Taylor Cook, this month’s Top Molder.
To learn more about our monthly SimTech Molding Challenges visit details here. To see how you or your fellow molders ranked this month, check out the leader board by clicking here and select a month from the drop down menu.
As always, we’ll be announcing the over all 2023 ProMolder Champion after we tally all the scores from the entire year. Start earning scores!
In the meantime, get ready for the next month’s challenge! Take advantage and pre-signup. Don’t miss out. Get on the list to win! Until then, keep on learning!
Having Fun with our Competitions?
Imagine the team of skilled molders you could create if SimTech was in your plant 24-7? Your employees could be improving their molding expertise in a safe, low-cost environment, building critical thinking and troubleshooting skills. And you can stage your own friendly in-house competitions. It’s proven that molding simulation is the best and most cost-effective way to become a better molder. You don’t want your employees making their mistakes or trying new techniques on the production floor at an actual machine—now that’s a costly way to learn. The simulation of complex processes is quickly becoming the gold standard of skill development. SimTech is the answer for injection molding.
Here’s just a few of the applications you can employ with SimTech:
Hiring Qualified Employees – Before hiring a potential employee, test their knowledge and skills with problem solving exercises in Simtech.
Technician Promotion – Give your candidates for promotion a test before you make that decision.
In-plant Competitions to promote learning and discussion – Have your own competitions amongst your team. Have a discussion on what process settings work and why.
Just hearing about this? Want to join in on all the fun? Sign up and learn more here.
To learn more about SimTech and all the other skill development courses Paulson offers, visit PaulsonTraining.com or call 1-800-826-1901; or contact us via email info@paulsontraining.com.
