Moulds & Tooling: A European success story

While not quite an endangered species, the past fifteen years have not been easy ones for many European mould makers. Many, but not all, and IGS GeboJagema is a case in point – a case that shows the difference automation and focus can make. By Karen Laird.

Automation and optimisation

Arriving at this level of recognition in the industry is the result of a proven track record in the company’s areas of expertise, achieved by a steady programme of investment in automation and professionalisation. IGS GeboJagema has gone from being a company that makes moulds to a full-service solutions provider. “Everything that can be automated has been automated,” says Hans Arts. “We are a paperless company.”

One example is the model-based definition approach used by the six engineers employed by the company, which allows them to place the product manufacturing information directly into the 3D model, eliminating the need for 2D documentation and enhances the information flow.

The driving force behind the development towards fully automated ‘lights-out’ production is Peter Mertens, CEO at IGS GeboJagema. Mertens, who himself started out in the workshop, knows everything there is to know about mould making. He realised early on that the one way to stay competitive in this market, especially with the ever-growing problem of labour shortage, was to provide top quality, high precision moulds in the most efficient way possible – and that meant equipping the company with the most sophisticated technologies and machines available, all of which were chosen by him personally.

As a result, the number of processing operations – milling, grinding, EDM, etc. – has been substantially reduced, says Hans Arts: replaced by advanced CNC machines able to handle it all. “Moreover, each of these machines has been equipped with a robotic system, for instance a Turn-Assist station from RoboJob, instead of the manual loading system we were used to. Automating the loading and unloading of the CNC machines has doubled the number of operating hours a week.”

And last year, IGS GeboJagema also became the first company in Europe to install a 5-axis Makino D200Z high-speed milling cell in Europe, with the latest high-speed servo technology and an integrated robot. The new Makino is another step up from the 3-axis machines to Industry 4.0 standards, offering more speed, precision and flexibility. Another three 5-axis cells, complete with robots, will be added over the course of this year.

The company is specialised in complex multi-cavity moulds, where repeatability is extremely important. “Precision at the micron level,” Arts points out. “We can’t have differences between mould cavities, as the interchangeability of the products is essential when it comes to assembly of the mould.”

Automation has made it possible for the company to achieve the level of repeatability necessary, while keeping its prices at an acceptable level. “Unmanned production also means that, next to increasing our precision, we have also increased our efficiency: we’ve tripled our turnover, but the number of mould technicians has remained the same – we still employ the same number as we did back in 2011.”

Because of the company’s highly sophisticated machine park, he added, the tool parts no longer needed further
work when they came out of the machine but were ready for assembly.

IGS GeboJagema is now also moving beyond automation alone, towards the more digitalised environment of Industry 4.0. “The system ensures that the latest version of the project is the only one available – revisions are always up to date. This eliminates the possibility of errors.” Arts said. “Also, the new Makino is controlled by the ERP system.” As a result, the operator can no longer affect the output of the machine; the system is responsible for the planning and determine the priority of the tasks to be done. It is a development that will only increase in the future, as more and more machines will be connected, to create a ‘smart’ production setting.

Production-ready mould validation

IGS GeboJagema is extremely proud of its very rigorous mould validation procedures, and justly so. “Our knowledge in this area equals or sometimes even surpasses that of our customers. We have customers with extremely stringent requirements in this area. At least one looked at its own processes, and then opted to use ours. Mould validation here goes far beyond what is usually offered – it’s an important part of what sets us apart, and the reason why many customers choose to work with us,” Arts explains. The company has developed a scientific moulding approach to the validation process, involving determining the correct settings and the process window to achieve the product quality required. All critical measurements are checked in the metrology lab equipped with advanced technology, including a laser interferometer – a piece of equipment found in no other tooling manufacturer in the world.

IGS GeboJagema also has its own range of injection moulding machines, including a number of fast-cycling electric presses, mainly for the optical moulds – on which the moulds are tested along with hot-runner controllers, chillers, coolers, resin drying and master batch colouring equipment. The services include initial dry cycles of tool, process definition, Design of Experiments, FOT, component inspection reports, initial batch runs, explained Arts. “We can perform everything through the Factory Acceptance Test of the moulds either on one of our own injection moulding machines or on the customer’s machine, on which the product will be moulded. In that case, it can be temporarily installed in one of the available validation cells. The only thing the customer needs to do is the performance qualification – the PQ.”

Continued growth

The rapid growth of the past seven years shows no signs of slackening. The company changed hands a few years
ago the previous owner was a local investor, Vado Beheer B.V. who sold it to Nordian Capital as of January 1, 2016. IGS GeboJagema has continued to prosper under the new ownership and is currently in the throes of an expansion project that will see, next to the redesign of the office areas, the addition of a completely new Customer Service Centre, where more than 20 injection moulding machines will be housed. This will not only free up much-needed space in the production area, it will make tool trials easier to carry out, as the machines will be installed in the new Centre ready to be hooked up for use. The new office space is needed to accommodate the recent growth in staff: next to a number of technical people, a new business development manager was recently hired, among others, to increase the company’s footprint in the packaging industry.

As the company adds high performance packaging to its areas of expertise, IGS GeboJagema can look forward to seeing the amount of work continuing to increase. With the company’s advanced level of automation and ongoing process of digitalization, it is confident that even in today’s tough competitive environment and despite the dearth of skilled employees in the market, as one of the leading mould makers in Europe it will continue to be able to more than meet the demands of its customers and to deliver the level of quality on which these customers depend.