Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019 - 27

QUALITY

& tube industry, the film industry? SIKORA's initial focus
had been in the controlled use of plastics in order to
measure dimensions of diameter, wall thickness and
concentricity. Over the past ten years, we have also expanded our focus to include the quality of the plastic
itself. This area, in particular is one where we are seeing
global growth, as demand for inspection and sorting
technology - for inline as well as laboratory applications
- is rising fast.
You are introducing a range of new products for
the plastics industry this year at K. What is so
innovative about them? Can you talk about the
ways they are used in the plastics industry? By
whom?
At K2019, SIKORA is going to introduce three new products, two of which are targeted at the plastics industry
and one at the hose & tube industry. For the plastics industry, we are presenting a new system - the world's first
- that enables the improved detection of small contaminations on plastic material (black specks) through the use
of a third optical camera. We will also be showing an
optical detection system capable of handling a throughput of up to 3 t per hour.
Specifically, for laboratory use, we have developed an
optical inspection system as an electronic automatic light
table. Typically, until now samples have been inspected
with the human eye. This system, which can detect contaminations down to the size of 50 µm has been demonstrated to be more accurate and can, in addition detect
even the slightest variation in colour.
For the hose & tube industry, we are going to show a
device which is a copy of a system we supplied to Norway, a system that can measure the wall thickness of
pipes with a diameter of up to 1.6 m, with the help of a
rotating sensor, enabling 360 degrees measurements for
100% quality control.

Monitor view of the Purity Concept V

How quality is controlled at our customers, is their
knowledge which they, for sure, try to protect and do not
want to make available for others. In almost every case,
with all the businesses we are engaged in, an NDA is
signed, which we respect in every way. What I can provide is information about the countries where our technologies are used. In all of the three big markets, meaning Asia, Europe and the US, these technologies are in
operation at various sites.
Can you talk about the benefits of using these
systems in the plastics industry? Are they
expensive?
The benefit of using this technology is to be able to
prevent the production of parts that need to be
scrapped due to initial contaminations in or problems
with the plastic material. We actually know quite well
how much it would cost in case something goes wrong
in the production process. And we know that it is always cheaper to invest up front in measurement, control and inspection equipment, rather than to be faced
with the high costs and loss of reputation in case the
product quality does not meet the end user's requirement.
SIKORA channels €6m per year into development.
Around 17% of its employees work in R&D. Will this continue to be the case into the future? What kind of technological developments will we be looking at in 3 more
years - in what direction are we headed? What are the
trends that influence this?
Today's technologies also offer potential for process
improvement. And while today customers - also with
the new generation of IT experts - use these opportunities in a much more sophisticated way than ten years
ago, SIKORA wants to set technical standards also in the
future. It is for that reason that we are investing heavily
in R&D.

Purity Concept V automatic for optical inspection of plastic material,
launched in 2018

JULY/AUGUST 2019

There has been talk of an economic slowdown in
certain areas of the industry. Will this affect
SIKORA?
Many of our products are the result of a close cooperation with our customers and with research institutes.
We serve various different markets today, five in total,
of which two are plastics and hose & tube. There are
always new projects in the "pipeline". They will be introduced in due course at the coming exhibitions. By
serving these different business segments and developing our global network, and because of the fact that the
industry can never stop working on improvements in
quality, savings of resources and investment in higher
efficiency, SIKORA is in a kind of niche market where
there is never time to rest.

Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019