Case story Elletipi

Elletipi chooses the Frigel’s Ecodry System and the MiND® monitoring system for a new paradigm of plant management, focusing on modularity, flexibility and also remote supervision.

Elletipi was established in 1954. Over time it has specialized in kitchen furniture components and now operates internationally in over 55 countries with headquarters in Poggibonsi, Italy and an office in New Jersey (USA). The factory is currently composed of: 11 lines of production, various types of injection molding machines from 65 to 1110 tons, an advanced lean methodology, 6 assembly lines with industrial automation, remote control and reporting.

Before installing the Frigel solutions, Elletipi detected various inefficiencies on a daily basis, almost always due to the old refrigeration system. In fact, the external chiller was unable to maintain the correct pressure on all eleven injection molding machines or manage the temperatures according to the requirements of different molds.

The main problems encountered can be summarized as follows:

• Complications in the production of large part
• Difficulty in obtaining a constant high quality finish over time
• Inability to intervene on energy costs

The solution

The revolutionary impact offered by the Frigel solution was decisive. It would have made improvements to production and cut energy inefficiencies. This last point alone was already worth a good part of the return on investment.

The project envisaged the replacement of the old centralized system (chiller) with an innovative adiabatic cooling system consisting of two Frigel Ecodry 3DK with seven fans each and the adoption of eight RCD Series Microgels dedicated to the machines (to have direct control of the of cooling on each single injection molding machine).

Microgels have allowed Elletipi to acquire full autonomy in the management of cycle times and the quality of the finished product. Now it has the possibility of obtaining a high degree of finish, constant on each piece, even with reduced cycle times, increasing productivity. Not to be underestimated: On low-value pieces, Elletipi manages to obtain a high aesthetic quality while using less valuable plastic materials.

The benefits

The benefits obtained by Elletipi are many. We can speak of a real paradigm shift compared to the past. The ability to adjust and work on each individual line by optimizing cooling is strategic. In practice, the Line Manager can create and adjust the correct setup with extreme simplicity on each Microgel TCU. The most relevant ones are: 

• Total freedom in optimizing/setting each single production line (temperature, parameters)
• Strong reduction of electricity consumption
• Possibility of regulating two work zones with different temperatures on the mold
• Possibility of improving the high quality finish
• Elimination of distribution and pressure problems in the mold

The Microgel TCUs on board the machines immediately proved to be an added value. The TCUs simplify any operation because, in the event of maintenance for example, only the specific line is involved.

Remote supervision

The project also included the installation of the Netgel MiND®, a real-time supervision system for every single Frigel machine in the plant. The Industry 4.0 revolution is one of the main objectives of modern companies, and MiND® is the perfect solution to facilitate this transformation. It makes reading and analyzing data from any device immediate.

The visit of Frigel scheduled for the interview allowed us to present the new Microgel RSY Syncro to Elletipi. The new RSY Syncro offers the maximum benefits in technical molding systems, with cycle times exceeding 20 sec, using high-value materials (eg. ABS and Nylon).

Federico Bandini (CEO of Elletipi) proved to be very interested and immediately approved the arrival of a Syncro Microgel for testing. The insertion will be done right on the line with molding ABS material. Thanks to the MiND® system, Bandini will be able to monitor productivity and consumption in real time, being able to easily calculate the ROI (return on investment) for the new Microgel RSY Syncro.

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