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Article: Batch units cut cost of gravimetric blending.
- Article from:
- British Plastics & Rubber
- Article date:
- May 1, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Euro Publishing Consultancy. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MANY plastics extrusion process plants have an 'inventory shrinkage' problem that accounts for between three and five per cent of their polymer consumption. 'Shrinkage' or 'lost material' occurs when product shipped out the door is heavier than the calculated weight of an order. It happens because manual operation errs on the heavy side of the product tolerance.
Today the extrusion process can be automated to produce a very consistent product at the target weight. The result is a saving in material from the tighter tolerance afforded by automatic control which can amount to three to four per cent of material usage. The saving provides a rapid payback of the ...