This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Entrevista a Ángel Lozano, Sumitomo Demag
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Another meeting of plastics universal for its 2010 injection machines market study
"The future would be much more encouraging if administrations more support to the sector"
Interview with Angel Lozano, Sumitomo Demag
Drafting Interempresas19/02/2010
February 19, 2010
After the celebration of the traditional meeting of suppliers of injectors, Interempresas-plastics universal wanted to know the opinion of the main Spanish suppliers about current issues of concern to the sector in our country.
Angel Lozano, sumitomo demag.
Reducing the consumption of machines is one of the trends that we hear about more. It is a simple fashion or really Spanish plastics transformer calculated rigorously its production costs including energy consumption?
The best recipe to be competitive in any market is to know the internal costs of production and, in our case, the real energy cost generated by the transformation of plastics with the maximum possible accuracy. This is a very important part of the cost of the final product and, moreover, in times of crisis is of vital importance to the stiff competition. Since Sumitomo (SHI) Demag have always developed all our new models of machines under the heading 'energy efficient' and trying to be one step ahead of the demands of the market, especially with the fully electric machines of direct drive. All period of crisis represents an opportunity for improvement and the need for a drastic reduction in costs. To this end, it is essential to know with any accuracy data as simple as it is the real cost that we expressed in kW/hour/kg transformed, with the help of specific integrated programmes in command of the injection machine or through an external element to the already existing machines. Personally, I think that the transformer, the maelstrom of everyday life makes him ignore this very important fact. I know of very few companies that are a regular and systematic measuring this fact, in many cases, we would see clearly the urgency of renewal of a part of the Park of machinery in order to remain competitive in the near future.
Talk about the future is difficult. But, does he not dare describe the panorama of the Spanish plastics industry by 2015?
For granted that I would love to be able to describe the panorama of the plastics industry by the year 2015, but today I would be satisfied to simply knowing what we expected for this year 2010, all because we thought the market repuntaría, as later in the second half of 2009 or at least to more acceptable levels. The reality has been very different: we continue to see as a day Yes and another also continue closing their doors companies throughout the peninsula, regardless of the sector to which its products are targeted or if they opened their doors for more than 25 or 30 years. Of course transformers to survive this crisis should have a different view. On the one hand, they will have to be selected very carefully and in clear terms of profitability its portfolio of products and customers. Certainly, they will also reduce interest expense and non-payment risks produced by distant dates in the maturity of invoices, so common hitherto. Without a doubt, the future would be much more encouraging for all transformers and, especially, for children, if they release true from both State and regional administrations, determined and dilated programs of investment support for the renewal of this important sector industrial and not only subsidized credit at low interest for a brief period of time. I mean real programmes of support for the renewal of obsolete Park for more environmentally friendly machinery, with a drastic and efficient reduction of energy consumption. Today we have machines with demonstrable savings exceeding 70% in comparison with the older models, but unfortunately it seems that there is only money to support the purchase of cars.
Their main arguments of sale in 2010 put in first-line matters relating to costs or to the injection technique?
For many years, Demag is aware of the need to manufacture fully equipped with direct drives and electrical machines to make them more precise and more energy-efficient, but due to their high prices the volume of units sold throughout Europe was never more than 12%. Currently, and since the purchase by Sumitomo, the new company Sumitomo (SHI) Demag is completely convinced and determined that future ahead of us after this crisis will be fully electric machines, as in Japanwhere the hydraulic machinery has virtually disappeared. To do this, they have expanded and improved the facilities of our factory located in Wiehe (Germany), in order to make it the center of excellence for the manufacture of fully electric machines of the proven series IntElect Smart with closing forces ranging from 50 to 450 tons. These new models are already available and provide great economic advantages to the transformer, not only for its competitive price with respect to the hydraulic, but also because they provide economic benefits and reduction in the time of cycle, from raw material, coolanttimes of unemployment by breakdowns and maintenance, as well as a drastic reduction in energy consumption in kW/hour/kg transformed, with more than 73% examples. If to this we add the unparalleled increase in accuracy and stability of injection process, there is no doubt that we can greatly help to reduce production costs and to become more competitive to all processorsput that not only we are talking about only having more useful production hours a year, or in economic terms by the reduction in the energy bill, also talked about the increase in quality in the products, which will allow them to prepare to compete you to you with the rest of Europe.
