Leading European injection molding machine manufacturer Negri Bossi S.p.A. announces the appointment of Douglas M. Hugo as President of North American operations beginning October 1, 2018.  Additionally, his responsibilities will include the North American operations of the group’s automation specialist, Sytrama.

Negri Bossi CEO Craig Ward commented; “We are excited to have Douglas join our leadership team as he brings more than 30 years of experience in our industry.  Over his career, he has gained extensive knowledge working across the molding and mold-making sectors.” 

When asked how he planned to develop the Negri Bossi brand over the coming years in North America, Douglas commented; “Negri Bossi has built a reputation of high-quality equipment with a strong emphasis on incorporating the latest technologies into the brand.  From electric, co-injection and mid to large tonnage machines, through to Sytrama automation solutions, North America is well positioned for growth and to increase market share.”

In closing, Douglas added; “The brand has seen excellent results and growth across Europe, the company has built a strong sales, service and support structure, and we look forward to the continued growth in North America.”

PLAST, held in Milan every three years, is one of the worlds most important plastics exhibitions. Being on home soil Negri Bossi always puts on a great show and the 2018 event was no exception.

Negri Bossi chose the venue to launch two significant events. The first initiative was a completely new corporate brand for the business, which included updating their 70 years old logo, creating new mission statements and introducing new stationery and brochures as part of completely new brand guidelines.

The second major event was the launch of the NOVA range of machines. The new range incorporates NOVA sT, NOVA iT and NOVA eT.

A NOVA s700T machine was on display molding a 2kg Minipallet incorporating our FMC technology. FMC is a technique of molding with gas (nitrogen in microcellular form) which reduces the weight of the product and eliminates aesthetic defects.

The NOVA sT range of machines, available in the range 700 to 1150 tonnes are aimed specifically at the Automotive, White Goods, Construction and Technical Moulding markets. NOVA sT incorporates a new and upgraded clamp unit and injection unit combining versatility, compactness and control. In line with Negri Bossi’s philosophy energy efficiency was at the forefront of the design consideration, incorporating the very latest servo-pump technology, purpose built for injection molding applications.

The first ‘True’ Multi Touch controller is installed on both the NOVA sT and NOVA iT range. The system features an innovative gesture navigation system incorporating swipe, scroll and zoom functions. A patent pending Virtual Object controls axis movement, based on gesture orientation with smart phone familiarity.

Three NOVA eT all electric machines completed the collection of NOVA machines on display. The NOVA eT range are aimed at the Packaging, Closure, Medical and Optical molding sectors. An 80-tonne model fitted with a 35 mm barrier screw ran a two impression 29g PP (MFI10) mold in a 12 second cycle time. A 180-tonne model produced an eight-impression coffee capsule in a 4.8 second cycle. The material was a special low viscosity PBT ULTRADUR, developed specifically for packaging applications.

The third NOVA eT machine with 280 tonnes clamp force was molding a 16-impression closure in a 14 second cycle time. Automation by our sister company Sytrama, collected and closed the parts within the cycle.

Our Industry 4.0 display area was also particularly popular, where customers could see the latest developments achieved through collaboration with our various partners.

The exhibition was a great success with companies from all over the globe joining us on the stand. The markets are clearly buoyant as all our visitors were full of confidence. A significant number of new projects were discussed with our team, presenting a very optimistic outlook for the future.

GIC represents a group of companies dedicated to the automotive business with a global turnover of €115 million and 2500 employees.

With 40 years of experience, the GIC Group has an optimised organisational structure, driven forward by customer requirements and technological innovation. GIC operates in 3 major sectors, offering their customers complete manufacturing solutions based on the synergies between these 3 fields:

• Thermoplastics
• Metal Processing
• Assemblies

The core business of GIC group company, Subansamble Auto SA, is thermoplastic and polyurethane processing for Automotive. By maintaining pace with process technologies and utilising the latest machinery and equipment Subansamble increasingly won the confidence of new customers. The relationships started with local OEM’s before developing into Tier 2 high level companies across Europe.

Staying close to their customers, adapting their structure and offering a flexible approach to their individual needs, resulted in a very successful 10-year period. Over this time turnover doubled and the company invested heavily in new processing equipment.

Subansamble has now become a reference point and household name for the automotive industry. The machinery supplier of choice was Negri Bossi where Subansamble quoted process accuracy, consistent high-quality parts and reliable delivery times as the main reason for selection.

Alin Zafir – Project Manager says “Negri Bossi’s team showed us a high level of professionalism starting from RFQ phase until the installation and start-up of the machines. This assured us that we are on a good track in our cooperation. The new equipment offered by Negri Bossi for our injection molding business was a key part of our success, demonstrating a robust process on new and reliable machines with improved control and higher efficiency”.

Subansamble has Negri Bossi machines up to VH1500 tonnes, including a multi-colour (Mulitmat) supplied with an automatic rotary table. A recent order for two Vector V650 and two Canbio ST 500 tonne machines will further develop the relationship between the two companies.

Negri Bossi SpA are delighted to receive an order from SOAG Europe (Sigit Oman Automotive Group) for 24 machines to be installed during 2017 and 2018. SOAG are amongst Negri Bossi’s most prominent and long-established customers, having installed over 150 Negri Bossi machines in the last ten years. The machines range in size from 50 to 2,000 tonnes.

SOAG is a multinational automotive and appliance components manufacturer with over 1500 employees.

Formerly SIGIT, the company started operating in Italy in 1966, establishing themselves in the automotive industry as a Tier 1 supplier to Fiat group. The company started a growth strategy in 2000, when new plants were opened in Italy, Spain, Serbia, Morocco, Russia and in Poland strengthening their relationship with Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot. In 2017 a new business unit, SOAG Appliance was formed, acquiring Tecnoplast group, who have strong relationships with Whirpool, Electrolux and Philips.

60% of the SOAG Group turnover is in the Automotive sector, with 29% in Home Appliances and 9% in Food and Beverage. Main activities within the group involve engineering & design, injection molding of thermoplastics and rubbers, assembly and post process, aluminium die-casting and tooling and automation.

The continued growth of Sigit led to the development of two research and development centres in which the designing, prototyping and construction of equipment is concentrated. Whilst all plants have access to these facilities, all component testing is carried out at the individual plants, ensuring product conformity to International Standards and customer specifications.

SOAG names Negri Bossi as one of their most important strategic partners, where technologies including gas, IMD and 2K molding are in operation. Heat and Cool Technology and over molding of glass and metal inserts are amongst other technologies offered. All the machines installed in SIGIT are equipped to the same specification enabling total inter-operability between plants. Strong economies of scale ensure reduced management and maintenance costs, whilst standardisation of processes and technologies assure better repeatability and product consistency across the various plants.

SOAG is the first customer of Negri Bossi to have already adapted its production organisation to the concept of Industry 4.0. All 150 presses in 8 factories are connected to a dedicated WIFI network and transmit real-time production, machine shutdown and quality data to their ERP (SAP) system. There is therefore a centralised and always up to date view of the manufacturing performance of the factories.

The new machines ordered will allow the company to further experiment with new technologies keeping Industry 4.0 in mind. Experimenting with predictive maintenance solutions, synchronised planning and orchestrated production with other business processes is a key focus. To achieve these goals, Soag and Negri Bossi signed a collaboration agreement for the joint development of the Open Plast project www.openplast.it, the first open and scalable open source platform for Industry 4.0 in the plastics world.

The strengths of the Soag group are represented by the geographical footprint of their production sites, but above all by their strong technological and organisational skills. In this context, it is at the forefront of collaborative robotic applications, component assembly operations and factory organisation already under Industry 4.0.

To demonstrate the close collaboration between the two companies Negri Bossi recently installed an 800 tonne ‘X-Concept’ machine in one of the SOAG plants. This service provides development and testing of new machines in a production environment. This model will form part of a brand new machines series due for launch at the end of this year.

Fatra, a.s. ranks among the world’s most significant plastic processing companies. In 2016, Fatra’s turnover was almost CZK 3.70 bill. with more than 75% of its production headed for international markets.

Fatra has recently taken delivery of five Negri Bossi Vector machines installed in their Czech Republic production plants in Napajedla and Chropyně, where they employ more than 1100 staff. Fatra, a.s. manufactures high quality components and specialised customer-tailored solutions, that includes not only production but also development activities and consultation. Fatra a.s. supplies products to over 50 countries worldwide. Materials processed include PVC-P, PVC-U, LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, EVA, PP, PET, and ABS. The company provides a wide range of services to its customers including their research laboratories, testing facilities, preparation of samples, advice on materials and technical consultation. The manufacturing is supported by established quality management and ecology systems ČSN ISO 9001 and ČSN ISO 14001. Fatra, a.s. has vindicated its certificates “Responsible Care” and “Safe Company” over several years.

Fatra is an integral part of the worldwide plastic processing industry, supplying injection moldings to international companies such as Ikea. The company’s success as a first-class supplier is based on customer care focussing on production accuracy, on time delivery and supply reliability.

Negri Bossi’s scope of supply includes both machine and complete automation systems. This enables Fatra to efficiently supply a final verified product. Whilst all the Negri Bossi machines maintain very high accuracy levels, the robot monitors the component weight with any parts out of tolerance being rejected into a dedicated container. After weight checking, a label dispenser adds a bar code label that the system verifies with an optical reader to validate position and readability. The products are stacked on a conveyor belt before moving to the warehouse.    

Mrs. Jitka Svobodova (Project Manager) of Fatra says: “At Fatra our focus is always on delivering a very reliable service to our customers. Negri Bossi help us achieve this and we see them more as a Partner than a supplier”.

The recent investment included new Negri Bossi 1100 tonne machines to manufacture a completely new product.

The 650 and 1100 tonne machines were all equipped with Negri Bossi beam robots and automation, which included scales, a labelling system, a conveyor belt and guarding.