WHEELING, ILL.—Dynomax Inc. plans during 2012's first quarter to boost its capacity to process thermoset and fluorosilicone resins with three new Arburg injection molding machines: two 110-ton electrics and one 28-ton hydraulic.
The Wheeling-based company is making a “strong push into medical” molding and tool making, said Mark Zic, director of business development. Currently, “we are doing some small runs” in the medical market, he said.
Dynomax operates 13 hydraulic and seven electric presses with a total clamping-force range of 38-110 tons, shot sizes of 0.6-7.6 ounces and various vertical and horizontal configurations. Most are Arburgs with a few Engels. Six presses were added in late 2010 with three having integrated Fanuc robotics and one having a micro-injection unit, the company said.
Dynomax said it lacks clean-room capability but will invest as needs dictate. In furthering the medical effort, Dynomax will exhibit at UBM Canon's Medical Design & Manufacturing West trade show Feb. 13-16 in Anaheim, Calif.
During 2010, aerospace and defense work accounted for about 60 percent of Dynomax sales. While withholding sales details, the firm budgeted about $5 million for 2011 capital investments, about the same as in 2010.
In April 2010, Dynomax moved its headquarters to a new location in Wheeling from a Mundelein facility that uses the space for additional plastics processing and mold making. Dynomax has other operations in Lincolnshire and Buffalo Grove.
The four facilities in northern suburbs of Chicago are located within 11 miles of each other. Total space is about 200,000 square feet.
The Mundelein site utilizes about 12,000 square feet for injection molding operations with 16 employees and 8,000 square feet for tooling activities with 12 staff members. Those in Mundelein also handle related planning, engineering, inspection, assembly and machining functions.
The facility manufactures and assembles parts that may require high-precision tolerances down to plus or minus 0.0002 of an inch. Micromolding accounts for about 75 percent of the firm's plastics processing.
Parts include grommets and brackets for cable and harness management, specialty aircraft interior components and interconnect-system devices. Dynomax said it uses highly engineered resins including epoxies that may reach 540°F during processing and post-curing stages.
Pick-and-place Fanuc robots insert metallic pieces, and other Fanuc systems pull difficult-to-release silicone parts from hot runner molds and then cut them apart.
Dynomax uses electrical-discharge-machining and computer-numerical-control tools to make hardened steel molds for in-house injection and insert molding requirements and, as requested, for other processors.