WEST WARWICK, R.I.—Guill Tooling & Engineering believes that the best way it can help customers is not just to provide them with products, but to be problem solvers. With a full-service engineering staff on hand, that role of being a problem solver takes on greater importance, especially with its customers expecting more consultative services.
At the recent Interwire show in Atlanta, the largest and longest-running wire and cable show, the West Warwick-based firm featured its in-line, five-layer extrusion crosshead of its 800 series. The offering is a single-point concentricity extrusion crosshead and Bullet II extrusion head.
The 800 series are used in a wide variety of industries and applications, according to R.J. Masse, a Guill sales manager and sales engineer. "Bullet heads are a wonderful fit for single-layer applications typically in wire and cable for jacketing conductors," he said. "The 800 series has found a home in multi-layer applications such as medical tubing and also for industrial applications where tight tolerance wall thicknesses are required."
The Bullet heads are a cost and time saving solution when compared to other heads on the market, Masse said. They have a fixed-center design that requires no intervention from the operator to make "in spec" product. Secondly, the ease of disassembly of both the Bullet I & II heads saves time and money by being easy to clean and maintain.
Guill also said the 800 series fits into cost and time saving goals of customers. "The bottom line is that both the end user and the plant manager are satisfied," Masse said. "Our heads satisfy the operator because they are simple to use and maintain. The plant manager is happy because the heads reduce the startup time, cleanup time and also the scrap normally generated with older style heads."
Potential 'game changer'
One of the latest advancements developed by Guill has a chance to become a game changer, according to Sales Manager Bill Conley. He said the firm has manufactured and is now selling a 500 series crosshead with mechanically assisted gum space (MAGS) adjustment. The 500 series is designed specifically for the flow characteristics and unique processing challenges of elastomeric compounds.
One of the key features engineered by Guill as part of the new crosshead design is the MAGS adjustment system. This new method of gum space adjustment allows the operator to make an effortless adjustment from a single point using a common socket wrench. Gum space refers to the distance between the face of a dye and front of the tip.