In cooperation with Wegaplast, headquartered in Toscanella di Dozza, near Bologna (Italy), Engel has developed a production process for design objects, also using variothermal injection moulding technology. In this application the Swiss company HB-Therm is the partner for heating and cooling.

The little trees out of PC-ABS with a high-gloss piano black finish make a good figure whether as a doorstop, bookend, or smartphone holder for battery recharging. The objects have been designed by Francesca Acciardi, who has been awarded with a prize from the ISIA Design Institute in Faenza, Italy. During Plast 2015 they will be produced on a tie-bar-less victory 330/80 tech injection moulding machine equipped with a viper 6 robot. For controlling the whole injection moulding process centrally via the CC300 control panel of the injection moulding machine, HB-Therm's switching unit Vario-5 will be integrated using an interface.

The tie-bar-less clamping unit of the ENGEL victory injection moulding machine further contribute to a high overall efficiency. Since the mould mounting platens can be used to the hilt, the relatively large mould can be mounted on a small injection moulding machine, resulting in a compact manufacturing cell and low operating costs. The victory tech on show at Plast 2015 will feature the Engel ecodrive servo-hydraulic system. With ecodrive, the energy consumption of hydraulic drives is reduced by up to 70 %, depending on machine type and application.