While not a requirement of our clients, we considered it essential to place energy-saving and energy optimisation at the very heart of our strategy, thus adopting a responsible and forward -looking approach.
This approach starts with small everyday actions, such as switching off the light and air-conditioning when leaving a room; through clear instructions and targeted communications, these practices have been adopted by all our staff.
As well as these small gestures, this approach has even been applied to our investment strategy:
Having replaced two electric machines with the latest generation models, we are buying a further three new machines in 2020. Through this investment, we are renewing our means of production and improving our industrial performance while adhering to our energy commitments, as these machines consume 25% less power than a standard machine.
The materials to be used, though currently in short supply (due to global shortages resulting from the slowdown in production in the second quarter), is a subject that is already well integrated into our Project Teams’ day-to-day dealings with our clients.
Continuing to develop our know-how on the transformation of biomaterials, (See article in the journal Plastiliens 2019)
We believe that using recycled materials wherever and whenever possible is a responsible approach to adopt nowadays. This label is therefore a token of the approach we have been practising for a number of years.
Development of a support band for masks in partnership with a local client.
Wearing a protective mask for an extended period can cause irritation behind the ear. With this in mind, our client developed a solution to avoid this problem.
Our client, specialising in the production of promotional products, found in CEVA a fast-responding, local partner. While they were used to importing products, this was no longer possible in recent times.
CEVA TECHNOLOGIES is a company renowned for its knowledge of recycled and bio-sourced materials. Benoît Coutier, how did you come to be working with these materials?
Recycled materials and bio-sourced materials are two completely separate groups of materials. We have been using recycled materials since the company started production in 1997. The different industrial sectors we work for are particularly keen users of these materials, which offer an immediate economic benefit, without affecting the mechanical performance of the parts or used in proportions acceptable to our clients. With our experience in this field, we have access to regular supplies of materials of consistent quality from controlled sources, with no risk of disruption to the supply chain. We can therefore process these materials under similar conditions to high-quality raw materials.
This was a real discovery for biomaterials. The whole value chain was learning at the same time as us how to use these materials that we would never have thought of!
CEVA TECHNOLOGIES continues to invest in plastic welding
Faced with increasingly demanding projects and with an eye to continuous innovation, CEVA is continuing to invest in new technologies, such as riveting and thermofusing.
Welding can be used to join two plastic parts together, but in our applications it is usually a case of joining an injected part and a metal insert. The two methods we currently use differ in their technology and provide different solutions:
Riveting
Generally speaking, ultrasonic welding is the most advanced method for welding plastics in an industrial context. Riveting is a method for working plastic whereby the section of the plastic is increased to an exact point to achieve a specific form.
This can be done in two different ways:
By assembling two thermoplastics
Or by assembling a thermoplastic with another material (e.g. metals like aluminium)
It is this second method that we use in our applications. This involves modifying the plastic part locally in order to add a cylindrical projection.
The part shown below thus has two such projections that, once fused, will hold the insert in place.
Welding by thermofusing
Hot welding, also called thermofusing, is an industrial process for joining plastic parts with a low transformation temperature to a metal insert. A few precautions need to be observed: the insert must be completely free from grease to maximise the grip between the two assembled parts.
This alternative technique gives us greater flexibility for meeting our clients’ requirements.
Innovation at CEVA also involves investing in industrial robotics by introducing a new six-axis robotic arm; this solution with a wide range of actions offers our clients greater versatility and flexibility in the production of their plastics parts. This new high-performance tool opens the way to the faster production of plastics parts.
A new cutting-edge robotic solution for our clients!
This robot can handle loads of between 6 and 26 kg and so far has been used in conjunction with a 320-tonne bi-material press enabling it to unload, size and sort up to 10 different parts between two injections and within an optimised timeframe.
This arrangement has been designed to reduce operator time as far as possible, with the operator intervening once a system of light signals releases the parts.
To ensure the high level of reliability of this process, the robot carries out periodic systematic sampling of the parts, automatically without human intervention.
What are the main characteristics of a six-axis robotic arm?
A robot operating with six axes can reach any point in the workspace from any angle. This type of robot is therefore ideal for certain tasks such as:
• Transfer, manipulation, assembly, palletising, picking and placing, packaging, demoulding, loading, unloading, depalletising, finishing, extracting, etc.
A six-arm robot is able to:
• Grab a part from below, rotate it and replace it. • Open a drawer, take an object and close the drawer.
There are two ways to control a six-axis robotic arm:
• By setting a precise angle for each axis. • Also by setting a target for position (x,y,z) and rotation (x,y,z) relative to the origin of the coordinates.
In conclusion, this type of control offers unrivalled precision and a new solution for faster production.
Plastic injection-moulding specialist CEVA TECHNOLOGIES and SkiBat, who joined forces to produce an exclusive ski-holder solution, now supply various products tailored to different sectors of activity. The aim was to replace traditional plastics with bio-sourced materials.
These solutions are already in use in several areas of CEVA TECHNOLOGIES’ activities, such as aquariums, vineyards, tableware and childcare. The company is set to uncover new markets to respond to the needs of the future.
Working with their respective compound and formulation partners, these companies have found customised solutions for obtaining innovative materials. “When it came to manufacturing feeding bottles, we had to find a solution that was temperature-resistant and could be used in the microwave,” comments Benoît COUTIER, Commercial Manager at CEVA TECHNOLOGIES. “These materials do not behave like traditional polymers, so we then had to learn new manufacturing techniques. These new manufacturing materials (PLA and PHA) are living materials with a variable moisture content. So, we had to adapt our manufacturing processes.” These materials are obtained from corn starch, i.e. they are bio-sourced and bio-degradable.
These feeding bottles are made on special production lines to prevent the material being contaminated by other materials and to ensure the complete integrity and quality of the products.
Now we’ve overcome the technical problems, we need to win over the consumers! The difference in price between traditional manufacturing materials and naturally-sourced materials is still a hurdle to be overcome.
“Made in France” for green appeal
With our production site in France for transforming these biomaterials, there is a coherent logistics chain for supplying the various distributors.
These products are exported and some of these “Made in France” feeding bottles have already found their way to Asia and are set to conquer the European markets!
