Press Release: RJG Adds iMFLUX Technology to Injection Molding Solutions Portfolio

We are pleased to announce the North America winner of the third annual RJG Mold Smart Award™, Comar!

The Mold Smart Award celebrates injection molding companies who have fully committed to improving the quality of their products, lives and the world by implementing a variety of RJG solutions. This year, RJG is presenting one award in two of their global locations: North America and Latin America.

Comar began implementing RJG in 2020, utilizing the technology to provide a standard process model across the global organization and implementing training into their onboarding and job scaling practices. This model has provided consistent product and confidence to their customers as well as retaining and growing a confident, educated and knowledgeable staff. This corporate led initiative has been driven within the Comar facilities by a team that includes members from each location and their committed employees.

Comar has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to achieving the highest standards of quality, efficiency and innovation in their molding processes. Their partnership with RJG has been instrumental in driving this commitment, enabling them to elevate their operations to new heights. The measurable improvements Comar has achieved in defect reduction, cycle time optimization and overall operational efficiency showcase their dedication to excellence. Through the implementation of RJG’s methodologies, they have experienced substantial advancements that have positively impacted their bottom line and customer satisfaction.

“Working with RJG has brought about significant positive changes within our organization, profoundly impacting our molding processes, efficiency, and overall quality standards,” said Raul Avitia, Process engineer, Comar Rancho Cucamonga facility. “One of the measurable changes we experienced was a remarkable reduction in defect rates. Through RJG’s expert training and implementation of their scientific molding techniques, our defect rates dropped significantly within the first quarter of applying RJG methodologies. Additionally, RJG’s emphasis on continuous training and skill development has led to a notable improvement in our team’s expertise. Our operators and technicians, equipped with advanced knowledge and techniques learned from RJG’s training programs.”

“We are thrilled to extend our sincerest congratulations to Comar for their outstanding achievement in receiving this esteemed award,” said Rob Nugent, CEO of RJG. “Seeing the successes and return on investment by implementing the team’s knowledge from the RJG training and technology is why we do what we do. Comar’s massive success is an inspiration to our team and to me, and their unwavering dedication and commitment to excellence have set a remarkable standard in our industry. We are honored to present this well-deserved accolade and celebrate their continued success.”

The other winner of the Mold Smart Award is Flextronics Plastics in Latin America.

Flextronics Plastics has spent over 50 years making great products for their customers that create value and improve people’s lives. Delivering manufacturing services and solutions across 30 countries, Flextronics Plastics partners with leading brands in various industries and end markets around the world—all while stewarding sustainable operational practices that minimize environmental impact. Read more.

About Comar:

Comar is a contract manufacturing partner for healthcare companies worldwide and a leading provider of primary packaging and dispensing products. Through a distinct blend of fresh thinking, engineering edge, and customer focus, Comar brings transformative plastic solutions from concept to reality, where they can positively impact the world around us.   Comar is majority-owned by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

We are pleased to announce the Latin America winner of the third annual RJG Mold Smart Award™, Flextronics Plastics!

The Mold Smart Award celebrates injection molding companies who have fully committed to improving the quality of their products, lives and the world by implementing a variety of RJG solutions. This year, RJG is presenting one award in two of their global locations: North America and Latin America.

Flextronics Plastics is committed to the development of their people and processes. They have provided a space in their first-class facilities in order to carry out each of the RJG training sessions while empowering their team to harness the power of RJG technology and processes. Flextronics Plastics represents loyalty, commitment and responsibility towards success, both for their organization and their individual team members.

Through the combination of training and technology, Flextronics Plastics was able to increase overall part quality, reduce cycle times and extend the life of their injection molding tools. This greatly impacted their overall equipment effectiveness while reducing scrap. Employees are now able to quickly solve problems with minimal interference of production processes and improve overall customer satisfaction.

“Our most valuable experience is having RJG as a strategic partner to make the change in our organization and the professionalization of our collaborators through the development of new skills,” stated Jose Emmanuel Olmos Tinoco of Flextronics Plastics. “These competencies identified through the need for training allow us to have a competitive advantage to be able to face the new challenges that the industry demands. We are certain that we are being trained by one of the best companies in the world.”

“We are thrilled to offer this award to Flextronics Plastics for their unwavering dedication and tireless commitment to mold smart,” said Rob Nugent, CEO of RJG. “Watching clients succeed and surpass their goals is why we absolutely love what we do, and Flextronics Plastics is a shining example of that. This honor is a testament to their outstanding contributions and remarkable leadership. We commend them for their continued success and are privileged to join in celebrating this well-deserved recognition.”

The other winner of the Mold Smart Award is Comar in North America.

Comar is a contract manufacturing partner for healthcare companies worldwide and a leading provider of primary packaging and dispensing products. Through a distinct blend of fresh thinking, engineering edge, and customer focus, Comar brings transformative plastic solutions from concept to reality, where they can positively impact the world around us. Comar is majority-owned by Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. Read more.

About Flextronics Plastics:

Flextronics Plastics has spent over 50 years making great products for their customers that create value and improve people’s lives. Delivering manufacturing services and solutions across 30 countries, Flextronics Plastics partners with leading brands in various industries and end markets around the world—all while stewarding sustainable operational practices that minimize environmental impact.

On Friday January 26, 2024, we had the distinct honor of hosting Michigan State Representative Betsy Coffia at our headquarters in Traverse City, Michigan. The goal of this visit was for Rep. Coffia to get a better understanding of the manufacturing industry in Northwest Lower Michigan, including their needs, challenges and goals.

During her visit, significant emphasis was placed on the skills gap facing manufacturers of all types and the need for technology to fill that gap.  Rep. Coffia had the opportunity to use our latest approach to this type of technology, our artificial intelligence software, MAX.  Even though she had no prior experience using an injection molding machine, Rep. Coffia was able to diagnose that the process running on our press did not match the qualified process and then followed MAX’s step-by-step instructions to fix the problem on her own.

MAX utilizes AI technology powered by proven Master Molder® techniques to provide molders with real-time, expert guidance allowing them to keep their injection molding processes under control. This smart assistant monitors process parameters in real-time and offers troubleshooting advice to help molders rapidly resolve issues and improve productivity. Molding Automation Xperience, or MAX for short, marks a significant enhancement to the CoPilot system, demonstrating the company’s commitment to leveraging AI to deliver molders an unparalleled level of control, efficiency and quality.

“It was a pleasure hosting Rep. Coffia and demonstrating the future direction of our technology and innovation,” said  Mike Groleau, Chairman of the Board at RJG. “We are dedicated to preparing molders for tomorrow’s success while helping them overcome today’s challenges, and this was such a great way to showcase the hard work of our entire team.”

Prior to being named Michigan’s State Representative, Coffia held the title of Grand Traverse County Commissioner. She grew up in a working class family in rural Kalkaska County and has deep roots in northern Michigan.  Over the last decade, she has recruited and mentored multiple women who have run for office, including multiple Millennial and Gen-Z women now in political leadership positions.

This event was organized by Traverse Connect, the lead economic development organization for the Grand Traverse region, which supports area businesses through a combination of business attraction and retention strategies, talent development efforts and strategic coordination among partner agencies. 

“Thank you for the wonderful tour this past Friday. RJG is an exceptional organization with exceptional people,” stated Krista Esckilsen, Investor Engagement Coordinator at Traverse Connect.

“We truly appreciate Rep. Coffia and Traverse Connect for taking the time to visit RJG and learn more about the importance of technology and manufacturing businesses to the growth and vitality of our region,” stated Groleau.

Starting January 5, 2024, we are now offering individual units for our Math for Molders eLearning course. This will allow you to pick and choose which aspects of math you’d like to brush up on before moving forward with more challenging RJG courses. However, if you choose to buy the full course, you get one of the 8 units for free!

Math for Molders provides foundational math skills practice to prepare you for process development, troubleshooting, and machine testing that are involved in more advanced RJG courses. This online eLearning course allows you to complete each module at your own pace, including the replaying of sections you may struggle with. There are eight units in the course with multiple interactive modules in each that include videos, animations, and practice activities. Utilizing real scenarios, you will be more prepared to calculate data, enabling you to match mold requirements with appropriate machines and avoid common defects while preventing mold and machine damage.

Here is a breakdown of each of the 8 Math for Molders eLearning units available:

• Unit 1, Area (2.5 hours): Calculate area of various shapes (squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, and irregular shapes), and calculate total projected area at the parting line
• Unit 2, Ratios (1.5 hours): Calculate ratios used in screw design (compression ratio and L/D ratio) and intensification ratios for hydraulic machines
• Unit 3, Volume (1.5 hours): Calculate volumetric shot size and barrel capacity using a volume formula triangle
• Unit 4, Percent Usage (30 minutes): Calculate percent usage of barrel capacity, cushion, and maximum injection pressure
• Unit 5, Distance-Speed-Time (30 minutes): Calculate linear stroke, and calculate actual fill and speed using a distance, speed, and time formula triangle
• Unit 6, Averages (30 minutes): Calculate average cavity pressure, platen deflection, and part weight
• Unit 7, Percent Change and Variation (1 hour): Calculate percent change of part weights and of actual and expected fill times, and calculate percent variation of multiple parts in a multi-cavity mold
• Unit 8, Force-Pressure-Area (1 hour): Calculate maximum available clamp force and minimum required clamp force using a force, pressure, and area triangle

Units cost $65 each, or you can purchase the entire course for $445 (a 17% savings!) Available languages are English Imperial, English Metric, and Spanish Imperial.

For more information and to register, click here!

We have been waiting very eagerly to announce our newest product… an AI-powered injection molding process advisor, now part of CoPilot®!

Meet MAX, the Process Advisor™. MAX utilizes AI technology powered by proven Master Molder® techniques to provide you with real-time, expert guidance to optimize your injection molding processes.

Today, molders encounter an increasingly pressing and distinctive challenge: a shortage of skilled processors to troubleshoot their injection molding processes, resulting in excessive scrap, machine downtime, and wasted engineering hours. We developed MAX to assist in bridging that skills gap and reducing waste during production.

This smart assistant monitors process parameters in real-time and offers troubleshooting advice to help molders rapidly resolve issues and improve productivity. Molding Automation Xperience, or MAX for short, marks a significant enhancement to the CoPilot system, demonstrating our commitment to leveraging AI to deliver molders an unparalleled level of control, efficiency, and quality.

MAX works to ensure injection molding processes are up and running at peak performance. MAX also helps address the skills gap while tackling molders’ needs to minimize scrap and downtime, boost efficiency, and enhance part quality.

Featuring an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, MAX offers guidance to molders by delivering step-by-step instructions for restoring a process to optimal performance. This empowers personnel on the floor, regardless of their experience, to handle process issues effectively, enabling them to make an immediate impact.

“Throughout our journey, RJG has been partnering with our clients to help their businesses achieve exceptional results by providing process control consulting, training, and technology. We understand and have consistently solved the persistent challenges they face, from the scarcity of skilled workers to the paralyzing downtime caused by unresolved process issues, as well as increased scrap rates due to process adjustments gone wrong. MAX, our AI-powered solution to these problems, integrates RJG’s proven Master Molder processing knowledge within our technology, so that clients receive actionable value that improves operational efficiency, reduces downtime and scrap, and empowers data-driven decisions that drive tangible business outcomes.”

– Jason Yoffy, Director of Product

MAX marks a significant advancement in an already feature-rich CoPilot process control system. The CoPilot allows users to:

• Monitor and control injection molding processes to ensure high quality parts
• Receive real-time, on-screen notifications when a machine is down or producing suspect parts
• Get step-by-step advice for fixing a process
• Set alarm limits and templates for process matching
• View data from each shot
• Automatically retain suspect parts and understand what happened in the process
• Access total part and process audit records
• Build efficiency through process automation

For existing RJG customers looking to transition from eDART® systems to CoPilot systems, we have launched a time-limited buy-back initiative, providing credits for their new systems. Contact us for more information and to see if your equipment qualifies.

MAX is now accessible as an upgrade to the CoPilot. Contact us for additional details on how to install it on your systems.

We are now offering a new data migration tool so eDART® users can transfer their data to the CoPilot® quickly and seamlessly, and to make it even easier, we are willing to do the data transfer for you free of charge for a limited time.

We are proud to announce this game-changing development in data transfer capabilities. You can now seamlessly transfer essential mold and process configurations and template data from the eDART system to the CoPilot, ushering in a new era of efficiency and productivity. To celebrate this exciting innovation, we are offering limited-time assistance to clients looking to make the transition.

The eDART system has long been recognized for its exceptional ability to monitor and control various aspects of the injection molding process, but we are making the transition over to the new CoPilot System. CoPilot is the industry’s latest process control system that offers complete visibility and traceability in a user-friendly platform that makes it easier than ever to fix a process, no matter your experience level.

To support you during this transition from eDART to CoPilot, we are offering limited-time assistance free of charge, ensuring a smooth onboarding experience and helping you hit the ground running without having to recreate templates on each CoPilot. Our team of experts will complete the data transfer and ensure its accuracy while working closely with you to facilitate a seamless transition.

This integration comes as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering innovative solutions that empower manufacturers to improve their production processes, enhance product quality, and drive operational excellence.

For more information about the data transfer tool or to see if you qualify, please visit: https://rjginc.com/copilot-migration/ or contact RJG Customer Support at support@rjginc.com for inquiries and support.