Switching to Interflon Food Lube G100 with MicPol® technology pays off
D&D Kunststofbewerking saves 90% on lubricants
In Geldrop, the Netherlands, D&D Kunststofbewerking has been machining a wide range of plastics since 1999, using CNC turning and milling machines as well as advanced machining centres. On the advice of Interflon, the company switched to a different oil for its Busch vacuum pumps. This resulted in an oil temperature reduction of 20 °C and significant energy savings. Building on this success, D&D also replaced the lubricants for the X and Y axes of five Mazak machining centres, achieving a 90% reduction in lubricant consumption.
Founded in 1999, D&D Kunststofbewerking quickly outgrew its original facility and moved to a larger building just seven years later. The new facility provides ample space for a motivated team to machine and finish various types of plastics. The modern machine park includes machining centres, lathes and milling machines, seven robotic cells for production, and several finishing machines. Besides standard materials such as POM, PC, PMMA, HMPE and PTFE, D&D also processes high-performance plastics like PEEK, the thermoplastic Torlon and the heat-resistant Vespel. The company is also one of the few capable of machining HD fibre-reinforced epoxies.
Craftsmanship
A key market for D&D consists of machine builders active in the food, packaging, semiconductor and medical industries. The company produces guides, gears and machine components that, for various reasons, perform better when made of plastic rather than metal.
Wim van der Palen, Manager Production Support, explains: “Machining plastics is very different from machining metals. Heat generation during cutting processes can have a major impact on the final quality. It’s therefore essential to know the specific parameters, such as maximum cutting speed, spindle speed and cooling, for each material to ensure consistent quality. That’s why we only use tools specifically designed for plastic machining and carefully decide whether to machine dry or wet. Dry machining is cheaper because you don’t need coolant; you use compressed air for cooling instead. However, wet machining cools more effectively and produces a smoother surface, often reducing or even eliminating the need for manual finishing.”
Vacuum fixation
Sheet material is fixed on the milling machines and machining centres using vacuum systems powered by Busch vacuum pumps. These are maintained by an external service company, but D&D remains proactive about improvements.
“Before joining D&D, I worked at a company specialising in steel strip slitting and winding,” says Van der Palen. “That’s where I first worked with Interflon and had great experiences. Based on that, I invited Interflon to take a look at our processes here at D&D to see if there were opportunities for improvement.”
The results
That visit paid off. Three years ago, D&D started a trial by replacing the vacuum pump oil with Interflon Food Lube G100 with MicPol® technology. To their surprise, just 30 minutes after the oil change, the operating temperature dropped by 20 °C. This not only reduced energy consumption but also extended the service life of the pump components thanks to less wear.
The automatic lubrication of the Mazak VTC-300-II machining centre is done with Interflon Lube PN68.
Interflon also introduced Lube PN68 for lubricating the X and Y axes of five Mazak machining centres. By optimising the lubrication intervals in the automatic system, D&D achieved an impressive 90% reduction in lubricant consumption.
Encouraged by these results, the company continued exploring other opportunities for savings. One example is adding Interflon N251-H to the compressor oil, which reduces friction, extends oil and compressor life, and saves energy.
Looking ahead
Although machine maintenance is handled by an external partner, Wim van der Palen continues to closely monitor developments: “We’ll definitely keep looking for further savings in the future,” he says. “For example, we’re considering our larger screw compressors. We’ve also started using cleaning products such as Interflon Fin Clean to clean our products and machines, basically everything that needs degreasing.”
Wim van der Palen, Manager Production Support, discussing performance results with an Interflon Technical Advisor: “Our collaboration with Interflon is excellent. It’s reassuring to have a partner who supports us with technical advice, helps identify energy-saving opportunities and improves machine performance.”
Want to achieve similar energy and lubricant savings? Contact us to see how MicPol® technology can improve your performance.
