Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Due to the ever-growing need for auto-parts manufacturers to be as cost-competitive as possible, manufacturers need to eliminate any potential source of downtime that would affect their ability to meet the demands of their customers. Vuteq Canada manufactures automotive interior trim, glass assembly, through vacuum forming and custom assembly. One of the least predictable, and most costly sources of downtime are failures in the vacuum forming / injection molding process, where ejector pins from the forms and molds do not retract correctly after ejecting a newly formed part, which results in damage to the molds and defective parts when the form/mold closes, thereby bending/crushing these pins. This results in costly downtime to repair mold surfaces, as well as losses in malformed parts prior to detection of the problem. Conestoga's research team will examine a number of techniques to provide an early warning system of non-retracted ejector pins, to allow the forming/molding process to be halted before damage to the mold occurs. This will minimize downtime and ensure that Vuteq remains a highly competitive, high quality manufacturer of automotive parts.