New Moves At 493K

Despite the current worldwide financial downturn, 493K is forging ahead with a major expansion of its capabilities and activities.

493K Limited, started by Dr Gareth McDowell in 2003 is well known as a provider of innovative process control systems for the rotomoulding industry. Through products such as K-KONTROL and K-PAQ, 493K has spearheaded the move from traditional temperature/time based control to real-time, in-mould temperature analysis.

In January 2009 a new company was formed, 493K International Limited, which will handle worldwide sales of 493K products and will provide full technical support to customers. It will also offer a global consultancy service which will draw on the deep and varied industry expertise of all the joint venture partners.

This move will free up resources within 493K Limited to concentrate on research and product development. 493K Limited Managing Director, Dr Gareth McDowell commented: “We already have a number of product enhancements and new concepts that we wish to bring to the rotomoulding market and we believe that a renewed focus will speed up our Idea-to-Launch process and will reduce product development times.”

The new company, 493K International, will be headed up by Dr Nick Henwood. Nick has over twenty years of experience in the rotomoulding industry and is an acknowledged expert in the area of materials for rotomoulding.

Dr Nick Henwood added: “I am delighted to have become a part of this innovative and successful group of companies. Since 493K Limited started, I have greatly admired the contribution they have made to the world-wide roto industry.”

IMPORTANT Date for Your Diary

At 493K, our mission is to help rotomoulders squeeze the absolute maximum out of their equipment and process. To this end, we will be organising a series of Technical Seminars on the theme of ‘How to Save Costs in Rotomoulding by Improving Process and Quality Control.’ The first of these seminars will be held in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2009.

In due course we will be publishing more details about these events on our website www.493K.com.

493K StAR In Delhi Conference

493K Limited Managing Director, Dr Gareth McDowell, recently ran a one-day workshop and seminar event at the StAR International Rotomoulding Conference, held in Delhi, India. StAR is the new name for the trade organisation that was formerly the South Asia Region Division of ARM International.

Gareth’s subject was "Increasing Efficiency in a Challenging Economic Climate", which is particularly relevant to a rotomoulding industry that is suffering from the type of commercial climate in which we all find ourselves.

Details of Gareth’s presentation are available to download from www.493k.com.

Peter Luxford Has Joined 493K International

Peter Luxford has joined 493K international as an Associate Technical Advisor. In this new role, he will service customers’ needs in the field by advising on and demonstrating our range of process control equipment. He will also provide consultancy to rotomoulders and suppliers in his specialist field, materials preparation and handling.

Peter’s career in polymers began in 1976, when he joined Yardley Plastics in a production role. He rose from the shop floor to a key management position where he was responsible for the training of production staff on several different UK sites.

Peter moved to Matrix Polymers in 1997 to set up and develop a brand new colour and powder plant in the Merseyside area. In this role he was responsible for the rapid growth of the operation and the company became a leading supplier of innovative materials, customer service and technical support to the European rotomoulding market. As Matrix grew he became involved in managing the development of two new manufacturing sites, in the USA and in Poland. In parallel with his production responsibilities, Peter travelled extensively across Europe, USA and Asia to provide training and technical advice to the polymer and plastics industries.

Dr Nick Henwood, Managing Director of 493k International commented: “I have known Peter as an associate and a colleague for nearly twenty years and I am delighted to be able to bring him into the 493K team. Throughout his career, Peter has demonstrated a real talent for training, educating and problem solving in an industrial environment. We intend to fully utilise his expertise to provide a world class service and advice package to new and existing customers.”

Effective March 2009, Peter will start to visit customers and he will play a major role in the forthcoming 493K Technical Seminar (see above).

NOW AVAILABLE – Enhanced K-KONTROL Slip-Ring System

Once again, we’ve listened to our customers! We have made some modifications to our slip-rings to make them significantly more robust. These design modifications will provide a heavier plate design, more robustness against misuse and rough handling, a one-point adjustment for contact alignment and heavier duty thermocouple connectors.

K-KONTROL is a high temperature slip-ring that attaches permanently to the arm of a machine and continuously measures mould temperature. Unlike our portable systems (K-PAQ family of products), the electronic components are located outside the oven so insulation and cooling is not required.

Although we have carried out a number of K-KONTROL retrofits to existing machines this is a system ideally suited to installation during a new machine build. Most of the major machine builders (e.g: Caccia, Ferry, Polivinil, Roto-Line, SAT, STB and STP) have all fitted our equipment on machines.

NOW AVAILABLE – K-FACE Human Machine Interface

This development was also made as a result of customer feedback during on-site trials.

To date, the normal way of using products like K-PAQ, K-KARRY and K-ROCK has been to link our radio receiver to a standard PC. Using K-KORD, a full range of data and analysis can be observed on the computer screen.

However, many moulders told us that, for continuous operation, they would prefer a more simple and robust system. Laptops and industrial environments often don’t mix! K-FACE is designed to provide a single channel temperature read-out, plus visual and audible alarms. It works completely independent of any PC connection.

NOW AVAILABLE - Upgraded K-Kord Software

K-KORD, our operating software for K-PAQ and related products, has been significantly enhanced and is now available as a free 35-day trial copy from:  http://www.493k.com/files/beta/KKordBetaSetup.exe.

We do a lot of equipment trials on-site with customers and we always take note of any feedback we are given. Customers often asked for a view of the software that was more geared to operators so we have designed a ‘dash-board’ screen where all the relevant data and alarms can be shown in a clear simple-to-view format. 

For the more technically minded, K-KORD now also provides voltage outputs that can be linked direct to the machine PLC. This is intended to provide an easier interface for moulders who wish to use our equipment to automatically control their process.

Click Here: http://www.493k.com/files/beta/KKordBetaSetup.exe