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You’ll be able to choose from a rich buffet of injection molding expertise at our Molding 2021 Conference, a live, in-person event coming up Sept. 21-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago O’Hare Airport. It’s one of your first chances in more than a year to interact face to face with experts in primary machinery, controls, auxiliary equipment, tooling, materials, and “smart factory” networking, among other topics.

At last! An opportunity to interact in person with industry experts in conference sessions and tabletop exhibits.

In recent blogs, we previewed the first two morning General Sessions on Green Molding and Digital Manufacturing, as well as the three afternoon breakout sessions on Wed., Sept. 22. Here is a summary of what you can expect in the first afternoon’s breakout sessions, Tues., Sept. 21:

Green Molding & Robotics/Automation: We already noted the Green Molding talks in this split-focus session, but you’ll also hear about the new “collaborative” robots, or “cobots,” and where they fit in an injection molding operation, from Universal Robots; how to determine whether you need a robot with three, five, or six axes, from Sepro America; and how to choose which operations to automate, from Yushin America.

Technologies for Optimizing Quality & Productivity: That’s an invitation hard to resist! Learn how to eliminate stringing and other headaches from nozzle tips, from consultant and Plastics Technology magazine’s Tooling Know-How columnist Jim Fattori. An eye-opening presentation on “How Second-Stage Injection Speed Influences Your Process”—yes, that’s second-stage speed, not pressure—will be presented by RJG, Inc.

Meanwhile, “Hot-Runner Solutions for the Medical Industry” will be the topic of Mold-Masters. Other talks in this wide-ranging session will cover “Adaptive Gravimetric Dosing Control with Remote Monitoring & Control,” from Micro Interface Design; how to optimize the drying process and control resin performance, from Novatec; “Smart Factories” as the future of plastics production with 4.0 connectivity and condition monitoring, from Wittmann Battenfeld; and factor selection for Design of Experiment (DOE) in injection molding, from consultant, trainer and frequent Plastics Technology contributor Suhas Kulkarni.

LSR Molding/Auxiliary Equipment: Another split-focus session will start out with an hour-long introduction to the essentials of LSR materials and processing (an excellent talk I heard at a company open house a couple of years ago), presented by R.D. Abbott. Other LSR topics will include solutions to today’s multicomponent silicone molding needs, from Arburg; and molding equipment for challenging LSR molding, from Plustech, Inc.

Switching gears, a speaker from ACS Group will explain “How Pneumatic Conveying Systems Can Improve Performance in Molding,” and one from Moretto USA will address “Sophistication in Compact Resin Dryers.”

That’s a lot to choose from! While you’re mulling that over, head to the Molding Conference website to register and check out the hotel options. Also learn about the first-ever Hot Shots Molded Parts Competition—it’s not too late to show off your company’s skills by submitting one of your own projects that you’re proud of.