M4E #16: Plastic tube extrusion process
Today’s video introduces how plastic tubes are manufactured following a process called extrusion through which objects (tubes) are created by pushing material (hot plastic) through a die of the desired cross-section. Following next, with music from the Black Eyed Peas in the background, you will see this entire process explained by Freelin Wade an Oregon based company dedicated to tube manufacturing. Enjoy it!
Time for Insights… and Homework!
Let’s review some past concepts. What type of layout is seen in the video and is the process continuous or discrete?
Can you see some kind of lean waste in this process?
Last week M4E’s post was dedicated to circular economy. As you probably already know, at the moment plastics end up as waste at seas, soil and even in the air in the form of microplastics, posing a high environmental risk and with uncertain but potential harmful effects for people and animal’s health. Hence the importance of circularity, recyclability and keeping them out of the environment. As explained in last week post, R&D is crucial in this field to achieve these goals.