By July, P&G will close the iMFLUX site and move to royalty-free licensing through injection-machine vendors and third-party retrofitters. An iMFLUX R&D team will continue to develop the technology.
Control screen shows the constant-low-pressure green curve for iMFLUX vs. the blue standard injection curve with its sharp pressure spike that is said to be the root of common molding problems. (Photo: iMFLUX) Precision Molding
Procter & Gamble is implementing a new business model for its iMFLUX subsidiary. By July, P&G plans to close the 200,000-ft2 iMFLUX site in Hamilton, Ohio, and the venture will assume mainly an R&D role with a “focused expert team within P&G that will continue to drive the technology forward and further innovate and collaborate with the industry to enable adoption of the iMFLUX technology,” according to Gene Altonen, iMFLUX chief technology officer, who will remain with the iMFLUX team.
Since 2017, iMFLUX has been promoting proprietary technology for low-constant-pressure injection molding that is said to resolve many of the difficulties with conventional injection that result in poor part quality and rejects, among other issues. Last October, iMFLUX became the first injection molding technology to receive Underwriters Laboratories (UL) verification for three claims: “iMFLUX delivers up to 15% energy savings, up to 4% part weight reduction and automatically adapts to a ±52% MFI material shift.”
Going forward, iMFLUX technology will be disseminated mainly through injection machine suppliers, some 16 of which have already partnered with iMFLUX to integrate its technology into new machines, and with various other third-party vendors who retrofit iMFLUX technology for existing presses. iMFLUX also has a simulation partner in Moldex3D and seven education partners, including the American Injection Molding (AIM) Institute, U. Mass. Lowell, Ferris State University and Penn State Behrend. Another new element in the iMFLUX business model is implementation of royalty-free licensing, which Altonen says will “allow machinery OEMs to use the technology without the encumbrance of a complex business model. We believe going directly to the OEM and offering a simple, royalty-free licensing agreement should drive an incentive to do so”
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