Digital Twin in plastic injection manufacturing – meet Tekkan Plastic!

Our next digital twin champion that we want to introduce you is Tekkan Plastic from Turkey. The company has been part of Change2Twin funding and mentoring programme and has created a digital twin of their plastic injection manufacturing process. Their project is called InjecTwin.

Tekkan Plastic in a nutshell

The company was established in 1989 and is now a premier company based in the city of Kocaeli, on halfway between Istanbul and Izmit, specializing in plastic injection, part production, and assembly for household appliances and automotive sectors. With more than 350 employees, including 40 dedicated researchers in its R&D center, Tekkan excels in innovative mould design and composite materials, catering to Tier-1 manufacturers such as Koç Group companies like Arçelik, Beko, and more.  

Purpose of the digital twin

InjecTwin aims to transform plastic injection manufacturing processes by enhancing Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and product quality. Traditionally, product quality in plastic injection has relied heavily on the expertise of engineers, with deviations from optimal conditions leading to defects and reduced quality. The InjecTwin addresses this by providing real-time insights from moulding machines, enabling swift identification of defects and anomalies and minimizing their impact on production schedules and costs. By predicting product quality, guiding operators’ decision-making, and facilitating early machine calibration, the InjecTwin will significantly improve good part output and contribute to increased OEE.

This proactive approach will not only reduce manufacturing errors and machine malfunctions but also mitigate raw material loss, fostering scalability for Tekkan Plastik. Through collaborative efforts Tekkan Plastik will deploy a comprehensive digital twin solution. Leveraging a robust architecture with modules for data acquisition, database management, learning, and visualization, the project aims to deliver tangible outcomes, including technical reports, process documentation, and a user manual. Despite potential challenges such as sensor defects or operator adaptation issues, Tekkan Plastik is committed to proactive risk mitigation strategies, including early sensor testing, operator training, and adherence to industry standards for data security and interoperability.  

Benefits of the digital twin

The InjectTwin has been providing periodic output contributing to the understanding of our production conditions, seasonality changes, differences between our product portfolio. We now have a platform that can both collect and monitor data, while also providing real-time predictions related to product quality. This will enable us to stay informed about the status of our processes and to make informed decisions. With the infrastructure in place, our data collection services seamlessly communicate with AI-based Digital Twin services, tailored to our specific processes at Tekkan. Once the prediction service infrastructure is ready, we will be able to track predictions as well. 

Next steps

Tekkan plans to continue refining and expanding the capabilities of their digital twin. This involves both extensions and adjustments to optimize its performance further. As we gain more insights and experience with its usage, we’ll adapt the digital twin to better suit our evolving needs and challenges. Ultimately, our goal is to harness its full potential to enhance our processes and decision-making. Additionally, we aim to extend the deployment of the digital twin across all injection machines in the factory. 

“After implementing the digital twin solution, our manufacturing processes underwent a remarkable transformation. The insights and predictions generated by the digital twin have significantly improved our product quality and operational efficiency. I am thoroughly excited with the upcoming results and would highly recommend this solution to other companies seeking to optimize their production processes.” 
Yeşim Aslan, Research and Development Lead in Tekkan Plastik

Congratulations to your great achievements and good luck with your digital twin!