Technology Center
Real-Word Wax-Room Solutions
“The MPI Technology Center is the centerpiece of our manufacturing facility. It is where engineering, innovation and research and development intersect to create solutions to wax-room problems, regardless of how challenging they may appear.”
– Aaron Phipps, President
Located at MPI’s world headquarters in New York, the Technology Center is a hub of innovation, ingenuity and problem-solving. Customers and suppliers alike visit this state-of-the-art facility to discover new ways to solve their unique wax-room challenges and to experience MPI’s industry-leading equipment first-hand.
The MPI Technology Center is a state-of-the-art wax room where customers can observe a totally automated facility in full operation, including automated injection and automated assembly. The wax room is also equipped with a variety of MPI’s world-leading wax injectors of various models and configurations. The Technology Center was designed to allow customers to experience first-hand the quality of the machines as well as the quality of the parts that MPI equipment can produce, all of which impacts their bottom line.
REAL-WORLD WAX-ROOM SOLUTIONS
AUTOMATION DEMONSTRATION
The MPI Technology Center also allows MPI to demonstrate the variation reduction and casting yield increases that can be achieved through automation using the customers’ own waxes and dies, prior to having to make a capital investment, thus providing a true “try it before you buy it” experience. Customers are able to observe first-hand how automation reduces pattern to pattern variation, assembly to assembly variation and eliminates poor wax welds. MPI has successfully automated customers in the aerospace, medical, automotive, and commercial industries.
PATTERN PRODUCTION SERVICES
MPI not only operates a full range of semi-automatic injectors but also a fully automated pattern production facility within the MPI Technology Center. This provides MPI with the unique opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge and experience making wax patterns and assemblies on its own equipment. By obtaining immediate feedback in a real wax-room environment, MPI consistently conducts evaluations which lead to improved performance levels.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Research and development has always been at the core of MPI’s mission. Customers can take advantage of MPI’s extensive R&D capabilities to prove out processes without worry about disruption to their day-to-day production schedule. MPI regularly develops specialized equipment to meet the unique needs of their customers and to create solutions to highly technical challenges.
MPI and the Technology Center also work with leading universities such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and organizations such as New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on R&D projects that support the development of new manufacturing technology and innovative products.
WAX TESTING
If a customer is considering changing wax, the MPI Technology Center can run validation trials that will demonstrate the specific results they can expect to achieve, their anticipated return on investment, and the resulting benefits in their downstream operations. MPI recently collaborated with a client and two wax vendors to solve the client’s long-standing wax problem. That case study is available here.
OPERATOR/ENGINEER TRAINING
The Technology Center offers a wide array of services to MPI customers including the opportunity to have their equipment operators and process engineers trained in a hands-on, real-world production environment. Customers can also perform die testing, process setup, die optimization, recipe setup and verification, and produce assemblies ready for shell.
PROCESS VALIDATION
The MPI Technology Center specializes in process control and process validation. By working to evaluate and develop high-level control capabilities, a wide range of wax-room problems can be mitigated or eliminated, leading to increased productivity, gains in casting yield, and decreased scrap.
LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES…
This is just a partial list of the Tech Center’s capabilities. Regardless of the type of challenges you are facing in your wax room, chances are good that MPI either has the solution or can develop a cost-effective solution for you. It is also why customer and vendor demand is high to visit the MPI Technology Center. It is truly an eye-opening, one-of-a-kind experience, and an education on the possibilities that can be achieved in the wax room. Customers witness first-hand how much more can be accomplished when they utilize great equipment with the highest process control capability in the industry.
