Rototek

Rototek products shortlisted for Plastics Industry Awards

Posted by admin on 07 October, 2011

Products produced by Rototek have once again been shortlisted in the finals of the Plastics Industry Awards.

The Baliza utilities pedestal, manufactured for Rolec Services has been designed by TRIG Creative for installation into prestigious marina environments to provide luxury yachts and leisure craft with a range of metered utilities including water, electricity, TV and broadband. The elegant sculpted form compliments the luxurious modern marina environment whilst its unique one piece rotationally moulded body offers total sealed separation of electricity and water supply zones which greatly improves safety. This innovative new approach to marina utilities supply has caused great commercial interest both in the UK and Worldwide marine market.

The Rototek team was approached by Trig Creative early in the production process because of our technical moulding experience and exceptional quality standards demonstrated in our Kayak product range. We were able to assist in finailising the design specification and overseeing the mould manufacture with Midas Pattern Company, Bedford.

This is the second year in succession that Rototek have had products shortlisted for the Plastics Industry Awards, and we hope to repeat the success of 2010 which saw us manufacturing the winning product!

This year’s winner will be announced in October.

LINKS

Plastics Industry Awards 2011

Rolec Services

Trig Creative

Midas Pattern Company

Rototek Partnership Scoops two Industry Awards within a week!.

Posted by admin on 11 October, 2010

Kinneir Dufort’s e-Clean Hospital Bedside Cabinet developed alongside Rototek and designed for hospital equipment manufacturer Bristol Maid, has scooped two prestigious plastics design awards in a week! The innovative design was named as Industrial Product Design of the Year at the 2010 Plastics Industry Awards ceremony on 1st October 2010. Then, at the Mansion House in London on 7th October, Kinneir Dufort were presented with the Horners Award for Plastics Design and Innovation 2010. The Horners Award, established in 1947, and run jointly with the British Plastics Federation, is thought to be the oldest award for plastics design in the world.

The Bedside Cabinet design project was initiated when Kinneir Dufort, teamed up with hospital equipment manufacturer, Bristol Maid, were one of the teams selected by the Department of Health and the Design Council as part of the Design Bugs Out challenge in late 2008. The resultant design concept was reviewed by the Department of Health’s Expert Panel, and exhibited in prototype form at UK showcase hospitals during 2009. Refinement and development then took place with consultancy from Rototek to ensure suitability for the rotomoulding process, before the product was launched in May 2010.

Commenting on the award, Kinneir Dufort’s Design Director, Craig Wightman notes: “We’re very proud of our work on the Bedside Cabinet. It’s not every project that offers the opportunity for design to save lives, but the Design Bugs Out project set out to achieve just that, by encouraging the design of new products aimed at reducing Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs). We looked at Bristol Maid’s product range and considered the bedside cabinet to be a product which would benefit from innovation and creative design thinking. Having carefully researched the needs of patients and hospital staff, we started to explore potential design solutions. Our design team identified rotational moulding as a process we could use to create a product with smooth continuous surfaces, which would be easy to keep clean, and would have no joint or crevices to harbour infections.”

As well as innovative, easy-to-clean features such as removable drawers, a backless cabinet design, reversible assembly for right and left handed applications, and no-touch electronic locks, the final design relies upon excellent tooling and moulding to deliver the product detail and surface quality required in this demanding application. Craig Wightman adds: “Great credit is due to rotational moulders, Rototek for their input to the design, and to Persico in Italy who produced the tooling. In addition, the Bristol Maid team’s efforts, in optimising the production process with Rototek has done justice to the design and has pushed the boundaries of what rotational moulding can achieve. We are delighted that the Bedside Cabinet has been recognised as winner of both the Plastics Industry, and Horners Awards”

LINKS

Bristol Maid

Kinneir Dufort

Design Council - Design Bugs Out

RototEK COMPLETES THE INSTALLATION OF THE SECOND 7M LONG MACHINE.

Posted by admin on 30 March, 2010

In keeping with the continued growth of the Company, Rototek have recently completed the installation of the second of their large rock and roll machines capable of mouldings up to 7m in length and 3m in diameter.

The machines which dominate the new factory into which Rototek moved two years ago is exceeded in size by only one other machine in Europe, and that of less advanced design. Capable of turning out one piece dinghy hulls of seven metres in length, it was manufactured by Rotoline, a Brazilian company. with considerable input from the highly regarded Rototek team. The shuttle machine uses rock and roll movement and employs the Rototek process control software evolved by the company after initial work with the Rotolog programme at Queen’s Belfast.

The touch screen control gives a full picture of the temperature at key points in the mould’s four heating zones with the kind of sophisticated graphics and features normally associated with the injection moulding process. Full traceability is provided by the temperature history of each moulding based on readings taken by sensors within the mould.

The Rototek software ensures that each product is processed in optimum conditions regardless of ambient conditions. giving consistent products both in quality and allowing tight tolerances to be achieved. .A further benefit, also fitting in with Rototek’s philosophy. is that basing processing on temperature allows new polymers with smaller processing windows to be used with confidence.