Milacron Kicks Off Large-Machine Plan for China, Showing Locally-Built 650-ton Maxima at AP PLAS

Two-platen Maxima Brings High-Throughput Processing, Large Mold Daylight and Great Application Versatility to Automotive and Large Part Molding

July 8, 2005 - Milacron Inc. (NYSE:MZ) kicks off big plans for the Chinese molding market by presenting its two-platen Maxima big-machine line at AP PLAS, July 13-16, in Shanghai. The company will be demonstrating a 650-ton Maxima injection machine built by Milacron China.  Milacron is now selling locally built Maximas in China in metric sizes from 500 tons to 4000 tons. "We see a special opportunity for large, world-class molding technology, particularly with international companies that are setting up or expanding manufacturing in China," said Dr. Karlheinz Bourdon, Milacron president of global plastics machinery.

In fact, the 650-ton machine is the smallest built to date in China by Milacron, the first under 1000 metric tons, he pointed out. The local plant is currently assembling a 1600-ton Maxima and will follow it immediately with two 3000-ton Maximas, he added.

For AP PLAS, the Maxima 650 will be running an automotive part, an ABS front grille, using robotic part removal to a conveyor. Following the show, the machine will go to Jiangnan Mould & Plastic Technology Company's (JMP) Shenyang plant to mold automotive exterior parts. To optimize molding productivity and precision on complex parts, the Maxima has been fitted with key options - multiple core pulls, hot runner system, multiple mold-gate circuitry and nozzle shut-off valve. The MM-650 was ordered by JMP with 6610 international size injection unit.  Injection units are available in both conventional hydraulic and electric extruder drives.

The Maxima 650 has a Euromap 6 dry cycle time of 5 sec. Two-platen design enables exceptional mold capacity and application flexibility. The MM-650 has a tie bar spacing of 1080 x 1080 mm, daylight of 2075 mm, and accepts mold heights from 400 to 1100 mm. Its rigid machine base is engineered to carry stack mold weight and provide clearance between base and strain rods for a stack mold carrier.

Maxima two-platen design provides the processing flexibility for multicomponent, coinjection and multi-plane molding. Processing advantages include:

• significant clamp stroke and daylight with a small machine footprint;
• direct acting ram to evenly distribute clamp force and reduce effective deflection by 50% versus traditional two-platen designs;
• fast tonnage build times, with drastically reduced oil reservoir requirements;
• elimination of the four tie rod tonnage-build cylinders and their associated seals/plumbing common in other two-platen machines;
• open, one-piece base to simplify shipping and setup, while allowing tri-directional part removal;
• use of a single pancake cylinder for clamp tonnage which reduces machine complexity; and service/parts issues.

The MM-650 features PC-based control with Chinese character display capability. The open-architecture control provides digital position feedback on clamp, injection unit and ejector, along with fully programmable hydraulic core pull on the moving platen, core pull on the fly, eject on the fly/independent ejection, and closed-loop, proportional, low-pressure mold protection. Options allow the control to offer all the functionality of a PC with Windows® NT which enables standard office software, third party software and networking capabilities.

Milacron is building its global-design Maxima two-platen injection machines in China in a
range of sizes from 500 to 4000 tons.

First incorporated in 1884, Milacron is a leading global supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids, with major manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia.  For further information, visit www.milacron.com or call the toll-free investor line: 800-909-MILA (800-909-6452).