Dr. Mian Ashfaq Ali and his team from SMME NUST has designed and developed vacuum forming machine which was funded by HEC Technology Development Funds (TDF). The aim of the project was local development of technologies that is still being imported and has good demand. The benefit of local development is that it can be maintained with ease and using local parts.
There are many technological solutions available worldwide which has not been utilized in Pakistan for the reason of being very expensive and its viability for small businesses. Vacuum forming machine is a similar example that is available in the international market, but it is very expensive. Pakistan population and hence demand in many sectors is growing day by day but due to the lack of technical expertise we rarely see any local company that work on the transfer of technology and provide any customized solutions with cost effectiveness. Customized solution matters because a machine available in the international market has many features and eventually becomes expensive whereas our local demand may require a few features among those. A machine if tailored for our requirement with limited required features will have much lower price and will be much cost effectively customized. But making such customized solution can only be done after carrying complete R&D of the existing machine and consultation with local industry partner a solution can be tailored for our local market. Over the past few years, we have interacted with many industrial partners and small vendors to know about their key issues. Majority of the industry is not willing to adopt the high-tech solution and machinery as it is very expensive, and it doesn’t seem viable to them due to their small business size. One can list a dozen of diverse types of semi-automatic machines that can be made locally in Pakistan with little R&D effort such as vacuum forming machine, wheel balancing machine, wheel alignment machine, automatic hose crimping machine etc. Pakistan is still importing these machines from China and other countries. The development of these machines is mainly the system integration which require the knowledge of sensors, actuators, software, and data acquisition.
The vacuum forming machine is one such machine selected from this list that is required in our local market and was successfully developed in SMME NUST.
Importance of Vacuum Forming Machine
Thermoforming is one of the oldest methods of processing plastic materials. Vacuum formed products are all around us and play a major part in our daily lives. The process involves heating a plastic sheet until soft and then draping it over a mould. A vacuum is applied sucking the sheet into the mould. The sheet is then ejected from the mould.
Vacuum Forming Machine (Model and Actual Machine) Developed in SMME NUST
Model A: This is a portable manual machine with a bed size of 2X2 square feet
Model B: This is a semi-automatic machine with a bed size of 3×4 square feet
The Need for Vacuum Forming Machine in Pakistan
Pakistan is still importing this machine from China, UK, and USA. Vacuum forming machine is widely used in advertising industry for making 3D signage, packaging industry for packing different components such as plastic casing for headphone etc.
Project Completed using this Vacuum Machine
The following small project work in the R&D and Product development has been completed using this machine:
- Drone Cover from ABS Plastic for a Startup based in NSTP.
- Product Development Final Year Student Project in SADA-NUST under the supervision of Dr. Raja Mubashir.
- Sample for Packaging for Surgical Instrument for SciTech Sialkot.
- Samples for HEC TDF Project.
Licensing of this Machine to the Industry
We are offering the licensing of this technology to any industrial partner based on the NUST Technology Transfer policy.
Vacuum Forming Process is one of the most important manufacturing processes for product development as it requires low-cost tooling and results in quick development with minimal cost. It is also vastly used in the packaging industry. As there is a large variety of parts sizes and shapes being packed and sold in our daily life hence the manufacturers need different types, sizes and configuration of vacuum forming machines for packaging purpose. As SMME NUST have developed two models of these machines, we can now use our R&D and know-how to develop Vacuum Forming Machine with customized requirement from any industrial partner.
The author is Assistant Professor at School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). He can be reached at mian.ashfaq@smme.nust.edu.pk.
Researcher’s Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0OTvH78AAAAJ&hl=en
