Polymer injection moulding is a vital manufacturing process in the automotive industry, where high production volumes, strict quality requirements, and short cycle times impose increasing demands on automation and process reliability. In cold-runner injection systems, the formation of polymeric gates is unavoidable, and their removal often represents a process bottleneck, which frequently requires manual intervention or complex retrofitted solutions, thus limiting productivity and introducing safety, ergonomic, and economic concerns. This paper presents the design, implementation, and industrial validation of an automated transport system dedicated to the removal of polymeric gates generated during the injection moulding of spiral terminals for automotive control cables. The proposed solution enables the extraction of the gate from the lower mould without obstructing the injection zone or requiring structural modifications to the production line. Industrial implementation demonstrated that the automated solution effectively restores continuous operation of the assembly line, enhances process reliability, and reduces operator workload and exposure to repetitive tasks. An economic assessment revealed a return on investment (ROI) of approximately 22 working days, highlighting the strong economic viability of the proposed approach. The system can deliver substantial productivity gains while maintaining low implementation complexity.
- Open Access
- Article
Automation of Post-Injection Gate Handling in Automotive Polymer Moulding: A Design Science Research Approach
- João Pedro Madureira Pinto 1,
- Raul Duarte Salgueiral Gomes Campilho 1,2,*,
- André Filipe Varandas Pedroso 1
Author Information
Received: 06 Mar 2026 | Revised: 02 May 2026 | Accepted: 08 May 2026 | Published: 04 Jun 2026
Abstract
Keywords
polymer injection moulding | automated gate removal | industrial automation | automotive control cables | process integration
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