Hymid’s progression in automation

Hymid is a technical plastic injection moulding company specialising in 2K moulding, and also offers technical 1K moulding. To match customer demands, Hymid has integrated automation into almost every moulding machine. In October 2025, Hymid purchased its first 200-tonne, 2K ARBURG with a six-axis robot – the latest step in Hymid’s 14-year automation journey that has been necessary to manufacture complex components at the rate and quality required by technically demanding customers. Working exclusively with ARBURG, in 2012 Hymid purchased a 60-tonne 1K machine fitted with a MULTILIFT top entry Cartesian robot and a 100-tonne 2K machine fitted with a horizontal side-entry Cartesian robot to increase capacity. These investments helped to increase capacity significantly in a business running three shifts, 24/5.

Chief executive Tom McMurtrie OBE and technical director Joe Wilkins drive the automation programme. Tom joined Hymid in 2013 and wanted to transition the business from a non-specialist trade moulder – a simple component supplier – to becoming a development and manufacturing partner for demanding customers in advanced markets like medical devices.  Robots became standard, and today all new ARBURG machines are fitted with some form of robot. “Our people saw the first robot as a redundancy tool that could put their job at risk,” McMurtrie says. “No – we explained the robot is there to do the repetitive tasks accurately, enabling you as the production operator to concentrate on quality checks, process control and technical judgements.” Quickly Hymid’s employees came around; some developed a desire to work more with robots.

There is a perception that heavy automation removes human labour, but at Hymid, working with ARBURG, the two are necessary and complementary. Tom McMurtrie explains: “Without robots, the production operator is part of the moulding cycle: the speed they open the door, remove parts from the tool, load an insert, shut the door and restart the cycle etc, is all part of the cycle. If the operator pauses for anything, is distracted, or their supervisor talks to them, the moulding cycle time increases, which creates inconsistencies in quality and reduces productivity. By using robots we now have more consistent cycle times, consistent quality of parts and operators adding value, with more time for inspection. This produces less waste.”

Hymid’s IMM robots have upskilled employees, providing better job security. “The personnel journey we offer is from production operator to technician to engineer,” says McMurtrie. “Today we have shift supervisors who were already good with injection moulding machines and are now trained in Cartesian robots, so they've learned this additional skill. Joe began as a shift operator and is now on the Senior Leadership Team.” Technical director Joe Wilkins adds, “With successful automation, we are not hiring as many operators as before, but we are not losing them. We are upskilling them and that’s positive for everyone. And with more automation to manage, we are looking to hire a production engineer, so we are creating new jobs.”

Gavin John, ARBURG’s UK Automation Engineer, says “In my 10 years at ARBURG, I’ve supported Hymid in service for the first seven years and in automation since then. Hymid is a model automated moulding business. It now has a range of robots for different applications, with the new six-axis robot for greater flexibility. Robots help humans by lowering cycle times, keeping quality high and boosting profits. All three robot systems at Hymid are part of this.” Gavin has a robot productivity chart to show indicative savings, either in reduced time per batch or increased output over time. With a 60-second part cycle time, if automation takes 5 seconds off the cycle, one machine can produce 108,000 extra parts in a year. Or 62% machine utilisation for the same number of parts, meaning less machine running time for that target output, freeing some capacity for a new job. “We measure success as the frequency and quality of the part that comes off the machine; consistent repeatability,” says McMurtrie. Being a virtually all-ARBURG production facility means there are common systems, controls, standards, spare parts, and understanding of procedures. Operators can switch between machines more easily and machines can be repaired more quickly, reducing downtime.  “As a 24/5 production facility we can be confident that each of the three shifts adopt the same approach to moulding, giving us consistency and quality – a huge business benefit,” says Joe Wilkins.