Engel is taking its Inject AI digital tool and its Engel Virtual Assistant (EVA) to the next level in the race to develop smarter injection molding technologies.

At K 2025, Engel showed an autonomous, self-regulating cell that introduced EVA, an AI-based, 24-hour chatbot that could answer technical questions using Engel documentation, and generate checklists and instructions tailored for each individual cell.

Editor Emeritus Ron Shinn, who saw the cell in operation at K, wrote that it was a significant step toward fully automated production. Instead of adjusting machine parameters, the operator would be able to specify desired product characteristics and the injection molding machine (IMM) controlled all process settings, according to the company.

It would compensate for any fluctuation in the process, even with significant fluctuations such as those found running 100 percent recycled material. It would reduce setup time from hours to minutes, and save resin because manual trials to optimize quality weren't necessary.

Now, the company has integrated EVA into the Inject AI interface, allowing it to interact with the IMM's control system and make changes in the production process.

Operators ask a question by text or voice, and EVA utilizes data and context about the IMM and the current job, along with Engel’s machine, process and service knowledge, to suggest next steps. EVA prepares approved changes and, once the operator confirms, passes them on to the machine control system.

"In short: at K, EVA provided answers; at Fakuma, it turns answers into action," according to Susanne Schröder, Engel's PR manager.

The company said in a press release that it is continuing to develop and validate new use cases for EVA and Inject AI, with the goal of achieving "automated, self-regulating production that, in the future, could even run lights-out."

At Fakuma, Engel also plans to showcase its budget-friendly Wintec T-win IMM; a tie-bar-less Victory Electric producing LSR seals; and an all-electric e-mac cell that will produce a component for medical auto-injectors, highlighting its Validation Assistant.

The e-mac will be displayed on the stand of Billion, the French IMM maker with whom Engel recently established a partnership. Billion will focus on service of its existing IMMs and cease production of new machines, instead referring customers to Engel.

Engel is not the only IMM manufacturer racing to find applications for AI, as costs have come down and machines are more easily connected:

• Arburg plans to show off its smart factory technologies at Fakuma, including smart assistants, AI-supported features for injection molding and digital interconnection of the production process. It also has a chatbot, Ask Arburg.

• KraussMaffei's socialProduction smart factory platform continues to expand its family of digital products.

• Wittmann 4.0 connects the company's primary processing, auxiliary and automation offerings. It also uses AI in vision systems and is developing Aim4Help, an AI knowledge base to help customers troubleshoot equipment that is easily accessed by using a QR code on the equipment.

• Haitian’s HT-Xtend AI software comes standard on its fifth-generation injection molding machines, with hydraulic and electric machine-specific features. The AI-driven controls automatically adjust molding processes to improve stability, accommodate material changes and reduce operator intervention.