McElroy launches a new TracStar® packed with automation and intelligence. We are the first in Norway with the new iSeries fusion machine.
McElroy is the world's leading manufacturer of machines and equipment for plastic fusion. We have long been enthusiastic about their machines, and last year we also became their distributor to the Scandinavian market.
Read more: A certified McElroy distributor
Innovation has been an important driver for the family-owned company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since its inception in the 1950s. When the TracStar® was launched in the late 1990s, it was the first self-propelled, tracked fusion machine that could tackle almost any terrain. Now they are launching the next generation called TracStar® iSeries.
As the name suggests, the iSeries is packed with intelligent technology:
From manual operation to fully automatic software controlled fusions
Integrated software measures drag and performs shift sequence automatically
Smart keyboards guide operator through machine interactions
Padel levers offer precise carriage control
Integrated data logger documents every fusion, ensuring joints are to industry standard.
Updated hydraulic and electrical systems increase system pressure and reliability
The new collision prevention indexing system minimizes the risk of collisions
New communication system provides machine diagnostics and troubleshooting across all systems
When we recently received our first TracStar® iSeries, two of McElroy's representatives were present to provide training to our welders.
“We always travel when brand new machines are delivered,” says Malcom Profit, who is Technical Service Engineer at McElroy. “This is advanced technical equipment and it is important that the operators learn how to use it correctly, even though the user-friendliness is extremely high,” he adds.
During Covid, the training had to be carried out digitally, but Profit prefers to be physically present.
“The pandemic taught us (or forced us ;-) ) to do a lot online, and we still host many web-based courses. But training on completely new machines is best done "in real life",” says the experienced engineer on a cold and beautiful January day by Frierfjorden.
Elg Ragnar Thunes, HR manager at Bluegreen, is satisfied with both the visit and the new McElroy machine.
“This is the future,” he says. “With TracStar iSeries, we get a fantastically good weld, every single time, and make the workload easier and safer for the welder.”
He does not fear that the intelligent machines will make the skilled worker redundant:
“The welding skills must be there. The operator must know the profession in order to plot the correct settings and follow up the work.”
Fra the left: Malcom Profit, Technical Service Engineer i, McElroy, Elg Ragnar Thunes, HSEQ and HR manager in Bluegreen og Alex Palaiologos, International Business Manager UK Region in McElroy.
