One year after its introduction at K 2025, the Männer Performance Line has successfully established itself in the market. At Fakuma 2026, Männer will showcase the hot runner platform, now expanded with a side valve gate nozzle, with a particular focus on its high level of flexibility and practical features designed to simplify operation and maintenance.
With the Performance Line, Männer has expanded its hot runner portfolio for molds with medium to high cavity counts. It complements the proven Männer Signature Line and is designed for a broad range of resins and applications. Different nozzle designs, lengths, tips and manifold sizes allow the system to be configured for specific application requirements. The portfolio includes thermal gate and valve gate systems as well as solutions for direct side gating.
Since its market launch at K 2025, the Performance Line has been used in numerous customer projects and has been very well received by the market. At Fakuma, Männer will therefore focus not only on the new product family itself, but particularly on its design details and the resulting benefits in day-to-day production.
Precise and Easy Valve Pin Adjustment
One example is the valve gate version. The pneumatic actuator enables precise adjustment of the valve pin position in increments of 0.05 millimeters. This allows the closing position to be precisely adapted to the specific application and gating conditions.
Adjustment is made via a fine-adjustment ring on the actuator. Particularly in applications with demanding requirements for gate quality, this simplifies system setup and fine-tuning. At the same time, the design has been optimized for easy maintenance: the valve pin can be installed and removed without dismantling the mold.
Selectively Deactivating Individual Cavities
Another practical feature is “Cavity Off.” If required, individual cavities can be deactivated while the remaining cavities continue production. The function is optionally integrated into the cleanroom-compatible pneumatic actuator and can be activated without dismantling the mold.
This allows production to continue, for example, if a problem occurs in a single cavity, rather than requiring the entire mold to be shut down. Particularly in molds with higher cavity counts, this helps reduce unplanned production interruptions and increase mold availability.
Designed for Efficiency and Ease of Maintenance
Other design details follow the same approach. The bolt-down manifold reduces energy loss through heat transfer by approximately 50 percent compared with conventional Trust Pad technology. The patented heater band provides a precise temperature profile and features an integrated thermocouple.
Different designs and guide lengths are available for the valve pin guide, allowing it to be matched to the respective resin and application. For polyolefins and thermoplastic elastomers, for example, an actively cooled version is available. For other materials, the valve pin guide can be designed without active cooling. Two standard lengths provide additional flexibility for application-specific configurations. The valve pin guide bushing is integrated directly into the manifold and can be easily replaced when required.
From Medical to Packaging
With its different nozzle and tip variants, the Performance Line covers a broad range of applications. In addition to conventional valve gate and thermal gate nozzles, the platform includes multi-nozzles, multi-tips, as well as thermal side gate nozzles and – presented for the first time at Fakuma – side valve gate nozzles. Applications range from medical and technical applications to FMCG, caps & closures, and packaging.
With the Performance Line, Männer follows a clear approach: proven precision in a versatile platform with features that simplify setup, operation and maintenance. Following its successful introduction at K 2025, the presentation at Fakuma 2026 demonstrates how the new product family has established itself within the Männer hot runner portfolio and, for the first time, introduces the new side valve gate nozzle.
Männer is part of SPECTRIX, a provider of end-to-end injection molding solutions. The Performance Line, including the new side valve gate solution, will be on display at Fakuma 2026 at the SPECTRIX booth in Hall A1, Booth 1208.
Figures:
Fig. 1 Männer Performance Line hot runner systems:
4-drop thermal gate hot runner system (left), 4x4-drop thermal side gate hot runner system (center), 4-drop valve gate system (right)
About SPECTRIX
SPECTRIX brings together the industry-leading brands Männer, Foboha, Synventive, Thermoplay, Gammaflux, and Priamus. Combining more than 50 years of expertise with 2,000 specialists worldwide, SPECTRIX delivers the full spectrum of end-to-end injection molding solutions.
From part design and material science to molds, hot runners, sensing and control technologies, qualification, specialty molding, and lifecycle services, SPECTRIX supports every stage of the injection molding process. Customers can choose individual technologies and services or benefit from a fully integrated end-to-end solution tailored to their specific needs. With a global footprint and strong local expertise, SPECTRIX partners with customers from concept through series production.
SPECTRIX – Enduring Advantage, Engineered.
Contact
Europe:
Lena Haack
Americas:
Brady Richman