Battenfeld: from market leader to orphan system
Battenfeld Maschinenfabrik was one of the largest European manufacturers of injection moulding machines. In 2008 the company went bankrupt due to the financial crisis and was acquired by Wittmann Kunststoffgeraete GmbH (Vienna). The machines were sold on as "Wittmann Battenfeld" until 2022, when the Battenfeld brand was finally dropped.
The result: all Battenfeld machines built before 2008, with the original Unilog 4000 control, are now orphan systems. There is no longer a manufacturer that provides warranty, software updates or original spare parts for the Unilog 4000. Wittmann provides support only for Wittmann Battenfeld machines (post-2008).
The Polish installed base
Poland has one of the largest concentrations of pre-2008 Battenfeld machines outside Germany and Austria. Three regions dominate: Wielkopolska (Poznan corridor, automotive parts and consumer goods), Mazowsze (Warsaw area, medical devices and packaging), and Slask (Katowice region, automotive industry and building materials). GCG has made contact in 2024-2025 with over 30 Polish companies with active Unilog 4000 installations.
The Unilog 4000 architecture: what migrates
The Unilog 4000 is a closed, proprietary control system built on a Motorola 68000 platform with its own real-time OS. Machine-specific parameters (injection pressures, cooling times, clamping forces) are stored in non-volatile SRAM (battery-dependent). Communication runs via proprietary RS-485 variants and in later versions via Euromap 63.
The SRAM battery is a critical point after 15-20 years: when the battery fails, all machine recipes are lost. GCG sees this in approximately 40% of Unilog 4000 installations we inspect. The migration procedure therefore always requires a parameter dump via the serial port before the machine is shut down.
Migration to B&R: GCG's approach
GCG chooses B&R X20 as the migration target for Unilog 4000 installations for three reasons: (1) B&R offers full IEC 61131-3 conformance, allowing sequential injection and cooling logic to be rewritten relatively quickly; (2) B&R Automation Studio supports Euromap 67/77 (the successor to Euromap 63) out-of-the-box; (3) B&R is owned by ABB and has a strong distribution base in Poland (Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw).
GCG's migration steps for a Unilog 4000: (1) parameter dump via serial port (all recipes, calibrations); (2) wiring audit of all sensors, actuators and safety switches; (3) engineering of the B&R application programme (typically 5-10 working days depending on machine complexity); (4) cabinet retrofit or new cabinet; (5) FAT in the workshop; (6) SAT on the production floor, including moulding qualification (5 reference products). Average downtime: 48-72 hours for a standard machine.
The cohort approach: why grouping pays
GCG offers Polish injection moulders a cohort approach: 3-5 companies with similar Battenfeld machines are clustered into a 6-12 month migration programme. Benefits: shared engineering work (the B&R base application for an HB series is largely reusable), lower per-unit hardware costs, and shared FAT facility at our workshop in Eindhoven. Typical cost saving versus individual approach: 20-35%.