British Plastics & Rubber articles from March 2002

British Plastics & Rubber archives from March 2002

Interplas doesn't need you -- you need it.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Not for the first time there are dissenters picking at the the threads of Interplas, seemingly trying to unravel Britain's national polymer industry exhibition. Rumours that the show was likely to be a flop prompted the Polymer Machinery...

GE sees a future in all-thermoplastic car bumpers. (Engineering Materials).(GE Plastics)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... NEW all-composite car bumper systems and designs for pedestrian impact safety are being developed by GE Plastics, which has also produced a computer modelling tool to cut development time. A new bumper system that marries its injection...

Rhodia researches the options for combining thermoplastics with metals. (Engineering Materials).(Rhodia Engineering Plastics)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... Rhodia Engineering Plastics is working on hybrids of engineering plastics (nylons) and metals to make high-load bearing structural components for automotive applications. Existing plastic/metal structures can be divided into open- and...

PBTs get increased ageing resistance. (Engineering Materials).(polybutylene terephthalate developed by Bayer AG)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... A HYDROLYSIS-resistant PBT recently introduced by Bayer specifically for automotive connectors is said to satisfy the extreme demands made on their ageing resistance, and will cut the cost of connectors in safety-critical equipment such as air...

PTFE pipe lining powders win FDA approval. (Engineering Materials).(Polytetrafluoroethylene)(Asahi Glass Fluoropolymers UK)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ANTISTATIC PTFB is being used increasingly for pipe lining and hose. Now Asahi Glass Fluoropolymers UK has developed FDA-approved, antistatic grades of fine powder coagulated dispersion Fluon PTFB. They have already been tested by major tube...

Economic alternative to perfluoroelastomer seals. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... PRECISION Polymer Engineering has developed a new elastomer for its seal production designed to bridge the performance gap between fluoroelastomer and perfluoroelastomer seals in harsh environments. Kemax V76E combines excellent physical...

Nylons have increased resistance to glycol exposure. (Engineering Materials).(Rhodia Engineering Plastics' )(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... TWO additions to Rhodia Engineering Plastics' glass-filled Technyl PA 66 grades (A 218G1 V30 black 34N and A 218G2 V30 black 34N 30 per cent glass fibrereinforced, and A 218G1 V25 black 34N and A 218G2 V25 25 per cent glass fiber reinforced)...

New adhesive cuts costs. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... WOODVILLE Polymer Engineering has chosen Dunlop adhesives for the manufacture of its advanced inter-vehicle gangways for railway carriages. Dunlop Nitrile S1588 emerged from a cost assessment study showing that it provided significant...

Colour surface film passes extended exposure tests. (Engineering Materials).(GE Plastics Solix technology)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... GE Plastics has lifted the veil it had drawn over its Solix technology. Sollx is a material derived from GE's polycarbonate process which is able to impart a Class A finish with high-gloss, weatherability, scratch and chemical resistance,...

Greater heat dissipation potential in new epoxy. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An epoxy material with five times greater heat conductivity than other plastics is to be commercialised by Hitachi by or after 2004, according to a report in Japan's The Nikkei Weekly. It is expected to be used in applications from power...

New Mini rides on Autothane microcellullar polyurethane. (Engineering Materials).(Hyperlast Autothane microcellular polyurethane )(BMW Mini)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... The BMW Mini uses Hyperlast Autothane microcellular polyurethane spring aids for managing shock and vibration suspension on its front and rear suspension systems. BMW engineers in Munich worked with Autothane to design and formulate spring aids...

US TPVs to be compounded in Europe. (Engineering Materials).(Teknor Apex Co. Uniprene thermoplastic vulcanisates)(to be produced by Plastic Technologie Service)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... AMERICAN thermoplastic elastomer specialist Teknor Apex is to make its Uniprene thermoplastic vulcanisates available in Europe through an agreement with German compounder Plastic Technologie Service. PTS will make the materials using Teknor...

Diffusion bonded acrylic makes complex manifolds. (Engineering Materials).(Carville Co.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... New diffusion bonding technology from Carville is at the heart of innovative fluid analysis equipment developed under the DTI-supported HISANT project. HISANT stands for high speed analysis on-line using new technology. Modular HISANT...

Now PPS can be blow moulded. (Engineering Materials).(polyphenylene sulphide)(Ticona UK Ltd.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... A BLOW-mouldable grade of PPS -- normally an injection moulding material -- has been introduced by Ticona for components such as hot-side air induction ducts for automotive turbo-diesel engines, engine cooling ducts, and domestic furnace ducts....

Artificial arm depends on reinforced nylons. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... THE Utah 2 artificial arm from Motion Control of Salt Lake City, Utah gets its strength from Thermocomp reinforced nylons supplied by LNP Engineering Plastics. The exo-skeletal structure that supports loads of more than 25 kg while...

New nylons for laser etching. (Engineering Materials).(Nylon 6 from Jackdaw Polymers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... JACKDAW Polymers, the nylon division of Vita Thermoplastic Compounds, has developed two new grades of Vitamide nylon 6 specially for laser etching. The materials come in response to post foot-and-mouth demand for better identification of...

Ticona extends underbonnet engineering applications. (Engineering Materials).(Ticona UK Ltd.)(polyphenylene sulphide)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TICONA materials are finding new applications in the automotive industry. Forton PPS, for example, is being used in fuel and water pumps such as the 39 mm and 44 mm gerotor auto fuel pumps made by US moulder Plastic Moldings Corporation. The...

Long life tail light sets new demands for temperature resistance. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... Philips has designed a new vehicle tail light bulb intended to last the life of the car -- reckoned to be 850,000 km -- rather than the 70,000 km expected for a standard bulb today. With the new HiPerVision bulb has come a new socket, which,...

Bayer tightens spec on Bayblend flame retardants. (Engineering Materials).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... A NEW flame retardant system has been developed by Bayer for use, initially, with its Bayblend PC/ABS. It uses a chlorine-and bromine-free flame retardant mixed in at nano-levels to keep it entirely within the polymer matrix during processing,...

Dow and Solutia end nylon marketing co-operation. (Engineering Materials).(Dow Engineering Plastics)(Solutia Inc.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
March 1, 2002... DOW and Solutia are giving up their joint operation in nylon 66 which was started in 1999. Under the agreement Dow took over the compounding and marketing of the Vydyne brand while Solutia concentrated on product development and manufacture....

TPV takes the knocks. (Engineering Materials).(Sidearm All-Terrain Handheld PC with santoprene thermoplastic vulcanisate)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The rugged Sidearm All-Terrain Handheld PC from Melard Technologies is protected by a PC/ABS blend casing fitted with shock-absorbing corner bumpers of Advanced Elastomer Systems' Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanisate. The bumpers are...

'Pure white' ABS range expands. (Engineering Materials).(Dow Engineering Plastics)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... DOW's mass-ABS technology produces very pure 'white' polymers with excellent colourability, particularly in white and light shades. The continuous nature of the process makes for uniform physical and flow properties, and the materials are...

Keep it clean, keep it dry, keep it accurate. (Materials Handling).
March 1, 2002... How important materials handling system? What is the cost benefit of spending thousands on equipment to fill a hopper when a stepladder will do? This article from Motan provides some answers. DELIVERY of raw materials at the right time, a...

Gentle conveyor prevents enviro polymer degradation. (Materials Handling).(Collinson Rotaflex product)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Environmental Polymers, which makes biodegradable film used in the manufacture of soluble hospital laundry sacks and compostable waste bags among other things, needed to transport granules from a mixing and cooling system into an BC. The...

What happens when it goes wrong? This troubleshooter from Conair may solve the problem. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Materials handling systems for plastics processing can be quite complex, and there is ample opportunity for trouble. Problems can range from equipment mechanical or operational failures to material degradation or contamination, to unacceptable...

Specialist dryers for clean rooms and polycarbonate. (Materials Handling).(by Fasti)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... WHAT are described as the first dryers in the world to be certified for clean room use have been introduced by Fasti of Austria (UK agent Eurodata). The ERD BC series units have been certified to give a particle output small enough to...

Mobile dryers are smaller now. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... THE new CTT40 and CTT70 range of mobile dryers from Colortronic are for beside the press use. They are 30 per cent smaller than previous models and are said to be simple to use (just turn on and set the temperature). All important parameters...

Conair fleshes out its carousel dryer range. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... CONAIR has added two new units to its range of carousel dehumidifying dryers. Models D150 and D300 fill the gap between the 100, 200 and 400 units. Both are available as either 'A' Series with maximum temperature of 120 degC or 'H' Series, for...

Moisture measurement sensor uses dual techniqe to remove the influence of density. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... NEW moisture measurement sensors from JR Technology are unaffected by the density of the sample material. Two measurements are made simultaneously but while each is dependent upon density in different ways, an inbuilt microprocessor calculates...

Materials handling agencies for Ireland. (Materials Handling).(Colortronic Inc., Eriez Magnetics Europe Ltd. appoint sales, service companies in Ireland)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Two materials handling equipment companies have set up outlets in the Republic of Ireland. Colortronic has appointed Bray Engineering -- based in Bray, to the south of Dublin -- to handle sales and service for its complete range. Eriez...

Test laboratory for assessing metal detectors. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... ERIEZ Magnetics Europe has set up a metals separation laboratory in Caerphilly, South Wales housing its latest magnetic separation technology, including the cryogen-free Powerfiux super-conducting magnet. There are designated areas for wet...

Colortronic puts metal removal in-line. (Material Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... AN in-line metal detector and separator has been introduced by Colortronic for fitting in conveying lines. The GF detector can be installed vertically or horizontally and ejects ferrous and non ferrous particles. This model complements...

New name for conveyor company. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... AERO mechanical conveyor specialist Floveyor International has changed its name to Aeromaster International. The company's conveyors work by pulling a wire rope carrying equally spaced discs at speed through a tube. This creates a low pressure...

Simple to set up, says Dal Maschio. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... DAL MASCHIO'S latest central polymer feed system has touch screen control and requires only a single, non-screened wire to programme and operate up to 15 hopper loaders, each having its own, address. Expansion of the system is achieved by the...

Daisy chain controller makes loader installation easy. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... THE NEW Vac 350 vacuum sequencer from TSM Control Systems is a materials handling system controller designed to make it as easy as possible for an operator to move materials from silo to screw. It can control up to 48 vacuum loaders and...

New software increases screw feeder accuracy. (Materials Handling).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... K-TRON has introduced a new screw speed modulation algorithm said to improve short-term feeder accuracy on single screw feeders by up to a factor of two as part of its SmartConnex gravimetric feeder control software. Single screw feeders,...

Interface upgrades from Colortronic. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NEW control interfaces have been added to Colortronic materials handling systems. A touch screen is now available for the CMS conveying controller. The system allows the connection of multiple hopper loaders to a system using a single cable for...

Slaves back up the master to keep systems running. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DEGA has further simplified its Ready centralised materials handling plant. The system already has single wire control and it now comes with a quick release plug/socket allowing for rapid installation and improved flexibilty for when machines...

Self-calibration makes sample dosing unnecessary. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE Ferlin Gravimix gain-in-weight gravimetric dosing and blending unit has an individual adjustable circuit for regrind and records the consumption of materials to enable costs to be precisely calculated. Desired percentages of components can...

Digital loss-in-weight plus direct mixing 'is the best way'. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DIRECT mixing of components into the feed screw of a processing machine is said to be the most accurate method of mixing. It avoids problems such as variations between batches, separation, and mixing irregularities caused by mechanical devices....

Stop the material dashing about and it won't bash itself to bits. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TIGHTENING hygiene legislation and pressures to provide further cost reductions are increasing the demands on materials handling systems to carry material cleanly without degradation and the creation of fines and angel hair. One answer,...

Proportioning valve 'can't jam'. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE CPV proportioning valve from BPI is designed to mix and proportion two separate flow lines of material. It uses a pneumatic rotary valve to switch proportionally between virgin and regrind materials according to the ratio selected, which is...

Motorless hopper loader can't burn out. (Materials Handling).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... JENCO has introduced a new range of its motorless vacuum hopper loaders suitable for conveying granules, regrind and fine powders. The new AHL series has all-stainless steel construction and a high efficiency venturi vacuum pump. Jenco...

Improved filter makes powder loader more efficient. (Materials Handling).(Conair PL15 Powder Loader)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... THE latest powder receiver from Conair, the PL15 Powder Loader, has been designed to reduce downtime associated with cleaning and colour changes. Its pleated filter cartridges effectively prevent separation of minor ingredients, while a...

New models added to high capacity chiller range. (Mould Temperature Control).(from Airedale International Air Conditioning)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... AIREDALE International Air Conditioning is about to launch new Ultima Compact chillers with capacities from 170 to 240 kW. These will have plate-type heat exchangers, microprocessor controls and scroll compressors for low noise levels and high...

Seminar on cooling blow mouldings with compressed air. (Mould Temperature Control).(held by Beko Technologies, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A free seminar is being held by Beko Technologies on April 10 and 11 at the University of Warwick on the Bekoblizz system for cooling blow mouldings by the use of deeply cooled compressed air, claimed to enable production rates to be increased...

Redesign increases capacity. (Mould Temperature Control).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... TRICOOL has redesigned its Compac Series 2000 range of chillers. The new Series 2007 has increased capacities thanks to the use of R407C refrigerant and the inclusion of Copeland scroll compressors across the range. Improved efficiencies are...

Centralised refrigeration plant goes into Birkbys. (Mould Temperature Control).(Tricool Engineering, Birkbys Plastics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A CENTRALISED refrigeration plant using R407C environmentally friendly refrigerant has been installed by Tricool Engineering at Birkbys Plastics as part of the first phase of a [pounds sterling]750,000 project to install a modern cooling system...

New chiller range from KT Handling. (Mould Temperature Control).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... KT Handling's new Microgel Duo dual circuit chiller complements its range of water-cooled stand-alone temperature controllers and allows a range between -5 and 90 degC. Temperature, pressure and flow rate to each zone can be controlled...

Cooling towers dropped to enhance health and safety. (Mould Temperature Control).(Dubois uses cooling system from Coolmation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A COOLMATION cooling system installed at Dubois in Corby, which makes DVD packaging, has water cooled chillers and dry air coolers as an alternative to cooling towers to enhance health and safety factors. Dubois, part of AGI Media Packaging,...

New high capacity controllers from Conair. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... CONAIR, which says it is one of the few suppliers of packaged fluid circulating temperature control units making electrically heated units up to 200 kW, is introducing a new range of high capacity water temperature controllers. The...

Portable descaler keeps waterways clear. (Mould Temperature Control).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... No matter how accurate temperature control equipment may be, it is not going to be efficient if the cooling or heating channels in a mould are blocked. To counter this Boetherm has developed a portable chemical descaling unit which is...

Remote control for hard to reach temperature controllers. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... REMOTE control of water and some oil heaters from Boetherm enables them to be sited in awkard positions but still remain accessible for operation. This has application in clean rooms or on large machines where the controllers are sometimes...

Low cost range can include high capacity units too. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... SINCE its start-up around a year ago PTA Precisa-Therm has been selling mainly small capacity temperature controllers, but can also supply higher capacity units. Low price is a major selling point. The Swiss-made equipment ranges from 6 kW...

Water heating up to 160 degC. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... TRICOOL has introduced a new model Viceroy water heater for applications where water is the preferred medium for heating up to 160 degC -- and where previously oil was the only option. The new pressurised 160 model is available from 3 to 96 kW...

90 degC controller for under [pounds sterling]1,000. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... COLORTRONIC's new Handy temperature controller is a self-contained model for use with water up to 90 degC. The 6 kW unit comes complete with pressure or leak stopper mode, high capacity indirect cooling of water, stainless steel...

Regloplas redesigns. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... REGLOPLAS has redesigned its 2001 series of small mould temperature controllers. Heating capacities are 6 and 9 kW for water or oil circuits up to 150 degC. The standard model 90S has leak stop, suction emptying and automatic water refill. The...

Wittmann upgrades its base level controller. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... A NEW temperature controller has been introduced by Wittmann to sell alongside its Tempro Plus unit. The Tempro Primus is an improved and enhanced version of the Tempro Basic model, selling at [pounds sterling]795. It has 6 kW heating...

Monitoring cavity temperature maintains hot runner balance. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... EVERY hot runner setup shows the same problems: identical set values of the hot runner nozzle temperatures lead to different fills of the individual cavities. This happens even though all the cavities have the same dimensions. To fix it it is...

New card shrinks HR controller size. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... A NEW design of controller card has helped Thermoplay reduce the size of its TH1302 hot runner controller. Up to 159 zones can be controlled, with features that include a rest function for maintenance stoppages, individual or grouped set...

Induction heating can simplify tool temperature. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... MF Industrial Heating can make custom induction heating plates thinner than standard to take increased nozzle length into account. Standard depth is 59 mm but thin plates are 47.6 mm. Temperatures attained are up to 300 degC with single phase...

MSI aims Altanium at high cavitation tools. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... THE new ALTANIUM series hot runner controller from American MSI is a modular small footprint controller that can support from 1 to 384 zones, and can be mounted on the mould or mounted alongside, behind, or inside the injection moulding...

Gammaflux cuts prices and adds a machine-mounted hot runner controller. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... Introduction of the TTC series hot runner controllers has taken Gammaflux in new directions with lower prices relative to its competitors than before, and the addition of a panel-based system for integration into the moulding machine. The...

Tiny probes test control accuracy. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... SEVERAL manufacturers now offer hot runner probes that can be pitched at less than 13 mm for high capacity multi-cavity tools. But these diminutive probes, with their tiny mass, need more careful control if performance and operating life are to...

Power handling increased for multi-zone tools. (Mould Temperature Control).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... FAST HEAT has introduced a 30 Amp version of its Pulse hot runner controller. The original Pulse controller, launched a year ago, can provide 20 amps on each of its 24 zones for multiple manifold zone tools. To ease maintenance the new...

Gas injection process that cools as well as pressurises. (Injection Moulding).(Peter Woodworth receives patent for gas-assist plastic molding process)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A new form of gas-assist moulding has been patented by a British inventor, who is now looking for a company to help commercialise it. Peter Woodworth is calling the process Change of State Moulding, and has so far held back on promoting it...

Dry ice cleans machine parts. (Injection Moulding).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... HUSKY has introduced its Power DFX dry ice cleaning system for moulds, hot runner manifolds and screws. Fine particles of dry ice are blasted through small venturi nozzles in a stream of compressed air. The particles vaporise into [CO.sub.2]...

Another way of replacing plastic with gas. (Injection Moulding).(Cinpres Gas Injection launches improved gas injection overflow processes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... IMPROVED gas injection overflow processes are being offered by Cinpres Gas Injection. The overflow method used does not involve timing the gas injection to control the outflow of melt and so is said to avoid infringement of other European...

More machine makers settle with Milacron over computer control. (Injection Moulding).(Boy Machines Inc., Societa Italiana Prodotti Alimentari settle with Milacron Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... MILACRON has now won its action against Boy and SIPA over the use of personal computers to control plastics machines in contravention of its US patent 5,062,052. As with previous defendants, Boy and SIPA have agreed to buy a licence to continue...

Laser scanning speeds up tool sampling. (Injection Moulding).(advertisement)
March 1, 2002... MEDICAL PRODUCTS moulder Owen Mumford has speeded up sampling from new medical device tools by installing a Nikon NEXIV video metrology system. The NEXIV uses laser scanning to take 3-axis measurements, and the time saved sampling...

Lego brick moulded from EVA. (Injection Moulding).(Exo molds new plastic bricks)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A new type of Lego brick is being injection moulded in EVA. Main Group, best known for its footwear equipment, made the Vega machine used, API of Italy supplied the material and the moulder was Exo, also from Italy. A tolerance of 05 mm...

Netstal spends at stone. (Injection Moulding).(Netstal Machinery Inc)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NETSTAL is expanding its UK base at Stone in Staffordshire by 20 per cent. The new space will house new customer training and lecture facilities, a technical applications office, meeting rooms, and improvements to the spares and sales...

Technology keeps moulding job in Britain. (Injection Moulding).(Modular Automation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A NEW insert loading system developed by Modular Automation tipped the balance in favour of keeping a moulding job in the UK and not sending it to China. The system developed for Medic-aid loads plastic inserts into a Negri Bossi 80 tonne...

Core actuators suitable for fast cycling. (Injection Moulding).(HP Systems)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... FRENCH hydraulic cylinder manufacturer HP Systems has introduced its HRB series of automatic double acting positive locking cylinders. These are chiefly intended for pushing moving parts such as cores and slides and locking them in the forward...

Boy back firmly in the two-platen business. (Injection Moulding).(Boy Machines Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE introduction of Boy's biggest-ever machine was reported prior to the K2001 exhibition, but the 90 tonne model represents more than just a new top end to the range. With its introduction the 80 tonne machine has been discontinued, and...

Nozzle exchange in situ. (Injection Moulding).(HASCO-Normalien Hasenclever GmbH und Co.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NEW Hasco Z.3500/...Rapid Shot universal externally heated hot runner nozzles are suitable for all gate configurations and melt chamber areas. Nozzle tips, heaters and thermocouples can all be exchanged in the moulding machine. A special...

Brampton simplifies reel handling. (Film & Sheet).(Brampton Engineering )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... CANADIAN equipment producer Brampton Engineering has developed a simple shaft handling system as part of an overhaul of its winder series to handle bigger rolls. Brampton produces a line of stacked dual turret winders for 32 in diameter rolls....

How thin can you go? (Film & Sheet).(DuPont Teijin Films)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DuPont Teijin Films in Luxembourg is making biaxially oriented PET capacitor films as thin as 0.5 [mu]m. It is doing so on a LISIM line from Bruckner, which uses a stretching process said to be significantly smoother than with the sequential...

Nextrom shuts Dolci to concentrate on fibre optics. (Film & Sheet).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... NEXTROM is shutting its Italian film machinery business (formerly Dolci) and cutting back on the development of its Conex screwless extruder. This is in line with its declared intention of quitting all activities except fibre optics by this...

Managing plastics manufacturing with The Manufacturing Manager. (Software Review).(DTR Software International)
March 1, 2002... I last month we reported that US developer DTR Software International has set up its own European office in Ringwood, Hampshire. The company is evidently serious about promoting The Manufacturing Manager, its ERP solution for plastics...

Paulson builds an Engel training course. (Software Review).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... PAULSON Training Programs has developed an interactive training programme specially for Engel injection moulding machines. Paulson worked with Engel Canada to customise its existing five-CD Practical Injection Molding course. The new Engel...

Your guide to 38,000 plastics. (Software Review).(IDES Inc.'s Prospector Express)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2002... THE materials information specialist IDES has launched Prospector Express under the banner of the first single comprehensive tool for finding and purchasing plastics materials. The company is well known for its massive Prospector plastics...

Web-wise M-Base. (Software Review).(M-Base Engineering and Software's MCBase-i, M-Base Material Web Solution)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2002... THE MCBase Campus merge program was developed by M-Base Engineering + Software to enable users to search and compare Campus data from different materials suppliers simultaneously. Without MCBase, you can only work with a single supplier...

German databases now in English. (Software Review).(FIZ Chemie of Berlin's Polymat, Polymat Light databases)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2002... FIZ Chemie of Berlin has produced English language versions of its well established Polymat and Polymat Light databases. Polymat contains property data for more than 16,700 grades of plastics materials from almost 200 manufacturers. The...