Plastics Engineering articles from November 2007

Plastics Engineering archives from November 2007

A strong year for European plastics: latest figures for 2006 show the European thermoplastics market enjoyed its strongest year since the turn of the century. Volume demand grew by well over 3% driven by EU expansion and German recovery.(GLOBAL NEWS: EUROPE)(Industry overview)
November 1, 2007... According to a new report from Applied Market Information, 2006 consumption of thermoplastics in Europe reached nearly 40 million tonnes. However not all materials or all countries benefited from this recovery. Demand was relatively weak for...

Price knock-on for converters: escalating material costs can no longer be absorbed by converters says EuPC.(GLOBAL NEWS: EUROPE)
November 1, 2007... EuPC, the Brussels-based trade body for plastics converters, is warning that high oil prices are threatening the recovery of the industry. "The price of plastic products will have to increase in the coming months," says Alexandre Dangis, EuPC's...

Sud-Chemie AG, Munich has reached an agreement with the German subsidiary of US-based Rockwood Specialties Group, Rockwood Clay Additives, on the sale of its Nanofil business.(ACQUISITIONS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Sud-Chemie AG, Munich has reached an agreement with the German subsidiary of US-based Rockwood Specialties Group, Rockwood Clay Additives, on the sale of its Nanofil business. The German Federal Anti-Trust Commission has given its consent to...

Edulan, the Danish polyurethane systems house specialising in rigid foam and elastomer technologies, is being purchased by Dow.(ACQUISITIONS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Edulan, the Danish polyurethane systems house specialising in rigid foam and elastomer technologies, is being purchased by Dow. The US group will acquire Edulan's business and production facility in Denmark plus rights to all its PU systems....

Bayer MaterialScience.(EXPANSIONS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Bayer MaterialScience has announced plans to build two new world-scale plants in Europe. The first is for the manufacture of polymer-filled polyether polyols (PMPO) to be built at the company's Antwerp site. The proposed 40m [euro] plant will...

Engel Poland.(EXPANSIONS)(subsidiary opening)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Engel Poland has opened a new Sales and Service Centre in Warsaw designed to offer faster project planning and application technology consultancy, as well as comprehensive service solutions. Under the management of CEO Michael Rebkowski, Engel...

PolyOne.(EXPANSIONS)(new facility opening)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Also in Poland, PolyOne has inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Kumo. The plant will manufacture colour and additive concentrates for all types of polymer processing with a particular focus on PolyOne's primary market segments:...

KraussMaffei.(EXPANSIONS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... KranssMaffei is setting up a new PUR development lab for reaction process machinery and systems at its main plant in Munich-Allach. The facility, which opens next month, is seen as an important additional resource especially for joint...

UK processor Centurion Safety Products has commissioned a new Sandretto Nove HP injection moulder.(INSTALLATIONS)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... UK processor Centurion Safety Products has commissioned a new Sandretto Nove HP injection moulder. The Thetford-based company will use the 220-tonne locking force machine initially to produce ancillaries for its head protection products, but it...

DSM.(MATERIALS)(introduction of PA4T)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Launched as "the first new polymer to be introduced in the new millennium", DSM has extended its portfolio for high performance engineering thermoplastics with PA4T. The company says the new polymer will answer market trends for miniaturisation...

Two French manufacturers, Cotuplas and Machines Dubuit, have entered into global partnership designed to benefit manufacturers of flexible tubes.(PARTNERSHIPS)
November 1, 2007... Two French manufacturers, Cotuplas and Machines Dubuit, have entered into global partnership designed to benefit manufacturers of flexible tubes. Cotuplas, a subsidiary of Alcan, specialises in equipment for tube manufacturing and...

UK-based Gas Injection Worldwide (GIWW), has launched equipment and technology for Rapid Temperature Cycling (RTC) of injection moulds.(PROCESSING)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... UK-based Gas Injection Worldwide (GIWW), has launched equipment and technology for Rapid Temperature Cycling (RTC) of injection moulds. GIWW, supported by Oxford Moulding Technology (OMT), is offering moulders steam and water flow control...

Sims Recycling Solutions.(RECYCLING)(plastics separation technology )
November 1, 2007... Sims Recycling Solutions has developed a plastics separation technology that it claims will allow it to produce almost 100 percent clean plastic from the material it recovers in the recycling of WEEE. Sims says new technology, which has been...

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).(RECYCLING)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has begun using 100% recycled PET bottles for its Ribena blackcurrant drink. The company says it intends to switch over all bottle production within the coming months for the brand which sells around 60m bottles a year....

Lanxess.(RESTRUCTURING)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Following the divestment of its Lustran Polymers business, Lanxess is now positioning itself as a speciality chemicals group. The company has rearranged its 13 business units into three segments: Performance Polymers, Advanced Intermediates and...

Venezuela increases plastics usage by 26%.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Domestic consumption year-to-year rose about 26% in 2006, according to Pequiven, the state-owned petrochemicals company and resin producer. Pequiven credits the growth to government price policies that assure transformers and processors access...

Mexico makes biopolymer with marine bacteria.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Scientists claim they can produce PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a polyester-based biopolymer, from bacteria culled from marine sediments off Baja California. Organic waste from a sardine and tuna packaging company in Magdalena Bay creates...

Colombia cuts import taxes--for now.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... The import tax on polyethylene and ethylene copolymers has been reduced 20%. The move, designed to improve the competitiveness of processors, especially those producing flexible packaging, lowers the tax to 12%. The national plastics...

Market leader emerges in FRP pipe.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(fiber-reinforced polyester)(Inversiones Mundial S.A. acquires Amiantit Co. )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Inversiones Mundial S.A., Medellin, Colombia, lays claim to being the largest producer of fiber-reinforced polyester (FRP) pipe in Latin America, after acquiring 70% of the manufacturing operations of Saudi Arabia's Amiantit Co. in Brazil,...

Brazilian packaging sector posts gains.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The packaging industry will grow 1.8% this year and generate revenue of R$31.5 billion ($17.1 billion)--about 1.5% of GDP. The Brazilian Packaging Association (ABRE) credits the increase to demand for commodity products, construction material,...

Economic initiative launched in Brazil.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Organizations and businesses in Sao Paulo have established a local productive arrangement ("APL," as abbreviated in Portuguese) to improve the competitiveness of processors in Platicos do Grande ABC, an industrial area comprising several...

Borealis adds Mexico office.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Borealis has opened a sales office in Mexico City for the wire and cable market. The move is an effort to capitalize on business opportunities created by the government's investments in infrastructure for power and communications systems.

Polyolefin demand strains capacity.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... An imbalance is developing between polyolefin supply and demand in several countries, driven by rising consumption and imports. This was the outlook presented by Rina Quijada, CEO of Intellichem Inc., a U.S. firm that analyzes the Latin...

Husky taps Urquhart as Latin America VP.(GLOBAL NEWS: LATIN AMERICA)(Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. appoints Mike Urquhart )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. has named Mike Urquhart vice president of sales and service in Latin America. He succeeds Rod Selem, who left the company. Urquhart joined Husky (Bolton, Ontario, Canada) in 1980, and has held senior...

SPI's online career center makes connections.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Society of the Plastics Industry)(myPlasticsIndustry.com )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The new myPlasticsIndustry.com online marketplace has been connecting "a sizable number" of job seekers and employers through its Plastics Industry Career Center, says The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), site developer. The successful...

Cargill, Teijin team on NatureWorks JV.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Cargill, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and Teijin Ltd. of Japan are forming a joint venture to operate NatureWorks, LLC, producer of NatureWorks biopolymer, which is derived from 100% renewable materials. Per their agreement, Teijin...

DuPont Packaging links with Australian firm.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers (Wilmington, Delaware, USA) is planning to collaborate with Plantic Technologies Limited, an Australian company specializing in starch-based biopolymers, to develop and sell renewably sourced polymers...

Metabolix receives $2 million NIST award.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Bioscience company Metabolix, Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA), has received an Advanced Technology Program award for $2 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The money will...

Dow expands PUR and epoxy businesses.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Michigan, USA) has announced plans to acquire Danish company Edulan MS, an independent polyurethane (PUR)-systems house specializing in rigid-foam and elastomer technologies. The deal, pending regulatory...

Survey details NAFTA PUR production.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(North American Free Trade Association)(Survey)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... A survey presented at the Polyurethanes 2007 Technical Conference depicts "strong but changing" polyurethane (PUR) production markets among NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association) members. Titled 2006 End Use Market Survey on the...

Oman-based firm enters plastic-packaging market.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Octal Holding and Co. )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Based in Muscat, in the Sultanate of Oman, Octal Holding and Co. (SAOC) announced its entry into the global rigid plastic packaging industry at the 17th Annual SPE Thermoforming Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (September 2007). The...

Conair expands.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Conair (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) has formed a new business unit--Conair Extrusion--"exclusively to help extruders find total process solutions." Conair has also made an acquisition--Michigan Plastics Machinery (MPM)--to enhance its...

Sealed Air announces Ethafoam acquisition.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Sealed Air Corp. (Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA) has agreed to acquire certain assets of The Dow Chemical Co.'s Ethafoam and related polyethylene-foam product lines, primarily in North America and Europe. Ethafoam is used in applications such...

Solvay/BASF boosts production in France.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... SolVin, a Brussels, Belgium-based joint venture of Solvay (with 75% ownership) and BASF (25% ownership), has announced that it will build a new production line for polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) latex at its production site in Tavaux, France....

Spartech acquires packaging business.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Spartech Corp. has announced an agreement to acquire the stock of Creative Forming, Inc., a custom manufacturer of plastic packaging with approximately $48 million in annual sales. Creative's facility in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA, will combine...

BASF adds plants in Texas.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... BASF has launched two new operations at its site in Freeport, Texas, USA--a production line for polyamide 6 (nylon) and a plant for superabsorbent polymers (SAP). The polyamide-production line, with an annual capacity of 120,000 MT, is supplied...

In memoriam: G. Palmer Humphrey, Sr.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(In memoriam)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... G. Palmer Humphrey, Sr., a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers since 1946, died on October 1, 2007, at the age of 95. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Palmer's work on behalf of the Society earned him the President's Cup in 1960. In...

RTi realigns.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Resin Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... In response to its "record growth rate" over the past two years, says Resin Technology Inc. (RTi), it has made "sweeping changes to its business model." The new alignment features individual strategic business units, each led by an industry...

Polymer Group raises capacity in Mexico.(GLOBAL NEWS: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Headquartered in the United States, Polymer Group, Inc., announces that it will locate a multi-beam spunmelt line for hygiene applications at its plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to serve customers in North America. The company will invest...

At the cutting edge: the combination of lasers and robotics for cutting semifinished products is gaining momentum, particularly in the automotive sector. This flexible technology is fast, clean, and becoming more precise. We take a look at the market and some of its key players.(Advanced Plastic Technology )
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lasers have hit the headlines in the plastics press in recent years as a new alternative for welding parts together. But lasers are just as good, if not better, at taking plastics apart. What diode and Nd-Yag lasers...

Auto suppliers in Mexico seek greater role in industry.
November 1, 2007... Mexico's automotive industry is gearing up for the next stage of its development. Despite its success in building a large export-dominated parts-supply and assembly business, experts say the industry needs to acquire design and manufacturing...

Additives annual: enhancing plastics-from appearance to processing efficiency.(Cover story)
November 1, 2007... A broad range of additives and masterbatches are available to tailor the appearance, functionality, performance, safety, cost effectiveness, and processing efficiency of resins. Colorants and special effects, the largest group, help designers...

2007 Thermoforming Conference[TM]: adapting to form the future.(Conference news)
November 1, 2007... SPE's 17th Annual Thermoforming Conference[TM] took place on September 16-19 in Cincinnati, Ohio USA. Design Winners Highlight Innovation and Practicality This year's parts competition featured numerous entries. In many applications...

Nanocomposites: fast track to commercialisation.(EUROPE)
November 1, 2007... Nanocomposites are entering an important phase in their product life cycle, moving from innovation to growth. Industry analyst Frost & Sullivan, which has just completed a study on the global nanocomposite market, provides Plastics Engineering...

Plastics in reverse: deconstructing plastic products can provide useful information.(NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Theoretically, reverse engineering might seem like cheating, since it often involves analyzing another company's product or material to discover its secrets. Yet in today's competitive marketplace, all information is critical, including...

Ken Braney's monthly look at SPE's European activities.(SPE NEWS ROUNDUP: EUROPE)(Conference news)
November 1, 2007... European Medical Polymers has now been approved as a Special Interest Group (SIG) following September's SPE council meeting in Irvine, California. It has also been confirmed that the revised conference will be held in the Spring of 2008....

SPE in Europe.(EUROPE)
November 1, 2007... SPE Europe Yetty Pauwels +32 3 541 77 55 spe.europe@skynet.be www.speeurope.org SPE Europe Board Chairman Jan Spoormaker jlspoorm@xs4all.nl SPE Executive Committee Liaison Ken Braney +44...

Industry patents.
November 1, 2007... The patent is a legal document giving the holder a license to capitalize on the invention without competition for a few years. In exchange, the holder teaches the basis of the invention. The patent is forward-looking, representing a technical...

Static control.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Industrial-equipment manufacturer Precision AirConvey has unveiled a line of static-neutralizing and charging products. Featuring active and passive static-neutralizing bars, charge generators, electrostatic spot chargers, a BarStat Ionicflow...

Seals for polyolefin extrusion.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Mecos Ex-Pac shaft seals contain resin and additive powders and hydrocarbon vapors in single-shaft and twin-shaft polyolefin compounding extruders. The nitrogen-purged seals are self-adjusting to accommodate shaft deflection and temperatures...

Inventory management.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Process Control Corp., a supplier of auxiliary equipment for plastics processing, has added the Gravimetric Inventory Management System to its product line. The system provides a method of weighing and storing repelletized materials or raw...

Viscosity and pH control.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Norcross Corp. has introduced a single-loop viscosity and pH controller for applications with adhesives, coatings, varnishes, lacquers, printing inks, and other liquids. The MP2000 Viscosity Controller utilizes 60 settings to accommodate...

Color formulating.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Ciba Color Services presented its Colibri Color-Formulation System at the K 2007 show in Dusseldorf, Germany. Colibri 3.2 performs highly accurate recipe calculations and includes numerous new features to allow the measurement of transparent...

Ergonomics for manual production systems.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Bosch Rexroth Corp. reports that its 15 years of continuous time-and-motion studies have resulted in significant insight into the design of the ideal workplace. The company offers a guide, "The Workplace Systems 7-Step Ergonomic Checklist,"...

Quick change for tooling and molds.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Tooling Technology introduced a new product to its line of Segen Quick Change cylinder locks at the recent SPE Thermoforming Conference. The enhanced version of the Segen Quick Change utilizes an internal sensor that enables the machine...

Temperature monitor.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... The Chromalox CX224 12-Channel Temperature Monitor safeguards expensive electric machinery such as heaters, motors, generators, and transformers for chemical-processing and water-treatment facilities in which temperature monitoring is required...

Consultancy for composites manufacturers.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)(Connect Composites)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... An increasing number of manufacturers are turning to composite materials to take advantage of their unique properties. But the fast pace at which new materials and manufacturing technologies have been introduced, combined with a constantly...

Router trimming and milling.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)(KMT Robotic Solutions)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... KMT Robotic Solutions, formerly Robotic Production Technology, showcased its RoboTrim RT-1000 router trimming and milling system at the recent SPE Thermoforming Conference. Intended for use in thermoforming, injection molding, blow molding, and...

Faster moves for regrind.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Size Reduction Specialists, Inc. (SRS), reports that its Evacuation System moves regrind material from the granulator to storage area, dryer, or injection-molding machine faster and more economically than conventional systems. The new system...

Vision inspection.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)(NVision, Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... NVision's Maxos System for automated high-speed production inspection can inspect polished and unpolished plastics, metal, and glass. Applications include turbine blades, pump components such as impellers, medical devices such as implants, and...

Inline spectrophotometer.(MACHINERY: NORTH AMERICA)(X-Rite Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... X-Rite, Inc., is introducing its VeriColor Spectro instrument for the plastics industry that closely monitors color quality in harsh shop-floor conditions and severe factory environments. The VeriColor Spectro monitors products such as...

Long-cut masterbatches for LFTs.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(long-fiber thermoplastic)(RTP Co.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Based in Winona, Minnesota, USA, RTP Co. has developed long-cut additives for its line of long-fiber thermoplastic (LFT) compounds. As the long-cut masterbatch is offered in cube blends with an LFT product, separation during handling is...

Sparkling effects in natural colors.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Ciba (Basel, Switzerland) has designed the Xymara Nordic line of glass-based pigments "to reflect the natural shades and effects of frost, gold, heather, ocean, pine, and sunset." Suitable for packaging, house hold goods, and leisure items, the...

Fluoroelastomer processing aids.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(DuPont Performance Elastomers )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... DuPont Performance Elastomers (DPE) (Wilmington, Delaware, USA) has launched Viton FreeFlow Z110 and Z210 processing aids for polyolefins, extending its line of "Z Technology" fluoroelastomer additives. Z Technology additives are said to...

Antifog agent for LDPE film.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(low density polyethylene)(Polyvel, Inc. )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Polyvel, Inc. (Hammonton, New Jersey, USA), has introduced VF152, a second-generation antifog additive masterbatch for blown LDPE (low-density polyethylene) film packaging of refrigerated fresh food. The new product works more quickly than...

Eco-friendly industrial-coating additive.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Rohm and Haas Co.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Rohm and Haas (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) has developed a technology that improves barrier properties of industrial coatings while facilitating compliance with the VOC (volatile organic compound) regulations of the United States. Avanse...

Film-coloring pigments.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Shepherd Color Co.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... The Precise line of high-performance pigments has been designed by the Shepherd Color Co. (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) specifically for fiber and thin-film coloring applications. Providing high durability along with weather and UV resistance, they...

TPEs evade "mad-cow" disease.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Teknor Apex Co.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Teknor Apex has introduced new TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) compounds for producing medical and other products that must meet regulations aimed at preventing the transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE--commonly known as...

High-tech thermoplastic sheet.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... At the 2007 SPE Thermoforming Conference (September), Spartech Corp. (Clayton, Missouri, USA) presented its Royalite family of sheet products for medical and dental applications. In one noted application, Royalite sheet is used to pressure-form...

Electrically conductive compounds.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(PolyOne Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Headquartered in northeast Ohio, USA, PolyOne has introduced a custom patent-pending formulation of its Stat-Tech electrically conductive compounds used in conductive pipette tips. The tips are used with robotic pipettors to measure and...

Micropellet alloys.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)
November 1, 2007... Based in British Columbia, Canada, Pacific Particulate Materials, Ltd. (PPM), has designed micropellet "cermet" (ceramic-metallic compound) alloys for polymeric composites and nanocomposites to maximize the strength and service life of...

Fiber-reinforced urethane core material.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Alcan Baltek Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Alcan Baltek Corp. of Northvale, New Jersey, USA, has added Airex PXc. 145 glass-fiber-filled urethane foam core to its line of Airex PX composite-core products. At 9 lb/[ft.sup.3], the new material is lower in weight and density than existing...

Recyclable materials for thermoforming.(MATERIALS: NORTH AMERICA)(Premier Material Concepts )(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Premier Material Concepts (PMC) of Findlay, Ohio, USA, reports that it has engineered a recyclable material specifically for thermoforming. Exultra offers a more cost-effective alternative to vinyl-wrapped products without incurring additional...

Industry events.(EUROPE)(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... NOVEMBER 12-14, ARM Hands-On Advanced Seminar in Rotational Moulding Site: Belfast, Northern Ireland Website: www.rotomolding.org 13-14, Innovations in Flexible Packaging Site: Manchester, UK Website:...