E-Weekly
Sep 28th, 2007                                Print this article

e-Weekly News Briefs Sept. 24-28

By Modern Plastics Editorial Staff

Packaging processors, get out your best

The call for entries for the 20th DuPont Awards competition was announced at the Sustainable Packaging Forum in Pittsburgh, PA, by William Weber, VP DuPont Packaging, who added that this year’s awards would include sustainability as a key evaluation criterion.

Entries for the 20th DuPont Awards will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2008. For additional information and entry materials go to www.packaging.dupont.com. Factors such as innovation, enhanced performance, responsible sourcing, clean production, and effective recovery will be considered in selecting the winners.

The jury is, from a plastics packaging perspective, star-studded, and includes: John A. Bernardo, manager, Sustainable Innovations LLC; Julian Carroll, managing director, EUROPEN; Sara Hartwell, environmental specialist, U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste; Masanobu Ishikawa, PhD, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University; Mark Kitzis, VP research, Alcan Packaging; Alessandro Mendes, R&D general manager, Natura Cosmeticos; Jason Pearson, president and CEO, GreenBlue; Keith A. Pearson, president, World Packaging Organization and chairman, Institute of Packaging South Africa; Dr. Helene Roberts, head of packaging, Marks and Spencer PLC; Susan E. M. Selke, PhD, professor and acting director, School of Packaging, Michigan State University; Brian F. Wagner, vice president/COO, Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions LLC; and Roger Zellner, director of Sustainability, Kraft Foods.

Engel expands in Poland

Injection molding machine manufacturer Engel (Schwertberg, Austria) has opened a new sales/service center in Warsaw to replace one it opened in 2002. The firm’s operations in Poland are run by Michael Rebkowski and, according to Engel, it now has market leadership there with about €20 million in annual sales.

Vecoplan opens new lab

Size reduction machinery manufacturer Vecoplan (Highpoint, NC) has opened a new 30,000-sq-ft test lab to assist both its own R&D efforts and those of its customers. The new lab contains a representative selection of five of Vecoplan’s most popular shredders installed on a semi-permanent basis and is configured with an open slot to allow for the temporary installation of specific machines on an as-needed basis. One of the semi-permanent machines is horizontally fed and four are vertically fed via hoppers. The horizontal shredder, a VH18/50 PC, is equipped with a vibration-feed conveyor and pneumatic-discharge system.

The hopper-feed shredders include an RG42/60 XL, an RG52/100 U, an RG52/150 K FF, and an RG62/150 U XLT. Also in the lab are customer-viewing stations with built-in windows, located at key processing points on each shredder as well as on feed and discharge equipment. Cameras positioned above each shredder’s hopper provide live video feeds of materials as they are being processed in the cutting chamber. Video can be viewed in the lab or from any remote location via a secure, password protected, high-speed internet connection. Video can also be provided to the customer on DVDs or CDs.

JVs in China: Sinopec and DuPont….

Sinopec and DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers (Geneva, Switzerland) have formed a joint venture (55% controlled by Sinopec) to build a 60-tonne/yr capacity ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) line in China at the existing facility of Sinopec Beijing Yanshan Company in Beijing. Start-up of EVA production is planned for late 2008. This is DuPont’s first EVA facility in China, where it says the market for this material is growing most rapidly.

EVA sees use as in packaging, adhesives, printing, wire and cable, footwear, and apparel.

Sinopec is an integrated energy and chemical company and the largest petroleum products producer and distributor in China. It already has significant capacity for PE, PP, PVC, and PS.

…and Radici and Lati

Italian thermoplastics supplier Radici and compounder Lati have signed a letter of intent to form a 50/50 joint venture in China to develop the engineering plastics market there. Lati SpA is a major supplier of compounds for the electrical and household appliance sectors. Radici Group’s plastics business is a major supplier of polyamide to the automotive industry, and also supplies acetal and TPEs.

The joint-venture’s headquarters and production base will be in Suzhou at the RadiciPlastics Suzhou Co. Ltd. compounding plant, opened by Radici in April 2007. The joint venture will manufacture and market a range of engineering plastics in Southeast Asia under the firms’ corresponding brand-names market. The JV also will market all the compounds of both parent companies, to include those not yet slated to be compounded in China.

Online trade show

Coating manufacturer Sherwin-Williams (Cleveland, OH) says it will be one of the pioneering exhibitors at CyberCoating 2007, the first virtual online trade show for the paint and coatings industry. Scheduled to take place Oct. 15-26, it will provide exhibitors and attendees the chance to view the show with the click of a computer mouse. Exhibitors and customers will connect to form and build relationships without the expensive of travel and time away from the office, says Bob McElroy, marketing communications manager, chemical coatings division at the company. This event is sponsored by the Powder Coatings Institute (Alexandria, VA). Admission to the virtual trade show is free until September 30 by registering at: contact@cybercoatingshow.com or calling: +1 317 920 6100. Starting October 1 fees to visit the virtual exhibition hall are $25 for staff of PCI member organizations and $50 for non-members. Passes to attend the 20 hours of technical conference presentations are priced at $150 for PCI members and $250 for non-members.

Names in the news

Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (Bolton, ON) has moved Mike Urquhart, most recently VP PET systems, to a new position as VP service and sales for Latin America. He succeeds Rod Selem, who is leaving Husky. Also, Bruce Catoen, former VP of packaging at Husky, left the firm and in September started work at hot runner manufacturer Mold-Masters as VP marketing and business development.

Hans Stadler is the new boss of the injection molding machinery division within KraussMaffei (Munich, Germany). In August, long-time KM molding machinery manager, Josef Märtl left the firm. Stadler has held management posts in companies including Psion Teklogix (makes bar code scanners/readers, handheld computers and other gear) and Siemens Nixdorf, a supplier of computer hardware and software. The firm also has restructured its injection molding sales force, as follows: Michael Skerat (sales Germany), Holger Tumat (international sales), Bengt Schmidt (sales North America and key accounts), and Hans-Jürgen Schulze, who is responsible for Systems and Solutions.

Applied Market Information (AMI, Bristol, England) is expanding its technical publishing activities and has appointed Rebecca Dolbey to its Plastics Information Direct division. This sector distributes technical books for the plastics industry.

Mold builder Georg Kaufmann, founder and head of Georg Kaufmann Formenbau (Busslingen, Switzerland), is handing over day-to-day management to Nikolaus Kudlik, who becomes managing director of the company. He was previously technical/sales director in the board of management of BIRO Edwin Bischof (Romanshorn, Switherland), a supplier of automotive parts. Georg Kaufmann plans to retire at the beginning of next year.

Plastics and additives supplier BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has announced a number of changes in management. Bernhard Nick, currently senior VP strategic planning, has been named president and assumes responsibility for the division “Verbund” Site Management Europe. In that post he becomes the new site manager of BASF’s headquarter site in Ludwigshafen. He succeeds future BASF board member Harald Schwager. Walter Gramlich, head of the company’s intermediates division, assumes responsibility for the Strategic Planning and Controlling division.

Injection mold temperature control manufacturer HP-Therm (St. Gallen, Switzerland) has added Achim Frank to its roster, as sales manager for French-speaking regions. He has worked previously at a Swiss automotive parts processor as well as at injection molding machine maker Netstal.

Machine-tool supplier Makino (Auburn Hills, MI) has hired Andre Ey for its Die Mold Technologies Group. Ey, who holds degrees from Michigan State and Fachhochschule of Dortmond, Germany, has 18 years of manufacturing experience.

Telles, the bioplastic manufacturing joint venture of Metabolix (Cambridge, MA) and Archer Daniels Midland (Decatur, IL), has made four hires spanning marketing and operations. Joining Telles are Frank Popola, compounding technology and operations manager; Holly Wilson-Jene, director of product marketing; Sally Kline, director of technology; and Diether Hesse, commercial director Europe.

Extruder manufacturer Entek Manufacturing Inc. (Lebanon, OR) has promoted Linda Campbell to West Coast Sales Manager. Campbell will retain the position of inside sales manager, which she has held since 2000. She joined the company in 1988.

Thermoplastic composite processing technology supplier Fiberforge (Glenwood Springs, CO) has appointed Andrew Lizotte as its lead composites application engineer for aerospace product development. Lizotte’s background includes work as a flight test structures engineer for NASA. Fiberforge, which patented its Relay Station technology for economical and efficient production of thermoplastic composite structures, looks to be branching out from its initial focus on automotive applications.

Global Plastics Bulletin Board

Has your plastics application been blatantly copied? Now is your chance to get even. Register your application until Dec. 10 with the organizers of the Aktion Plagiarus. Any questions can be answered by Christine Lacroix (tel: +49 7308 922422) or by e-mail: info@plagiarius.com. Negative awards for the most outrageous copies of products and ideas will be highlighted at an awards ceremony featuring both the original and the copy at next year’s Ambiente housewares fair (Feb. 8-12) in Frankfurt, Germany.

Another new trade fair centering on metal/plastics products, Proform, is scheduled to open next year in Dortmund, Germany from June 10-13. The show concentrates on injection molded metal-plastics parts and production. The show will include a forum on new multi-material technologies.

Plastics color and additive supplier, Americhem (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) will take part in consultant Principia Partners Wood-Plastic and Natural Fiber Composites 2007 conference from Oct. 8-9 at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront Hotel. At last year’s event, Americhem presented a paper on color retention of olefin-wood composites. In 2007, it will feature simulated wood-grain effects, dark colors, and chemical blowing agents.

Teknor Apex has published a six-page full-color brochure covering the company’s polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds for medical, potable-water, and food-contact uses. In addition, it looks at uniformity of products, captive production of raw materials, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance.

Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, TN) has launched an interactive web tool for designers of point-of-purchase and store-fixture displays. Called eZone, the site is part of Eastman’s Innovation Lab. Eastman says more than 5000 designers and brand owners are registered to the online Innovation Lab.

Briefs

Zeppelin Materials Handling, a subsidiary of Zeppelin Silos & Systems (Friedrichshafen, Germany) has taken over the commercial operations of FAT Filter und Anlagentechnik (Berlin, Germany). Because of changing environmental protection regulations, Zeppelin sees filter technology becoming more important for bulk solids handling. In other news, from Zeppelin, the company has received approval by the EU antitrust commission to take over the conveying and dosing technologies as well as the control systems sectors of British plant builder Chronos Richardson (Nottingham, England). Chronos Richardson is primarily involved in serving the rubber processing industry, which Zeppelin says is a compliment to its own range.

Mann + Hummel has designed a dual-flow air filter system for the BMW X5 sports car. This unit consists of dirty air ducts, a air cleaner with trapezoid elements, styling cover, and a clean air duct for a 4.8-liter/V8 petrol engine. “Our main development objective was to meet the demanding acoustic requirements and at the same time adhere to the maximum permissible pressure loss,” says Wilfried Lehr, managing director of the automotive OEM division at the company. It is further expanding its presence in North America with air-filter systems for two engine varieties of the BMW X5. These systems are being processed in South Bend, IN.

This year’s Plast Eurasia 2007 (Istanbul, Turkey) show expects to host more than 1050 exhibitors and draw in more than 25,000 visitors for the event that runs Dec. 5-8. The growth of plastics processing in Turkey is currently out-performing the country’s GDP growth.

Ciba Specialty Chemicals (Basel, Switzerland) has launched XYMARA Quicksilver SF02, a ready-to-use flatbed screen-printing ink that is said to have top-quality silver-mirror effect, adhesion, and print performance on plastics. It provides an economic and productive printing alternative to foil blocking and film metallization.

According to compression molding equipment maker SACMI (Imola, Italy), the world market for plastics closures is expected to grow by 7% from 2006-2011, with mineral-water closures showing the biggest jump, 8%, during the period. Demand for carbonated soft drinks’ closures, which grew by 7.9% from 2001-2006, is expected to grow by 4.3% from now to 2011, says Giuseppe Lesce, general manager closures. Of the 340 billion closures for beverages produced last year, 39% were produced by injection molding, 28% by compression molding, and the remaining 33%, including non-polymer solutions, were produced by other compression methods.

Fraunhofer Institute (Munich, Germany) has set up an Innovations Cluster for Polymer Technology in the Halle-Leipzig region of Germany. Located at the Value Park in Schkopau, Germany, the cluster hopes to attract researchers from related Fraunhofer Institutes as well as with small- and medium-sized plastics firms located at the site owned by Dow Chemical. The cluster is being financed to the tune of €2 million from Fraunhofer itself, €2.4 million from the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, as well as various amounts from industry. The key research undertaken at the cluster will revolve around polymer/nanoparticle blends, biopolymers, and natural fiber-filled composites.

Thermoplastic compounder Multibase (Saint-Laurent du Pont, France), a Dow Corning company, has received the Pinnacle Award for Supplier Excellence from automotive vendor Delphi (Troy, MI). The award provides annual recognition to suppliers for their quality, cost, and delivery performance.

Processor Nuova PDM (Modugno, Italy) has taken its first aluminum-plastics composite-pipe extrusion line from processing equipment maker Cincinnati Extrusion (Vienna, Austria). The processor says it wants to expand its portfolio of products by catering to a growing market in Italy for hot-water transport pipes. Currently the market is dominated by cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) as well as PE-RT pipe systems for such uses.

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