Rhodia rides PA growth in China

Polyamide giant Rhodia (Paris), looking to grow with the Chinese automotive industry, is breaking ground on its second Asian plant since 2003: a 40,000-ton capacity compounding operation in Shanghai that will create its Technyl (PA6, 66, 66/6), Technyl Star, and Technyl Alloy materials. The company now has 80,000 tons of capacity in China, and the new operation will collocate with R&D and sales and marketing capabilities already present in Shanghai.

Rhodia reported 2004 earnings of €5.3 billion, and the first quarter of 2005 saw a significant increase in PA sales, as they rose 123% to €471 million from €384 million in Q1 2004. The company already had production, tech centers, or both in Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Ampac stands tall for standup pouches

Flexible packaging company Ampac Packaging LLC (Cincinnati, OH) continues to diversify from its bag and film offerings by tapping into the growing standup pouch market through the acquisition of Kapak Co. LLC (Minneapolis, MN), a manufacturer of standup pouches for the food, medical, agricultural, chemical, health, and beauty aid markets. Ampac spokesman George Thomas says Kapak is currently operating two shifts but will move to three in July in its pouch-making and fitment applications.

Kapak features a cleanroom with a Toshiba eight-color press featuring Nireco registration and web inspection as well as an Okazaki Dry Laminator. Thomas says Kapak currently has 85 employees, down from 94, and that revenue per employee is up more than 40% compared to last year.

Privately held Ampac, which was created in 2000 through the combination of Amko Plastics Inc. and Interstate Packaging Corp., added standup pouch capabilities in January through the acquisition of Flexicon Inc. (Cary, IL). Last July it purchased 55% of Kapak, with the remainder bought in this last transaction.

Owned by its management with equity backing from Key Principal Partners and Pouschine Cook Capital Management, Ampac''s 850 employees generated sales of $200 million. In addition to eight U.S. plants, it has a facility in Nanjing, China.

Graham acquires the whole enchilada from Mexico''s Innopack

Graham Packaging Company (York, PA), one of the world''s largest blowmolders of plastics packaging with 90 sites and more than $2 billion in sales, has acquired the remaining equity in Graham Innopack de Mexico (GIM) from former partner Industrias Innopack. Terms of the deal, which covers three processing facilities, were not disclosed.

Graham Packaging and Innopack formed GIM as a joint venture in December 1999 to serve the growing Mexican plastic packaging market, with Graham owning 51% and Innopack 49%.

With the purchase, and its acquisition last year of two facilities formerly owned by Owens-Illinois (now known as simply O-I), Graham has five blowmolding sites in Mexico. Graham''s purchase of O-I''s plastic bottle blowing business last year nearly doubled Graham''s capacity, and this year it also acquired four HDPE bottle blowing sites from Tetra Pak. The Blackstone Group of New York is the majority owner of Graham Packaging.

O''Neil adds 20-million lb capacity

Responding to sales growth greater than 15% in 2004, O''Neil Color & Compounding (Jasper, TN) is adding 20 million lb of capacity in color concentrates and specialty TPE compounds, increasing production at its Tennessee headquarters and Garfield, NJ facility. The New Jersey plant commissioned a high-RPM twin-screw extrusion line in April, while the Jasper operation will complete installation of a high-capacity single-screw line by the end of the month. Employing 150 with estimated sales of $32 million for the fiscal year that ended last December, O''Neil is also adding ERP software and product development capabilities in 2005. The company is a subsidiary of Primex Plastics Corp. (Richmond, IN), which is itself owned by ICC Industries Inc. (New York, NY).

Bourbon doubles with new Texas plant

Appliance supplier Bourbon Plastics will open a new facility in El Paso, TX to help support customer Electrolux HP, which has an appliance manufacturing operation across the border in Juarez, Mexico. Initial plans call for the new Texas plant to open with three or four presses ranging in size from 50 to 500 tons. The company operates 20 machines at its Bourbon, IN headquarters, ranging from 35 to 700 tons, where it custom molds for the furniture, recreational vehicle, and wire and cable markets in addition to appliances.

M&G makes polyester play in Brazil

Chemical engineering company M&G (Tortona, Italy) will expand purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capacity in Brazil in advance of its 450 kt/yr PET investment there. Half of the Pernambuco PTA plant''s 750 kt/yr output will go towards the new PET plant, with the rest used for fiber applications. The plant is scheduled to come online in Q1 2008 and will use the Invista single-oxidizer technology for PTA manufacturing.

M&G said in a statement that it is attempting to "fill a void" created by years of no investment in Brazil''s polyester industry. M&G''s PTA investment will bring Brazilian production of the material to 1 million tonnes/yr, and nationwide PET capacity will be 700 kt/yr. The current domestic demand for PET is estimated at 350 kt/yr.

Deschamps runs NA expansion up the flagpole

Looking to supplant the aluminum and steel flagpoles that still dominate in North America, French flagpole manufacturer Deschamps SA is opening a U.S. subsidiary in Mebane, NC called Fiberglass Flagpoles of America (FFA) that will manufacture its patented fiber-glass composite pole technology. Deschamps says composite poles are already becoming standard in Europe thanks to their lightness, ease of installation, corrosion resistance, and lack of electrical attraction.

The poles are made using a patented manufacturing technique that applies heat to accelerate the composite''s curing process. FFA believes it can gain 30% of the fiberglass flagpole market in five years, with annual production eventually hitting 10,000 poles.

Warped tail light housings force Saturn recall

General Motors Corp. (Detroit, MI) will recall 291,652 Saturn L-Series sedans and wagons after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found the tail light''s plastic housing distorted if the lights were on too long. The recall affects cars in the 2000 through 2002 model years.

Constantia merges U.S. processing units

Constantia Packaging (Vienna, Austria) has decided to merge its two U.S. plants, H&N Packaging (Colmar, PA) with Multifilm Packaging (Elgin, IL) under a single management team. The move should give Constantia a vertically integrated presence in North America and customers a one-stop-shop for packaging needs, says marketing manager Marcus Magnusson.

"The sites were allowed to develop independently for several years and the outcome has been two facilities with a very similar focus yet different capabilities," says Olle Mannertorp, CEO of both companies. H&N has concentrated on thin-gauge (9 to 70 µm) printed aluminum foil for wrapping sweets, shrink sleeves, and labels while Multifilm focuses on flow and twist wrap based on polyolefins.

"The fact that we [calender] our own aluminum foil in the group as well as extrude, metallize, and print our own polypropylene and polyethylene films makes us unique in this market sector," Mannertorp says. Constantia had sales last year totaling €945 million.

Celanese sells PBI business

Celanese (Dallas, TX) has sold its polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymers business and fibers unit, PBI Performance Products, to InterTech (North Charleston, SC) for an undisclosed sum. The company will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of InterTech and all existing management and employees will remain in the business. This resin, originally developed for NASA, provides fire resistance and heat protection. It can be molded into shapes for the semiconductor and industrial sectors, woven into industrial protective wear, and extruded into films for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.

Reifenhäuser trades on equipment exports for success

Late last month, German processing equipment producer Reifenhäuser (Troisdorf, Germany) shipped its third cast-film line with a 4.6m die to China for polypropylene film production. Eike Wedell, director of the company''s film division, says East Asian demand for 4.5m to 5m wide cast-film lines for food packaging is growing very fast compared to smaller widths of 2m to 3m in more developed markets of Europe and North America.

This latest line, delivered to an unnamed Chinese client, includes one extruder with a 180-mm screw and L/D of 30:1, coupled with two coextruders with the same L/D but 90-mm screw. The slot die has a width of 4600 mm for production of three-layer film in thicknesses of 20 to 120 µm. Output is up to 1450 kg/hr at speeds of 230 m/min. Wedell says the films are often metallized, used as lamination web, or applied in retortable pouches.

The company also recently announced the sale of an additional three-layer blown film extrusion line to an unnamed Spanish customer producing agricultural film. This processor already has 38 extrusion units from the company. This latest line has an output of 2200 kg/hr for films in thicknesses ranging from .08 to .200 mm. The large unit required a specially built hall and roof extension that reaches a height of 35m.

Bernd Schroeter, from Reifenhäuser''s blown-film group, says the processor is manufacturing long service-line films for green houses, grow tunnels, and ground cover that last four growing seasons.

Netstal charges up Elion business

At last October''s K show, Swiss injection molding machine maker Netstal (Näfels) officially introduced its entry into the all-electric press market, the Elion machine range. This month the firm confirmed its first large order for 11 Elion units by an unidentified European medical parts molder. The molder has an option for two additional machines, says Netstal. The 11-machine order brings the number of Elion machines that Netstal has sold since introducing the line to more than 30. Currently the machines are available with clamping forces from 500 to 1750 kN.

Meetings and interviews this spring at a number of European injection machine makers have made clear that Netstal is not the only machine maker seeing interest in its electric machine range. Officials at Arburg, Ferromatik Milacron, Demag Plastics Group, and Engel all said during recent visits that they, too, see increased demand for all-electric options.

Demag switches rep down under

Demag Plastics Group (Schwaig, Germany) will be represented in Australia by Handelsons Pty Ltd. under an agreement the companies will enter into on July 1 that will have Handelsons promote, distribute, and service Demag in the country. The German maker of injection molding machinery was formerly represented by PBE Roboplas. Handelsons had prior auxiliaries accounts for plastics processing, including drying, feeding, and material-handling equipment as well as screws and barrels. The firm has offices in Sydney and Melbourne, with sales and tech support across the Australian continent.

Demag estimates the annual Australian injection molding machinery market at 200 presses, with Demag selling around 10. Its mid-term goal is to increase sales to around 15 to 20 machines.

Krauss-Maffei opens old Kentucky home

Krauss-Maffei (Munich, Germany) maintained a tradition begun last year, holding an in-house plastics technology conference and trade show at its U.S. subsidiary in Florence, KY where it showed off its new EX all-electric injection molding machine. More than 1100 people attended the two-day event, which included all three Krauss-Maffei divisions, Berstorff Plastics and Rubber Technology, and 68 partner companies. Extrusion, injection molding, and reaction injection molding products and processes were on display.

The EX all-electric injection molding machine with a new MC5 control system was demonstrated with an LR 350 linear robot. The Reaction Machinery Div. showcased a RIM-Skin process producing an automotive instrument panel skin. K-M developed a custom mold carrier for this system supplied to its customer Intertec.

The Extrusion Div. presented its new 36D twin-screw extruder for wood composite sheet as well as a 32D twin-screw extruder for profile production and a C5 extrusion-line control system.

New York in June for Battenfeld electric debut

Battenfeld, a division of SMS Plastics Technology (Meinerzhagen, Germany), announced that it will use the Plastec East show (June 13-15, New York), to launch the latest version of its all-electric EM II molding machine in the U.S. after its global debut last October in Düsseldorf during K. Developed in cooperation with Ferromatik Milacron, the machine was intended to increase processing performance while lowering costs. The EM II will be available in clamp forces ranging from 30 to 180 tons, and it features a five-point toggle for accuracy and strength. The company says it has reduced energy consumption by 20% in continuous operation, with some instances of 50% energy savings realized. In New York the machine will run medical parts from a Wisconsin Tool & Mold tool.

Kistler senses business opportunity with application center

A new injection molding center has been opened by measuring equipment and sensor manufacturer Kistler at its headquarters in Winterthur, Switzerland. "The main focus of the application center lies on enhanced customer support, intense training, and shorter time-to-market period for new products," says Kistler''s CEO Rolf Sonderegger. The lab includes an all-electric injection molding machine that is equipped with a mold-protection system as well as sensors and systems for measuring mold cavity pressure, melt pressure, clamping force, tie bar extension, and injection force.

A brief history of plastics in Bonn

The German Plastics Museum (Düsseldorf, Germany) is opening, for a limited run, an exhibition of notable items from the historical world of plastics in Germany''s former capital, Bonn. Labeled "The Plastic-Smiths," the show includes milestones of plastics inventions throughout the ages taken from the museum''s permanent collection of approximately 9000 objects.

The exhibit includes early items made from macromolecular mass plastics derived from vegetable or animal products as well as amino-synthetic, Bakelite, and celluloid objects processed from 1900 to 1960. A full range of synthetic polymer items from before the middle of the last century, such as urea-formaldehyde, melamine, polystyrene, and acrylic, round out the show. The exhibit runs from June 15 to July 22 in the Wissenschaftszentrum Bonn (www.wzbonn.de).

From July 12 to 15 the center will offer two shows daily for children from 8 to 12, called "Kuno''s Cool Plastics Box." An interactive educational program developed by PlasticsEurope, the show is intended to help create interest the world of chemistry and plastics among school-age boys and girl.

And the winner is...

Not known yet, but there is still time for composites processors to submit their entries for this year''s AVK-TV Innovation Prizes. The AVK-TV is Germany''s composites and reinforced plastics association. Parts submitted for competition can be based on either thermoplastic or thermoset resin.

AKV-TV''s Ursula Zarbock says the competition is easy to enter with just an hour or so required for the submission, which cannot exceed four pages or include more than four photos. More details on award entry can be obtained by contacting Zarbock via e-mail at [email protected] or by visiting www.avk-tv.de.

Modern Plastics Worldwide Senior Editor Matthew Defosse will be one of the competition''s judges. Prizes will be awarded at the group''s international composites conference in September in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Bedliners, the all-natural way

Urethane Soy Systems Co. (USSC; Bridgeville, PA), the producer of Soyol soy-based polyols and systems, is now offering a Soy-based Spray-on Bedliner. Using the company''s soybean polyol technology, Bio-Tuff is blended with SoyOyl and formulated to deliver material strength, flexibility, and tear and abrasion resistance.

USSC system technology includes Bio-Tuff (Bedliner system), SoyComfort (a flexible foam system), SoyMatrix (a line of products for the pultrusion and filament winding market, and SoyTherm 50 (a rigid spray-foam insulation for use in the construction market). USSC has been developing soy-based polyols since 1998. USSC''s SoyOly P38N and GC5N were used for carpet backing and in structural foam body panels for John Deere and CASE/International.

The Bio-Tuff spray-on bedliner conforms to the contours of the truck bed and provides a moisture barrier. It can be used in various environments, including marine, and can be sprayed on metal, wood, and concrete or stone surfaces.

Names in the news

Peter Schurman, the entrepreneur and inventor who is credited with creating the double-wall blowmolded carrying case, died April 13 after a brief illness. A graduate of Exeter Academy and Cornell University, Schurman began his career in plastics in 1954, selling resin for Union Carbide in Rochester, NY. In 1960, Schurman started Airmold Plastics in Buffalo, NY, and invented the process for blowmolding double-wall carrying cases and toolboxes. He sold Airmold to W.R. Grace in 1965.

The following year, Schurman founded The Plastic Forming Co. (PFC) in Woodbridge, CT. PFC began as a machinery developer and specialty custom blowmolder and, in 1969, it entered the double-wall carrying case business using a new process Schurman developed. During the 1970s, the market and the company grew rapidly as double-wall cases became the preferred method to package a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, including chain saws and hand and power tools.

To accommodate that growth, PFC first opened, and later spun off and licensed other companies to manufacture double-wall cases, including Custom-Pak (Clinton, IA), Southern Case (Raleigh, NC, now part of The Danaher Corp.), and Western Case (Tustin, CA). Later, the company licensed other established molders in the U.S., Canada, France, Spain, and Taiwan.

Schurman sold PFC and retired in 1998. The company continues to design and manufacture double-wall cases in Woodbridge as well as in Massillon, OH. During his career, Schurman garnered more than 50 patents in plastics machinery and packaging and, in his retirement, he continued to work in the industry as a consultant focusing on the patentability of new products.

Compounder and profile producer Spartech Corp. (St. Louis, MO) has named David Gorenc and Greg Nagel as VPs in the plastics division, with each splitting the company''s custom sheet and rollstock operations on a geographic basis. Scott Morford was named VP Spartech-Polycom, overseeing the company''s color and specialty compounds business.

Mold component supplier Progressive Components (Wauconda, IL) has hired industry veteran Cy McGrath as its new general manager in Canada. McGrath comes to Progressive from one of its largest competitors, D-M-E (Madison Heights, MI), where he was director of North American sales. He had spent over 39 years in sales at D-M-E before this move.