Moldmaking: new name for Sino Mould

One of the best-known names in Chinese moldmaking industry, Sino Mould (Zhuhai), is changing its name to Maxuni Industry Group Ltd. to reflect its international business and, maybe more significantly, to help its customers avoid confusion with the many other moldmakers who have names similar to Sino Mould. “We will still be providing the same service and quality and continuing to improve our systems to provide the best value to you. Our future plans include adding other services that will offer you a complete one-stop solution for your needs from part design through tooling, part production, and delivery,” wrote Matthew Paine, marketing manager of the firm. The Maxuni Group was founded based around Sino Mould, and an ongoing expansion of the Sino Mould facility will enable the firm to take on other aspects on plastics processing.

China: Smart Sourcing adds medical-device services

Smart Sourcing Inc. (SSI; Long Island, NY), a specialist in helping foreign firms to find and vet moldmaking and plastics processing capacity in China, has added a new division designed to help U.S. firms outsource medical device component manufacturing and assembly to Asia.

According to SSI, savings can range from 30-80% if a product is labor intensive. While manufacturers in China have made significant improvements in medical device technology and product quality recently, the real challenge, according to David Hale, SSI president, is to identify the correct factory and thoroughly manage the product at any stage. “Before announcing our new division, we instituted a test program of producing OEM medical components including injection molded items, printed circuit board assemblies and various sub-assemblies along with providing full box-build assembly. This enabled us to confirm the manufacturing capabilities and, most importantly for this market, the quality system that is ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certified,” said Hale. Class I, II and III clean room environments are available.

Injection molding: Husky expands Altanium manufacturing

Now offering the ability to locally manufacture hot runner controllers and conduct integrated testing with the hot runner, Husky Injection Molding Systems (Bolton, ON) can manufacture its line of Altanium controllers at the same global sites—Vermont, Luxembourg, and Shenzhen—where it produces hot runners themselves. The company will display its full line of hot runners and Altanium controllers at next month’s Chinaplas (April 17-20; Shanghai New International Expo Center), after taking a one-year hiatus from the increasingly important plastics event last year. The Altanium line, which Husky acquired in 2007 from Moldflow, purchasing that company’s Manufacturing Solutions Division for $7 million, has several configurations with 1 to 255 zones of control, three operator interfaces, and four mainframe configurations from which to choose. Altanium originated with American MSI Corp., which sold it in January 2004 to Moldflow.

Profile extrusion: Greiner Tool.Tec adds three acquisitions

Greiner Tool.Tec, the Nussbach, Austria-based manufacturer of profile extrusion tooling and downstream equipment, has added some 200 employees to its payrolls as the result of three recent acquisitions, one each in the U.S., France, and Slovenia. “By opening up new markets and enhancing our order situation, we safeguard the future of our locations in Austria,” said Managing Director Michael Ebli. For 2008, the firm expects double-digit growth in sales.

The acquisitions stretch back over the past few months but have only now been publicized. The purchases include majority holdings in Filière Plastique (Perrignier, France); Automated EDM Inc. (Ramsey, MN); and the establishment of joint venture weba Maribor in Slovenia between Greiner Tool.Tec division weba and Unior AG.

Greiner Tool.Tec includes 21 companies at 16 locations in 8 different countries. About half of the firm’s 1400 workers are in Austria. Last year’s revenues were euro 150 million.

Ineos takes over BASF’s Seal Sands site

London, England-based chemicals and plastics supplier Ineos has agreed to purchase the Seal Sands site in Teeside, England from BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany). The acquisition is conditional on approval from the antitrust authority. The value of the deal is not disclosed.

The Seal Sands site has facilities for acrylonitrile (AN), adipodinitrile

(ADN) and hexamethylenediamine (HMD), along with by-product plants. These chemical intermediates are used in the production of acrylic and polyamide (PA) fibers for clothing and carpets, as well as for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and PA plastics. Current capacity is about 230,000 tonnes per annum.

Film extrusion: Translucent, compostable PLA blend could replace PE

FKuR Kunststoff GmbH (Willich, Germany) has worked with the Fraunhofer Institute in Oberhausen, also Germany, to expand its existing product range to now include a translucent and compostable polylactic acid (PLA) blend called Bio-Flex 467F, based 40% on renewable resource materials. According to FKuR, the material can be processed on conventional polyethylene blown-film lines without having to modify screws, dies, or take-off equipment. The material’s mechanical resistance and elongation are said to be comparable to those of HDPE.

Bio-Flex 467F combines a silk-matte gloss with high transparency. Coextruding it with other Bio-Flex compounds can be done for combinations of rigidity, elasticity and tear resistance, with potential use in applications like deep-freeze packaging. An independent testing institute made a declaration of no objection with regard to food-contact approval. FKur Kunststoff GmbH offers Biograde blends, based on cellulose and for injection molding applications; and Bio-Flex types, based on PLA and mainly for film applications.

Nanocomposite offers instantaneous shift from rigid to flexible...

Researchers have developed a polymer nanocomposite that can dramatically shift mechanical properties when exposed to certain chemical stimuli, changing from hard to soft, for instance. A joint team of researchers from Case Western University’s (Cleveland, OH) macromolecular science and engineering and biomedical engineering departments and the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, announced their findings in the March 7, 2008 issue of Science.

Classified as having chemoresponsive mechanic adaptability, the polymer can change from hard to soft in seconds when exposed to liquids, and the researchers say they can engineer the materials to change such mechanical properties in a controlled manner, with activation linked to particular chemicals. The researchers worked to parallel similar shifting of properties seen in nature, particularly mimicking the sea cucumber, which can quickly harden its skin as a defense mechanism.

The teams anticipates potential applications for the materials in biomedical, for example, as adaptive substrates for intracortical microelectrodes, which are used as part of an artificial nervous system.

...and nanotechnology pushes towards multi-trillion dollar market

An increasing number of commercial products in the healthcare and electronics sectors will push worldwide revenues from products applying nanotechnology to more than $2.78 trillion by the end of 2015. Those findings in a new study from Global Industry Analysts Inc. (San Jose, CA) reveal an industry where many applications are being readied for launch. In terms of the maturity of R&D efforts and products in the market, the study found the chemical industry leading the way, with global revenues projected to top $82 billion 2008. The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are forecast to show the fastest annual growth rates in revenues from nanotech products over the next decade, rising at a CAGR of 88.2% from 2006 through 2015. Semiconductors/electronics revenues are projected to top $1 trillion by 2014.

On a geographic basis, Japan is projected to surpass all other countries in government funding for nanotechnology from 2006 through 2010, doling out $6 billion to fund nanotechnology research and development. The U.S. is estimated to provide $5.6 billion in funding followed by the European Union, which will deliver $4.6 billion from 2006 to 2010.

Lanxess sees slowing sales but rising earnings

Before adjusting for currency effects, 2007 sales at specialty chemicals and plastics company Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany) were down, largely due to the sale of the Lustran Polymers unit, but EBITDA (earning before income taxes, depreciation, and amortization) pre-exceptions were up 6.5% for the year to euro 719 million. The company said that the Lustran business was quite volatile and “highly cyclical”, leading to its divestment. On the basis of earnings growth, Lanxess plans to lift its dividend, and in the coming year, it plans to spend between euro 330 million and euro 350 million to replace or expand facilities.

By business, Performance Polymers was able in some cases to pass on increases in raw material costs, with group sales up 4.2% to euro 2.68 billion, with price and volume increases in all business units. EBITDA pre-exceptions were up approximately 11% to euro 376 million.

Engineering Plastics reporting at Lanxess will be discontinued after 2007, since the last remaining business unit in that segment, Lustran Polymers, was acquired into Ineos ABS, a joint-venture company formed with Ineos, which manages the day-to-day business operations of the new operation.

Metso to double material-handling equipment capacity

Metso Minerals Industries Inc. (Brunswick, OH) has announced plans for an expansion of its manufacturing operations that will double its manufacturing capacity for vibratory feeders, screeners, conveyors, and tables, as well as bulk bag loaders and unloaders; single- and twin-screw feeders; and complete weighing systems for filling drums, cartons, and boxes. Metso acquired the Brunswick plant, now up for expansion, in March 2007 from BEST Inc.

Expected to be operational in the spring of 2008, the expanded plant will have a total crane capacity of 80 tons. Metso says the expansion will not only increase output but reduce manufacturing lead times and allow the production of larger bulk-material handling systems. It will also include a full technical test laboratory where customers’ products and materials can be tested in a simulation environment to ensure final results.

Bayer buys out PUR system-house partner

This April, Bayer MaterialScience will buy the remaining shares in its 50:50 systems house joint venture BaySystems BÜFA Polyurethane GmbH & Co. KG from Büsing & Fasch GmbH & Co. KG. In 2003, Bayer acquired a 50% stake in BÜFA Polyurethane GmbH & Co. KG (Oldenburg, Germany), and it has been working to integrate that firm’s global network of PUR system houses under the BaySystems umbrellas brand.

The BÜFA venture supplies integral skin foams, elastomers, and rigid foams for use in the automotive, electrical/electronics, footwear, sports, leisure, and medical technology sectors, serving customers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Benelux.

Delphi works towards Chapter 11 exit

Tier One automotive supplier Delphi Corp. (Troy, MI) will once again attempt to exit Chapter 11 reorganization, supported as before by former parent, General Motors, and a new commitment from an unnamed affiliate of GM. The company announced details of its proposed plan during a conference call for potential lenders on March 11. As part of Delphi’s $6.1 billion exit financing package, $1.6 billion is an asset-backed revolving credit facility, $1.7 billion is a first-lien term loan, with a $2 billion first term note from the GM affiliate, and an $825 million second-lien term loan. Delphi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 8, 2005, in the Southern District of New York.

Lanxess, partners develop lower cost solar-cell technology

Using a new ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) to encase solar modules, Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany) and Centrosolar Group AG (Paderborn, Germany) have developed a new production method for photovoltaic modules. Using the EVA, Levapren low-flammability cables, and Lanxess Levamelt EVM rubber, the process removes the previously necessary step of aligning and fixing individual silicon wafer to a carrier, where the cells are embedded into rubber films, which are then crosslinked at a high temperature. The new process eliminates crosslinking, with the wafers fixed between two self-adhesive Levamelt films that are only .5-mm thick. Those involved say this reduces the overall production time, since the lamination process is traditionally a long one.

Lanxess says its Levamelt material is light permeable, which is obviously quite important in solar cells, and since it’s a saturated polymer, it is weather resistant. Lanxess and Centrosolar (ex-Solarstocc AG), along with installation partner Bedachungstechnik Schroeder, built a test facility for long-term testing of the new material at the Leverkusen Chemical Park in July 2007. The involved companies report that the provisional assessments show Levamelt module performance is equal to or somewhat better than conventionally manufactured products.

Demand for appliances rising and global

Developing countries will help push the global market for major electric household appliances to 498 million units by 2010. Those findings published in a new study from Global Industry Analysts Inc. (San Jose, CA), also show that Western countries still hold a majority share of the global white goods market, but countries like China are cracking the top 10 list. From 2000-2010, the report expects appliances to maintain CAGR of 3.04%, with refrigerators, microwave ovens, and room air conditioners showing strong growth, thanks in large part to rising demand from Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The global market for small electric household appliances is projected to reach 575.6 million units by 2010, expanding at a compounded annual rate of 2.54%. Irons are the largest segment followed by coffee makers and toasters.

Kia plant draws plastics processing to Alabama

A metal stamper and injection molder have moved into Chambers County, AL to support Korean automaker Kia’s plant in the area. According to a WTVM report, metal stamper AJIN USA and molder MP Tech America will employ approximately 700 between them. The companies are expected to begin hiring in early fall, with plant construction commencing in April and production by 2009.

Reliance considers Qatari expansion

India’s Reliance Industries is interested in setting up petrochemical production in Qatar, according to a report in the Gulf Times. Reporting from the 13th Middle East Gas Summit in Doha, Gulf Times says that R.P. Sharma, president of the Indian giant’s LNG (liquid natural gas) unit, said the company is interested in establishing a petrochemical venture with Qatar’s QP. The report stated that India is adding natural gas supplies via pipelines, but demand for gas and materials from China will outstrip any additional capacity, making investment in the Middle East a possible solution. Reliance is also India largest plastics supplier, and has said it plans to expand this business.

ACC offers phthalates rebuttal

In response to rising cries for legislative action against the use of phthalates in children’s products, the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Arlington, VA) issued a release saying that such laws will not produce the intended affect of augmented child safety and that there is no scientific basis to bar phthalates from toys or other children’s products. In the release, Marian Stanley, who acts as manager of ACC’s Phthalate Esters Panel, said that rushing to implement bans could introduce materials that aren’t as thoroughly tested as phthalates have been, and that the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s review of phthalates in vinyl children’s products found “no demonstrated health risk.” Used to make naturally rigid polyvinyl chloride (PVC) soft and flexible, phthalates see use in everything from children’s toys to medical products like IV bags.

Happy anniversary to toolmaker B.A. Die Mold Inc.

B.A. Die Mold, originator of the patented Programmable Electric Rotating Core, or PERC, system for threaded applications, recently celebrated its 40th business anniversary. “There are constant challenges, but we have always welcomed them,” Alan Petrucci, the firm’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We see every new obstacle as an opportunity to grow as individuals and advance as a company, which we’ve done consistently.”

In addition to injection mold design and manufacturing, Aurora, IL-based B.A. Die Mold offers product design, quick turn-around prototypes and in-house mold sampling. Industries served include medical, water filtration, spraying systems, and housewares, among others.

Briefs

Clariant Intl. Ltd. (Muttenz, Switzerland) and Zhejiang Baihe Chemical Holding Group announced the expansion of their Hangzhou Baihe Clariant Pigments Co. Ltd. joint venture, with the firms investing in a world-scale plant at the existing joint-venture facility in Hang Zhou City, Zhejiang Province, for production of Quinacridone specialty organic pigments. The partnership already produces Clariant’s Azo organic pigments. Clariant will be responsible for marketing Quinacridone and other pigments on a worldwide basis.

Fordham Plastics Equipment (Cary, NC) is the new representative for auxiliary equipment maker AEC (Schaumburg, IL) for the southeastern states in the U.S. Fordham serves processors in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Dow Polyurethanes (Midland, MI) has broken ground on a capacity expansion of its polyols plant in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. Polyols is a base product used to produce polyurethane. When completed by mid-year 2009, the plant will have a nameplate output of 180,000 tonnes/yr.

German tube and conduit extruder Petzetakis and automotive vender Behka-Plast (both Schwalmtal) have joined together to form a single processing operation under the name A. Petzetakis Deutschland. At the beginning of April the company will expand its profile extrusion park and increase its warehouse capacity.

Polyolefins supplier LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, Netherlands) says it has decided to exhibit at the triennial NPE 2009 exhibition in Chicago next year (June 22-29). The company claims it has exhibited at every NPE since the show’s inception in 1946. LyondellBasell did not exhibit at K 2007, the world’s largest plastics show in Düsseldorf, Germany, although it was present at the two previous events in 2004 and 2001.

Solvay (Brussels, Belgium) has finalized the sale of its compounding division, Solvay Engineered Polymers (SEP), a major supplier of polypropylene compounds, to competitor LyondellBasell Industries (Rotterdam, Netherlands). SEP, primarily active in North America, has operations in Mansfield and Grand Prairie, TX, as well as Auburn Hills, MI. Solvay says that polypropylene didn’t fit into its core plastics offerings and therefore it wanted to off-load the division.

Sartomer (Exton, PA), specialty resins supplier and part of Total Chemicals (Brussels, Belgium), is to start manufacturing specialty acrylate monomers and oligomers at a new plant at Nansha in China’s Guangzhou province. These raw materials that are used in coatings, adhesives, flooring, CDs, DVDs, and circuit board applications, will be used by domestic customers as well as shipped throughout Asia, Europe, and the U.S., says the company.

Polyolefins, base chemicals, and thermosets supplier Borealis (Vienna, Austria) saw a net profit growth to euro 533 million last year compared to euro 327 million in 2006. The company says these good results are due to its decision to exit commodity markets and concentrate on high-value (and higher priced) resin products.

Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany) has constructed a new reactor in Dormagen, Germany, with what it says is improved Impact technology to increase the output of high molecular weight polyether polyols for coatings, adhesives, and sealants. The company says these are in increasing demand. Neither size of the investment nor capacity of the increase were revealed by the company.

The NaturesPlast line of sandwich picks, cookie cutters, drink stirrers, kids giveaways, spoons, and flying discs from Harco Enterprises Ltd. (Peterborough, ON) will apply Cereplast (Hawthorne, CA) Compostables resin. Harco will also offering custom molding of the Cereplast material, which is partially based on renewable resources like vegetable starch, and biodegrades over time.

At the Powder Show’ section of the Process Technology Expo International Exhibition (PTXi; Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL; May 6-8, 2008), Bulkflow Technologies Ltd. (Calgary, AB) will unveil a new corporate name and brand identity.

Applied Manufacturing Technologies Inc. (Orion, MI) says it will boost its controls engineering, design, software, and panel fabrication capabilities with the acquisition of K-R Automation (Warren, MI). K-R, which has supplied controls engineering and factory automation for more than 50 years, will maintain its current manufacturing and engineering facility on Centerwood Dr. in Warren, MI.

Sasol, the South African chemical company which utilizes coal-to-liquids technology, is planning to commission new production capacity at its Arya, Iran polymer operation and Oryx, Qatar liquid fuel site, according to Miningmx.com. The Arya site will commission low- and high-density polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE) to begin operation in the second and third quarter of 2008.

Names in the News

Exxon Mobil Corp. (Irving, TX) announced a series of changes at its executive level, including the expected election of Michael Dolan to senior VP of Exxon Mobil, and the naming of Stephen Pryor to president, ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and Sherman Glass to president ExxonMobil Refining & Supply Co. Dolan is current the president of ExxonMobil Chemical, which includes the company’s plastics and elastomers businesses. Pryor is currently the president of ExxonMobil Refining & Supply, with Glass leaving his post as senior VP Exxon Mobil Chemical.

Atlas Converting Equipment (Bedford, England), part of the Swiss-based Bobst Group, has named Markus Lehmann as its new sales manager for Atlas-brand slitter-rewinders in the Americas and Northern Europe.

Marco Baron von Maltzan has been appointed CEO of profile extruder Profine, a division of HT Troplast (Troisdorf, Germany). He was previously CEO of BERU (Ludwigsburg, Germany) and held management positions with the motorcycle division of BMW (Munich, Germany). Profine, which says it is Europe’s leading PVC profile extruder, was acquired late last year by Bahrain-based investment group, Arcapita Bank.

Packaging equipment manufacturer Oystar IWK (Stutensee, Germany) has two new co-managing directors, Jens Torkel and Paulo Alexandre, who take over from Hans Seydel, who has retired. Torkel is responsible for sales and R&D while Alexandre concentrates on assembly, services, as well as both financial and personal planning. Oystar IWK produces machinery for tube filling, materials handling, blister packaging, and carton filling for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors.

Flexible packaging supplier Pliant Corp. (Schaumburg, IL) has hired Tim French to act as managing director of the company’s Canadian operations and its global waste-disposal products business. French, who came to Pliant from trailer and snowplow manufacturer Snowbear Ltd. (Guelph, ON), had previously worked at Pliant as its Orillia, ON site as plant manager.

Nova Chemicals (Calgary, AB) named Grant Thomson president of its olefins and feedstocks businesses, reporting to recently promoted Nova President and COO Chris Pappas. Thomson is currently senior VP of the olefins and feedstocks business. In addition, Val Mirosh has been named special adviser to the COO.

Global Plastics Bulletin Board

The In-Mold Decorating Assn. (Scottsdale, AZ) welcomes submissions for its Second Annual Awards Competition, which will be part of IMLCON08 North America (Oct. 22-24, Tempe, AZ). Products are recognized for creativity in design, engineering, and innovation in seven categories:

o Best Part Design

o Best Thin Wall Packaging

o Best Injection Mold Part

o Best Blow Mold Part

o Best IMD Durable Product

o Best Label Design

o Best Product Family (common style or brand)

Abu Dhabi Polymers Park, an industrial initiative launched by the Abu Dhabi government, is hosting workshops in Brussels, with the support of the trade group European Plastics Converters (EuPC), on March 19 and April 22, 2008. ADPP is developing a plastics-conversion cluster for businesses spanning the plastics value chain.

Between 2009 and 2012 more than 15 million tons of plastics raw materials capacity will come on stream in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, representing about half of the global planned capacity increase and positioning the Gulf region as a likely future hub for plastics processing.

Processors at the ADPP will pay no tax on company and private income. Land for the first developments is available. Abdullah Al Darmaki, ADPP vice president, says the group also will meet with potential North American tenants at the World Petrochemicals Conference in Houston on March 26. For further information on attending the workshops, contact Shefa Jashanmal, ADPP Sr. business development officer, at [email protected] or go to website: www.polymerspark.com.

The biennial CMM International Conference & Exhibition for the global converting and package-printing industries has appointed Brendan O’Neill to lead development of its online information portal. O’Neill, the former editor-in-chief of Flexible Packaging magazine, will also cover CMM’s conference program. The CMM International Conference & Exhibition will take place June 2-4 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.

Looking to add up-to-date info on booming markets of the Middle East and India, Chemical Market Associates Inc. (CMAI; Houston) will launch a Global Plastics & Polymers Consulting Service-Middle East/India Weekly. The product joins CMAI’s Asian Weekly, and will offer historical and forecast resin prices; trade dynamics and inventory trends; supply/demand and operational issues; margins; and cash costs for polyethylene and polypropylene.

Methods Machine Tools Inc. (Sudbury, MA), a leading supplier of precision machine tools, will hold an open house on May 7-8 at its technology center in Sudbury. On both days of the event, moldmakers and toolmakers can eye current EDM and die mold technology, with live machining demonstrations and technical seminars. Special pricing and financing promotions will also be offered at the event.

More than a dozen machines will be shown, including five of the new Fanuc iD-series wire EDM machines. Additio