E-Update Industry News 21188

Rapid prototyping suppliers settle

3D Systems Corp., (Valencia, CA) and EOS GmbH (Krailing, Germany), two leading suppliers of equipment for production of rapid prototype parts and rapid tooling, have reached an agreement that settles all worldwide disputes and litigation between them. The companies had been arguing over respective patents covering laser sintering for several years.

In a statement issued earlier this month, 3D Systems said that the two companies "waived all claims for damages with respect to their pending disputes and litigation. In addition, both companies licensed various patents to each other. As part of this settlement, EOS is to pay 3D Systems certain royalties for its patent license, and 3D Systems expects to begin selling under its own brand certain laser sintering equipment and related products produced by EOS under an OEM supply arrangement."

Output hikes announced for LFR compounds

Glass fiber supplier Saint-Gobain Vetrotex announced it has begun producing its Twintex long-glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene compounds at a facility in Chambéry, France. Vetrotex is not releasing capacity figures but says this is its first Twintex production in Europe, until now all Twintex has been supplied from a facility in Wichita Falls, TX. The new line raises total Twintex capacity by 50%, says the firm.

The supplier acknowledges that demand is strongest for the automotive market though applications in consumer goods and building and construction are also increasing.

In related news, GE Advanced Materials, a new division created this year and including the firm''s plastics, quartz, and silicones businesses, announced it will invest $1 million to boost output of its Verton long-fiber-reinforced compounds.

Center of excellence for northeast Italy

A center of excellence for plastics composites that would carry out research and development, education, and training, is expected to be established soon in Oderzo, northeast Italy. The region has a large number of trade molders supplying major OEMs-many of them were established to supply components for domestic appliance producer Zanussi in Pordenone, which is close by. One of the key aims of the center is to help maintain their international competitiveness.

The center is the idea of Mario Damo, owner of polyurethane processor GMP SpA in Oderzo. Italy has few independent centers providing education and training for the plastics processing industry, in comparison with nearby countries.

Damo is bringing into the project various other local companies in the sector, as well as material suppliers, software houses, consultants, university, and local government. Plans are already well advanced.

Supplier parks get second look

U.S. automotive manufacturers are revisiting the concept of supplier parks in a bid to boost savings. Ford Motor Co. (Detroit, MI) has announced that its expanded Hermosillo, Mexico manufacturing facility will feature an adjoining supplier park with as many as 19 vendors collocating there. In the U.S., Ford is creating a supplier campus on its 155-acre site south of Chicago. DaimlerChrysler (Auburn Hills, MI) is also considering the model for several locations, including its Toledo, OH Jeep assembly facility.

For its part, General Motors is considering suppliers from considerably further away, announcing plans to source $4 billion in components from China in 2004 on the basis of increasing quality and lower costs. GM registered sales of 386,710 vehicles there in 2003, a 46.4% increase from 2002.

The measures are reckoned to be in response to Toyota, which eclipsed Ford as the world''s second biggest automaker in 2003.

First thermoplastic valve on North American vehicles debuts

North America''s first high-volume thermoplastic valve cover debuted on the 2004 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan, and Grand Caravan with 3.3- and 3.8-liter V-6 engines. Made of DuPont Minlon mineral-reinforced nylon and manufactured by Bruss Sealing Systems (Hoisdorf, Germany), the part reduces weight by more than 65% and costs less than metal, DuPont (Wilmington, DE) says.

An integrated air/oil separator reduces the amount of oil pulled into the engine to lessen environmental impact, while an integrated positive crankcase ventilation valve housing helps reduce evaporative emissions and ensures the PCV system stays secure, DuPont says.

Study: TPE demand growing 6.4%/yr

Demand for thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) in the U.S. is forecast to rise 6%/yr to 1.4 billion pounds (market value: $2.7 billion) in 2007, according to a recent report issued by analysts at The Freedonia Group (Cleveland, OH). The gains are driven by new design trends featuring more "soft-touch" surfaces, replacement of rubber, and intra-thermoplastic competition. Thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) are gaining market share over copolyester polyamides and copolyester elastomers in breathable film and medical applications. Thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) are taking share from copolyester elastomers in automotive rack-and-pinion joints and boots, due mainly to cost savings.

Global demand for thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) is forecast to grow 6.4%/yr through 2007, according to the study, with value gains of 7.8%/yr to $8.5 billion during this period as more applications require costlier TPEs.

JV blowmolding operation opens in Greece

Capsnap (Kremsmunster, Austria) and Thrace Plastics Packaging (Ioannina, Greece) have started a joint venture injection stretch blow molding operation in Ioannina to produce 5-gal bottles and caps. Nameplate annual production at Capsnap Hellas is 350,000 polycarbonate bottles. The company is targeting demand during this year''s Olympic Games in Athens as well as customers in neighboring Bulgaria, Cyprus, Macedonia, and Albania. Capsnap is a joint venture between Greiner Packaging in Austria and Portola Packaging (San Jose, CA).

Reagens now making additives in Texas

Additives producer Reagens SpA, in San Giorgio di Piano, Italy, says it is now fully operational at a new site in Pasadena, TX, operated by its subsidiary Reagens USA Inc., which earlier acquired most of the assets of Cardinal Chemical in Columbia, SC. The new facility produces tin stabilizers, lubricants, and other additives. Reagens says it intends to commercialize its full range of additives for PVC and polyolefins in the U.S., with the ultimate aim of local production.

Chemical analysis testing laboratory Chemir Analytical Services (Maryland Heights, MO) has acquired PRA Laboratories Inc.(Ypsilanti, Michigan). PRA provides research and development support to the paints and coatings industry, including product formulation, synthesis, and problem solving.

"This acquisition complements Chemir''s offerings to the coatings industry," explains Shri Thanedar, CEO of Chemir Analytical Services.

EU Commission worried about Ticona, Frankfurt Airport expansion

Serious safety concerns have been expressed by the European Commission if expansion plans to add a fourth runway at the Frankfurt, Germany Rhine-Main Airport, continental Europe''s busiest, are realized. Fraport, the state- and city-owned airport company, wants to build a runway in a forest, which would have a flight path directly over the engineering polymer plant owned by Ticona (Kelsterbach, Germany). The runway would be 400m from the site, and landing jets would fly over the facility at least than 100m. This would require Ticona to lower existing buildings and smokestacks.

In a letter to the German federal government, EU commissioner for environmental affairs, Margot Wallstrom, says the risk of toxic chemicals being dispersed across a wide area if a jet crashed into the site was acute and that the plans may violate the EU''s Seveso II guidelines, intended to minimize environmental catastrophes. The Ticona plant is also located approximately 500m from a jet fuel tank farm. (www.ticona.de)

Reifenhauser honors its top suppliers

Extrusion equipment specialist Reifenhauser (Troisdorf, Germany) has presented five of its vendors with 2003 Supplier Awards for outstanding product quality, supply reliability, service, and cooperation. Those tapped are: PTS Marquardt GmbH & Co., Fries Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH, A&C Kosik GmbH, Linde AG, and Scholpp GmbH. "In a very difficult phase the whole machine building industry is currently experiencing, these companies have performed in an extraordinary way focusing on customer support," says Klaus Reifenhauser, co-managing director. (www.reifenhauser.com)

Toyo introduces new machine for optical disc production

A new injection molding machine targeting DVD production has been launched by Japanese processing equipment builder Toyo Machinery & Metal (Akashi City Hyogo, Japan). The development was a co-operation between Toyo and Future Technology Engineering (FTE, Nuenen, the Netherlands), a subsidiary of moldmaker Axxicon Mould Technology. This machine was developed with long-term needs of the replication industry in mind, such as compact size, faster cycle times, quick format change, and adaptability to future formats. Toyo supplies the know-how in electric injection molding while FTE concentrates on processing techniques and mold making for this specific machine.

Toyo president Isao Yasuda says this unit is the first electric machine suitable for all formats. It has a DVD production cycle time of three seconds. The small footprint unit requires no tie-bar adjustment, has single button operation, and includes an operator-friendly stamper change system. Toyo is part of the Hitachi Group. (www.toyo-mm.co.jp; www.ftengineering.com)

One1Source teams up with Global Polymers

One1Source (Lexington, KY), a resin distributor targeting Tier-one automotive suppliers, has teamed up with Global Polymers (Louisville, KY), a leading PET distributor, to consolidate sales and logistics. The move enables both companies to become a more prominent supplier of resins to the automotive sector, says Gene Young, One1Source president. The automotive sector has agreed to source certain percentages of equipment and material needs from "minority suppliers" in the industry, which are at least 51% owned by people who are considered a racial minority. "Through our involvement in the automotive industries, we recognized a void of minority suppliers in the areas that could have an impact in the diversity dollars that are intended to be spent over the next five to 10 years," says Young. Automotive News magazine recently reported that car manufacturer Toyota spent $600 million in 2002 on goods and services from minority-owned firms, and this figure is expected to increase to $1 billion by next year. (www.one1source.com; www.globalpolymerscorp.com)

INDUSTRY BRIEFS

Kathleen M. Bader, group president of styrenics and engineering resins at Dow Chemical (Midland, MI), has been named chairman, president, and CEO of biopolymers producer Cargill Dow (Minneapolis, MN). The company is a 50:50 joint venture between Dow and Cargill. It manufacturers polymers based on dextrose produced from corn. Bader was one of the original architects of Cargill Dow, founded in 1997. (www.cargilldow.com)

The pigments division of EMD Chemicals (Hawthorne, NY) is doubling its output of pearlescent colorants sold under the Iriodin WM8 brand at its Savannah, GA plant. The company says full operations should start in the second half of the year, although it will not reveal the actual capacity. (www.emdchemicals.com)

Zotefoams (Croydon, England) and polymer producer Atofina (Paris) have formed a venture to share market and technical information for further development of closed cell polyvinylidene fluoride foams based on Atofina''s Kynar fluoropolymers. The material has wide temperature tolerance, good UV, aging, and chemical resistance, fire retardancy, and dielectric strength. (www.zotefoams.com; www.atofina.com)

Bulk solids handling plant maker, Zeppelin Silo- und Apparetetechnik (Friedrichshafen, Germany) has opened a subsidiary in Beijing, China to directly serve this market with products and engineering services. (www.zeppelin.com)

Matt Defosse [email protected]
Robert Colvin [email protected]
Peter Mapleston [email protected]