Industry Watch 20160

DuPont partners with Krauss-Maffei auto testing center

DuPont Engineering Polymers has formed a partnership with the Automotive Testing Div. of Krauss-Maffei Dienstleistung (KMD) to test parts and systems for its clients. The idea, according to DuPont, is to help systems suppliers focus better on development, including problem identification and solution optimization. KMD’s facilities include simulation devices for every type of stress that could be required by national and international regulators. The center’s 20 employees test about 9000 systems/year using devices like vertical and slip-table shakers that can test in three dimensions. Vibration systems also can be combined with temperature chambers. KMD’s climate simulators can deliver reproducible data on plastic part performance under climatic extremes.

Omnexus shuts down its e-portal

Plastics industry e-commerce site Omnexus announced in mid-November that it would shut down its electronic transaction platform and its e-marketing service by the end of November. COO Michael Walsh said in a letter to customers that Omnexus had been at the forefront of e-commerce, but that e-commerce adoption rates “have been much slower than originally projected.” Omnexus was founded a little more than three years ago by Bayer, BASF, Dow, DuPont, and Ticona. About 45 people in North America and Europe will be affected by this closure.

Following the announcement, on Dec. 8, SpecialChem took over the service platform at www.omnexus.com, and a day later Omnexus said M-Base Engineering + Software would run the Material Data & Applications Center (www.materialdatacenter.com), a database and research tool that Omnexus and M-Base had developed together.

SpecialChem is an online service provider for the chemical industry with websites for polymer additives and colors; adhesives and sealants; and paints, coatings, and inks. In welcoming Omnexus users to the revamped website, SpecialChem COO Christophe Cabarry stressed the information resources, saying that the daily e-newsletter is continuing at no charge, along with expert-directed Web seminars and supplier company storefronts.

Erwin Baur, a founder of M-Base, says his firm is excited about gaining further penetration in the global plastics industry through the Omnexus Material Data & Applications Center. The service provides researchers with full property data on more than 8000 active material grades, which the company says is about 80% of global plastic products from more than 35 suppliers, distributors, and compounders.

UPG minus two

Two UPG facilities were shuttered at the end of 2003 as a result of business at the plants shifting to Asian suppliers. Both the Bensenville, IL and Guadalajara, Mexico locations served primarily electronics customers. About 286 employees affected by the closings received a separation package including severance pay and outplacement services. According to CEO Shannon White, the move reflects UPG’s current growth strategy to develop automotive and medical business in North America. The firm also expects to open additional facilities in China this year.

APC celebrates five years of ALC

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of its Automotive Learning Center, the American Plastics Council held an open house at the Troy, MI facility on Nov. 20, 2003. The ALC was created to encourage creative uses for plastics in automotive applications, and has sponsored many seminars and initiatives in the past, including an automotive stylist student design competition (“Q&A: Bringing Plastics to Concept Cars,” August 2000 IMM). More recently, the ALC hosted a seminar covering the best practices for selecting, designing, and processing plastics in a variety of automotive applications.

Early in 2003, the APC named Jim Kolb as head of its Automotive Programs, including the ALC. He is responsible for implementing several new initiatives outlined in APC’s “Plastics in Automotive Markets Vision and Technology Roadmap,” a strategic plan that includes research, government advocacy, and infrastructure improvements.

Short Shots

BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) was set to acquire Ticona’s (Summit, NJ) nylon 6/6 business as of Dec. 31, 2003. Purchase price was not disclosed but 2002 sales were around $55 million. BASF says it will not acquire any manufacturing sites, equipment, or other assets. During an unspecified transition period, Ticona will compound Celanese nylon 6/6 products for BASF from its Bishop, TX and Florence, KY facilities. Ticona says it does not have the critical mass it wants in the nylon 6/6 business and wants to focus on its core businesses. BASF said this move enhances its nylon 6/6 market position, especially in North America.

Husky IMS (Bolton, ON) is once again supplying molds for thin-wall containers and lids and has entered into a strategic alliance with robot supplier Hekuma GmbH (Eching, Germany) to supply turnkey systems for inmold labeling. Husky also recently entered into a reciprocal sales agreement with Matsui Mfg. Co. Ltd. (Yokohama, Japan). Husky Asia-Pacific now designates Matsui as a preferred supplier of materials dryers and conveyors; Matsui will offer Husky’s hot runners to its customers.

Bunting Magnetics Canada Inc. (Toronto, ON), the new Canadian subsidiary of Bunting Magnetics Co. (Newton, KS), has purchased auxiliaries systems supplier CA Systems & Plastics Inc. (Maple, ON). Bunting Magnetics Canada, formerly known as The New Moulders Supply, was acquired by Bunting Magnetics Co. in April 2003. Canadian-built conveyors, mold sprays, purging compounds, nozzles, mold clamps, and cutters will join Bunting’s Kansas-built drawer and grate magnets as product offerings.

“Busting at the seams,” is how Pad Print Machinery of Vermont/Comec USA described itself before its recent move to a newly renovated 18,000-sq-ft building in East Dorset, VT. The space includes a showroom/demo center for clients. The company is the exclusive American distributor for the extensive line of pad printing products from Comec Italia.

Kubotek Corp. (Osaka, Japan) has expanded on a strategic business relationship it entered into in 1996 and acquired all the assets of Cadkey Corp. (Marlborough, MA), which includes the latter’s Cadkey MCAD software product line. Cadkey’s sales, support, and development will remain in Massachusetts.

Kazz Takamura, GM of Toshiba Machine Co. America (Elk Grove, IL), has restructured his staff, forming so-called “target groups” and “technical support teams” that reportedly will improve service, tech support, key account strategies, and competitive machine pricing. Tim Glassburn, formerly VP of sales and a 17-year company vet, will head a new division called After Sales Support Strategies.

Clariant Masterbatches (Switzerland) opened a 1000-sq-m masterbatch facility and color matching laboratory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in December.

Expecting its Asian business to grow more than the 25% forecast for the next five years in that region, DSM Engineering Plastics (Evansville, IN) has expanded its Chinese compounding facility and opened a new research and technology center, both in Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province. The compounding center’s overall capacity is increasing by 40%. Products made there include Akulon PA6 and 66, Akulon Ultraflow PA, Arnite PBT and PET, and Stanyl, the company’s highest-performance polyamides.

DSM’s new Regional Development Service Center supports current and new customers from within China through laboratory services and applications engineering in the local language. The support includes materials testing and characterization, and development of new grades and applications. Currently, about 15% of DSM’s engineering plastics business is in Asia. The company is also in one joint venture to produce caprolactum in Nanjing and another polymerizing PA6 in Xinhui.