Industry Watch 20248

NEED FINANCIAL ADVICE?
A middle-market investment banking and corporate finance advisory firm called Curtis Financial Group LLC (Philadelphia, PA) has established what it calls a Plastics & Packaging Industry Group to serve molders and other processors in the mid-Atlantic region. It advises companies on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and raising capital. It also provides business valuations, fairness and solvency opinions, and related services.

Curtis Financial sources say they understand the issues facing molders today and that they will work with customers to develop business strategies and in identifying capital market solutions to implement those strategies. It also has relationships established with consultants experienced in manufacturing, operations, resin purchasing, IT, and management. Relationships with equipment suppliers, recruiting firms, investors, and financing sources reportedly also are maintained. Call Howard M. Snyder at (215) 972-2357 for more information.—CK

CHINA BOUND
Scottsdale, AZ-based Tech Group, a custom injection molder, medical contract manufacturer, and mold manufacturer with 14 operations worldwide, announced a renewed alliance with Tech Mold Inc. (Tempe, AZ), one of the leading mold manufacturing companies in the world. In a move that reunites the two companies, The Tech Group has acquired Tech Mold Mfg., the molding division of Tech Mold, while Tech Mold has assumed responsibility for The Tech Group’s mold manufacturing operations.

In announcing the strategy, Steve Uhlmann, chairman and founder of the Tech Group, expressed his excitement at the reformation of a business alliance between the two companies, including a period of joint ownership with Tech Mold that goes back almost 30 years.

“There has been a long history of mutual respect between Bill Kushmaul [president of Tech Mold] and myself, and friendship as well,” Uhlmann said.

The two companies went their separate ways when Tech Mold did a management buyout of the shares held by Steve Uhlmann. Kushmaul says, “The Tech Group and Tech Mold had 29 great years together, and after being apart for five years, we’ve recognized our synergies make us much better together. The time was right and we have a lot to gain by getting back together.”

In this arrangement, The Tech Group gains more molding capacity and provides molding capacity for the expected growth in Tech Mold Mfg.’s injection molding operation. Tech Mold obtains mold manufacturing capacity and a platform for expanding its customer base globally into other Tech Group companies in Europe, and expanding precision moldbuilding capabilities at Tech Group Asia.“Synergies between the two companies will generate financial benefits, primarily in improved manufacturing efficiencies and greater capacity utilization,” says Tech Group president and CEO Harold Faig.

No changes in the name of either entity will occur, nor will there be changes in the companies’ operating philosophies.—CG

LICENSE TO THRILL
A digital-imaging company based in the U.K. called e-comeleon Ltd. is licensing proprietary, post-molding process technology it has developed for applying high-resolution, full-color digital images directly onto molded components, with no need for subsequent finishing. Its entry-level, high-volume systems reportedly cost less than $40,000. Omega Plastics (Clinton Twp., MI; www.opinc.com), a U.S. molder/moldmaker with operations in the U.K., was the first to license the e-comeleon technology. For more information, visit www.e-comeleon.com.—CK

ARBURG EXPANDS IN-HOUSE FAIRS
While nearly 3500 molders—more than 100 of them American—were visiting Arburg’s annual Technology Days at its Lossburg, Germany headquarters, the company says it is extending the in-house fair concept to smaller, special-focus events. The first of these is Multi-Component Days on June 14-16 for non-German visitors, and on June 21-23 for German attendees. Marketing director Christoph Schumacher says that if the multicomponent event is a success he sees others in the future.

The Technology Days, which began in 1999, this year featured more than 40 technology demonstrations, including PIM, integrated cells, water- and gas-assist, LSR, MuCell, MIM, and more, plus four instructional sessions in dedicated conference rooms.

During the Technology Days event, Arburg said its sales volume for 2003 was e255 million ($304 million), up 9% from 2002. A strong factor in that increase was a 16% jump in orders in the German home market. Germany accounted for 37% of 2002 sales and 42% of the 2003 total.In terms of unit sales, Arburg saw an increase of only 3%. Sources say that is owed largely to an increase in orders for special projects with automation, as well as complete production cells, rather than for standard machines. The company remains optimistic for 2004, in spite of a first quarter that was about the same as Q1 2003.

Placing more emphasis on the Chinese market, Arburg in late 2003 began the process to establish a wholly owned marketing subsidiary in Shanghai. It is expected to be fully operational later in 2004, but the company says it has no plans to manufacture machines there. The company is also moving forward in the Eastern European markets, including Russia, often working with current Western European customers that are setting up factories there. Many of the Technology Days visitors were from Eastern Europe.—RN

BIG WINNERS IN THE BALKANS
A family-owned custom molder called Plastika Skaza recently became the recipient of a Model TM 4500/2800—the 3000th Battenfeld TM Series toggle-clamp injection molding machine to roll off the line.

Plastika Skaza is in Valenje, Slovenia, a town of about 30,000. The company started in 1975 with a used machine. Today it operates a 32,300-sq-ft facility, employs 85, and runs 2200 tons of material/year on 41 fully automated presses, ranging from 55 to 880 tons—35 of which are Battenfelds. Congratulations!—CK

A NEW RESOURCE FOR CELLS
Demag Plastics Group (Strongsville, OH) has created the Demag Applications Group to provide a single-source solution for molders shopping for the advanced manufacturing cells necessary to make today’s more advanced products. Bob Lewis, a 22-year Demag vet, heads the new group.The new group will provide project management services to help molders design turnkey systems, including auxiliaries, robots, automation, and proper molding machine specification. It also will coordinate mold trials and machine demonstrations at its technical centers around the country. Other services include process documentation and technical sales support.

In other news, Tim Glassburn, formerly of Toshiba Machine, has joined Demag as product manager for its IntElect all-electrics.—CK

PREFORM MOLDERS—EUROPEAN KINGS
In terms of materials usage volume, packaging is the largest injection molding market in Europe, and molders of PET preforms lead the pack. According to data compiled by plastics market research and consultancy firm Applied Market Information Ltd. (Bristol, England), packaging applications consumed about 2.2 million metric tons of resin last year. It estimates the packaging market to be more than e8 billion. In other news, AMI says that German automotive bumper manufacturer Peguform is Europe’s largest custom molder, reporting 2002 sales of e800 million. For more: www.amiplastics.com.—CK

SHORT SHOTS
The assets and intellectual properties of Innovative Water Technologies Inc. (Comstock Park, MI), makers of the TowerKlean and ChillerKlean water treatment systems, have been purchased by Bancroft Technologies LLC (Waterford, MI), which will continue to manufacture, sell, and service the product lines.

Alliance Gas Systems Inc. (Chesterfield Twp., MI) has patented its Backspill resin-evacuation technology. Backfill was developed to improve part quality, prevent gas penetration, control wall thicknesses in fluid-assist molding, and widen the processing window. Flow paths to secondary resin reservoirs in the mold are closed during resin injection. Following the injection of gas, water, or a second resin, some of the first resin is expelled into the reservoirs by the selectively timed opening of flow paths from the runner, or from the cavity itself. Licensing options are available.

Donna Koebel, CEO of Prestige Mold Inc. (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), received the Mold Builder of the Year Award, presented by the American Mold Builders Assn. at its annual convention in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in early March. She received the award based on her company’s model of success and overall contributions to the moldbuilding industry.

The Cannon Group, which includes the injection molding system supplier Sandretto, has opened a subsidiary operation in Mexico to better concentrate its efforts in that country. MexiCannon will handle service and sales for Cannon’s polyurethane, thermoforming, and composites technologies, in addition to the Sandretto IM systems. Located in Tlalnepantla, just outside Mexico City, the company also includes Cannon Bono, the group’s energy and ecology division.

Engel Canada Inc. (Guelph, ON) now offers its customers a practical “reinvestment” program. It will refurbish, remanufacture, and automate existing Engel presses; upgrade machines for compliance with all the latest ANSI, OSHA, and SPI safety standards; and do full voltage conversions necessary for transferring machines to Europe and Asia, all reportedly at a fraction of the price of a new machine.

Avalon Vision Solutions LLC (Atlanta, GA) has formed an exclusive strategic reseller agreement with a supplier of machine vision products in Asia called EZ-Vision Technology Pte. Ltd. (Singapore). Though Avalon once targeted Europe for its first offshore expansion, Bill Nicol, Avalon’s sales and marketing VP, says it has been obvious over the last couple of years that Asia is where the manufacturing action is, and where it will continue to be for the next few decades.

Enova Medical Technologies (St. Paul, MN) is the new name for Micropure Medical LLC, a full-service supplier to medical device OEMs. Its website has also changed to www.enovamedical.com. Call (651) 773-3181 for more information.

Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, TN) is closing its copolyester manufacturing facility in Hartlepool, England and is consolidating production at other plants, mostly at its Kingsport site.

Nylon and polyester supplier Radici Plastics has formed a working partnership with molding machine maker Negri-Bossi and moldmaker Incos, which also supplies hot runners through its HRSflow Div. Their purpose is to provide a broad spectrum of support to molders developing new projects. Besides supplying materials, Radici is now offering molders the 3-D CAD and CAE capabilities of its in-house design office. At the same time, Negri-Bossi and Incos will collaborate with the molder to develop the production system.

BASF recently announced its decision to replace the Capron name with its Ultramid brand for all nylon 6 resins, effective July 1, 2004. Capron resins were added to BASF’s product line in May 2003, when the company acquired Honeywell’s engineering plastics business. Jay Baker, group VP, says the move is designed to eliminate the complexity and confusion of having different brand names for the same family of materials. “The conversion will bring added convenience for BASF’s customers,” he says.

At Chinaplas in Shanghai (June 29-July 2), a 110-ton Netstal SynErgy will be molding PP cups in 2-second cycles. Netstal plans to add showroom, training, and applications testing areas to its existing Shanghai sales and service facilities.