Industry Watch 20285

SOUTHEAST ASIA LEADING WORLD POLYMER MARKET
A new report from Applied Market Information Ltd. (Bristol, U.K.) forecasts the Southeast Asian market for thermoplastics to grow by more than 6% in 2004, reaching nearly 50 million tons—larger than the markets of Europe or North America.

China is the force there, taking about 65% of the polymer (see graph, above). No one else in the region is growing at China’s rate except Vietnam, which starts from a much smaller base, notes AMI.

It’s not all upside in Asia, though. The Chinese government is trying to rein in the runaway growth in segments like automotive and construction, as well as other major plastics markets. China now has a great dependence on imported polymer material, so worldwide pricing pressures from raw materials are being felt in the Middle Kingdom as well. AMI says this is causing pain for some Chinese processors, particularly smaller ones, but the country’s overall growth in 2004 will probably be close to the 9% of 2003. AMI points out how China’s success creates an impression that all Southeast Asia is an economic tiger. That is not the case. Remove China from the statistics and the rest of the zone is expected to see growth of only 2.5% for 2004. It is not just processors in Europe and the Americas who are competing with China; the other Asians are, too. Like the rest of us, those Asian countries are seeing their manufacturing move to China and facing lower-cost Chinese imports at home.

AMI’s 216-page report provides detail on the individual country markets, as well as analyzes demand by type of polymer material. For more information, visit www.amiplastics.com.—RN

PRECISE TECHNOLOGY CONSOLIDATES
In December, Mike Farrell, president and COO of Precise Technology Inc. (Versailles, PA), announced that the company had closed its Customer-Aligned Production (CAP) facility in Swedesboro, NJ and is moving production of the product made there to another one of its 14 plants. The closing reportedly will result in minimal displacement of full-time employees.

"Our CAP plants are designed to produce specialized products for a single customer on a multiple-year contractual basis," Farrell explains.

"These operations are structured such that at the end of the term of the agreement, we have the option to continue to produce at that specific facility or move the business to a more optimum location."

He adds, "We will continue to pursue opportunities that fit our CAP strategy, keeping in mind our overall goal of optimum production efficiency throughout the entire company."Precise Technology, a $300 million molding and moldmaking operation, has plants in the United States and the Netherlands, serving a variety of Fortune 100 customers in health care, personal care, food and beverage, and consumer packaging markets.—CK

BIG MACHINE OPEN HOUSE
In early December, Cincinnati Milacron (Batavia, OH) opened the first in a series of its revitalized technology-specific open houses in grand style. The focus of this one was on large-tonnage machines.

The highlight of the open house was the U.S. unveiling of its globally sourced, specified, and assembled Maxima 3900, a 39,000-kN (4290-ton) twin-platen press. Attendees were in for a surprise, though. The big Maxima was equipped with two injection units, sitting side-by-side in a V layout, and feeding the Y-shaped coinjection nozzle Milacron supplies.The open house was attended by some of the biggest names in big machine users, not the least of which was Bemis Mfg. Co. (Sheboygan Falls, WI), which runs a 6600-ton, Milacron-built coinjection press, among other things. Gary Vande Berg, Bemis’ director of engineering, gave an informative technical presentation on engineering and manufacturing large coinjection molded parts, such as those well-publicized and award-winning parts it molds for John Deere..

In addition to tech talks from Milacron officials and a tour of the Batavia, OH plant, attendees also got to hear an excellent review of the latest developments in resins for large parts and the large-parts molding technologies that were on display at K 2004, from Jack Avery of Avery Plastics Consulting (Salt Lake City, UT), who has been retained by Cincinnati. .

Guests also heard about the latest automation alternatives for large parts handling cells from David Preusse, president, Wittmann Inc. (Torrington, CT), a new strategic ally of Cincinnati’s.—CK

EXPORTS SKYROCKET IN TAIWANExports of plastics and rubber machinery from Taiwanese OEMs skyrocketed a phenomenal 25.1% from January to May in 2004, compared to the same period in 2003, according to a report at K 2004 from representatives of the Taiwan Assn. of Machinery Industry (TAMI; Taipei, Taiwan; www.taiwantrade.com.tw).

With several machine-building bases in Taiwan, Mainland China, and other Asian locations, cost-effective manufacturing systems from Taiwanese OEMs for shoes, optical media packaging, and mobile phones to customers in Asia and the Middle East reportedly led the export upsurge. The quality of after-sales service is another reason given for the global popularity of Taiwanese machines.

TAMI sources say their country is now the fourth largest exporter of plastics and rubber machines in the world. India, Russia, and Egypt have been strong importers of Taiwanese equipment since 2000. Most of Taiwan’s machinery imports are from Japan.Taiwanese manufacturers came in force to K 2004. More than 100 of them, mostly injection machine suppliers, exhibited their European Union-approved wares in Düsseldorf.—CK

NPM MACHINES RETURN
"Ferraris,"—that’s what North American insiders used to call the high-performance molding machines built by the NPM Group of Plastic Metal SpA (Vicenza, Italy) when they were available over here way back in the 20th century. Its machines are once again for sale in North America. Robert Knaster represents them (Scarsdale, NY; (914) 472-7373; robert.knaster@plastic metal.it).

NPM builds double-toggles from 35 to 3200 tons. Its lineup includes models designed for producing high-speed, thin-wall packaging and deep-draw parts, as well as multimolding presses and energy-efficient general purpose presses.

It also builds all-electrics—the Elettryka Series, from 45 to 350 tons, featuring Moog servodrive systems. Also, another division of Plastic Metal builds auxiliaries, everything from parts conveyors to automated manufacturing cells.

For more information, see www.plasticmetal.it/eng/.—CK

NIIGATA'S SOURCING ITS SPARES HERE
Niigata All-Electric Plastic Machinery Div. (Itasca, IL) has announced that it will now domestically source its spare parts—screw tips, thermocouples, and the like.

Peter B. Gardner, VP and GM, says that domestic sourcing will keep Niigata’s costs down, as well as its customers’ costs, while helping to stimulate U.S. manufacturers’ and distributors’ businesses.

Gardner adds that Niigata is opening a new subsidiary office in Caguas, Puerto Rico, to support its medical market customer base there. And he says a new Niigata sales and support office will soon open in San Diego, CA.

Niigata’s West Coast sales are growing. In fact, Gardner says Niigata’s 2004 sales were up by 30% in 2004, following 20% growth in 2003.—CK

SHORT SHOTS
Progressive Components (Wauconda, IL) has donated more than $122,000 in tooling components and cash since 2002 to support various industry training programs as part of the Tooling for Tomorrow Program (TFT) it launched in 2001. Among the 2003 recipients are plastics and engineering programs at Penn State Erie (Erie, PA), The College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, IL), Dunwoody Technical College (Minneapolis, MN), University of Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie, WI), and Southeast Community College (Lincoln, NE).

U.S. manufacturers or importers of plastics machinery and equipment shipped a total of $246 million worth of products in Q3 2004, according to the Third Quarter 2004 Report of the SPI’s Committee on Equipment Statistics. The molding machine sector saw a 5% to 7% drop vs. previous quarters. But units shipped went up 23% and shipment dollars grew more than 21% vs. the Q3 2003 report. The report can be purchased online at www.plasticsdata source.org/equipment.

In December, Dow Chemical announced that its line of Questra syndiotactic polystyrene will be discontinued. Production will support only orders that were in process, and this transition period is expected to end by mid-2005. While Questra was successful in niche applications, the company attributes its decision to withdraw the material to a lack of broad market appeal.

In 1984, the Roboshot all-electric was introduced by Fanuc (Oshino-mura, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, represented in the U.S. by Cincinnati Milacron, Batavia, OH). In 2004, 20 years later, Fanuc sources announced that it had shipped its 20,000th all-electric. They say production of all-electrics accounts for 80% of all the molding machines made in Japan; for Japanese-made machines less than 200 tons, 90% are all-electrics. Japanese molders have bought 42% of its Roboshots, while 29% have been shipped to various other locations in Asia. Europe imported 13% of them, while 16% of Fanuc’s production ended up in the Americas.

Nypro Inc. (Clinton, MA) has built its first contract molding plant in Brazil—in a tax-free-zone industrial park in Manaus, Brazil. It’s a $10 million, 60,000-sq-ft facility with a 40,000-sq-ft shop floor that will house more than a dozen 100- to 300-ton machines by year’s end, as well as painting, assembly, and mold maintenance operations.

In other news, Nypro Atlanta (Marietta, GA) has installed in its 88,000-sq-ft precision molding plant an environment-friendly, fully automated paint line in a Hepa-filtered white room with systems that include six articulating-arm robots, two precision-mixing paint kitchens, and five different types of ovens.

ERP software supplier IQMS (Paso Robles, CA) has completed Honda North America’s Electronic Data Interchange certification process. The process reportedly ensures that IQMS’s software meets Honda’s specs for the seamless communication and data integration Honda requires for its JIT manufacturing procedures.

Hommer Tool & Mfg. Inc. (Arlington Heights, IL) is doubling the size of its facility to 23,500 sq ft. The additional 11,000 sq ft will house the capital equipment and machinery Hommer acquired in its purchase of Romar Mold Inc. last June. The expansion is scheduled to be completed in February.

Electra Form Industries Inc. (Vandalia, OH), a member of the Wentworth Technologies Group of Cos., has introduced a program trademarked Fast-to-Market (FTM), which reportedly can deliver hardened PET preform molds in three weeks or less. Call (905) 574-0010, ext. 323 for details.

Stopol Inc. (Solon, OH) has launched www.stopolauctions.com, an online marketplace that allows registered members to buy or sell new and used plastics equipment and other assets. Registration is free. Nominal fees are charged only for equipment bought and sold on the website.

Weber Mfg. Ltd. (Midland, ON), best known for using its proprietary nickel-vapor deposition process to produce specialty nickel-shell molds, has been acquired by American Capital Strategies Ltd. and TMB Industries. Reinhart Weber, founder and former owner, will serve on the board of directors and stay on as a consultant. Members of Weber’s management are investing in the equity.

Novatec Inc. (Baltimore, MD) announced that it had booked an order for its 1000th NovaDrier from a processor in Reading, PA.