Industry Watch 20404

CHINA TAKING HIGH-END MATERIALS, TOO
A STUDY RELEASED inSeptember by BusinessCommunications Co. (BCC)says China’s consumptionof engineering polymers isexpected to grow at about8.9% per year between nowand 2010. Its already worldleading2005 consumption,estimated at 4.39 milliontons, should rise to 6.73 milliontons in 2010, says BCC.

Materials included in thestudy are PA, PC, POM,PPO, PET, PBT, and ABS.Only about 1.26 milliontons, or 28.7% of the 2005 demand,is domestically made.BCC says this industry ishigh on China’s developmentagenda for the comingdecade. This will require anincreased technology transferfrom foreign companiesto their Chinese partners,plus what BCC calls “huge”foreign investment. Even so,BCC estimates China willimport about two-thirdsits 2010 consumption.www.bccresearch.com.—RNHALL OF FAMERS ANNOUNCED
ON SEPT. 17, the NationalPlastics Hall of Fame (Leominster,MA) posthumouslyinducted five members atgala festivities held at theNational Plastics Center andMuseum, also in Leominster.The five inductees includedthree gentlemenwho were instrumental inthe development of materialstechnology: Edwin F.Bushman, Giulio Natta, andAlexander Parkes. The remainingtwo inductees wereinstrumental in the evolutionof injection molding.One was Thomas J. MortonJr. Among his other notableaccomplishments, in1935 Morton brought one ofthe first injection moldingmachines from Germany,called an Isoma machine, toEvansville, IN to study theprocess. Two years later hefounded Cardinal Corp.With three Isomas, Mortonmolded the first high-volumepart in the UnitedStates, a shelf stud for SearsRoebuck refrigerators.The other inductee wasDenes B. Hunkar, who diedlast year. Born in Kekud,Hungary, Hunkar’s academicaccomplishments includeda Ph.D. in nuclear engineering.He started HunkarInstrument DevelopmentLaboratories in Cincinnati,OHin 1962, which producedinstrument technologies forsuch applications as heartmonitors, the CAT scan, andblood analyzers. In 1970 hechanged his company’sname to Hunkar Laboratoriesand began to concentrateon the development of processcontrol systems for plasticsprocessing.In 1970, Hunkar is said tohave developed the firstclosed-loop process controlsystems for injection molding.Eight years later hedeveloped the first microprocessor-based control formolding machines. Hehelped to develop and promotethe use of servovalvetechnology. His innovationsin later years included SPCmonitoring systems and amethod for classifying theproduction efficiency ofmolding machines.—CKSYNVENTIVE ACQUIRED BY INVESTMENT COMPANY, CONTINUES EXPANSION
HOT RUNNER supplierSynventive Molding Solutionshas been acquired byAdvent International, a Boston-based private investmentcompany, from itsprevious owner, MadisonCapital Partners, also an investmentfirm. Synventivepresident and CEO DaleBarnhart says the plan is tocontinue the current strategyof product innovationand quality improvementwhile shortening deliverytimes and enhancing sales,application engineering,and post-sales service supportcapabilities.The company will continueits geographic expansion,such as the Suzhuo,China facility that beganproduction in August 2005.Advent will support Synventive’sfive-year growthplan financially and strategically,including possibleacquisitions.Synventive’s brands includeMultiZone, Kona, andKona XP hot runners, andDynamic Feed technologyfor independent control offilling rate and packingpressure of each cavity in amulticavity mold. Synventive,with predecessors suchas Dynisco HotRunners, Eurotool,and Kona, is headquarteredin the U.S. andthe Netherlands and has 550employees among its plantsin China, the Netherlands,Germany, and the U.S.—RNPOLYPRO 24/7
AS OF OCT. 1, North Americancustomers will be ableto purchase polyolefin materialsfrom Alastian, a Webbasedbusiness channel fromBasell designed for those familiarwith the productsthey use. A competitivelypriced range of PP gradesare offered, with the goal ofimproving speed and convenience.Rail car quantitiescan be ordered around theclock at www.alastian.com.Services such as technicalsupport will be available foradditional cost, but are optionalwith the Alastianbusiness model, say Basellsources. The company introducedAlastian, which operatesin parallel with Basell’sdirect sales force, in Europein April 2004.—MM
Eight turning stack molds were purchased to make athree-component deodorant dispenser. MoldmakerFoboha says the 32-cavity tools, measuring 1200 by 960mm, are the largest cube molds to date.FOBOHA DELIVERS STACK MOLD SOLUTION
FOBOHA GMBH Formenbau(Haslach, Germany) hasdelivered an order of eightturning stack molds to anundisclosed American makerof personal care productsthat will use them to makea three-component rollertypedeodorant dispenser.Foboha says the 32-cavitytools are the largest cubemolds to date, measuring1200 by 960 mm. Installationheight is 1600 mm. Moldingwill be done on FerromatikMilacron K-Tec 450-3K machines.The 450-ton, threecomponentmodels are thelargest stack-turners madeso far by Ferromatik Milacron,with 1000 by 1000mm between the tiebars.The OEM set out to economizethe production andshorten the assembly process.Specs included a maximumcycle time; and withinthree months, Fobohadesigned and built a pilotmold that exceeded all thespecs, including cycle time.Nine months later, theeighth mold was delivered.To date, Foboha has deliveredmore than 100 turningstack tools.—RNBRAUN IS BUILDING
IN 2004, AN INNOVATIVE,30-year-old German moldmaker,Braun FormenbauGmbH (Bahlingen, Germany),set up shop in PinellasPark, FL to gain closerproximity to its U.S. customerbase. Its growth here,particularly in molds for thepharmaceuticals industry,has been expansive, accordingto the company—so expansivethat it’s expandedits name. Braunform Inc., asit was known here, is nowBraunform GmbH–Plastics& Pharma Technology(www.braunform.com).That’s not all. In September,when the name changewas announced, Braunformalso announced that it wasexpanding its Bahlingen, Germany plant by almost 10%. The expansionadds a temperature controlledenvironment bigenough for building large cavitationtooling for thecompany’s expansion intoconsumer and personal careproduct markets. Scheduledto open this month and representinga $2.5 million investment,Braunform’s newdigs reportedly will be morethan 11,000 sq ft.—CKNEW ONLINE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
A NEW AND IMPROVED onlineplastics technology certificateprogram hosted by Nypro Inc.(Clinton, MA) and FitchburgState College (Fitchburg, MA)was started in August. Availableto Nypro employees at its 66 facilitiesin 18 countries and now tothe general public, the new programrequires eight classes and atotal of 24 credits to earn thecertification.“Since its inception, we havegraduated more than 120 students,”says Angelo F. Sabatalo,corporate director of organizationaldevelopment and trainingat Nypro’s Clinton plant. “Thetraining is multimedia and providesconsistency of content, onlineassessment, and access topeer learners and instructors.”For more information, visitwww.nyproonline.com.—CKSHORT SHOTS
A dedicated automotivehot runner team of designersand project engineershas been created by HuskyIMS (Bolton, ON) at its DetroitTechnical Center inNovi, MI to better meet theneeds of auto molders andmoldmakers. “The benefitsfor our automotive customersinclude faster deliveries,improved quality, andbetter overall responsiveness,”says Rick Sieradzki,Husky’s VP of sales and servicefor North America.Reiloy, a division ofReifenhauser Group (Troisdorf,Germany), has formedanother stateside alliance tosupply front-end componentsusing its wear-resistantmaterials, this timewith Concor Tool & Machine(Hayward, WI).Single Source TechnologiesInc. (Auburn Hills, MI)is celebrating a decade as asupplier of machine toolproducts this year. It reportedlyhas sold more that athousand CNC machinesand serviced an equal numberof mold shops in theMichigan and Windsor, ONarea over the past 10 years.Hot halves incorporatingSeiki Co. Ltd.’s well-knownSpear System valve-gatedhot runners, which featureon/off heat control at thetip, are now available frommoldmaker Mitsui PlasticsInc. (Glendale Heights, IL).It also will supply Seiki’slatest hot runner controls.Tim Womer, VP of engineeringand technology forXaloy Inc. (Pulaski, VA) anda 25-year industry vet, hasbeen named the next presidentof the Society of PlasticsEngineers (Brookfield,CT). Womer’s term begins atAntec 2006 (May 7-11, 2006,Charlotte, NC).American Plastics Councilfigures released in Q3showed a decrease in U.S.resin production of 5.3% inJune compared to June oflast year. Over a six-monthperiod, 2005 productionwas down 4.3% comparedto 2004. Sales and captiveuse of plastic resin decreased1.5% over the sameperiod.—CK/MM