Xaloy Inc. has purchased Progressive Alloys, a company that makes bimetallic barrels for parallel twin-screw extruders, from Spirex Corp. Xaloy will move Progressive Alloys from its plant in Lynchburg to Pulaski, the site of Xaloy’s main U.S. screw and barrel factory. Progressive Alloys employs six.
At the Spanish exhibition, from 26th to 30th November 2002, the company will be showing a tried-and-tested pipe extruder model, the single-screw BEX 1-75-30 B extruder. With its combination of barrier screw and grooved feed bush, the extruder ensures a homogeneous and gentle plastification whilst delivering a high output rate. The processing machine is equipped with a gravimetric metering unit and the BMC plus automation system. As a standard, the clearly presented and user-friendly system is provided with an integrated meter by weight control and a material throughput control.
Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik will also demonstrate a lattice-basket die with an additional external radial distributor for optimal layer thickness distribution of the outer layer. In the market for polyolefin processing, lattice basket dies made by Battenfeld have set the standards for sturdiness and reliability. Suitable for a wide variety of different materials, they are resistant to viscosity variations, ensure low melt temperatures and melt pressures and deliver a good homogeneity.
Toray Plastics (America) introduced several new films and is spending about
US$2 million to upgrade equipment at its plant in North Kingston, R.I. Company officials said at Pack Expo International in Chicago that the investment will include a coextruder on its oriented polypropylene line that will offer improved properties, to help the film compete against aluminum foils.
Wavin has won a PE pipe supply contract from Yorkshire Water worth around £1.5m (€2.3m) a year. The contract is for three years; Wavin has options to extend it by a further two years for fittings and pipes maintenance. Wavin key account manager Jim Roy estimated the water company will require 1,400 tonnes of pipes a year. They will be used in mains rehabilitation and replacement to reduce leakage in Yorkshire Water’s system. The pipes manufacturer is already two years into a three-year contract to supply Apollo PVC-O pipes to the water company. Roy said the new deal was built on the close relationship between the companies. “There is a very frank and open exchange of information between the two companies which helps us both plan our businesses.”
Packaging films group Klockner Pentaplast announced the acquisition of multi-layer films specialist Neoplastica Group. Neoplastica manufactures multi-layer PS and PET films for the food industry at sites in Portugal and Spain. The company expects to generate sales of around €80m this year. A spokesman for Klockner Pentaplast said the deal will both enlarge its product range and strengthen its position in the southern European market. Klockner Pentaplast is a leading manufacturer of rigid packaging films with manufacturing sites in Europe and the US. Global sales are around €1bn. Since October last year the company has been owned by UK-based private equity group Cinven.
Clariant will have an increased presence with its new products at China Coat 2002 in Guangzhou (Canton) from 13. to 15. November. This trade exhibition is one of the world’s largest shows for coatings, printing inks and adhesives and is one of Asia’s most important technical forums.
Clariant’s main focus for this year’s exhibition stand is ‘Coatings’. The Functional Chemicals and Pigments & Additives Divisions will make a joint presentation of their products and innovations for the first time. The main emphasis for pigments and additives will be on preparations for façade paints and pigments for automotive finishes.
On show will be a portable spectrophotometer and suitable software and database which provide customers with technical support for adjusting the colours of automotive finishes. This system, together with a portable microscope for identifying effect pigments, will soon be available to Clariant technicians in the region. The presentation on the exhibition stand will be complemented by a 90 minute lecture entitled ‘High performance, yet ecological: New pigment developments for automobile OEM coatings“ by Bernhard Stengel-Rutkowski, Marketing Pigments/Paints at 15.45h on Thursday, 14. November. The paper will consider a non-bleed yellow (Hostaperm Yellow H5G), a brilliant perylene red (Hostaperm Red P2GL-WD), two high purity red-violet pigments (Hostaperm Red-violet ERX and ERX-WD) and two high colour intensity, bluish magenta pigments (Hostaperm Pink E transparent 01 and Hostaperm Pink EB transparent). The paper concludes with a look at an innovative extremely reddish blue pigment with significantly increased colour intensity and excellent weathering fastness.
In the run-up to the exhibition, the company invites customers to a symposium in Chongqing, Sichuen where they will have the opportunity to obtain detailed information on ‘Pigments and Dyestuffs for Motorcycle and Automotive Finishes“.
Plastics professionals attending the NPE 2003 exposition will have the opportunity to obtain updates by industry experts on timely topics affecting the future of their business, it was announced today by The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI), sponsor of the triennial show. NPE 2003 will take place on June 23-27, 2003 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
In a partnering arrangement with SPI, the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) will present three days of management and technical briefing sessions free of charge to registered NPE visitors and taking place concurrently with the show in conference rooms adjacent to the exhibit floor. At the same time, SPE will also offer on-site a full schedule of its well-known Seminars, providing professional training in specific technologies and made available to registered show visitors at a special rate.
Prospective visitors to NPE 2003 can obtain information on both programs by logging on to www.4spe.org/conferenceseminar.htm or by contacting SPE at visitnpe@4spe.org.
Conference to Provide ‘Management Briefings for Those with a Need to Know’
‘The NPE 2003 Conference will cover topics chosen because of their current importance to business and engineering decision makers at plastics processing companies,’ said Lesley Kyle, SPE’s senior event manager. ‘Less technically detailed than papers delivered at ANTEC (the Annual Technical Conference sponsored by SPE), the presentations at NPE 2003 will serve as management briefings for those with a need to know about emerging technologies, pressing issues, or business trends that affect strategic planning.’
The Conference will consist of 16 sessions with a total of 68 half-hour presentations by industry specialists. ‘Besides sessions on trends and innovations in all of the major plastics processes, we plan to examine ‘hot topics’ like nanocomposites, thermoplastic elastomers, and globalization’ said Tom Conklin, senior manager of training and education for SPE. ‘In addition, there will be sessions focusing on resins, additives, product design, markets, business management, materials testing, and laser applications.’
Each presentation will be educational and generic in nature, and not commercial, noted Conklin. SPE has issued a call for presentations and will review each submission for content.
Seminars at NPE 2003 to Cover All Processes, Plus Design, Materials, and Marketing
SPE has scheduled 28 Seminars for presentation during NPE 2003, including four to be presented for the first time. Subject areas will include mold and product design, blow molding, extrusion, injection molding, thermoforming, materials, and marketing.
‘SPE Seminars are intensive one- and two-day courses providing training in the fundamentals as well as advanced topics for plastics professionals’ said Conklin. ‘As in all of our other Seminars, the instructors at NPE 2003 will be experienced plastics educators who are experts in their fields.’
The Society of Plastics Engineers is an international professional association and leading provider of plastics education and training to the industry. More information on SPE is available at www.4spe.org.
In response to the frequently-expressed customer request for temperature-resistant transparent corrugated sheet, and to round out the product portfolio, Makroform is now offering Makrolon® CS UV. The clear transparent and UV-resistant polycarbonate sheet is characterised by extraordinarily high weathering and temperature resistance as well as outstanding impact strength.
The low weight and the eminent workability – commonplace tools such as saw and drill suffice in most cases – make Makrolon® CS UV sheet ideal for DIY installation. The low weight of the sheets means that the necessary substructure can be reduced to a minimum. Small-dimensioned ‘light“ supports also lead to a significant cost reduction particularly in private construction projects.
A particularly outstanding feature is the temperature-resistance of the corrugated sheet. Between -100°C and +120° C the material remains stable even with rapid temperature changes, thus offering enormous advantages over other plastics such as PVC. In southern regions in particular, local temperatures during the day can often exceed 60°C; after sunset, on the other hand, below-zero temperatures are not uncommon in some areas. These are extreme values which present no problem for Makrolon® CS UV.
Furthermore, the new sheet type is a convincing choice due to its first-class fire behaviour, its resistance to hailstones and colour shift. Like most sheet from Makroform, the new product type also comes with a 10-year guarantee.
Plastics converting activities of Belgium´s chemical and plastics company Tessenderlo, Belgium, has reported ’sharply improved’ results for the first half of 2002, compared with the same period of last year. According to the company, the improvement derives essentially from its PVC profile activities, and notably from the growth of the UK-based subsidaries.
Uponor’s subsidiary Radius Plastics Ltd. of Northern Ireland has been awarded a contract to supply broadband installation ducting systems for the Government’s planned regional broadband programme. The initial stage of the contract, covering 20 towns and cities in southwestern and central Ireland, will be carried out as part of the National Development Plan. Uponor will supply approximately 600 km of fibre-optic cable installation ducting and sub-ducting systems, worth roughly five million euros. The first tranche is due to be in place by the end of 2004. The framework contract provides for the manufacture of up to 2000 km
of ducting for the whole project. The second phase will involve another 20-30 towns and is due to be in place by the end of 2005. Uponor was selected from among more than 20 competitors for the contract, which was opened to the international market in May.