United - Stabilizers - Cabot Corp

Kunststoffe international, An Impact Way beyond its Small Market Share
...industry. ETFE membranes are used for roof structures and building claddings in the architectural sector thanks to their low net weight and high transparency. AGC Chemicals Europe, based in Thornton-Cleveleys, United Kingdom, and part of the Tokyo-based Japanese AGC Group, is the world’s largest manufacturer of this material. The product range marketed under the name Fluon includes grades that can be worked in the molten state as well as powders and films. Fluon ETFE films are used in many appli...

Kunststoffe international, Delivering Efficiency Even in Harsh Environments
...al implant, biocompatibility, wear resistance and modulus close to bone are among the most important performance criteria. The PEEK supplier with the worldwide highest production capacity of more than 7000 t/a is Victrex plc., Thornton-Cleveleys, United Kingdom. Focusing on PEEK products for industrial and implantable medical devices, the group of companies not only pioneers new grades but also develops product forms and parts for selected industries and applications to address unmet needs in t...

Kunststoffe international, From Fishing Net to Particle Foam
...ioning closed-loop economy and the recycling of plastic waste into high-quality, reprocessed raw materials have therefore become global megatrends. The governments of various countries and international organizations such as the EU and the United Nations are addressing the waste problem, for example, through political and organizational commitments aimed at greater climate protection and responsible consumption of raw materials. Both have been incorporated into the United Nations’ goals for sust...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, "Medical Grade" Plastics
...e duration of body contact. Most sections of the currently valid ISO 10993 standard [3] were published in the early 1990s. Other sections are still circulating in draft form. The nomenclature for this standard was also taken over by the FDA in the United States. In July 1995, the FDA published a document which is generally referred to as the "Blue Book Memorandum" [4]. In it, the FDA basically accepts ISO 10993, but has added further tests for various product groups. Table 1 shows a summ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, A New Pilot Plant: Customer Trials Required
A New Pilot Plant: Customer Trials Required Because of the lack of qualified technical staff, in 2000, SMS Folientechnik relocated its production plant from Droitwich/United Kingdom to Vienna in the heart of Europe. In the newly built pilot plant, the technical press were presented with a new standardised cast-stretch film production concept. The standardised Cast2020 generation (Fig.1) permits individual plant parts to be freely combined to form the complete system. Depending on customer re...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Airbus to Fly with PPS
...condition with the required strength properties and dimensional stability on rolls weighing up to 100 kg. At Nijverdal in the Netherlands, the Lipp-Terler film and the glass-fibre or carbon-fibre reinforced fabric (depending on the application) are united by Ten Cate Advanced Composites bv. This specialist company, whose core competence is industrial fabric, managed to successfully marry the two materials into the high-strength, dimensionally stable and resistant composites (trade named Cetex) r...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Attractive New World of Packaging
...tle. Glass was too heavy for such a large quantity. Husky was involved in this development and concluded an exclusive contract with Owens-Illinois on the supply of injection moulding machines and moulds for producing PET preforms, limited to the United States. Outside the United States, we were able to take advantage of our freedom.” The introduction of the 2-litre PET bottle in the USA was an enormous success. In 1978, the British company Fibrenyle took over the concept and produced PET preform...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Biodegradable Materials
...r other reasons, building up to serious levels in the atmosphere. Its concentration there has already increased by 30 % over pre-industrial levels [1]. Further accumulation is undesirable. More than 160 countries, including Germany, signed up to the United Nations' Convention on the Climate in 1992, pledging to peg their CO2 emissions to the 1990 level by the year 2000. How can waste accumulation be avoided? Nature herself uses material cycles. One example of this is the carbon cycle, which ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, CAD/FEA Integration: Water Pump with Improved Long-term Performance
... quality of the end product has also improved. The Author Gerhard Auer, born in 1970, is a journalist in Cologne/Germany. Manufacturer Cosmos Europe Ltd. 1 Quayside Bridge Street Cambridge CB5 8AB United Kingdom Phone +44 (0) 12 23/3 46-900 Fax +44 (0) 12 23/3 46-901 www.cosmosm.com User Vyncolit N.V. Nieuwevaart 51 B-9000 Ghent Belgium Phone +32 (0) 9/2 6527 77 Fax +32 (0) 9/2 6528 80 www.vyncolit.com Title photo. The phenolic resin water pump achieved the required cost and weight savi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Car Production in Germany: The Chances for Germany as a Location for Car Production
...will not only cost money, it will also prolong the “time to market” that is so important in car production. It goes without saying that it will apply only to the EU and not to our competitors in Asia and the United States. The VDA therefore categorically supports the objective of airing our industry’s concerns more vehemently in Brussels. There is one important task for safeguarding our long-term future that we in the automotive industry must solve ourselves: securing the financing of faster and...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Convertible Top Systems: Convertible Top – Lightweight and Made Easy
...ion in the convertible top frame is the kinematic lever. It was originally developed as a plastic shell clipped onto the metal linkage. The shell served to optimise sliding during the headliner motion. The steel linkage part and shell were united in a single part made of the high performance plastic PPA. The function of integration into a single part makes high power transmission possible with a clear improvement in sliding without the risk of release of the clipped on shell. In addition the fra...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Data Quality in Commercial Databases
...turn for a fee. It is very important for the material producers to ensure that the quality of their product data is maintained, which is why the members of Campus working group got together to examine various commercial databases in Europe and the United States to check the accuracy of the data shown for their products. The evaluation was carried out systematically but not exhaustive, in other words not every single value was checked to make sure it was correct or interpreted correctly. To do so...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Details of Economic Development: High-density Polyethylene (PE-HD)
...chnologies. Sabic (Saudi Arabia), for example, has taken over DSM's monomer and polyolefin activities. BASF and Shell have sold their polyolefin joint venture, Basell, to Access Industries, a private industry holding company headquartered in the United States. Quite recently, Statoil sold its 50% holding in Borealis to its former partners, Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC, Abu Dhabi) and OMV. As a result, IPIC has raised its stake from 25% to 65%, and OMV from 25% to 35%. Solvay has withdr...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Elastomers
...ding to capacities GUS = CIS; Frankreich = France; Brasilien = Brazil; Deutschland = Germany; Italien = Italy; Großbritannien = United Kingdom; Übrige Welt ( 10 Länder) = Rest of the world (10 countries) Fig. 2. Capacity growth for synthetic rubbers, according to regions (* including Middle East and Africa) Westeuropa = Western Europe; Nordamerika = North America; Lateinamerika = Latin America; Asien & Ozeanien = Asia and Oceania; Zentraleuropa & GUS = Central Europe and CIS; Andere = Others F...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Electronic Markets for Plastics
...on.net), - ClickPlastics AG, Munich (www.clickplastics.com), - Polymerce AG, Essen (www.polymerce. com) and - Portax GmbH, Munich (www.portax. com). Soon the E-market Omnexus, founded by BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont and Ticona and already active in the United States, will go in line in Europe and thus also in Germany. Already twenty raw material suppliers, among others Biesterfeld, Clariant, DSM, PolyOne, Solvay and Resinex, participate in this portal. Additionally numerous markets in other countrie...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Europe is the Largest Market: Polyaryletherketones (PAEK)
... and comfort. The world’s largest quantities of polyaryletherketones are currently being produced by Victrex plc., Hillhouse/UK, in the form of PEEK and PEK, under the trade names Victrex PEEK and Victrex PEEK-HT. They are marketed in Europe, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to Victrex, other manufacturers have been producing smaller quantities of PAEK for some years now. These include Gharda Chemicals Ltd. in India and Changchun Jida High Performance Materials Co., Lt...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Fillers: Improved Properties and Processing
...es. Omya, Cologne/Germany, has strengthened its market-leading position through global additions to accommodate the globally active processors. For instance, since the K2001, new production sites have been added in South Korea, the United States and Great Britain. New in the range of products is a line of extremely white talc of Chinese origin. Based on poor experience in the industry with Chinese minerals, direct access to the mines, and thus the quality, has been secured. An additional product...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Firm Alliance: Total Quality Management in the Production of Sheet Products
Firm Alliance: Total Quality Management in the Production of Sheet Products Three system houses with emphasis on measurement technology, inspection technology and software production have united in the Paper & Plastics Solutions Group. The group supports manufacturers of paper and plastic foils with quality assurance. Gerhard Spies, Helmut Flohr, Leo Stadlmayr The functions of production-near in-line measurement systems and of production planning systems increasingly grow together during p...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-performance Plastics: The Right Material for Future Markets
...m (tool shift) and the processing of high-performance plastics will be particularly affected. Products are then manufactured in China under attractive cost conditions to satisfy the steadily growing local demand and for export to the United States, Europe and Japan. The demand for high-performance plastics will therefore undergo a regional shift. In future the Asia/Pacific region will undoubtedly become the global centre for the application and development of high-performance plastics. China is...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Injection Moulding: Compounding Wood Fibres with Plastics
...of plastics filled with wood flour (sawdust) or wood fibres have until now been used predominantly in the construction sector, for example for the decking of terraces and for profiles for windows, doors and railings. The most important market is the United States, where around 200000t wood/plastic composites were produced in 2000. The annual global growth rate is put at 25% [1]. The main benefits of these composites are their wide design scope for profiles, their waste-free production and their ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Integrated and Global
...he globe. According to forecasts, yield in the B2B field is expected to increase from its current level of several thousand million dollars to more than a billion dollars by 2005. Growth in sales of 41 % per year in overall terms is forecast for the United States. According to a study by Visa International, e-commerce sales in most European countries are set to rise about 30 times faster than the gross domestic product. The Dow Chemical Company has developed an integrated global e-business strat...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Interview: "Economical On-Line Coating"
...ce was too low, exterior plastic parts had to be coated in-line – i.e. after passing through cathodic dip coating and oven drying – and then brought to the body in white. Or, they were coated off-line – usually at the supplier’s – and then united as a finished coated part with the coated steel body in white. Colour matching here presented a special challenge. At any rate, both approaches lead to increased and sometimes cost-intensive work during the coating process. Kunststoffe: Would on-line co...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Isolator Zone Concept: Stable Injection Moulding in the ISO5/GMP-A Cleanroom
...meets the highest purity requirements for all medical and pharmaceutical products. Erwin Bürkle Gernod Dittel Quality and efficiency are the criteria that every production operation has to undertake. The closeness with which these two goals can be united is made clear by the case of injection moulding under cleanroom conditions in an isolator. Production conditions based on a “zone concept” open up new horizons, particularly for manufacturers of medical products: injection moulding in an asepti...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Large Investment Plans: Polyurethanes (PU)
...ertram, Leverkusen/Germany Title photo. In the hot climate of Southern Europe and – as shown here – also in the luxurious Dubai Marina hotel complex in Dubai/United Arab Emirates, polyurethane thermal insulation systems are being increasingly used to keep the interiors of hotels and offices pleasantly cool (photo: Bayer MaterialScience) Fig.1. Global polyurethane consumption from 1970 to 2008 (in million tonnes) (source: Bayer MaterialScience) Fig.2. Global polyurethane consumption in 2003 (...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Lightweight Construction: LWRT Technique for Car Underbody Covers
...ighter sandwich design sets the target. However, the new method dispenses with material blends, the optimum objective being the use of layers of the same pure material grade. The conflicting goals of pure material grades and layer construction are united within one process for the first time. Easy recycling and lightweight construction are characteristic features of the LWRT (Low Weight Reinforced Thermoplastics) material concept. Ecological Balance Sheet as a Guiding Principle Conventionally,...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Market Report (1): The Italian Plastics Machinery Industry
...uction compared with its main competitor countries of Germany, Japan and the USA. With a share of 14% of the estimated world production value, Italy lies behind Germany in second position, which continued to top the list with over 22%. Japan and the United States have seen their shares consistently decline from over 11 to 9% and from just under 18 to less than 13% respectively. Unsatisfactory Balance Sheet Situation for 2002 Italian plastics machinery companies were basically happy with their ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Market Report: Taiwan’s Plastics Industry
...delays faced by several new projects in China and the Middle East. As a result, capacity utilization is expected to rise. “The market will face further pressure as petrochemical supplies from the United States will decline because of rising prices of natural gas,” says Shieh. Indeed, the shortage of supply will not improve also in 2005, according to the PIAT. Shieh maintains that while other developing countries of Asia and South America are importers, both Taiwan and China have become importe...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Materials of the 21st Century: Plastics Producers Remain on Path to Growth
... Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. After the creation of the single market and the introduction of the Euro, this is a further milestone on the road to the creation of a genuinely united Europe. Roughly 75 million people have now become new citizens of the EU. This undoubtedly offers opportunities, but it also presents a challenge for the plastics industry overall. In order to be adequately prepared to meet this challenge, the pro...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Materials: Housings and Catheters
... to chemicals and stress cracking. At the same time, it offers the advantages of amorphous moulding compounds, such as a low tendency to warp and good creep behaviour. The material is licensed to USP, Class VI, which is the highest rating for the United States Pharmacopoeia. It is suitable for the production of parts that come into direct contact with active ingredients or body fluids. These include housing parts as well as infusion and transfusion components like connector pieces, adapters and ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, More Light
...act strength, compressive strength and temperature resistance. The company’s specialisation in this field has led to worldwide marketing activities: Elkamet exports tanks and lighting units not only within Europe but also to the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. Production at Elkamet runs in three shifts with up to 18 shifts per week. The sealing profiles for the vehicle industry are produced on a total of 13 extrusion plants. Encapsulated inside the profiles, extruded from PVC-P and A...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, No Crash Helmets Needed in Cars
...e, some outstanding properties, in particular energy absorption. This allows automotive manufacturers to integrate impact protection into the roof lining for example, which meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 201U required in the United States with minimum space utilisation [1]. The foams hitherto used for energy absorption in automotive applications were mainly based on polyurethane (PU), expanded polypropylene (EPP) and polypropylene oxide/polystyrene (PPO/PS) [2]. They are...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, One-stop Shopping
...nd more reliable. These one-pack solutions can contain up to six additives. They can include both the company's own products and products from other suppliers, but no colorants. NDBs are produced in different plants in Italy, South Korea and the United States. With these blends, Great Lakes is answering calls expressed by the plastics industry to reduce staff and equipment, save costs and raise productivity. Through the use of NDBs, subjective errors can be eliminated and wrongly formulated ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, PET Boom: PET Recycling and Direct Processing
...lthough the relevant legal requirements are of particular importance here. Legal Requirements The reference authority for recycled material in direct food contact application is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. The FDA has two threshold values for PET packaging: Firstly, no more than 10 parts per billion (ppb) of foreign substances may migrate into a foodstuff, and secondly, derived from this, the contamination concentration in the wall of the bottle may not exceed ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Pipe Extrusion: Universal Lattice Basket Die
... pipe extrusion heads, namely the conversion of a circular melt flow into an annular-shaped melt flow, is performed in the best possible manner [4]. The combination of a torpedo and a spiral mandrel distributor already showed that this combination united the advantages of both die concepts in a single die in a highly consistent manner, reducing the weak points of both. As the outcome of the close cooperation between the University of Paderborn and Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik, it proved possible...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plasticising in Critical Areas
... 450°C (sometimes even 500°C with high-temperature thermoplastics). Extreme stresses are also generated in the so-called “thixomoulding process” (the processing of magnesium on injection moulding machines). In Japan and the United States, machines are currently in operation for this application, but in Europe, considerable development work is still being carried out in this field. The exceptional thing about this process is that it requires temperatures of around 540 to 650°C, result...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polycarbonate (PC)
...UV protection has proved to be particularly useful. Other advantages compared with glass and thermosetting plastics are its high refractive index with high light transmission and its ease of processing by injection moulding. In the United States, where liability plays a significant role in the event of eye injuries, around 30% of all corrective lenses are now made of PC. In Europe, however, the proportion is still below 3%. The scratchproof coating normally consists of a single layer and is heat...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyoxymethylene (POM)
...ion capacity (Fig.1). As far as copolymers are concerned, Ticona expanded its POM capacity in Kelsterbach by 6000t/a in 2001. A further 17000t/a are planned for 2003. BASF has announced that it will close its capacities (33000t/a) in the United States before the end of 2002. Despite the restructuring among the plastics producers, there are few changes to report among the manufacturers of POM. Ticona, DuPont, Polyplastics and BASF are still the four largest manufacturers and together hold around ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyurethanes (PU)
...ntly finding the biggest markets for new investment in Asian countries with a high population density, for example in China, India and Pakistan. Chinese "refrigerator transplants" are nowadays increasingly finding their way to Europe and the United States. In Eastern Europe, too, more and more refrigerator and freezer factories are being built. The global market leaders in the plant engineering for freezer and refrigerator production are again Hennecke and the Cannon Group, which togethe...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
...on tonnes Germany is by far the biggest regional market, followed by Italy, France, the UK and Spain (Fig. 2). As a result of Italy's restructuring measures on the production side (see above), it has become the biggest net importer. Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, as well as some smaller markets without their own PVC production, such as Switzerland, Austria, Ireland etc. are also PVC-importing regions. The imports come mainly from Western European countries with overcapacities (e. g.,...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives ...
...ration of pressure-sensitive adhesives that does possess this seemingly extreme combination of properties. A resourceful chemist at BASF had a brainwave at the end of the 1980s in which he simply united all the divergent strands of thought with each other. He combined the high ageing resistance of the acrylates used in dispersions with the freedom from solvent of the “standard” hotmelts. However, it was also clear that this alone would not suffice, since the viscosity of even a low-molecular, so...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Profitable Innovations in a Weak Automobile Economy
...ve surroundings define the framework for innovations: innovations in vehicle electronics, security and comfort, more efficient drive trains and Internet applications. Environmental conditions further increase innovation pressure. In January 2001 the United Nations published the third report of the international committee on climate change (IPCC). The predicted world climate changes are worrying. The carbon dioxide emissions caused by combustion of fossil fuels, one of the main causes of global w...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Recording of Process Data in the Mould: Knowing what's Going on Inside the Mould?
...ction of high-grade injection moulded parts for various sectors of industry. The company, which has a global workforce of about 360, is one of the leading players in its field. It has its own production, sales and service locations in Europe, United States and Asia. Information: Hall 8.0, Stand L 33 at EuroMold and www.maenner-group.de

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Retrospective: The Development of Injection Moulding
... the first satisfactorily operating injection moulding machines. These early German machines were critical for the successful introduction of injection moulding to the United States”. Injection moulding machines with shot weights of up to 500g were developed by 1945. Looking at the Model EK IV 30 machine of Eckert & Ziegler and the Isomats of Franz Braun from 1932, their relevance quickly becomes apparent. These machines were electromechanical (”fully electric“) in operation. An electric motor c...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Safeguarding the Economic Viability of Production Sites: Adding Value through Innovation in Injection Moulding
...he hydraulic systems used in Europe are of very good quality and highly efficient, but also to the fact that they are offered in a rather conservative environment, in which the pressure from energy costs is still lower than it is in Asia and the United States. Another contributing factor is the reticence of the European machine manufacturers in the 1990s to look more closely at all-electric solutions. One of the few companies in Europe to have seriously tackled this subject – and that for more ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Separating, Sealing, Sliding
...the converter. To build in an additional safety factor, PEEK thrust washers are used in many automatic transmissions for cars. Tailored Material Modification For this application, a special PEEK grade (PEEK 450FC30, manufacturer Victrex, Hillhouse/United Kingdom) modified with 10 % each of carbon fibres, graphite and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was developed specially for bearings. The principle advantage of this compound is its very good emergency running properties even without oil lubric...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Shortened Product Cycles: The Changing Face of Extrusion Technology
...be used. - Layer formation inside the slot die: the extruders feed the die via separate adapters. Inside the die, each melt flow is kept separate until just before the lip (Fig.10). - Separate melt flows in the multi-channel die, which are united immediately after leaving the die. In this case too, each extruder delivers the melt to the die with its own adapter. Profile Extrusion There are virtually no limits on the shaping of profiles in terms of either the formal or structural shaping of th...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Synergy: mpm also Shows its Strengths in Extrusion Technology
...si said: “In central and western Europe, the market situation in the construction industry is dramatically poor. We are not expecting any significant improvement for 2004 either. Fortunately, this is partly compensated by other markets. In the United States, we are experiencing a recovery and have returned to the level of 1998. The eastern European markets have gathered momentum and Russia, in particular, is importing large quantities of windows from western Europe. Production lines are also gra...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Italian Plastics Industry
...or rubber and plastics processing. Its largest market in this area is the domestic one. Their injection moulding machines cover the clamping force range spanning 250 to 60 000 kN. Around half of these are exported, mainly to Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Primary applications are in the packaging sector. Another major player among Italian injection moulding machine producers is Negri Bossi, which employs roughly 260 workers. In 1999, its sales of about 950 machines earned it about 92 mi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Market for Masterbatches in Germany
... In addition, account should be taken of a specifically German attitude: goods and services necessitate marketing. The computer company Dell has also experienced this on several occasions. Dell, which sells its products extremely successfully in the United States by direct marketing (Internet, fax and phone) cannot really gain a proper foothold with its sales strategy in Germany. It is companies like Fujitsu Siemens and IBM which occupy the leading positions, because, although they also use such...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Market has Narrowed
... the period 1995 to 2005 (data in 1000 t; source: International Isocyanate Institute statistics) Fig. 12. Polyurethane per capita consumption in 2000 for a world population of 6.1 billion inhabitants distributed according to region (source: Wefa, United Nations) Polyurethan-Pro-Kopf-Verbrauch = Polyurethane per capita consumption; Westeuropa = Western Europe; Osteuropa = Eastern Europe; Südamerika = South America; Afrika, Naher Osten = Africa, Near East; Asien ohne Japan = Asia without Japan; E...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Trend towards Electrical Systems
...pan. Of the 13,000 machines produced there in 1999 around 4,000 were electrically driven [2]. For the German injection moulding machine construction industry, which has a 26 % share of international exports and delivers 20 % of its production to the United States, these changes in the market are significant. Precision Control with Electrical Systems Electric drive systems can control the processes more accurately and constantly. The repeatability in positioning and cycle time can be increased ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Trends in Laminating Adhesives
... that it allows the sterilization of aluminium laminates (121°C, 30 min). Anti-sealing effects with PE or EVA films and migrating substances from the isocyanates are a thing of the past. Because of the different legislation in Europe and the United States, such systems are not based on aliphatic isocyanates and therefore do not satisfy the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 § 177.1390 for retortable pouches. Film laminates of polyamide or EVA films, which are critical with regard to food c...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Tubes for Drip Irrigation
...igation methods, most of this is nowadays lost. According to an FAO study dating from 1994, only around 40% of the water used in agriculture actually reaches the plants. New Irrigation Methods Need New Technology Intensive research in Israel, the United States and Europe has shown that there are certainly more efficient processes for irrigating crops. They include, among others, so-called drip irrigation methods. Unfortunately, these systems are relatively expensive, although they could be ma...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Two-component Injection Moulding: New Hard-soft Combinations of POM and TPU
... SEBS as the TPE. Two-component injection moulding is becoming increasingly important, since it avoids the need for costly post-assembly operations [1–3]. In the injection moulding of hard-soft combinations, the properties of the two plastics are united in one moulding, e.g. the high elastic modulus of the hard component with the elastic deformability of the soft component. Since many polymers have low thermodynamic compatibility, adhesion of the material components at the interface is the cent...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Wood extrusion: Wood from the Extruder
...t new, but, with the aid of new technologies, wood has developed from being merely an additive to assuming the role of the main component with completely new properties and possibilities [2]. Wood extrusion has been in use for several decades in the United States, but has not gained a very large market volume in comparison with plastics extrusion and all-wood processing. Commercial application began at the beginning of the eighties with interior trim in the automotive industry and, since then, h...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, “Growth is not everything”
...onsiderations. In the last five years, you have completely reorganised your injection moulding machine product line (see box). What effects is this strategy having in view of the current situation in the various markets? The market in the United States slumped by around 50% last year, while Asia has remained more or less constant. So has Latin America despite the weakness of Brazil and Argentina, above all due to the positive developments in Mexico. We have been able to keep our sales figures f...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-12-07, Competition: The Other Chinese
...fta countries, are today also being increasingly targeted by the Taiwanese. Now they are on the move into core European markets. In this way, the Asian nation is closing in on the top market position with Japan, Germany and the United States. Thus, for example, Germany, which is its 8th largest importer, is an essential trade partner of the country. The Chen Hsong Group With about 15000 machines, Chen Hsong is regarded as the top manufacturer, in terms of quantity, of injection moulding mach...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-26, Interview: Worldwide Investment Boom
... a combination of specific operating states. These include a high speed in excess of 800 1/min, a high torque, the specific torque and a particular screw geometry. If these three parameters are united, then the process is protected. This situation means that our competitors have to find a way of widely skirting our patent. In addition to this, we have extended our already broad product range by a small machine, a genuine laboratory extruder – the ZSK 18 Megalab. We are thus offering our full ZSK...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-02-27, News
...l: Acquisition. Basell and Akzo Nobel have signed agreements whereby Basell will buy Akzo Nobel’s Polymerization Catalysts & Components business. The business includes catalyst manufacturing and other assets located at Edison, New Jersey in the United States. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2006, following regulatory notifications and approvals. “Akzo Nobel’s Edison site has been producing Avant catalysts for Basell licensees for nearly 20 years“, said Volker Trautz...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-08-06, Trade Fair Report: Chinaplas – the Leading Asian Trade Fair of the Future?
...n Services Ltd., expected around 57000 attendees; actual attendance turned out to be 59812 (Title photo), including 9484 foreigners. This represents an increase of about 13%; in 2005 the figure was 52009. This year nine countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, Austria, the Republic of Taiwan, the USA, and the People’s Republic of China) presented their newest technologies and trends in so-called pavilions. In the German Pavilion alone there were 120 companies occupying 3420m...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-08, Natural-fibre-reinforced Plastics: Considerable Potential for Improvement
...Far more functions can be integrated by injection moulding. Previously, in this process, the compound and injection moulded part were produced on separate machines. Now, through in-mould compounding (IMC) technology, the two operations are united in one machine [7]. The injection compounder (Fig.7) consists of a conventional injection moulding machine with a co-rotating twin-screw extruder as the plasticising unit. As a result of the longer residence times, problems can arise owing to thermal de...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-08, Stabilisers (Part 2): PVC and the Environment
...y: Here Ca/Zn stabilisers are already being used but there is also a keen interest in OBS systems. France: At present, both lead and tin stabilisers are being used. Ca/Zn systems will be substituted as tin-free alternatives in the future. United Kingdom: Here drinking water pipes are already being stabilised with Ca/Zn and OBS systems and these will probably become established in other applications as well. Netherlands and Belgium: Here the switch to Ca/Zn has already been made. OBS systems are...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-27, Film Extrusion: More and More Layers
... Aachen University/Germany, have demonstrated that this type of extruder can be justified especially when processing virgin material. The companies Kreyenborg GmbH, Münster/Germany, and UPM Machinery Sales Ltd., Slough/United Kingdom, offer additional interesting possibilities for saving energy when processing PET through the use of IR dryers. Employing infrared radiation leads to a considerable shortening of the residence time of the material in the dryer system. Filter technology also plays a ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-28, A Personal Opinion: Has Injection Moulding been Fully Exhausted?
...nufacturers can cushion the impact of the costs to some extent through the large numbers of machines they produce themselves. Recently, we read that twelve Taiwanese manufacturers of injection moulding machines have united, undoubtedly with a similar goal, and, here in Germany, Ferromatik Milacron and Battenfeld are temporarily cooperating in this field. But in my opinion, there is no substitute for basic research at universities and working out fundamental discoveries, which are then applied in...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-12-06, News
Bayer MaterialScience PU Joint Venture in Dubai Bayer MaterialScience AG, Leverkusen/Germany and Pearl Insulation Materials Industries LLC, Dubai/ United Arab Emirates have established a Polyurethane System House joint venture in Dubai. The two companies believe that this step will allow them to participate in future growth in the Middle East. Bayer MaterialScience, a world leader in polyurethane raw materials, is thereby expanding its global BaySystems network of system houses. The joint ventu...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-06-18, International Character is Standard
...injection moulded parts, including post-moulding operations such as painting printing, ultrasonic welding, gamma sterilisation and assembly. To expand its services in Europe and North America, TMT has opened sales offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the USA. www.twnmold.com.tw Fig. 1. The 2.8 tonnes mould for the mirror housings was built in Taiwan to the client’s specifications (photos: TMT) Fig. 2. As appearance parts, the mirror housing moulded in weather-resistant ASA m...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-07-18, Resorbable Implant Containing Medication
... the Symptoms of an Overactive Bladder and how are they managed? A population-based prevalence study. BJU Int 87 (2001), pp. 760–766 2 Stewart, W. F.; Van Rooyen, J. B.; Cundiff, G. W. et al.: Prevalence and Burden of Overactive Bladder in the United States, World J Urol 20 (2003), pp. 327–336 3 Bulmer, P.; Abrams, P.: The unstable detrusor. Urol Int 72 (2004), pp. 1–12 4 Brown, J. S.; McGhan, W. F.; Chokroverty, S.: Comorbidities associated with Overactive Bladder. Am J Manag Care 6 (2000) 11, ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, Focus on the Environment
...ts, but they also want to find higher quality, more efficient alternatives to plastic parts themselves. Borealis/Borouge: House of the Future In Brussels, Borealis AG, Vienna, Austria, together with Borouge, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, presented their business figures and strategies for the future. Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Borealis, with Borealis holding a 40% share. The presentations were made in the "Living Tomorrow" proje...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, On the Road to the Market
...ernmental Panel on Climate Change announced that global warming can be definitively attributed to human activity. That puts the question of sustainability back on the public agenda. The concept of "sustainable development" was defined by the United Nations’ World Commission for Environment And Development in 1987 as follows: "Sustainable development means a way to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.&...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, Vision Works – Today and Tomorrow
... and thereby further expanded its innovation centers, and other facilities. Centers have been opened in Leverkusen/Germany, Barcelona/Spain, Amagasaki/Japan, Pittsburgh/USA, São Paulo/Brazil, and Shanghai/China, and most recently in Dubai/United Arab Emirates. As a future innovation for the automotive, Ian Paterson, who is responsible for Marketing and Innovation on the BMS Management Board, presented roof-modules based on polycarbonate and polyurethane products. For example, the roof module of ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Basis of Product Quality
...itted with a combined ultrasound and air cleaning system. Problems frequently encountered in the use of vibration screening machines, e.g. cylindrical granules standing up and falling through the sieve holes, are addressed by Rotex Europe, Cheshire, United Kingdom, through the Plastic Pellets screening machine. By means of a combined circular and linear movement in an almost horizontal position granules are prevented from standing up and a product flow direction is established which also allows ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Mastering Demanding Challenges
... and Purell PE 2420F. Intended for use as blown film, these films comply with the US and European Pharmacopia, the European Directive for medical products as well as the DMF (Drug Master File), which is required for approval in the United States. This is achieved through the elimination of additives that could migrate into the products. With Lotader, Arkema, Colombes, France, has found an alternative to adhesive bonding when laminating or when combining PE-LD with other materials – even metals o...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polycarbonate (PC) and Polycarbonate Blends
...highest costs in recycling – not just in Europe but globally because the requirements defined in WEEE and RoHS are increasingly being adopted internationally as standard. Thus there are now similar guidelines in China, Korea and some states in the United States. Demand is particularly high for halogen-free flame-resistant thermoplastics that simultaneously fulfill the household appliance standard IEC 60335-1. Inter alia this standard tightens up demands on the flammability of plastics in househ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polyurethanes (PU)
... is complemented and supported by a global network of research and technologies centers, including the recently established competence centers for shoe applications and spray technology in Shanghai (Fig.4) and the new innovation center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Flexible Foam In recent years, the cost pressures on manufacturers of slabstock flexible PU foam and molded flexible PU foam have not let up. As a consequence, many of them have relocated their production to Eastern European count...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-11-21, Fast Development Assistance
...s before," admits Jeff Graw. "I started by laying-out the plastic parts using the CAD program SolidWorks. But I knew the actual test was still to come." Enormous Timesavings Nanoident selected the Protomold Company Ltd., Telford, United Kingdom, as manufacturing partner for the plastic components. Protomold, a services provider, supported Nanoident during component development, and produced a small first series with a process named "rapid injection molding". The time saved ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-11-21, Plastic Housing on an Engine Test Stand
...ing ultimately to consideration of two polymers as favored candidates for the application: polyetheretherketone with 30% carbon fibers (PEEK CF30%), an easy-flowing thermoplastic suitable for injection molding (manufacturer: Victrex Plc, Lancashire, United Kingdom; grade: 150CA30) and polyphenylenesulfide with 40% glass fibers (PPS GF40%; grade: Tedur L9510-1; manufacturer: Albis Plastic GmbH, Hamburg, Germany). PEEK belongs to the group of high-temperature thermoplastics and possesses excellent...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-01-15, Made in Greater China and Taiwan
...ng more international, improving its product range and simultaneously exploiting China’s cost advantages. In order to increase the value of their machines Chinese machine manufacturers are also using components from Germany, Japan and the United States. The TRX-80/300M from Tederic Machinery Manufacture (Chian) Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, now has a gear pump driven by servomotors (manufacturer: Bosch Rexroth) in order to meet requirements for energy savings and noise reduction. Haitai Plastics Machiner...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-04-14, Using Plastic to Counteract Urinary Urgency
...toms of an overactive bladder and how are they managed? A population-based prevalence study. BJU International 87/2001, pp. 760–766 4. Stewart, W. F.; Van Rooyen, J. B.; Cundiff, G.W.: Prevalence and Burden of Overactive Bladder in the United States. World J Urol 20/2003, pp. 327–336 5. Schönberger, B.: Die überaktive Harnblase (Overactive Bladder Syndrome). Urologe (A) 42 (A)/2003, pp. 787–792 6. Pannek, J. et al.: Intravesikale Therapie der überaktiven Blase. Urologe 45/2006, pp. 167–174 7. Th...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-08-14, Chinaplas Growing with the Economy
.... The organizers, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., Hong Kong, counted 72,161 visitors (Title pictures), of whom 11,760 were from abroad. 10 countries (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada, Austria, Republic of Taiwan, the United States and the People’s Republic of China) presented their latest technologies in pavilions. In the German pavilion visitors could gather information from 113 exhibitors spread over 3,580 m2 (Fig. 1). Altogether 121 German companie...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-09-23, Plastics, Electronics and the Environment
...ental protection and to the success of enterprises. Concerns about finite and natural resources, about pollution and waste, about clean water and clean air have become a worldwide issue. A variety of environmental regulations in Europe, Asia and the United States now regulate the development, manufacture, use and disposal of products. This has implications, inter alia, for the automotive industry, the packaging industry and especially for the electrical industry because here the development cycl...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-10-17, Liquid Crystal Polymers (LCPs)
... the other hand, because cycle times are very short. Furthermore, up to 50 % of regranulated material can be added to the original product. Thus, it is no surprise that Vectra LCP leads the Ticona portfolio for halogen-free electronics united under the heading “Ticona Green Electronics”. Conclusion and Outlook LCP is a high-performance polymer which can be individually tailored to many sectors and requirements. Its very good physical and mechanical properties are the basis of the most varied pos...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-10-17, Polyaryletherketones (PAEKs)
...ed its production capacity. In September 2007, it commissioned a new, separate production unit in the UK, boosting the capacity by a further 1,450 t from 2,800 t/a to 4,250 t/a. Until recently, Solvay did its production on a pilot plant in the United States. It started up a new, 500 t/a production plant for PEEK in Panoli, India, in April 2008. Evonik has a 1,000 t/a production facility in China. With about 50 % share, Europe is still the main market (Fig. 2), followed by the United Stat...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-10-17, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
... of S-PVC (2002) and paste PVC (2005) as well as Phasing out the use of bisphenol A in the manufacture of PVC raw material by ECVM member companies (2001). Since 2004, Vinyl 2010 has been recognized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development as a “Partnership for Sustainable Development”. Today, this voluntary commitment has gained model character: Vinyl 2010’s great success – in terms of transparency, goal...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-02-17, Optimized Silicones for Medical Applications
...mportant across the entire medical field. This applies to cytotoxicity, systematic and intracutaneous toxicities, and pyrogenicity. All Silpuran products have been tested in accordance with selected ISO 10993 and USP (United States Pharmacopeia) class VI tests.

Kunststoffe international, 2009-02-17, Peripheral Equipment with Transparency
...d Manufacturing Practice; good production practice for quality assurance in the production of drugs, active ingredients and medical products) as laid down by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, the drugs approval agency in the United States) and to other requirements expressed by Boehringer Ingelheim microParts. The specification of requirements also contained detailed information on choice of materials; for example glass was prescribed for piping. On the other hand, Colortronic had (almost) ...

Kunststoffe international, 2009-10-14, Batch Size Is Everything
...the packaging industry. The entire plastics industry should therefore exchange information more. The wheel does not always have to be reinvented. It is important to know which automation solutions are available and how these can be united in the most sensible way. Combining individual solutions into a complete system offers enormous potential because in each product there is a great deal of hardware such as programmable logic controllers or safety technology. In complete solutions, these compone...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-01-27, Bakelite Conquers the World
... longer-term success. Success with Pressure at Elevated Temperature Leo Hendrik Baekeland, an American hailing originally from Belgium (Fig. 2), achieved the breakthrough to a usable product. In 1907 in addition to other patents he applied in the United States for the so-called “heat-pressure patent” [6]. With great farsightedness this describes both a lacquer raw material as well as materials with and without fillers and their diverse applications for the manufacture of articles of common daily...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-03-17, Engines in 10 to 20 Years
...Volt [3]. Subsidies and government funding can also contribute to the success of alternative drive systems. For instance, in Monaco, purchase of an electric vehicle is subsidized by up to EUR 8,000. Countries such as Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom offer tax credits between EUR 4,000 and 6,000, while in Denmark the figure can be as much as EUR 30,800. Other European countries, e.g. Germany, waive the vehicle tax or subsidize purchase in other ways. Internationally, Japan, China and the US...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-03-17, Materials for Pipes – Meeting Changing Requirements
...ieved in the 1930s (unsaturated polyester resins (UP) by Hermann Staudinger in 1934 and epoxy resins (EP) by Pierre an in 1938 in Zurich, Switzerland). In 1942, the United States Rubber Comp. was already using structural parts made from glass fiber-reinforced UP resins. This technology developed very rapidly and has become well established for construction of storage containers and vessels, in the aircraft and aerospace industries and in boat construction. Not until 1961, however, were the fir...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-03-17, Upgrading or Replacing?
...y utilization improvement yields a 24 % energy reduction per part (considering molding only). An annual volume of 150 million parts per year for approximately one system translates into roughly 370 tons less CO2 emissions. Based on averages in the United States, this is equivalent to about 70 fewer vehicles on the road (Fig. 4). Including emissions for resin savings, this increases to around 1,500 less tons of CO2 emissions per year or equivalent to about 290 vehicles. Refurbishing, Upgrading or...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-09-24, Output Assured
...gy (lasers and CCD cameras). The compact PMM 80 model is being exhibited as the representative of the entire product line (Fig. 10). Hall 10, booth E41 Gillard High-Performance Cutting Gillard & Co. Limited, Tewkesbury, United Kingdom, will be exhibiting the high-performance Servo-Torq Ultra cutting system for smooth and corrugated pipe and tubing (Fig. 11). This new system employs a special camera system that can identify the crests along corrugated products, guaranteeing that cutting alway...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-09-24, Precise and Efficient
...pressed air or chilled water. As an indicator of energy-efficient operation, the system has been issued the “Green Factor” label. Hall 11, booth H57 Maguire Gravimetric Color Metering Maguire Europe Sales Limited, Staffordshire, United Kingdom, will be exhibiting an improved model of the MGF color metering unit (Fig. 6) for the first time. While retaining the same compact size of its predecessor, it has been possible to more than double the throughput at the price of a volumetric metering system...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-09-24, Raising the Standards
...S layer. Hall 5, booth C21 and D21 Borealis A Tough Cookie The joint venture partner of Borealis AG, Vienna, Austria, Borouge, is tripling its annual polyolefin production capacity with the completion of its Borouge 2 complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Further capacity expansions are planned with Borouge 3 by 2013 in order to meet the expected growth in the branch. Borealis has strengthened its facility in Porvoo, Finland, with new investments, and recently inaugurated a works i...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-11-25, Of Fibers, Foam and Nano (?)
...(III) with headquarters in the USA and European offices in Manchester, United Kingdom. In this context it should also be remembered that attempts were made in the 1960s/70s to manufacture isocyanates without phosgene, i.e. chlorine free. The variant of the direct reduction from nitro-compounds with carbon monoxide to aromatic isocyanates is known in expert circles as the “CO” process. Quite apart from the fact that CO is not exactly the friendliest of gases all attempts to do this thus far have ...

Kunststoffe international, 2010-11-25, The Long View
In the late 1990s, efforts were undertaken for the first time in Japan, Germany and the United States to make vehicle glazing from polycarbonate (PC) as a lighter alternative to glass windows and roofs. In 1997, General Motors used a Targa top made from PC in the Chevrolet Corvette C4 for the first time. This was followed a year later by the Smart ForTwo, which sported a rear window made from two-component PC by freeglass GmbH & Co. KG, Schwaikheim, Germany – the first provider of PC glazing...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-01-25, Efficiency Has Many Names
...s, film snippets, powder bulk materials powders, flocks, and substances which are particularly prone to bridging (wood meal) are increasingly having to be metered. For these applications, Maguire Europe Sales Limited, Staffordshire, United Kingdom, unveiled the new Maxi Batch 2400 WSB with throughputs of up to 2,725 kg/h (Fig. 7). The metering units can hold up to 12 removable hoppers, each of which may be configured to meter a given raw material type. Processors can choose from a highflow corne...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-05-12, From Glass-Blowing to Blow Molding
...ere based on those for processing glass. In order not to jeopardize its monopoly, the U.S. glass industry formed a closed group of “plastic blowers”. Thus, developments in Europe proceeded completely independently of those in the United States. It was primarily German engineers and entrepreneurs who carved out a name for themselves as blow molding pioneers. The chief protagonists were the brothers Reinold and Norbert Hagen (Kautex Werke, from about 1948 on, Fig. 2), Stefan and Rainer Fischer (Ma...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-05-12, Surfaces that Help Healing
...xtent to which they give off microparticles during use under frictional loading. Even if a coating is biocompatible, the release of a large number of such particles in the body involves certain risks. Directive 788 of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), for example, therefore stipulates maximum values for the number of particles above 10 or 25 μm in size contained in injection solutions. The critical (“worst case”) use of coated catheters was therefore simulated in a tubing system containing n...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-08-24, High Transparency for Challenging Applications
...ste or smell to the contents, nor absorbs odors. Grilamid TR meets the criterion for neutral taste towards a wide variety of aromas and substances. In addition, Grilamid TR 55 and Grilamid TR 90 natural meet the medical requirements of the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) Class VI and both products are certified to 3-A Sanitary Standard Certification. High Surface Hardness A new product from the company’s ongoing R&D activities is Grilamid TR 30, which was developed to achieve a combination...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-10-17, Polyaryletherketone (PAEK)
...st half of 2011 offtake was around 1,600 t. The largest market share by far is held by the British company Victrex, followed by Evonik and Solvay, who only added PEEK to their polymer portfolio in the last few years. Victrex plc, Thornton Cleveleys, United Kingdom, is the only one of the three to have focused exclusively on the manufacture of PAEKs and has modern production facilities in Great Britain where the company has its roots and from which it supplies all its customers either directly or...

Kunststoffe international, 2011-10-17, Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS)
The semi-crystalline high performance polymer polyphenylene sulfide was first manufactured in 1972 in the United States and marketed under the brand name Ryton by the Phillips Petroleum Company (now Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, The Woodlands, TX/USA). Today there are a large number of manufacturers serving the global market. The largest of these are Fortron Industries LLC, Wilmington, NC/USA (a joint venture between Ticona Technical Polymers, Kelsterbach, Germany, and Kureha Chemical I...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-01-30, Put an End to Flow Problems
... in the case of Figure 3c as the residence time of the bulk solid is longer due to the larger flowing volume. Segregation across the cross-section (Fig. 3e) occurs during filling here, too, but the segregated areas are united again in the hopper as the bulk solid flows down over the whole cross-section. Mass flow is therefore the most important step towards reducing segregation [1]. The slope of the hopper walls necessary for mass flow is calculated from the measured flow properties (a detailed ...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-04-20, Upswing in the South
...eals one seemingly incontrovertible constant: Germany is by far the most important target market for Italian machinery exports (Fig. 1), with a share of 14.5 %, equivalent to a volume of EUR 351 million. It is followed by France, China and the United States. The highest growth rates posted by Italian companies from 2010 to 2011 were in Russia and Poland. The leader group also includes Brazil and Spain, two countries with declining sales figures. The top ten markets cover at least 54 %, or EUR 1....

Kunststoffe international, 2012-07-23, System Options for Wafer-Thin Protection
...ll hold up to ten billion people by 2050 [1]. Sustainable management of natural resources and providing for the strongly growing world population will be the central global challenges for the coming decades. In this context, the current study by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) gives cause for concern [2], stating that a third of all the food produced in the world is wasted. In the industrialized countries, the problem is seen in the overproduction and chiefly the wast...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-09-17, The Level of Automation is 85 Percent
...ity as a Business Model.“Our competitive edge in various areas also ensures that our customers have an outstanding position in their markets,” says Jochen Neugart, adding:“And that applies not only to Europe and the United States. Whenever we expand with our major global customers, e.g. into China, then they ask us to apply the same production standards locally, because premium quality is appreciated just as highly in Suzhou as it is in Schwaigern.” The individual steps from lead frame to the fi...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-10-15, Physical Foaming Made Very Easy
...in the adjacent moldmaking workshop, which saves time and money. The new machine also permits tests with the SGI process (integral foam injection) to be carried out (see box). Proper Group, a processor in the United States has a similar but smaller plant. For two years already, Kunststofftechnik Wiesmayer GmbH in Neustadt on the Danube, Germany, has been using the MuCell process on a large injection molding machine with 16,000 kN clamping force (type MX made by KraussMaffei). Using tandem techno...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-11-26, Charge-Air Ducts in Modern Engines
... national limits on the sulfur content permissible in diesel fuels that can reach as low as 15 ppm. Unfortunately, in some countries – especially in Africa and South America – the sulfur content is quite high, 5,000 ppm and even higher. Thus the United Nations has assumed the task of aiding these countries in realizing environmental projects, e.g., the reduction of sulfur content in fuels. Reducing Pollutants The automobile industry has a threefold response to the requirements placed by Euro 6 s...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-11-26, Inliner for Automotive High-Pressure Natural Gas Tank
...lly stable than, for example, HDPE. This ensures good pinch weld quality in blow molding. Passing the Test Program The jointly developed composite-reinforced CNG tank passed all tests in compliance with the strict requirements of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe regulation ECE R110 on the approval of components for vehicles using compressed natural gas in their propulsion system. The test program included tests from a height of 1.8 m, burst tests at pressures above 550 bar, pres...

Kunststoffe international, 2012-11-26, Lighter in the Air, in the Wind and on the Road
...cured with a total dose of 132 kGy at an electron energy of 10 MeV. The results of the study are summarized in Table 1. The reference system was a toughened epoxy resin Cycom 977-2 (Cytec Engineered Materials, Wilton Center, United Kingdom), which was cured for 3 h at 180°C and is widely employed in aerospace applications. The electron-beam-cured systems have very high glass transition temperatures of about 200°C. Moreover, the storage stability studies show that epoxy resin formulations contain...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, Automation with Growth Spurt
...ntrolled “manipulator” in 1981. Today, Sepro is one of the largest independent sellers of Cartesian robots. Customers around the world are supported by wholly-owned daughter companies in Germany, Spain, Benelux, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, Brazil and China. Numerous direct sales and service offices as well as independent business partners, distributors and service hubs that extend Sepro’s global network to over 40 other countries. The company’s global turnover – generated by 3...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, From Dream to Value
...he idea of an aircraft that works on solar power merely. His project called Solar Impulse has just made some major steps forward. The latest prototype of this project recently did its longest flight as yet. It flew all the way across the United States – from San Francisco to New York. There are plans for a flight all around the world on solar power merely in 2015, using an even lighter plane. An official partner to the project, Bayer MaterialScience has been working intensively right from the st...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, From the Rhine Around the World
...n and injection molding applications in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Reifenhäuser took over the company in 2012, in order to further improve and consolidate the position of this leader in screw and barrel production at the United States market. Reiloy Westland Corporation has excellent know-how in screw design, and is well-known in the USA for its outstanding quality and service in the area of screws and barrels. Klaus Reifenhäuser: “Generally speaking, we want organic growth. To extend our range of pr...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, More Global Collaboration
...ss event held at the Innovation Center in Geneva. He explained that, with the world population growing at dramatic speed, we are facing unseen difficulties in resources. Today there are over 7 billion people living on our planet, and, according to United Nation fores, there will be more than 9 billion by the year 2050. This leads to challenges such as feeding the world’s population, more efficient use of energy, search for new and sustainable energy resources, and preserving man and the environm...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, Pooled Expertise Creates More Value
...cations – crucially depends on the reliability and expertise behind the products. “A global producer must not only meet the requirements of the EU and its individual member states but also the United States FDA regulations and Japanese JHOSPA standards. And we go one step further. We are already taking into account tomorrow’s requirements today and are working on solutions that will endure for our customers in the future,” stated Hans W. Reiners, President of the company’s Performance Chemicals ...

Kunststoffe international, 2013-08-19, The Customer Shall be King
..., which means a slight decrease by - 0.2 %, while gross profit in the first quarter grew by 10.5 %, as compared to 2012. For the second half of the year, the enterprise expects minor growth, as a result of recovery in the markets of the United States and of the economy in China, and due to moderate growth in some threshold countries. The company also offers a broad range of polymer stabilizers, which is another major field of operation. Demand is on the rise in the United States and in the Middl...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-01-23, Fluorinated Oils: Going Smoothly
...ular weights and are mostly used as processing aids. The main purpose of PCA and SG types is to improve the usage properties of plastics. The SG additive is a cleaned type. It was specially optimized to comply with the regulations of the USP United States Pharmacopeia authority for applications that require class IV classification. In addition, the NAMSA (North American Science associates) contract research organization tested the SG type, approved it for application in medical devices and healt...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-02-20, Country Report Greater China: More Quality Rather than Quantity
...gy, surface finishing, precision injection molding and the production of molds. The 3,000 employees and an international network of logistics and engineering, ranging from Switzerland to the United States to Mexico, make possible customized bids for different markets. For 20 years the mold builder Man Fung Mould Industrial Co., Limited has been supplying companies in various industries with precision injection molds. These include manufacturers of barcode scanners as well as of consumer electron...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-02-20, Design: How Plastics Shape Our Daily Lives
... element. The two levels of design – the materials that are associated with the product benefits as well as the intangibles that mediate the attitude of the designer aesthetically or symbolically – are united in the idea of reduction. Efficiency, in the form that designers of the last hundred years trace technological progress – under different circumstances – has unchanged weight. These themes are also reflected in the results of the German Design Award 2014, which will be awarded in February a...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-03-21, Novel Material Concepts: Sustainability and Design
...pts from the first global design competition for automobile seats “sit down. move” to the general public for the first time. The prototypes are based on the designs of Song Wei Teo (University of Coventry, United Kingdom), Joonyoung Kim (College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI/USA) and Pantila Debhakam (design agency shakes bkk, Bangkok, Thailand) and are characterized by a combination of creativity and understanding of BASF materials (Fig. 4, top). Working together with partners, BASF has dev...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-07-22, Concepts for Exciting Ideas
...y members of the designfabrik team in collaboration with renowned academic partners such as the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach, Germany, Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, Germany, or the Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom.In the recent past, projects such as Material Grove or Sun Heat particularly stand out. In the Material Grove project, design students were asked to engage with current materials without any prescriptive brief. Not only plastics, but other materia...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-08-19, "Establishing a Footprint in Europe Was Essential to Accelerate Growth"
...esents 35 percent of our sales. In our 50-plus years of operation, we have evolved significantly from our original mission. Today, we ship our products to over 70 countries around the world, and over half of our sales are outside of the United States and the Benelux region where we manufacture. We have been successful in transforming our business to date by having a clear vision, being open to change and having an organizational culture that embraces the relentless pursuit of continuous improv...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-10-10, Polyoxymethylene (Polyacetal, POM)
...ation (FDA). The materials are made to GMP standards (Good Manufacturing Practice) and usually meet the requirements of the European Authority for Food Safety (EFSA) and FDA for food contact and, depending on the product, United States Pharmacopoeia, ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-11, and USP Class VI. Two variants of these specialty grades are available in the DuPont range of engineering polymers, both of which are aimed at a large number of medical articles that are not intended for implantation. T...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-10-10, Polypropylene (PP)
...is said to be used, one of which is based on the metathesis process also used for ethylene-based production [4]. This technology will undoubtedly play an important role in North America’s shale gas boom but is also used in the United Arab Emirates: Borouge, a joint venture between Borealis AG, Vienna, Austria, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, operates the world’s largest olefin conversion unit at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. In this plant, more than 750 kt of pr...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-10-10, Polyurethanes (PU)
...n with a long service life as well as the reliability of this insulating method. Rigid PU foam is often the material of choice also when it comes to insulating pipe for other fluids and purposes. For instance, in hot countries such as the United Arab Emirates, it is used to keep pipes cold for air-conditioning of buildings. In the food and chemical industries as well for transporting liquefied gases, rigid PU foam finds use as pipe insulation. Insulation of pipe for industrial applications, e. g...

Kunststoffe international, 2014-10-10, Twofold Success under a Single Roof
Since 2011, Dr. Jörg Schottek has been Managing Director of both Albis Plastic GmbH and Krahn Chemie GmbH – having been Managing Director of the latter since 2008. Both Hamburg companies belong to the Otto Krahn Group. United under this same company roof, the subsidiaries have been able to record clear profits and growth figures over the past few years. Kunststoffe spoke with Dr. Jörg Schottek on the prerequisites and strategies for successful plastics and chemicals distribution. Kunststoffe: Dr...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-04-20, Bedded on Rocks
...nd strengthens its market leadership in the Middle East region. Licensor of the technology is Wavin Overseas BV, headquartered in The Netherlands. Wavin is a leading producer of plastic pipes in many European countries, has a subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates, and is part of the Mexichem Group in Mexico since 2012.Material Combinations for Highest DemandsIn composite pipes, the properties of the most suitable materials are combined in order to obtain specific loading characteristics in the ...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-04-20, Drop for Drop
...cording to quasi-industrial standards has not been properly considered in existing legal and normative regulations, yet. Thus, legal gray areas remain in terms of certification, liability and requirements for their production. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes this shortcoming and has announced a corresponding regulation for 2015.Part quality assurance: The statistical monitoring methods usually used in the mass production of medical products cannot be transferred d...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-05-21, The Task of Managing Complexity
...d marketing at Hekuma GmbH, Eching, Germany; k.wanner@hekuma.comCompany ProfileThe Söhner Group, an innovative family owned business, operates on an international level with locations in Germany, Great Britain, the United States and China. The company was found in 1966 in Schwaigern, Germany, as a toolmaking company and today employs a staff of more than 1,200 people worldwide. Its experience gained over decades in R&D, production and automation flows primarily into products sold to the automoti...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-07-20, The Carbon Footprint of an Injection Molding Machine
...ions for action.Definition of Accounting Boundaries and the Comparison ProcessIn the climate change debate, industry is held responsible for a large proportion of global CO₂ emissions. For the current commitment period of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as "Kyoto Protocol", the countries of the European Union have agreed to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O), by a total of 20 % by 2020 c...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-07-20, The Specialist for High-Filled Compounds
...configuration for known materials and to work out the correct processing parameters for new materials. Results obtained in the trials at the SKZ lab can then be scaled-up to a CP550 production facility in the Farrel Pomini lab in Rochdale, United Kingdom. The machine manufacturer also uses the CP125 in the SKZ lab for customer demonstrations and presentations, as well as for the development of new applications.The trials carried out so far have revealed the vast potential of this type of machine...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-08-17, Zero Waste versus Dire Need
...ments and useful tips. These include laundry detergent for people to make themselves from chestnuts they have collected, or toothpaste made from birch sugar and sodium bicarbonate – with the prime concern being to avoid plastics packaging. The United Nations estimates that 1.3 billion t of food spoils each year. At the same time, more than 800 million people do not have enough to eat. What gives cause for concern is that 98 percent of those going hungry live in countries where more than 40 perc...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-12-17, Copying Nature’s Mechanisms
...nt property advantages that enable new functions of a component, a façade or a supporting structure. WThe Authors is Area Manager Composite at the SKZ – German Plastics Center, and heads the sites of Halle, Peine, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates; T.Krause@skz.de has been Professor at the West Saxon University of Applied Sciences at Zwickau/Reichenbach since 2009 and has recently become a Professor at the HTWK University of Applied Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. is Institute Director of the SK...

Kunststoffe international, 2015-12-17, Electronic Waste as a Challenge
... complex and extremely costly issue. Every year, an estimated 50 million t of electronic waste are generated worldwide. Almost 100 million mobile phones are decommissioned in the EU, and more than 30 million computers are put out of service in the United States alone, according to estimates by the U.S. environmental protection agency EPA [1]. In many countries, there is also a lack of relevant regulations and possibilities to enforce such regulations where they exist – which is why most of the e...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-02-17, Hard Shell, Lightweight Core
...omposite. Suitable component geometry and large-scale manufacture by the one-shot process have been developed for these composites. By suitable combination of materials in a sandwich component, the different properties of individual materials can be united in one part. For example, robust metal-replacement plastics paired with high-strength foams give rise to components that are both rigid and lightweight. In its Ultraleicht+ ("Ultralightweight +") research project, the Kunststoff-Zentrum in Lei...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-03-08, From Simple to Highly Complex
...gned for the global market. Of course, it is important that these products can be modified in order to meet the requirements of certain national or local markets. Trying to sell a product with metric screws, pipes or profiles to the United States will not be a good idea. Just as well, freely programmable control units, for example, for the U.S. market almost exclusively have to come from Alan Bradley, while in Europe, the Siemens brand is the most widely spread.Kunststoffe: How about the mixing ...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-07-20, Safety Glasses with Style
... glasses are all produced under one roof. A total of several million high-quality safety glasses leave the factory each year and are primarily used in the automotive, chemical and mining industries. Besides Germany, major sales markets include the United Kingdom, France, Australia and South Africa.The characteristics of the safety glasses differ, depending on the requirements and area of application. Suitable coatings on the plastic lenses, which can be different on the outside and inside, make ...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Polyaryletherketones (PAEK)
...nd stiffness, hydrolysis resistance, resistance to aggressive substances and excellent tribological properties. Manufacturers, Capacities, ProductionAcross key markets, mega-trends support the use of PAEK materials. Victrex plc, Thornton-Cleveleys, United Kingdom, is a manufacturer of PEEK. At its headquarters, the production capacity exceeds 7000 t/a. Its PEEK products comprise granules, composites, coatings, films and pipes, and biomaterials from Victrex subsidiary Invibio Ltd, Thornton-Clevel...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Polyethylene (PE)
...were at similar levels in 2010 (both around 15 million t), the picture changed dramatically by 2015. The Middle East saw high growth rates compared to stagnation and in part even a capacity decrease in Europe. New development centered on the United Arab Emirates (Borouge III by Borouge) and Saudi Arabia (Dow’s Sadara project). The largest sites in the Middle East congregate around the Persian Gulf, with no less than five suppliers at the leading location of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Significant i...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Polyethylene-Terephthalate (PET)
...itional materials technically but offers often additional advantages concerning costs and the environment. The polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) market is still growing globally at rates well above the GDP rate. According to PCI Wood Mackenzie, Kent, United Kingdom, the average global growth is increasing from 4,8 % in the last two years to above 5 % in the next five years. According to an study from Equipolymers, Dubai, UAE, during 2015 the increase in demand in Europe reached even 8 %, boosted ...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-10-17, Reactive Systems and Fiber-Reinforced Composites
...sin business are now no longer. The "Composite Resins" division of chemical company DSM, Sittard, The Netherlands, has been spun off and is now called "Aliancys". This is a joint venture between DSM and majority owner CVC Capital Partners, London, United Kingdom. Similarly, Dow Chemical, Midland, Michigan, USA, merged its Global Epoxy activities with those of Olin Corporation, Clayton, Missouri, USA, in 2015. And for over a year now, polyurethane supplier Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen, Germa...

Kunststoffe international, 2016-11-30, The Sound of Materials
...ant testing speed of 0.4 mm/min. Elongation was recorded using two sensitive strain-gauge sensors. The force and displacement signals were transmitted to an acoustic emission analysis system (type: PCI-2 AE, manufacturer: Mistras Group, Cambridge, United Kingdom). Two wideband sensors (sensitivity 100...900 kHz) connected to the test sample by means of clamps were used to record the sound events (Title figure). In order to improve the transmission of the sound events occurring in the test sample...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-02-23, "Greater than the Sum of Each Part"
...rvices of Barnes Group Inc. in 2008. In 2012, he became Chief Operating Officer and President of the Barnes Industrial segment.Prior to joining Barnes Group, Mr. Dempsey held a number of senior management positions at United Technologies Corporation, Pratt and Whitney Division, and also served in several leadership positions at Interturbine Corporation.

Kunststoffe international, 2017-07-19, Becoming Part of the Solution
...private foundation Waste Free Oceans, an initiative of the European plastics recycling and converter sector. … Volker Scheel, CEO of K. D. Feddersen Holding GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, a partner company of Waste Free Oceans (WFO) In February 2017, the United Nations held its Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia, focusing on growing global awareness of plastic litter in the oceans. Erik Solheim, Head of the UN Environmental Programme, called attention to the fact that plastic litter is depositing on t...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-08-21, Refining the Details
... can autonomously automatically approach process events, for example the reaching of the yield point and the target bottle volume, corresponding to the set target values, and keep them constant – provided that abrasion limits have not been reached.United Caps, Wiltz, Luxembourg, will also present its latest customer-specific products at the show, such as the Wattwiller cap (booth A4.535). The innovative flower-shaped cap is an eye catcher and also makes it easier for consumers to open the bottle...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-10-13, À la Carte Input
...ferent polymer regrind of a particular composition. As the softening temperatures are all different, this formulation can only be processed directly, i. e. without any pre-treatment, and so conventional systems are ruled out.A customer in the United Kingdom achieved a certain level of flexibility over input material by combining a new GPU comprising two MRS coextruders with equipment of an existing downstream section (Fig. 3). The high devolatilization and decontamination performance of the MRS ...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-10-13, Polyetheretherketones (PEEK)
...tient outcomes, ultimately has the potential to enhance the quality of life of patients.Manufacturing Advances and Partnership ExpansionVictrex plc is a leading manufacturer of PAEK. Operating from world-class facilities in Thornton Cleveleys, United Kingdom, its PAEK production capacity exceeds 7000 t/a. A new co-located Polymer Innovation Centre, scheduled for completion in autumn 2017, provides additional resources for future developments as part of a global network of centers that assists us...

Kunststoffe international, 2017-11-29, Miracles of Efficiency
...e and – at the other end of the lifecycle – a recycling plant.The "less is more" principle has long applied in the manufacture of plastic lids and caps. A typical example is Progrip, a 1.3 g lightweight, one-part cap for still water from United Caps. The design, with 72 knurls and an ergonomically optimized shape increases the security of grip for the consumer. The conical seal ensures a secure closure of disposable PET bottles with 29/25 neck finish (thread/internal diameter), while the tamper-...

Kunststoffe international, 2018-12-19, Function-Full Envelopes
...tability of this method for testing butt welds within the framework of the research project GW 201716 approved by the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water (DVGW). This method has been used successfully in the United Kingdom for several years. However, experiential results are not yet available from the increased used PE100-RC pipes in Germany.Sophisticated Hybrid and Fiber Composite ProfilesWhen it comes to plastics profiles, the large manufacturers of windows, doors, a...

Kunststoffe international, 2019-07-17, Longer Shelf-Life, Less Waste
...d for food is rising fast. According to the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture in Germany, agricultural yields need to be increased by up to two-thirds in the next 30 years in order to meet global demand. Food is a valuable commodity. Yet the United Nations estimates that 1.3 billion t of food are thrown away every year. Packaging keeps food fresh and safe for longer. Specialty chemicals company Kuraray markets high-performance polymers for packaging applications. Its water-soluble ethyle...