Canadian Plastics November 2009

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contents

CanadianPlastics NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 VOLUME 67 NUMBER 7

LOOKING BACK...

The August 1993 issue of Canadian Plastics told the tall tale of a tall ship, built in Nova Scotia, that had sails made entirely of recycled PET. A replica of an 18th century British 24-gun frigate, the 180 foot-long H.M.S. Rose was rigged with 13,000 square feet of PET sails manufactured from DuPont’s proprietary methanolysis process, which was designed to return plastic material to its basic monomers while removing additives and impurities. The monomers were then repolymerized, DuPont said, with the result being a particularly high purity polymer.

DuPont’s Fibres unit then spun the recycled materials into polyester yarn, which was transformed, in turn, into sailcloth for the H.M.S. Rose by two U.S. shipbuilding firms.

page 15

Number of the month:

$16.08*

* Average hourly wage of an extrusion machine operator in Canada. (See pg. 23)

in every issue 5 Editor’s View: • Adios to an annus horribilus 6 Ideas & Innovations: • NASA technology brings soaring energy costs down to the ground 7 News: • In Memoriam: Bill Young • Breaking new ground with aluminum molds • CPIA sells Plast-Ex, Expoplast; Plast-Ex shifted to May 2011 • People 9 Executive’s Corner: • Preplanning the perfect relocation 24 Technology Showcase 27 Plastics Data File 28 Advertising Index 28 Classified Ads 29 Design Ideas: • Plastics under foot

page 10

page 29

cover story 10 RESIN OUTLOOK 2010

The recession of 2009 had few, if any, benefits, but this might be one: suppliers with overcapacity of some of the major commodity and engineering resins might be forced to unload at low prices. With other resins, however, high energy costs and a weakening U.S. dollar will mean rising prices. Says who? The experts at our recent Resin Outlook Conference. Inside, get the latest projections for resin prices in 2010.

features 14 INJECTION MOLDING

Across Canada, injection molders big and small are finding ways to work faster, cheaper and just plain smarter with both new and refurbished machines. But don’t take our word for it — they’ll tell you themselves, inside. If injection molding is your game, you won’t want to miss these case studies.

18 EXTRUSION BENCHMARK SURVEY

The results are in from our third annual survey of Canada’s pipe and profile extruders. What they’re going to buy, when they’re going to buy it, how much resin they consume, how much money they make — it’s all here. If knowing the size and scope of the extrusion industry now and in the year ahead is important to you, look no further.

30 View from the Floor: • Pareto, part two

Visit us at www.canplastics.com www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 3

Season’s Greetings Wish ing y a ha ou pros ppy & pero us New Year !

From your friends at

Canadian Plastics MANAGING EDITOR: Mark Stephen

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4 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

editor’s view Canadian Plastics magazine reports on and interprets develop­­ ments in plastics markets and technologies worldwide for plastics processors, moldmakers and end-users based in Canada.

www.canplastics.com MANAGING EDITOR Mark Stephen 416-510-5110 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: mstephen@canplastics.com TECHNICAL EDITOR Jim Anderton 416-751-5749 E-mail: jimeditorial@yahoo.ca ART DIRECTOR Andrea M. Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Hofmann 416-510-6757 E-mail: shofmann@bizinfogroup.ca PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER Phyllis Wright PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Judith Nancekivell 416-510-5116 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: jnancekivell@canplastics.com ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE Brayden Ford 416-510-5124 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: bford@canplastics.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Diane Rakoff 416-510 5216 Fax: 416-510-6875 E-mail: drakoff@bizinfogroup.ca HEAD OFFICE 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto ON M3C 4J2. 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-5134 CANADIAN PLASTICS is published 10 times a year by the Business Information Group, a division of BIG Magazines LP., a leading Cana­ dian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-to-business information services.

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Adios to an

annus horribilus

B

ritish history buffs among the Canadian Plastics readership might recall that, on the heels of several of her children announcing plans to divorce their spouses, topped off by Windsor Castle almost burning down, Queen Elizabeth referred to 1992 as her annus horribilus, a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year.”

Anyone out there care to join me in applying said phrase to describe 2009 for the plastics industry?

While not the Great Depression-like disaster that some were forecasting in late 2008, the recession of 2009 — Canada’s first in nearly 20 years — did indeed turn out to be pretty bad...not just for plastics, of course, but for the manufacturing sector in general.

But as we get ready to bid good riddance to the old year, here’s a modicum of good news: according to the Bank of Canada’s stats, the recession in Canada might have ended as early as the final weeks of summer...at least for parts of the country. There’s good news on the job front, too: Statistics Canada said that the country’s unemployment rate fell for the first time since the recession hit last October to 8.4 per cent in October 2009, as the economy created 30,600 net new jobs.

In the U.S., meanwhile, the recession finally ended in August in one out of every five metro areas of America, especially in the Midwest and Great Plains, according to the latest Adversity Index from Moody’s Economy.com and msnbc.com.

None of this means that plastics processors are suddenly going to have money tossed at them from every direction, of course, but it does seem as though some of the pressures of the past 14 or so months are loosening slightly.

In some respects, however, caution still remains the default mode — and rightly so.

Partly on the heels of disappointing atten-

dance at the NPE2009 show in Chicago in June, for example, the new owner of the Plast-Ex show decided not to roll the dice by having that event go ahead in June 2010, but instead postponed it until June 2011.

(If you’ve been hiding out in a Gaylord lately and haven’t heard the news, see the story on pg. 8) It strikes me as a sensible decision, and the industry members that I’ve spoken with — many of whom are planning to exhibit at the show — seem relieved, frankly, not to have to worry about it for another year, at which point the economy will hopefully be stronger.

At the end of the day, then — or, more specifically, the end of the year — the news isn’t all bad for our industry. Indeed, one of the best pieces of news is precisely that it is the end of the year; 2009 — our annus horribilus — is finally over. And as the economy shows signs of stabilizing, projects that were put on hold last September by molders’ customers are beginning to get green lights to go ahead. If you listen closely, you can hear processors talking about 2010 with something approaching cautious optimism.

Like our old friend Queen Elizabeth surveying the wreckage of Windsor Castle back in ’92, the companies that have survived this recession are no doubt a little singed around the edges — but, more importantly, thankful to have escaped the blaze with their skins intact, and determined to rebuild and forge ahead with new plans, for new markets, in the future.

So, to all of you reading these words, congratulations — you’re still here.

Here’s hoping that 2010 is the year that we begin turning things around.

Mark Stephen mstephen@canplastics.com

www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 5

ideas and innovations

BREAKING INTO PLASTICS The E-Save equipment, introduced to the North American plastics market at the NPE2009 trade show in June, is installed between the power source and the motor, and adjusts the amount of electricity to match the load. “It’s like cruise control in a car,” Strasser said. “The amount of energy used by the motor changes according to the load, but the speed of the motor always remains the same, which is important for maintaining steady production.”

Each E-Save unit has a motor starter that creates a so-called soft start, Strasser continued, reducing the load and torque in the powertrain of the motor during startup,

which in turn reduces the mechanical stress on the motor and shaft. “E-Save is best suited for variably or lightly loaded applications and for motors that are running constantly but need an influx of electricity in variable doses,” he said.

While new to plastics processing, E-Save technology isn’t exactly untested.

Managers of Denver International Airport retrofitted 110 escalators and 54 moving walkways with variable-speed motor controllers, saving 1.75 million kilowatthours a year and cutting operating costs

by US$105,000 a year. “Having proven the technology, we’re now bringing pilot projects onto the plastics market, in plants owned by Berry Plastics, Graham Packaging Company and Ball Corporation,” Strasser said.

In Berry Plastics’ Anaheim, Calif. facility, for example, motor efficiency controllers were installed on 25 granulators, reducing the kilowatts required by almost 45 per cent — an annual saving of US$600 per granulator unit, according to an independent energy audit. During low load times, each unit conserved energy by shutting off the voltage for part of the half cycle, and — in the longer term — each has the potential to lengthen the motor life of the granulators by reducing operating temperatures.

GAINING CREDIBILITY According to Strasser, Berry Plastics represents merely the tip of the energy savings iceberg.

“The typical motor is designed for the peak or worst-case condition,” he explained. “In a perfect world, induction motors would operate at 100 per cent efficiency, with every kilowatt of power deliv-

6 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

Power Efficiency

I

t’s a good basic axiom that when an agency as cutting-edge as NASA invents a technology, said technology is guaranteed to trickle down into the private sector to be used in a lot more than just rockets.

Case in point: electronic sensing equipment maker Power Efficiency Corporation, which is applying a method for improving the efficiency of induction motors that was devised in the 1970s by NASA engineer Frank Nola to benefit today’s plastics processors looking to cut their energy consumption.

According to company CEO and chairman Steve Strasser, Power Efficiency’s E-Save technology uses a microprocessor to monitor the energy requirements of AC motors and calculate the power required to match the load, thereby improving efficiency by up to 35 per cent.

“We’ve taken the so-called Nola energy savings technology and improved it with a number of proprietary developments,” he said. “The result is that E-Save works on a broader range of motors than other Nola-based devices on the market.”

Corporation

NASA technology brings soaring energy costs DOWN TO THE GROUND

ered to the motor terminals resulting in useful work at the motor shaft. In the real world, however, about half of the motors in all manufacturing businesses are fully loaded less than 45 per cent of the time — this means that, with the right sensing equipment, there’s a lot of wasted energy that can be recovered.”

The E-Save technology — which received the 2009 Innovation of the Year Award from business research firm Frost & Sullivan — can be retrofitted to virtually any AC motor by virtually any electrician in 60 minutes or less, Strasser said.

Clearly, the word is getting out: OEMs such as Rapid Granulator are now installing E-Save units as a standard feature on new models. Power Efficiency is currently in the process of testing their products on injection molding, blow molding and extrusion machines, and is also hiring a slew of new sales representatives to field inquiries.

“In today’s economy, every dollar counts,” Strasser said. “We can provide huge energy savings to people in the plastics industry.”

CPL Power Efficiency Corporation (Las Vegas, Nev.); www.powerefficiency.com; 702-697-0377 Rotalec (Saint-Laurent, Que.); 514-341-3685 (Brantford, Ont.); 519-753-5100

news

IN MEMORIAM:

Bill Young

Bill Young, the former associate publisher of Canadian Plastics magazine, passed away on September 4 in Toronto after a courageous five-year battle with cancer. He was 50.

A York University graduate

with a long and successful career in the world of business magazines, Bill joined the Canadian Plastics staff in 2003, quickly becoming a popular and familiar face to our readers and advertisers, as well as a fixture at plastics industry functions.

Bill was forced to step down from the magazine in the winter of 2008 to focus on cancer treat-

ment. We hoped that, after beating the disease, he’d be able to return to the magazine — and to the industry that he enjoyed so much — but, sadly, it wasn’t to be.

Bill is survived by wife Rita and daughter Emily, and will be greatly missed by the staff of Canadian Plastics, as well as his many other friends and colleagues.

Breaking new ground with aluminum molds g

Did you hear the one about the Windsor, Ont. toolmaker that has measured investments, assess our risks and move forward. Thus automakers and their Tier 1 suppliers knocking on its door at the far, we judge our involvement in aluminum tooling as a success.” height of a recession?

Despite the fact that King and his staff find it hard to keep No? Well, the punch line is that it’s not a joke — it’s a descrip- up with business some days, they aren’t stopping with Honda; tion of day-to-day business at Unique Tool & Gauge Inc., a they’ve made presentations to executives from General Motors, company that’s making its mark by building aluminum injection Ford and Nissan, and have contacted major auto suppliers such molds to more cheaply produce as Magna, Toyota’s Boshuko plastic vehicle parts. division, Johnson Controls, According to Darcy King, NYX and International Autopresident of the family-owned, motive Components. The 65-employee strong Unique result so far has been a conTool, the company began tract to supply aluminum developing aluminum molds molds to make a rear door six years ago as part of projpocket on the Chevy Volt, the ect with Japanese automaker electric car that GM is hoping Honda. “Honda was looking will mark its resurgence. to lower tooling and producBut why use aluminum tion costs while maintaining molds in the first place? Two part quality,” King said. “We reasons, King said: molds presented them with the concan be made in less time; and cept of using aluminum molds Darcy King poses with finished auto part. because aluminum conducts for high volume applications, heat better than steel, they can which they liked, and we’re now involved in a co-management produce parts faster. “Tools that have more mechanisms and arrangement with them.” have more depth require more machining, spotting, drilling and At present, Unique Tool has made over 30 aluminum injec- benching, which will save time in aluminum versus, for example, tion molds for Honda, including a mold to produce the cover P-20 steel,” King explained. “Honda is currently realizing moldthat sits behind the back seats of the Honda Accord. Since ing cycle time savings of approximately 20 per cent on the rear 2007, more than 350,000 of the polypropylene “rear trays” tray tool.” have been made with the mold by Nissen Chemitec America at its London, Ohio plant.

Not as strong, but...

Aluminum molds aren’t as strong as those made from traditional Competitive advantages steel, King conceded, and aluminum tooling isn’t for every auto In total, parts made with Unique Tool’s aluminum molds are in part application. “It depends on the material, the part being profive Honda models and will be in two more by the end of 2009. duced, the volumes involved and the number and kind of secondClearly, Honda seems pleased with the results. “We do see ary operations being performed,” he said. competitive advantages with aluminum tooling,” said Richard But with more auto parts being molded from softer materiSpears, manager of the Tooling Engineering Group at Honda als — like PE, TPO or PP — and with newer, harder aluminum North American Purchasing. “We’re going to continue to make becoming available that can stand up to the pressure and wear www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 7

news

of producing high volume part runs, the argument can certainly be made that the scales might tip against steel in the long run.

“With help from Honda’s backing, the moldmaking industry is definitely beginning to consider aluminum as a potential new ‘it’ material, and a lot of competing shops are trying to catch up to us by experimenting with the technology,” King said.

His company prides itself, though, on having gotten there first.

“Aluminum molds are one of the biggest things happening in the industry today,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity, and we’re excited to be at the forefront.”

Unique Tool & Gauge Inc. (Windsor, Ont.); www.unique-tool.com; (519) 737-1159

CPIA sells Plast-Ex, Expoplast; Plast-Ex shifted to May 2011

SPE

Canon Communications LLC has acquired the Plast-Ex and Expoplast trade shows from the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA), and will be postponing the Plast-Ex show until May of 2011.

Plast-Ex, which had been scheduled to run in May 2010 at the Toronto Congress Centre, will now be held at that location from May 10-12, 2011. The show will also be combined with the Packex show, as well as automation, design and manufacturing, the Green Manufacturing Expo and processing events.

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Canon is a longtime producer of trade events, publications and electronic media, and responsible for 62 trade shows, Gala is Ad/AB/CPL 10/27/09 10:13 16 AM publications Page 1 and over 50 e-media offerings throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

According to CPIA president and CEO Mark Badger, Canon and CPIA will work together in developing and promot-

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ing these acquired shows in a new co-located event format.

“Members of CPIA will continue to be offered discounted exhibition space at the Plast-Ex and Expoplast shows, and will benefit from Plast-Ex being co-located with other highly synergistic successful trade shows serving the packaging, automation, processing and design and manufacturing sectors,” Badger said in a press release.

In a telephone interview with Canadian Plastics, Badger added that there hasn’t yet been discussion about moving the date of the next Expoplast show, currently set for October 2011.

“The consensus among the Plast-Ex exhibitors that I’ve spoken with, meanwhile, is that moving the Plast-Ex show to 2011 is a good thing, because the economy will be more favorable by that point,” he said. “Also, Canon’s intention to co-locate the event is very good news, driving more traffic to the show.”

PEOPLE

Acetronic Industrial Controls Inc., of Mississauga, Ont., has appointed Kelly McCann as its outside sales representative servicing the Ontario region C.A. Picard International, a Shellman, Ga.-based manufacturer of replacement elements, barrels and shafts for co-rotating twin-screw extruders, has appointed Accuplast Solutions — headed by David King and located in Kirkland, Que. — as its Canadian representative.

Extrusion machinery supplier Custom Downstream Systems Inc., of Lachine, Que., has named Bernadette Marti as sales manager for its U.S. and European accounts.

David Sanders

David Ouellette

Moldmaker Redoe Mold, of Bernadette Marti Windsor, Ont., has appointed David Sanders to the position of general manager and David Ouellette to the position of sales manager.

Pawtucket, R.I.-based Teknor Apex Company has named Domenic Marando as its new sales representative for the Chem Polymer, Teknor Specialty Compounding and Vinyl divisions in Ontario and Central and Western Canada.

Gerard Cousineau has been appointed sales representative for the same three divisions in Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces.

executive’s corner

Preplanning the perfect relocation

By Garry Moore, Matcom Industrial Installations Inc.

M

urphy’s Law — whatever can go wrong, will — is probably never truer than when applied to a move. So when it comes to relocating your manufacturing plant — when millions of dollars in valuable equipment needs to be moved damage-free, on time and within a prepared budget — expert advice and assistance are vital to success.

Too often, processors leave the planning of their relocation until too late, trusting the move to the lowest price provider. Ironically, this can turn out to be the most expensive route of all, since there are likely to be last minute things that need to be planned and negotiated. The successful move is one that has been arranged early through selecting a machinery mover with a proven track record, and then entering into a collaborative agreement whereby a free estimate is provided and a budget set and agreed to.

the northern U.S. when frost laws are in effect because the ground is thawing, meaning that heavy loads could damage the roads.

During this period, weight restrictions are strictly enforced in all jurisdictions. Failure to comply can result in seizure of the freight and trucking equipment until the weight is reduced, or the restriction is lifted at the end of April. Infractions bring heavy fines.

In the end, this is the expertise you want to be paying for — not mistakes made by someone who doesn’t know what can go wrong, and can’t deal with problems that do arise. Especially in today’s climate, the risks of a poorly planned relocation, based on the cheapest proposal, are simply too great.

CPL

MAKE A CHECKLIST

Garry Moore is marketing manager of Matcom Industrial Installations Inc., headquartered in Vaughan, Ont. He can be reached at gmoore@matcominstallations.com.



The mover’s project managers will provide a step-by-step checklist of planning points to make the job as smooth as possible, and accept the responsibility of the move from start to finish. This should include: draining of oil, electrical and mechanical disconnects/reconnects, removal of chiller equipment from the roof (including the closing of roof holes), silo removal and set-up, provincial safety regulation compliance work, commissioning and/or decommissioning and civil work, along with other subcontract services.

A walk-through of the existing and new plant is also arranged to explore the magnitude of the move.

From years of experience in dealing with a vast array of original equipment manufacturers’ machines, relocation companies like Matcom know, for example, that small machines are designed to be shipped in one piece. Larger machines, or machines with a base in two sections, must be dismantled to conform to axle weights of transport trucks on the pubic highways. Plan ahead for the possibility of problems with really large tonnage injection machines; they need to be dismantled to move.

The walk-through also involves confirming the strength of the new plant floor. Is it strong enough to accommodate the weight of the larger machines? Does it require a new, thicker pad, and if so, will it be completed in time to receive the machine, without affecting a delay in production? Pads can be poured with quickcure concrete, which will provide the solution, but increase the cost. A fast cure time can be as short as a number of days, but the cheapest and normal cure time is 30 days.

GOOD TIMING Finally, don’t forget that the timing of the proposed relocation might also be an issue. A thorough preplanning, therefore, will include setting the time frame of the move. Busy times for machinery movers include shutdown times around the first of July, and end of December. A time to avoid moving excessive weight is the months of March and April, a time in Canada and

To watch an interview with Garry Moore, go to http://www.canplastics.com/video/episode35.asp

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www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 9

resin outlook 2010

RESIN OUTLOOK 2010:

after the recession

You definitely don’t need us telling you that 2009 was a rough year. Heading into 2010, though, there might be a silver lining for resin buyers: suppliers with overcapacity of some of the major commodity and engineering resins forced to unload at low prices. With other resins, however, high energy costs and a weakening U.S. dollar will mean — what else? — rising prices.

Which is which? Read on.

AT A GLANCE Polyolefins Stability will return to the market, but North American propylene price will remain above global price. North American ethylene price will remain below all regions except the Middle East. Large volume PP homopolymer will trade in the US$0.55 to US$.065 per lb. range through 2011.

Joe Congdon, Townsend Solutions Styrenics Energy prices will keep styrenics prices elevated through 2010: benzene will cost just under US$1,000 per metric ton, styrene at about US$1,200 per metric ton, and PS at about US$2,000 per metric ton.

Esteban Sagel, Chemical Market Associates Inc.

T

By Mark Stephen, managing editor

he 2009 Canadian Plastics Resin Outlook Conference was the first ever held during an economic recession — making it, by definition, a most unusual gathering.

The word “unusual” could describe the pricing forecast information presented by the conference speakers, too. We all know that the past year has played havoc with the manufacturing industry. Some of the speakers made it clear, though, that — depending on the resin being purchasing — buyers can take advantage of falling prices caused by substantial oversupply of commodity and engineering resins. For other materials, unfortunately, it’s business as usual, with rising energy costs and a falling U.S. dollar expected to keep prices high.

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND If the world economy were a Western movie, the U.S. would definitely be wearing the black hat. The virtual collapse of the investment banking sector in America,

PET With oversupply and a persistent downward pressure on pricing, sellers will make concessions to shore up waffling customers in 2010. This is a buyer’s market in North America.

Landon Feller, ICIS

Nylon A price increase of US$0.10 per lb. was implemented in August due to feedstock cost pressures. The price increase nominations of an additional US$0.10 per lb. are not gaining support as raw material costs dropped in September.

Greg Smith, Resin Technology Inc.

PVC Given low PVC demand throughout the year, buyers will be looking for producers to give something back. Prices could drop between US$0.02 to US$0.04 per lb. by the end of the year.

Kevin Allen, Platts

Polycarbonate PC producers have lost margin in 2009 as feedstock costs increased and PC prices went down. Margins are improving now due to the drop in benzene, and spot RGP prices are now dropping. This will further improve PC margins.

Greg Smith

10 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

resin outlook 2010

A BUYER’S MARKET (maybe) centred in mortgage lending practices for the housing market that went spectacularly wrong, triggered a global credit crunch and deep global recession in 2009 — not to mention a 45 per cent plunge in the overall commodity index.

The good news for 2010, according to Patricia Mohr, an economic and commodity market specialist with The Scotiabank Group in Toronto, is that a recovery among the G7 nations will take place — and is, in fact, already under way.

“The GDP in Germany and France started to rise again in the 2nd quarter of 2009, and we expect to see a ‘pop’ in U.S. economic activity in the 3rd quarter and three per cent economic growth in the U.S. in 2010,” she said. “Also, an economic turnaround is beginning in Canada, with 2.8 per cent economic growth expected in 2010.”

Great, but what does this mean for the price of commodities, including resins? There may be an upward pricing shift for some materials, Mohr said, spurred in large part by a weakening U.S. dollar. “Most commodities are traded in U.S. dollars, making it easier for commodity producers to raise prices in international markets as the U.S. dollar slides down.”

Mohr’s advice to the Canadian plastics industry? “Canadian processors need to plan on being cost competitive internationally with a currency at par with the U.S.,” she said.

With consumer spending on a slow rise, Mohr highlighted recoveries currently under way in the all-important plastics markets of auto manufacturing and home building. “There will be an upward shift in U.S. motor vehicle assemblies in 2010,” she said. “Inventories are currently very low, partly as a result of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, and this will allow the assemblers to move their schedules forward.” Also, housing starts in the U.S., which plummeted to an abysmal 500,000 units in April 2009, should improve to 700,000 by mid-2010, she said. “Both of these developments are good news for the Canadian plastics industry.”

POLYOLEFINS One of the most popular of today’s resins, polypropylene (PP) is used in appliances, automotive parts, diapers, food packaging, housewares and medical components. But according to Joe Congdon, director of global PP consulting with Townsend Solutions in Houston, Tex., global PP consumption is currently down 3.1 per cent, including down 8.4 per cent in the U.S. and a whopping 21 per cent in Canada between 2007 and 2008.

What happened? In a nutshell, oil speculation upset the market, Congdon said. “High oil prices worsened an already developing recession; speculative and derivative financial markets collapsed, and there were record oil price declines in the latter

half of 2008,” he explained. “As a result, PP prices declined by 70 per cent during 2009, plant operating rates dropped below 70 per cent, and everyone reduced inventory.”

As North America comes out of the recession, Congdon predicted a period of rebalancing for propylene lasting between three to six months. “The propylene industry needs to shed some two billion lbs. of demand,” he said. “At the moment, there is ample polyethylene (PE) and PP supply in North America and slow growth due to PP product imports and ongoing converter flight.”

The good news: this excess supply had led to competitive pricing — at least for ethylene, which should remain below all regions except the Middle East. The price of propylene in North America is expected to remain above the global price throughout 2010, Congdon said, with large volume PP homopolymer trading at between US$0.55 to US$0.65 cents per lb. through to 2011.

For long term consumption of both PP and PE, Congdon forecast major changes for net trade balances between regions, with North America and Europe on target to become net importers by 2012.

STYRENICS The key determinant for much of resin pricing lies in benzene, an important precursor to styrenics, nylon and polycarbonate (PC).

According to Esteban Sagel, director of polyolefins, North America, with Houston-based Chemical Market Associates Inc., the price of benzene shot up in 2009, reaching US$3.75 per barrel in August. Why? “The driver of the price upswing is supply constraint, brought about by higher energy prices, light feedstock cracking, refinery issues and trade pressures,” Sagel said. “As prices get out of hand, the level of imports rise.”

Sagel noted that there is currently an oversupply of styrene, with capacity growing beyond demand. “Globally, this oversupply is forecast to last throughout the value chain until at least 2014,” he said. “In North America, production is also forecast to run well below capacity until 2014.”

The reasons? Sagel described polystyrene (PS) as a product currently under siege. “The U.S. National Toxicology Program is considering adding PS to its list of carcinogens and several measures against the product in food packaging are being considered around the world.” Partly for this reason, there is a growing tendency for PS to be replaced by other materials.

Overall, Sagel noted, this trend is expected to depress margins, counteracting any price lift from increasing oil prices.

Energy prices, however, are expected to keep styrenics prices elevated through 2010. Sagel forecast the price of benzene at just under US$1,000 per metric ton and styrene at approxiwww.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 11

resin outlook 2010

“We’re heading into a buyer’s market for PET in North America. Chinese and North Korean dealers have large quantities of resin that they would love to sell here.”

2009 CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS FOR SALE Missed out on attending the 2009 Resin Outlook Conference? No worries!

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Sessions covered supply, demand and pricing forecasts for polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, styrenics, PET, bioplastics and the major engineering resins.

Only $95 Canadian funds To purchase a password, call Simuoko Frayne at 416-510-6867 or email sfrayne@canplastics.com

mately US$1,200 per metric ton.

But the news for PS isn’t all bad. “I expect PP prices in North America to remain higher than in the past, resulting in the relative price of PS moving closer to parity with PP than ever before,” Sagel said. “This results in a better cost position for PS relative to other materials.” The price of PS should hover at approximately US$2,000 per metric tone throughout 2010, he concluded.

PET The use of PET in the U.S. is under increasing constraints due to falling demand and lower pricing in Asia, according to Landon Feller, markets reporter with Houston-based ICIS. “PET purchasing was very slow in 2009, with isolated purchasing spikes only,” he said.

In common with several other resin types, there is currently an oversupply of PET in North America, caused in part by mild weather in the Gulf Coast that kept operations running high.

The good news for purchasers is that the seasonality of PET applications — used mostly in water or juice-based packaging — exerts a downward pressure on producers. So too does the fall of PET prices in Asia. “These pressures force North American vendors to sell at lower prices than they would like, so don’t be surprised if they prove willing to make significant concessions to shore up waffling customers in 2010,” Feller said.

“We’re heading into a buyer’s market in North America. Chinese and North Korean dealers have large quantities of resin that they would love to sell here for as low as US$0.48 per lb.” North American PET prices should remain lower at least into February 2010, he concluded. “Looking further ahead, and considering Asian volumes, US$0.52 per lb. import volumes can be expected until at least October 2010.”

The immediate future of PET applications in North America seems to read like a good news/ bad news story. “There is tremendous room for PET markets to grow, with new applications in food packaging, wine, teas and fruit juice,” Feller said. “As a result of the 2009 recession, however, the market growth remains near zero at present.”

In the longer term, though, the future of PET does indeed look bright, as the material’s cost advantages and technical advantages shield it from loss of market share, Feller said. “Business should improve faster for PET molders than for those dealing in other commodity plastics,” he explained. “Most of the lightweighting that can be done has been done by this point. New developments have been hampered by issues with barrier

12 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

strength, limiting the extent to which PET content can be reduced.”

PVC Production and sales of PVC resins hit a low point in December of 2008, according to Kevin Allen, associate editor at Houston-based Platts, and North American producers reduced output to the point that sales actually surpassed production.

“Export sales ticked upward slightly in 2009, but were not significant enough to offset declines in domestic sales,” Allen said.

The primary factor affecting the PVC market throughout 2009 was the depressed construction and housing markets; and while U.S. housing starts are showing signs of recovery, Allen doesn’t expect PVC demand in North America to return to previous levels until unemployment and the threat of inflation subside.

What has this meant for PVC pricing? “Given the state of overall PVC demand in 2008 and 2009, U.S. producers have been relatively successful in passing through price increases,” Allen said.

“Sellers were able to push through approximately US$0.12 worth of price hikes in the face of weak demand.”

Heading into 2010, Allen forecasted a return to more traditional patterns of PVC consumption.

“Demand traditionally falls off in October and will likely remain soft throughout the remainder of 2009, with domestic PVC prices softening accordingly,” he explained. “Given the projected demand throughout the year, buyers will be looking for producers to give something back. Prices could drop between US$0.02 to US$0.04 per lb. by the end of this year.”

NYLON The by-now familiar refrain of softening North American demand in 2009 applies to nylon as well, according to Greg Smith, vice president, engineering resins, at Resin Technology Inc. in Forth Worth, Tex. “Fibre demand is off by more than 20 per cent this year, and the automotive demand has obviously been down quite significantly,” he said.

“On the brighter side, film demand has remained relatively strong.” Also, demand for nylon in Asia has continued to rise, leading to export opportunities for North American nylon 66 producers.

The cost to produce nylon 66 increased significantly in 2009, peaking in October, Smith said.

“Nylon 66 is approximately US$0.10 per lb. lower than one year ago for the propylene route, and about US$0.22 per lb. lower than one year ago for the butadiene route.”

Smith predicted wide ranges in nylon 66 pricing

resin outlook 2010 during 2010, but with the possibility of relatively lower prices when compared with other materials.

“A price increase of US$0.10 per lb. was implemented in August due to feedstock cost pressures, but this increase is not gaining support as raw material costs dropped in September,” he said. An additional downward pressure comes from a benzene drop in September that led to a cyclohexane decrease of US$0.71 per gallon in September and a corresponding caprolactam decrease of about US$0.13 per lb. in the same month. “This has lowered nylon 6s6 production costs in the past few months, and smart buyers should insist on having these savings passed down to them,” Smith explained.

POLYCARBONATE Turning his focus to PC, Smith noted that global demand growth softened during 2009, caused largely by a slowdown in Chinese consumption that reduced opportunities ResinConfAd Nov 09 CPLexport 10/30/09 10:10for AMNorth Page American producers.

“Global PC capacity additions averaged approximately six per cent per year between 2005 and 2009,” he said. “More capacity addi-

tions in Asia and in the Middle East are planned between 2010 and 2012.”

Currently, he continued, the global PC plant capacity utilization rate is roughly 70 per cent, as a result of which some PC producers have shut down plants or idled production lines.

“During July and August 2009, buyers of PC heard rumours of an increase of up to US$0.10 per lb., but at many accounts there was no actual increase due to competition,” he said. “The threat of a price increase, along with higher feedstock costs, have actually served to flatten the market after PC prices steadily dropped by as much as US$0.40 per lb. since the last financial quarter of 2008.”

Producers of PC lost margin in 2009 as feedstock costs increased and PC prices went down, Smith noted. “Margins are improving now due to the drop in benzene, and spot refinery-grade propylene (RGP) prices are now dropping. This will further improve PC margins during 2010,” he 1 said. “In the end, buyers should remember that soft demand and oversupply of PC will persist during the next year, which means that there will be price decreases in competitive environments.”

CPL

“Given the projected low demand for PVC throughout 2010, buyers will be looking for producers to give something back.”

Canadian Plastics Magazine

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Don’t miss out on Canadian Plastics 15th Annual Resin Outlook Conference, October 6, 2010 in Toronto For details, call Judith Nancekivell at 416-510-5116 www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 13

injection molding

INJECTION MOLDING CASE STUDIES:

DOING IT

T

elevision buffs from the 1970s might recall that it cost $6 million to get disabled astronaut Steve Austin working better, stronger and faster than ever before.

Not many of us have that kind of money to throw around these days. Luckily, though, if you’re an injection molder looking to do more with your machinery, it won’t cost you nearly that much.

Canadian Plastics spoke with several injection molders — ranging in size from 200 employees down to a one-man shop — about how they’re working better, faster and cheaper than ever before, with both old and new injection presses.

They’re doing it; what about you?

By Mark Stephen, managing editor

These days, a penny saved probably equals at least two or three pennies earned.

Here’s how some of Canada’s injection molders are keeping more of their money by working cheaper — and faster, too — with either new or refurbished machines.

If they can do it, why can’t you?

14 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

PLASTIQUES GPR INC. St-Felix-de-Valois, Que. The Challenge The 200-employee, family-run custom injection molding shop had a long history of selling machines that had reached 80,000 service hours, but had recently been haunted by a bad experience: selling a unit to a shop in Florida, only to have it sold again to a direct competitor of Plastiques GPR back in Quebec. So when the company’s 1996 Engel 600 ton machine reached the magic number of 80,000 service hours last year, they decided to try a new strategy that they hoped would achieve roughly the same result as getting a new model.

The Solution After consulting with the service staff at Engel’s Guelph, Ont. facility, Plastiques GPR decided to have the unit refurbished to allow it do as much as a new unit.

“Engel made an evaluation and gave us a refurbishment price, which was low enough that we were able to go ahead

injection molding

NU-STAT ENTERPRISES LTD. Vaughan, Ont. The Challenge It’s safe to say that when Lothar Witt, owner of Nu-Stat Enterprises buys an injection molding machine, that machine had better be operator friendly — because he’s going to be the only operator.

Nu-Stat is that rarest of creatures, a true one-man outfit.

Witt is not only the owner and president, he’s also the mold designer, mold maker, mold set-up crew, machine operator, parts packager and shipper. Oh, and he just turned 70.

Suffice it to say that Witt has a host of production challenges unique from those of any other injection molder that you can name. So when he went shopping for a second I/M machine for his 3,600 square foot facility, the goal was to find a reliable unit for commodity molding that fit his energy needs and wouldn’t require any babysitting.

OEM the second time around.

He knew that, with only 60 amps of power supply available for the machine and a chiller, whatever he bought had better be more than usually energy efficient, as well as versatile enough to handle the wide range of commodity parts in which he specializes.

After doing his research, Witt selected a new Negri Bossi V160 (160 metric tons) with CANbus controls.

The Result

Right off the bat, Witt noticed a big difference in energy consumption between the new Negri Bossi and his older machine.

“My hydro bill for the V160 is one-half the amount of the other unit, even though it’s a larger machine,” he said. “It only requires between 40 to 45 amps of hook-up power, and this savings has allowed me to stay competitive and hold onto important contracts.”

Of the two units, the V160 also has the faster startup time, Witt continued — an important point, since, with his shop shutting down at night, production has to start anew each and every morning. “When I arrive in the morning, the other The Solution machine takes me a good 45 minutes to warm up,” he said.

Having experienced maintenance issues with his first injection “Because of the way the Negri Bossi machine is built, though, machine, a 135-ton unit, Witt decided to go with a different with a smaller motor and smaller hydraulic tank, it only takes approximately 15 minutes to warm up, which gives me a 30 minute head start in part production.” with the refurbishment, as well as the screw and barrel change,” said Gino Belleville, the The V160 is quiet, too, meaning that company’s production and sales manager.

Witt can hear the telephone ringing in Four months after being shipped to Guelph, the 600-ton was returned...looking and the front office even while standing next operating like a new machine. “The refurbishment changed the wiring, the computer to the machine — because, as you’ve screen, the hydraulic valves, the pumps, the motors, and the toggle parts,” Belleville probably guessed, he’s the receptionist, said. “They repaired, but didn’t replace, the platen, the tie bar, and the frame, and even too. “The Negri Bossi is so quiet that, at repainted the machine.” first, I almost wasn’t aware it was runThe unit also had a new, larger barrel and screw — not technically part of the refurning,” he said. bishment. “The ratio between the old barrel and screw was 18:1, and we now have 24:1,” There’s no worry about deciphering Belleville said. “The screw was extended by about three feet, which necessitated an over-complex controls, either. “The comexpansion of the frame and base.” puter is built so that anyone can underThe final step involved installing updated software. “The new software didn’t require our operators to be specially trained because our facility already had other Engel stand it and operate it,” Witt explained. machines running the same version,” Belleville said.

“The computer will tell me, using words rather than symbols, what a problem The Result is — for example, the gate isn’t closed The machine now runs the same applications as previously, but with a 15 to 20 per cent properly. My other machine will identify shorter cycle time. “This has increased the projects that we can take on,” Belleville the problem in an equation format, which explained. “We’re a custom molder, and often get orders at the last minute — the machine is much harder to understand.” is now versatile enough to do applications that we wouldn’t have used it for before, includClearly, Witt is getting just what he ing compost containers, snow sleds, shovels and industrial parts for the tooling industry.” wanted out of the V160. “The V160 The new screw is also well suited to HDPE, which the company had been reluctant to is a true fully automatic machine,” he put through the machine before. “We’re now running a lot of HDPE applications, which, said. “I’m comfortable in not having to again, opens us up to new contracts” Belleville said. keep an eye on it all of the time, which In the end, Belleville said, the recent downsizing at Engel’s Guelph plant didn’t affect is very important in a one-man shop their ability to service the machine. “The Engel 600 ton is a very good general purpose because it allows me focus on other machine, and we’re pleased to have been able to keep it.” business while still running parts.”

Engel Canada Inc. (Guelph, Ont.); Negri Bossi Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.engelglobal.com/na; 519-836-0220 www.negribossi.com; 905-625-7257

www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 15

injection molding

PLASTIQUES MOORE INC. St-Damien-de-Buckland, Que. The Challenge The 35-worker strong Plastiques Moore has set for itself the challenging goal of expanding its market share in the highly competitive medical components industry.

There’s just one problem: when it comes to molding medical parts — which require unusual precision, not to mention contamination-free conditions — not just any I/M machine will do.

The Solution In October 2009, the company purchased a new Arburg Allrounder 630 S ECO hydraulic unit fitted with Arburg’s Multilift H horizontally operating robotic system.

“We chose to go with Arburg equipment because, based on our experiences, Arburg units have very few maintenance problems,” said Mario Dorval, production manager at Plastiques Moore. The result, he continued, is less time spent on maintaining and repairing each machine, more time spent in part production.

“Also, we find the presses to be much more efficient than competing brands, with more room for maneuvering during the installation and removal of the molds,” he noted. “Finally, we’ve always found that the control panels are easy to use for the press operators.”

The Result The new Allrounder and automation equipment satisfied the key criteria of reducing both the handling of components and the risk of part contamination, Dorval said.

But there’s more. “Instead of production in a semi-automatic mode with an operator, which can

16 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

sometimes create variations in the cycle time, the robot standardizes the cycle time,” Dorval explained. “This will help us to maintain our production efficiency, thereby increasing our competitiveness.”

Valuable shop floor space has also been saved, as well. “Because the Multilift H grips the rear end of the machine, the ejection of the plastic components is done horizontally from the back of the press, taking up less space and allowing optimal access to the equipment,” he said.

There’s no doubt that the company considers its recent purchases as money well spent. “The addition of these two new pieces of equipment will allow us to continue our plan to modernize and increase our production capacity of precision medical parts,” Dorval said.

Arburg Inc. (Newington, Conn.); www.arburg.com; 860-667-6500 Dier International Plastics Inc. (Unionville, Ont.); 905-474-9874 D Cube (Montreal); 514-272-0500

injection molding

GLP HI-TECH St-Jean-sur-Richilieu, Que. The Challenge An 80-employee strong custom mold shop with 13 injection molding machines, GLP Hi-Tech wanted to trim its energy usage, but without going down the all-electric route. “We’ve had all-electric machines in the past, but we weren’t familiar enough with them technically to feel comfortable, and therefore didn’t find enough advantage to continue with them,” said company general manager Christian Boudreau.

“For the kind of technical parts molding that we do — including medical, industrial and electrical parts — we prefer the direct hydraulic machine.”

The goal, then, was to approximate the low energy consumption of an allelectric unit without giving up the “feel” of a hydraulic.

savings.”

And this isn’t all. “With our very thick parts and long cycle times, the motor gives precise packing pressure needed, which wasn’t true with a hydraulic machine,” Boudreau continued. “With the machine’s servo valve, everything is closed loop: it adjusts for the pressure you need, and the motor and pump push exactly the quantity that you need. There’s no leaking, as happens with hydraulic machines, because it’s a closed loop system.”

In other ways, though, the FNX 160 is reassuringly familiar. “Set up and control operation are the same as

with traditional hydraulic units, and the machine still has all of the hydraulic valves and hoses, meaning the guys on our shop floor don’t have any difficulties,” Boudrea said.

Part of GLP’s strategy for remaining competitive lies in replacing molding machines relatively frequently — usually within five years of purchase — which means that the company is due to replace another traditional hydraulic machine any time now.

Boudreau has no doubts about where they’ll turn. “We’re definitely planning to replace our older units with new FNX machines,” he said. “In fact, we anticipate that the units will be even more effective at higher tonnage, because we’ll have more savings to achieve.”

Nissei Plastics Industrial Co./En-Plas Inc. (Toronto); www.en-plasinc.com; 416-286-3030

The Solution In an earlier time, GLP Hi-Tech might have been out of luck — but this is a new day. After surveying the latest I/M equipment on display at the K-2007 show in Germany, Boudreau and his colleagues selected a Nissei FNX 140-ton hybrid machine, one of Nissei’s FNX series.

Available in a range between 89 and 502 U.S. tons, the FNX units feature the X Pump system, a hybrid pump that combines servomotor drive technology and hydraulic drive technology as the driving source for the molding machine.

By controlling the rotation of the servomotor, the motor provides driving power only when required.

The Result The FNX 140 consumes approximately 30 per cent less energy than the standard hydraulic machine that it replaced on GLP’s shop floor, without sacrificing the advantages of a direct hydraulic unit.

“The motor runs only when we need all of our flow,” Boudreau said. “When the motor is not turning, no electricity is being used, which translates into a lot of

www.pcs-company.com | P: 800-521-0546 | www.buyatpcs.com | F: 800-505-3299 | pcscanada@pcs-company.ca

www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 17

extrusion benchmark survey Photo Credit: Krauss Maffei

CANADIAN

A PR Building on previous results, we present the third annual Extrusion Benchmark Survey — the best snapshot of how Canada’s pipe and profile extruders are faring right now. If you’re looking for info on purchasing intentions, markets served, average plant sizes — or virtually anything else relating to the Canadian extrusion industry — we’ve got it here.

BY THE NUMBERS

$16.08

Average hourly operator wage, excluding benefits

66

Average number of workers at Canadian extrusion facilities

$8,800,000

Average total revenue in 2009

9,340,000

Average resin consumed in 2009 (lbs.)

By Mark Stephen, managing editor

I

f you’re anything like us, you’ve had it up to here with hearing about what a difficult year 2009 was. Yes, but...the fact remains that it was a tough one — the first recession in Canada in almost two decades. And as we all know, virtually everyone making a living in the plastics industry struggled with downturns in key markets.

So, how did Canada’s extruders hold up in the face of this almost unprecedented challenge? That’s the question that the third annual Canadian Plastics extrusion survey WHAT CATEGORY BEST tried to answer. How DESCRIBES YOUR PLANT? well have we answered it? We’ll let the facts speak for themselves.

Read on.

The 2009 Canadian Plastics Extrusion Benchmark Survey, consisting of 34 questions, was emailed to approximately 440 people at pipe, profile and tubing extrusion facilities throughout Canada, with one respondent being selected per manufacturing facility. We received 19 completed surveys — slightly less than last time, but, hey, it’s been that kind of a year!

18 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

Exclusive proprietary extrusion 43.8%

Exclusive custom extrusion 12.5%

Custom with some proprietary extrusion 25% Captive with some custom extrusion 18%

extrusion benchmark survey

EXTRUDERS:

ROFILE

PAST PURCHASES (BY %)

THE BASICS When asked how many employees worked at their plant, answers from the survey respondents ranged from one worker to 200, with the average shop employing approximately 66 workers, compared to a 69-worker average in 2009 and a 134-worker average in 2007. It should be noted that one respondent to the 2007 survey reported having approximately 800 employees at their facility — there was no sign of anything approaching that level this time around.

Of this year’s respondents, 56.3% were involved in profile extrusion, 37.5% were involved in pipe extrusion, and 25% in tubing extrusion. Additionally, 43.8% of respondents said that they were involved exclusively in proprietary extrusion, 12.5% were involved in exclusively custom extrusion, 18.8% were involved in captive with some custom extrusion, and 25% were involved in custom with some proprietary extrusion.

The vast majority of respondents — over 81% — reported that their shops were involved in the construction and building market, which represents an uptick from the 71% involved in these same markets in last year’s survey. Also, exactly 50% of this year’s respondents are molding consumer goods, and 12.5% are involved in the automotive industry.

80

NO YES

70 66.7

60

64.3 57.1

50 40 30

42.9 35.7

33.3

20 10 0

Extruders

Downstream extrusion equipment

Auxiliary equipment

INTENT TO PURCHASE (BY %)

80

NO

MARKETS SERVED BY YOUR PLANT

70

Automotive 43.8% Consumer Goods

60 50% 81.3%

40

Electronic 0%

20

57.1

42.9

42.9

30 20

25%

26.7

10

Other 12.5%

0

57.1

50

Construction Building

Packaging

YES

66.7

0

40

60

80

100

Extruders

Downstream extrusion equipment

Auxiliary equipment

www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 19

extrusion benchmark survey

All of the respondents this year said that their shops are involved in rigid PVC extrusion, while 76.9% are involved in making wood-plastic composites.

Over 55% of those surveyed this year said that their plant already has either ISO or QS9000 certification, with 7.1% saying that certification was currently in process.

The vast majority of respondents (68.8%)

are located in Ontario; of the remainder, 12.5% are in Quebec and 6.3% each in the provinces of New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta.

MACHINERY & PURCHASING When asked about the number of extrusions they have at their plant, 40% said

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The world is our inspiration

22 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com ARK-53-01.indd 1

4/14/2009 4:16:01 PM

that they have between one and five machines, which is up from the 15% with between one and five in last year’s survey.

Thirty-three per cent of respondents this year have between six and 10 extruders, 26% have between 11 and 25, and only 6% had 26 machines or more. The vast majority (81.3%) were working on single screw extruders, but several respondents (31.3%) also reported having counterrotating machines, and 12.5% had corotating twin screw units.

Here’s some bad news for extruder suppliers: on average, 80.5% of the machines owned by those surveyed are five or more years old. This compares with only 70% of the machines from the 2008 survey being five or more years old. In other words, there don’t appear to have been many new extruders snapped up within the past year — not surprising, given a worldwide economic meltdown.

Also, 40% of respondents this year said that all of their machines had hit the fiveyear-old marker.

Not surprisingly again, almost threequarters of respondents (73%) said that their shops had no plans to buy a new extruder during 2010. When asked if they were more likely to buy a complete line — including extruder, tooling and downstream equipment — or a unit extruder, 75% of respondents opted for a complete line. Respondents were split right down the middle, though, on the question of whether new equipment would replace old machinery or be used to add capacity.

Answers to another question also mirrored the tough year just that’s just passed: sixtysix per cent of respondents said that their plants had not purchased new extruders in 2009. Similarly, 64% hadn’t purchased any new auxiliary equipment in 2009, and 57% hadn’t purchased any downstream extrusion equipment, either.

But here’s a pleasant surprise: despite the economic free fall of the past 12 months, the average machinery utilization rate among the respondents was 71% — a falloff of only 2% from the 73% reported in 2008, and a much better result than the 62% utilization rate reported in 2007.

FINDINGS ON FINANCES In 2008, extrusion firms allocated an

extrusion benchmark survey

IN WHICH AREA DOES YOUR PLANT HAVE FORMAL POLICIES? Safety 100% Training 100% Cost reduction 66.7% Recycling / environmental 83.3% Worker compensation 66.7% Preventative / predictive maintenance 75%

0

20

40

60

80

PRESENCE OUTSIDE CANADA India 15.4% China 23.1%

Other (Europe, Mexico, etc.)

23.1% None 30%

United States 69.2%

PROCESSHEATERSNov 09.qxd

10/30/09

average of 4% of their annual budget to employee training and 9% to product research and development. How did these totals hold up during the tough times of 2009? Money set aside for employee training fell among this year’s respondents, but not by much: down from the 4% mentioned above in 2008 to 3.5% in 2009.

Research and development spending, meanwhile, was much harder hit: just 4.9% of spending on average per shop in 2009, compared to the 9% already mentioned for 2008.

Based on this year’s survey results, the average hourly wage of the average machine operator at the average Canadian extru100 sion shop fell slightly over the past year, but probably not enough to be noticed: the average operator is paid $16.08 an hour, excluding benefits, compared to $16.67 in 2008.

If you’re looking to learn by how much orders to extrusion facilities slowed down in 2009, look no further than this figure: the average extruder consumed 9.34 million lbs. of resin during the past 12 months — down from 15.2 million lbs. among the respondents in 2008.

Overall, looking at estimated plant revenues, the average extrusion shop will bring in projected revenue of approximately $8.8 million in 2009.

Believe it or not, this is an improvement on the $8.4 million average in 2008 — although it should be noted that the 2009 total was skewed upward by one extruder 2:37 PM Page 1 that reported raking in a whopping $40

million during the past year. Absent this one shop, it’s probably accurate to say that profits for the majority of shops are slightly down, although by how much is hard to say.

LOOKING ABROAD As we all remember from our geography lessons, there’s a great big world out there beyond the borders of Canada. How are extruders faring when it comes to doing business, or establishing a presence, outside our fair country? Exactly 50% of survey respondents said that their facilities ship less than 25% of products outside of Canada. Twenty-five per cent of respondents shipped between 26% to 50% of goods beyond our borders and another 25% shipped over one half of their products outside of Canada.

When it comes to setting up an actual presence outside of Canada, 69% of respondents have a presence in the U.S., 23% in China, 23% in Europe, and 15% in India. Survey answers reveal that there’s more than one way to reach these foreign markets, too. Sixty-six per cent of extruders said that they have a foreign sales office, 66% also have a manufacturing facility, 33% have a joint venture with a local firm, while 11% have so-called “sister facilities”.

And it seems that most of the extrusion shops without a foreign presence are quite content to keep it that way: fully 83% of them indicated that they have no plans to enter these markets. The remaining 16% reported having at least tentative plans to go global within the next 12 months.

CPL

Trust your EXTRUSION applications to Process Heaters For temperature and pressure, you can rely on Process Heaters.

Process Heaters Inc.

Call toll free 1-877-747-8250 • Email: proheat@processheaters.ca • www.processheaters.ca www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 23

technology showcase

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT Accurate gravimetric feeder Maguire’s MGF gravimetric feeder provides accurate dosing by using load cells to monitor the loss in weight of colorant in the hopper as the material is fed into the injection molding machine or extruder by an auger.

The unit has multilingual operator access and full data retrieval as standard features for all molding and extrusion applications, plus a new “extrusion following” option that automatically anticipates and adjusts for gross variations in extruder rate like those during changes of film rolls.

Installed in the controller of the MGF feeder, the extrusion following system monitors the AC or DC voltage output from the tachometer that is standard on most extruders. Because this output varies with extruder RPM, the controller instantly senses gross changes in extruder speed and adjusts the color or additive metering rate accordingly, avoiding the falloff in accuracy that otherwise occurs while the controller “catches up” with changes in rate.

Calibration of the extrusion following system needs to be done only once. The processor simply sets the metering rate for full extruder speed. Anything less than full speed is automatically reflected in a corresponding reduction in metering rate. Voltages from 1 to 500 can be tracked, with accuracy maintained over the full range of extruder speed.

Maguire Canada/Novatec Inc. (Vaughan, Ont.); www.maguirecanada.com; 1-866-441-8409

Sealed drum discharger

A new sealed drum discharger from NBE Inc. integrates with the customer’s process, providing multiple types of material to enter in a seamless, reliable and repeatable manner.

The sealing carriage raises the container against the custom discharge cone, which then rotates to the final discharge position. Material is directed into the customer’s process through the fixed discharge cone, providing the customer with a consistent material supply as their system demands.

The results obtained include increased throughput and productivity, improved controls integration, reduced operating costs in direct labor and material losses, complete container discharge, and reduced material contamination.

NBE Inc. (Holland, Mich.); www.nbe-inc.com; 616-399-7365 Dier International Plastics Inc. (Unionville, Ont.); 905-474-9874 Lutek Plastic Equipment (Dorval, Que.); 514-421-8963 24 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

INJECTION MOLDING

All-electric units with compact footprint

Wittmann Battenfeld’s new EcoPower all-electric series, available with clamping forces ranging from 55 – 300 tons, has been designed with particular attention to a compact footprint.

As a result of a special integrated solution concept, temperature controllers and material dryers can be built directly into the machine frame, which substantially reduces space requirements as well as energy costs.

The injection unit is laid out for high injection speeds of up to 400 mm/s even under maximum injection pressure. The drive and the circulating ball spindle are at the heart of force transmission.

The direct drive via the spindle minimizes force transmission loss and ensures accurate control and repeatability of the metering and injection process. The barrel can be exchanged quickly from above; it is also compatible with the traditional HM and TM series.

Set-up, visualization and storage of settings of the entire peripheral equipment can also be integrated directly into the machine’s control system Unilog B6.

Battenfeld (Wittmann Canada Inc.) (Richmond Hill, Ont.); www.wittmann-canada.com; 1-888-466-8266

Cartridge heaters designed for I/M applications Watt-Flex split-sheath cartridge heaters

by Dalton Electric can be constructed to deliver full heat to the tip, making them well suited for applications such as injection molding.

When used in molding probes, hottip Watt-Flex heaters minimize gate freeze-off, and can also be zoned to create custom temperature profiles.

By stretching or condensing the coil, heaters can be manufactured to deliver differing amounts of heat at various points along their sheath.

Because of their continuous-coil design, Watt-Flex heaters have no cold spots between sections. With no sections to burn out, the entire heater is either on or off. When the heater is deenergized, the split sheath contracts uniformly for easy removal.

Watt-Flex Heaters are available in standard diameters of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 11/16, 3/4, and 1 inch, as well as 8, 10, 12, 12.5, 15, 16, and 20 mm; in lengths from 11/4 to 72 inches; and with operating temperatures to 1,700°F. During manufacture of standard cool tip heaters, the heating coil is stretched as it rounds the tip to achieve a lower

technology showcase watt-density.

Heaters are available in custom lengths and electrical ratings.

Dalton Electric (Ipswich, Mass.); www.daltonelectric.com; 978-356-9844 Acetronic Industrial Controls Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); 1-800-803-8871

EXTRUSION

Multi-beam pullers handle pipe up to 40 inches in diameter

A new family of pipe pullers from The Conair Group has up to eight cleated, non-marking belt assemblies with plenty of contact length for maximum pulling power without distortion.

There are a total of five models in the product line. The smallest (CP6360) is designed with three beams and is intended to handle pipe or tubing from 1-inch (25.4 mm) to 6.5 inches (165 mm) in diameter. Other units are sized for pipe up to 13.2 inches (335 mm), 19.5 inches (495 mm) and 25.8 inches (1525 mm). The largest unit (Model CP36896) is designed for pipe as large as 40 inches (1015 mm) in diameter and has eight belts with 8 feet (2.44 m) of contact length.

The upper beam assemblies are opened and closed pneumatically to speed set-up, while the lower assemblies are adjusted mechanically for better alignment with the extruded pipe. For safety purposes, the pneumatically controlled beams will open automatically if the emergency stop button is pushed or if there is a loss of power.

End-of-beam pivoting allows the puller to accommodate pipe deformities during start-up. This exclusive design feature maintains design integrity and eliminates the weakness seen in pullers that use single-point, center-pivoting beams. To facilitate start-up, an optional remote belt-speed control is available. Custom designs to match special production requirements are also available.

The Conair Group (Cranberry, Pa.); www.conairnet.com; 742-584-5500 Hamilton Avtec (Mississauga, Ont.); 1-800-590-5546

uted over the complete mandrel-working surface.

Isomandrel technology, when coupled with induction heating, permits the mandrel and filament winding to continue rotating while being heated to an optimum controlled temperature to effect cure. This heating can occur while the assembly is still rotating in the winding machine or on a rotating fixture within the manufacturing cell.

By providing high thermal energy uniformly over the entire mandrel surface outward through the filament winding, the cure is completed in much shorter time with less energy while providing a significantly more uniform cure and resin-rich I.D. Acrolab Ltd. (Windsor, Ont.); www.acrolab.com; 1-800-265-9542

BLOW MOLDING

Liquid colors for extrusion blow molding A new family of liquid colors from Clariant Masterbatches has a non-mineral-oil carrier that makes them suitable for extrusion blowmolding of high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Until now, plastics-processing

Induction heating technology cures filament-wound pipe and tubes

A new super thermal conductive mandrel technology developed

by Acrolab Ltd. is designed to permit curing of filament-wound pipe and tube sections without the need for cure ovens by heating the mandrel uniformly, while rotating, using induction heating.

The Isomandrel design consists of an internal process within the mandrel that enhances its thermal conductivity and thermal reactivity. The process permits heat to be applied in a localized concentration that is then rapidly and homogeneously redistrib-

For complete product information Call Toll Free: Canada 1-800-263-1942 U.S.A. 1-800-263-7782 or VISIT OUR WEBSITE TODAY!

www.lorenz.ca www.canplastics.com  November/December 2009  Canadian Plastics  25

technology showcase problems associated with conventional carrier oils severely limited the application of liquid masterbatches in HDPE blowmolding because the mineral-oil carrier caused parison stability problems, and screw slippage hindered color distribution.

With the new Clariant Masterbatches liquids, processors can use as much as 2.5 per cent without affecting screw performance.

Other problems associated with using conventional liquid carriers — for example, issues with label adhesion, printability, sidewall stress cracking — are effectively eliminated.

Clariant Masterbatches Division (Toronto); www.clariant.masterbatches.com; 1-800-265-3773

Control system for blow molding

Designed to be reliable and cost effective, the Maco Compact control system from Eurotherm offers a full range of control options including closed loop parison process control, clamp control, linear positioning control of machine or auxiliary functions, pressure/ flow control, auto-tuned temperature control, sequential machine control, and built-in timing and counting.

Manufacturers can operate the system on their preferred HMI with several keyboard options, from touchscreen only to full numeric keypad, with a display that supports in-depth process trending data, custom machine graphics, text displays, alarm messages and SPC control charts.

Features include 100 point parison profile with graphic entry and display of the profile, 100 point velocity pushout control, display comparison of actual tooling performance to entered profile, separate weight and die gap settings, cycle to cycle data logging, and RLD viewer.

Eurotherm Inc. USA (Leesburg, Va.); www.eurotherm.com; 703-443-0000 Davis Controls Limited (Oakville, Ont.); 905-829-2000 Airex Controles Inc. (Anjou, Que.); 514-351-2303

ROBOTS & AUTOMATION

High performance servo drive unit Dri-Air Industries has made the Unique series servo drive robot, designed for presses up to 300 tons, available in North America.

Easily mounted to the fixed platen, the Unique model utilizes two drives to accomplish the same motions as any 3-axis design to reduce the weight, size, and cost.

The Unique series can perform multiple operations in a sequence, such as part pick up, then traversing out and palletizing the parts with the standard conveyor indexing. It’s designed for payloads up to 11 lbs. (5 kg).

26 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

The robots move on a 90-degree cast frame; programming is simplified by having only two axes to define positions and movements.

Other features such as quick release connections, one pressure and one vacuum circuit, and additional I/O are included.

Dri-Air Industries, Inc. (East Windsor, Conn.); www.dri-air.com; 860-627-5110 Plastics Machinery Inc. (Newmarket, Ont.); 905-895-5054

HOT RUNNERS

Laminate manifold technology

Incoe has developed a patented manifold technology featuring a laminate construction. The manifolds are an addition to the company’s current range of Standard, Custom and Opti-Flo manifold designs, and provide improved processing of challenging resins.

Manifold halves are machined to mirror each other and then metallurgically fused to create a complete laminate manifold. This eliminates the need for welded plugs associated with gun drilled designs. Incoe’s patent improves the manufacturing process resulting in a superior “bond” when fused. Inherent in the laminate manifold design is the ability to manufacture flow channels that are difficult or impossible to produce using conventional gun drill methods.

Incoe Corp. USA (Troy, Mich.); www.incoe.com; 248-616-0220 Anplast Inc. (Anjou, Que.); 1-800-387-4590

Software enhancements for hot runner temperature controllers Gammaflux L.P. has introduced several software enhancements to its line of TTC hot runner temperature controllers designed to help molders more easily identify problems, thereby reducing hot runner system downtime and improving productivity.

These updates are integrated into all new TTC controllers, and are being made available to all customers with existing TTC systems free of charge.

The enhancements include temperature monitoring and alarming function for water temperatures, which allows molders to monitor any noncontrol temperature input.

A new “OK to Run” status screen identifies whether the system is OK or not, and if not, what the problem is; in addition, the red flasher circuit at the top of the TTC control

technology showcase screen can be activated with a simple command to flash whenever the controller is “not OK to Run”. This feature helps molders identify problems and prevent scrap parts.

Additionally, a watt alarm modification alerts molders to potential material leakage in the hot runner manifold. The controller takes the average of 100 screen update samples; if the average wattage exceeds the watt alarm setpoints for four sample periods, the alarm activates.

Gammaflux L.P. (Sterling, Va.); www.gammaflux.com; 703-471-5050 Control Solutions (Brampton, Ont.); 905-458-8382

MEASUREMENT

Accurate calipers for shop floor use The L. S. Starrett Company’s new 798 electronic slide caliper series are made of hardened, stainless steel, and, with an IP67 level of protection against coolant, water, dirt and dust, are designed to withstand the harshest shop floor conditions while ensuring precise measurements.

The 798 series feature an extra-large LCD with 0.310-inch (7.9-mm) characters. Its standard RS232 output port works with DataSure wireless data collection system, as well as cable-based data collection products.

The 798 series also offer several additional user-friendly features, including zero at any position, instant inch/millimeter conversion, manual on/off with auto-off after 30 minutes without loss of position upon reactivation, and a CR2032 battery with more than one year of life under normal use.

Also, they meet DIN862 linear accuracy, and have a .0005 inch (0.010 mm) resolution.

The L.S. Starrett Company of Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.starrett.com; 905-624-2750

plastics data file

SOFTWARE Monitoring software helps prevent equipment failure GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, has made available the Proficy Maintenance Gateway 2.0 software, designed to help customers avoid costly equipment failures and reduce asset maintenance costs.

The software enhances the company’s Proficy software suite — a platform for driving reliable, profitable operations in a plant and across the enterprise — and can scale up from a simple condition monitoring system to a sophisticated orchestration to help maximize asset utilization and reliability.

Proficy Maintenance Gateway tracks and helps reduce the meantime-to-repair in corrective ma i ntena nce cases while working continuously to monitor usage of equipment and automatically ordering “prevent ive maintenance” orders for improved performance.

The product is designed for maintenance and/or production personnel — there is no code to write and no need for IT overhead. Out-of-the-box EAM connectors accelerate deployments and reduce a customer’s time-to-value to days instead of weeks or months.

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms (Charlottesville, Va.) www.gefanuc.com; 434-978-5000 Gray Matter Systems Canada (Toronto); 905-814-9935 (Montreal); 450-444-8555

Get free information from the companies that interest you most.

Contact the company directly using the telephone number, e-mail address or web site listed below

ONE STOP SHOPPING

Innovative automation and auxiliary equipment — from autonomous work cells to central systems. Products include Battenfeld injection molding machines, robots and automation, in-mold labelling, material handling systems including blenders, dryers and loaders, granulators, water flow regulators and mold temperature controllers.

Wittmann Canada, Inc., 35 Leek Crescent, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4C2; Tel. 1-888-466-8266; www.wittmann-canada.com. www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 27

advertising index Advertiser

Page

Arburg 2 Arkema Canada Inc. 22 Auxiplast 20-21 Canadian Plastics Resin Outlook Conference 13 Haremar 9 K Show travel 31 Lorenz Conveying Products 25 PCS Company 17 Process Heaters Inc. 23 SPE Ontario 8 Vortex Valves 30 Wittmann Canada Inc. back cover

Telephone

E-mail

860-667-6500 800-567-5726 866-922-2894 416-510-5116 905-761-7552 x 204 888-378-7208 800-263-1942 800-521-0546 877-747-8250 905-820-5938 785-825-7177 888-466-8266

usa@arburg.com polymers.canada@arkema.com info@auxiplast.com jnancekivell@canplastics.com info@haremar.com ahoule@voyagelm.ca sales@lorenz.ca sales@pcs-company.com proheat@processheaters.ca pennyperdis@sympatico.ca rbarragree@vortexvalves.com info@wittmann-group.ca

Website www.arburg.com www.arkema.ca www.auxiplast.com www.canplastics.com/Conference/ www.haremar.com www.lorenz.ca www.pcs-company.com www.processheaters.ca www.4spe.org www.vortexcanada.com www.wittmann-canada.com

classified ads MATERIALS

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SERVICES INTEGRITY TESTING LABORATORY (ITL) INC.

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Comprehensive analysis, testing, R&D of plastics and polymers. Q.A./Q.C. - troubleshooting, customer returns; failure analysis; manufacturing process control, reverse engineering, case studies. RoHS, environmental, physical, chemical, mechanical testing. All major test procedures: glass transition, degree of curing, OIT, viscosity, surface/roughness analysis, microhardness, Vicat, etc.. DSC/ TGA/TMA, SEM/EDS, ICP, FTIR, XRF, UV-VIS,QUV, X-ray imaging analysis, Auger, optical interferometry (WYCO system), most ASTM standard tests, etc..

80 Esna Park Drive, #7-9, Markham, Ontario, L3R 2R7, Canada tel: (905) 415-2207; fax: (905) 415-3633; website: www.itlinc.com; e-mail: info@itlinc.com.

design ideas • plastics under foot

These boots are made from plastic Let’s be honest: most of us probably don’t think too much about the eyelets on our shoes — which, in case you’re wondering, are the smooth circular pieces that laces are thread through.

But for some — shoe manufacturers, for example — eyelets are important... and so is DuPont’s Hytrel thermoplastic polyester elastomer, which has been selected as a replacement for metal in the eyelets of safety boots made by footwear manufacturer Yakupoglu A.S. of Ankara, Turkey.

Yakupoglu choose Hytrel due to its flexibility, even at low temperatures, and its suitability for stitching to the leather “upper” (the part of the shoe above the sole). The company also uses DuPont’s Zytel nylon for the shoe’s midsole support due to its high flexural modulus, helping to stiffen the polyurethane sole and provide more protection and comfort for the wearer.

Rows of four eyelets, measuring approximately eight centimetres in length and two centimetres high, are molded in-house by Yakupoglu before being stitched to the leather upper by industrial sewing machines. For the midsole support, meanwhile, a 30 per cent glassreinforced grade of Zytel nylon is used, running under the arch of the foot above the polyurethane sole.

The final product is a non-metal construction throughout.

E.I. DuPont Company (Mississauga, Ont.); www.plastics.dupont.com; 905-821-5193

Drink spillers, rejoice!

Stain-proof carpet made with recycled resins Seems like almost anything can be made from recycled materials these days — even modular carpets, which are fast becoming the leading trend in commercial and institutional carpeting.

Case in point: modular carpet manufacturer Interface Americas, Inc. has just brought its Convert carpet line to market, made from post-consumer recycled (PCR) nylon fiber, and with recycled additives supplied by Sabic Innovative Plastics.

Sabic’s new Valox iQ 2205HV environmentally progressive, high performance resin is used as a critical additive to provide strong, consistent color in the Convert carpets, and also to maximize PCR content.

Valox iQ resin is comprised of up to 65 per cent discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles upcycled to produce polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions up to 55 to 75 per cent lower than that of regular PBT resin.

According to Sabic, Valox iQ 2205HV is highly effective in dispersing pigment throughout the polymer melt to produce consistent, vivid colors — what flooring and carpet industry insiders call “color pop” — with lower loadings of expensive colorants. And don’t worry if you drop your drink; Valox iQ resin provides permanent resistance to staining from acidic substances such as coffee, fruit juice and even red wine.

“Valox iQ resin was developed as an environmentally responsible solution by incorporating upcycled PET bottle content,” said Richard Crosby, Sabic’s global product marketing and technology leader. “Now, it’s being used as an important additive that can be used in almost any market where compounded materials need superior pigment dispersion and molded-in color.”

Sabic Innovative Plastics (Toronto); www.sabic-ip.com; 1-800-323-3783

Polyethylene sports mats cushion falls, reduce “ouch” factor If you’ve ever winced at the sight of a gymnast taking an awkward spill from a pommel horse or parallel bars, you no doubt appreciate the importance of having a good gym mat on the floor.

A new step in the development of sports mats comes from BASF’s Neopolen E, an expanded polyethylene foam designed for use — among other things — as core material for durable, hard-wearing and safe gym mats.

Neopolen E is described by BASF as a closed-cell, physically crosslinked particle foam — which means that the number of connections between the individual molecules is higher than in the non-crosslinked material. Because of this finer cell structure, mat cores made of Neopolen E are more stable and keep their shape longer. After loading, they absorb the energy and quickly revert to their original shape, making them a good choice to absorb the force of a falling gymnast. And the cushioning properties of the BASF material can reduce the likelihood of sports injuries even when an athlete hasn’t fallen, by helping the gymnast stick to a firm standing position on landing.

BASF supplies sports mat manufacturers with Neopolen E panels in sizes of approximately two metes by one meter, and in a thickness of between 40 and 120 mm.

BASF Canada (Mississauga, Ont.); www.basf.ca; 1-866-485-2273 www.canplastics.com November/December 2009 Canadian Plastics 29

view from the floor

L

ast month, I described a very simple charting technique called a Pareto chart that showed how simple, non-mathematical pencil-and-paper tools can reveal inefficiencies in almost any process in a manufacturing business, from answering the telephone to critical part dimensions to the paper towels used in the washrooms.

That’s great, but the simple chart I described last month, while a good way to document, is not the ultimate in enlightenment for a hands-on manager.

Enter the two-dimensional (2-D) chart. Here’s how it works: select the defects or non-conformities you want to track. These can be anything from part tolerances out of “spec” to R& D cost overruns to the inventory level of toilet paper. The key is to group similar types together and number them. Place these numbers — usually from number “1” to whatever the maximum number of non-conformities you’re tracking is — vertically on the left. If you have 11 critical tolerances in a molded part, for example, list them from “1” to “11”. It’s not necessary to describe them, just number them.

30 Canadian Plastics November/December 2009 www.canplastics.com

1 2 3 4 5 6

A 2 8 3 9 9 4

B C D 3 0 2 10 7 11 18 2 4 11 7 7 10 10 1 3 3 2

PRESS E F 2 1 6 3 5 4 8 9 9 9 1 4

G 3 1 6 7 7 3

H 1 5 3 6 8 4

I J 1 2 17 3 1 55 3 2 50 9 9 82 10 10 83 2 1 27

Total # non-conformities by type

By Jim Anderton, technical editor

Type of non-conformity

Pareto, part two

A 2-D PARETO CHART

35 55 29 27 31 30 27 27 28 25 Total # non-conformities by press

Next, on the horizontal axis, lay out the machines, people, or departments that generate the non-conformities. Sticking with the molded part example, you would label the presses, perhaps, “A” through “E”. You could number them, too, but I prefer to use letters to keep them distinct from the non-conformities on the vertical axis. You now have a 2-D matrix, and you use it by filling in the total number of each type of non-conformity for each machine. The example shows how it’s done.

The power of the 2-D Pareto chart in my example is that it simultaneously shows both which press has the most nonconformities and which non-conformities make up the majority of the rejects. In a well controlled manufacturing operation, the numbers would be more or less evenly spread out over the matrix, especially left to right. In my example, you would like to see similar non-conformities occurring on all presses running the same part. Keep in mind that “non-conformities” is an internal measure used to track your process, not necessarily customer rejects (you can define your own non-conformity at values well within your SPC control limits to gather data and still learn lots from this technique).

In my example, press B shows an unusual concentration of non-conformity number 3’s, but notice how the total number of non-conformity number 3’s is not significantly greater than the other types. Similarly, press D has an unusually low number of non-conformity number 5’s.

A good strategy would be to use the press with the lowest quantity of each non-conformity as the target, and if they’re similar machines running the same material in the same plant, find out why the process differs from the poorly controlled machines. Do they use the same set-up and maintenance personnel? Do the maintenance logs show similar PM? Is one tool older than the other? Is there a difference in operator/inspector experience? If you suspect a process or human variable, you can switch the person or process to another press, set up a new matrix and compare. What makes the 2-D Pareto so powerful is that it shows you where the defects are coming from and which defects are most common in the same chart, allowing a manager to better estimate where to start in reducing non-conformities.

Of course, a good production manager or process engineer can probably do this in their heads....but I prefer to do it on paper. You can use a computer (Excel is a natural for this) and even make a PowerPoint slide for meetings. You might be surprised at what you find!

CPL

TURBO CHARGE YOUR BUSINESS WITH A VISIT TO K 2010!

The K Show, October 27 – November 3 in Düsseldorf, is a window on the latest technology for plastics from around the world. No other show will bring you the breadth of innovations in plastics materials and equipment. You’re sure to find ideas at K that will give your business a competitive edge.

BE PART OF THE OFFICIAL CANADIAN DELEGATION Canadian Plastics and Plastiques et moules is partnering with FEPAC (Federation of Plastics and Alliances Composites) to bring Canadians to the K Show as a whole group. This program will create a unique dynamic among participants, enhancing future collaborations and partnerships for a stronger Canada to compete in global markets.

We’ve teamed up with Carlson Wagonlit to bring you an unbeatable travel package: • SPACIOUS ROOM FOR 6 NIGHTS AT THE MARRIOTT COLOGNE (4 STARS +).

• ROUND TRIP AIR TRANSPORTATION FROM TORONTO or MONTREAL (departures available from other cities at a nominal surcharge)

• 4-DAY ADMISSION TO K2010 and EXHIBITORS CATALOGUE. • DAILY BUFFET BREAKFAST.

• FIRST CLASS PASS FOR ALL TRAINS between Cologne and Düsseldorf and LOCAL TRAM from the main Düsseldorf train station to the K2010 site.

• WELCOME DINNER in local brauhaus.

• FAREWELL DINNER at the Marriott Hotel.

• EXPERT ASSISTANCE ON SITE provided by Carlson Wagonlit and FEPAC staff.

Departure October 26; return November 2 $3650.00* (*double occupancy; single occupancy available for a surcharge)

To reserve your K 2010 travel package, contact :

André Houle, General Manager CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL Toll Free Tel: 1-888-378-7208; Fax 1-866-880-1121 Email : ahoule@voyagelm.ca

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