Canadian Plastics September 2012

Canadian Plastics www.canplastics.com

SEPTEMBER 2012

Packaging

Report OLD IS NEW AGAIN:

The ongoing rise (and occasional stumble) of the plastics recycling business Controlling wall thickness during extrusion blow molding Nova Scotia blown film makers talk shop

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How shale gas fracking might just transform our industry

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Say hello to laser ablation in Canada! p.6

AUTO PARTS SUPPLIERS ARE DRIVING HARD INTO CHINA p.24

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contents

Canadian Plastics SEPTEMBER 2012 VOLUME 70 NUMBER 4

LOOKING BACK...

The March 1968 issue of Canadian Plastics reported on what was probably one of the industry’s first green applications: seedlings grown in plastic bullets that were shot into the soil by a planting gun as part of a reforestation project in British Columbia.

The polystyrene tree planting bullets were molded by Vancouver’s Columbia Plastics Ltd.; the shells had a weakened area on one side and a slit on the other – strong enough to penetrate into the ground, yet permitting the passage of roots that would shatter them as seedlings grew. At the time of writing, some 40,000 of the bullets had been planted in B.C.’s Franklin River region.

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Number of the month:

30 million*

* Estimated total light-vehicle sales in China by 2020. (See pg. 24)

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cover stories in every issue 4 Editor’s View: • Toronto leaps before it looks 5 Ideas & Innovations: • A new lightweighting solution for in-mold labeling 6 News: • Acid-free: Ontario mold engraver installs rare laser ablation system • New projects by chemical suppliers highlight growth of shale gas fracking • News Briefs & People 9 Executive’s Corner: • Overcoming the challenges of developing a foreign market 30 Technology Showcase 32 Plastics Data File 32 Advertising Index 33 Classified Ads 34 Technical Tips: • How scientific injection molding can change your company

PACKAGING REPORT: Blown film, recycling, and blow molding 10 East Coast film stars

We talk shop with two Nova Scotia blown film makers. In Dartmouth, family-owned integrated converter Farnell Packaging Ltd. has netted a slew of awards over the years for its innovative flexible packaging solutions.

Cape Breton's Copol International Ltd., meanwhile, is a small fish making a big splash with cast polypropylene films for food and textile packaging, industrial applications, and health care products.

16 Good times for Canadian plastics recyclers

With consumers enjoying increasing access to recycling programs and brand owners and retailers on board, business just keeps getting better for our nation's plastic scrap recyclers. But there’s room for improvement, as most are still utilizing less than half of their capacity and regulations for some markets remain hard to understand.

20 Thinking thinner in extrusion blow molding

For decades, extrusion blow molders have erred on the side of caution, processing bottles and containers with more resin than necessary to meet wall thickness specifications. But with raw materials prices now bruising the stratosphere, building an overweight percentage into your products doesn’t pay anymore. The right equipment will keep your parts in spec without having to go over target thickness…and save money in the process.

feature 24 AUTOMOTIVE UPDATE: Accelerating into China

For global auto parts suppliers still recovering from the Great Recession, China offers near-certain prospects for robust growth. So it’s no surprise that some Canadian shops are driving hard by investing serious resources in the world’s largest auto market. But how smooth is the ride?

Visit us at www.canplastics.com www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

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editor’s view

Toronto leaps before it looks

B

eing rendered irrelevant is one of the great perils of writing a print editorial on a fast-moving news story. Case in point? No sooner had I offered my two cents on the wisdom of revoking Toronto’s plastic bag tax in our June issue than the whole thing was made moot when Toronto council rushed into an outright bag ban effective Jan.1 — before the issue hit the stands. I got rogered alright, but not as badly as the flexible packaging industry or the Toronto citizenry at large.

All it took was a bunch of illinformed, bandwagon hopping city councillors who suddenly decided — out of the clear blue — to stage a surprise vote. The bag ban passed 27 to 15 on June 6, with no research, no public review, no thought — and no brains. What are the environmental and financial impacts of the ban? As always happens when you leap before you look, nobody knows — although a quick look at the facts shows that the cost to both the city and the environment will be greater than the cost of using plastic bags.

If the 27 councillors who voted for the ban were concerned with real results instead of political posturing they might, for example, peruse a 2011 U.K. Environment Agency report titled “Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags.” The report concluded that conventional plastic bags “had the lowest environmental impacts of the lightweight bags.” Biodegradable starch-based bags had the highest impact in seven of nine environmental assessment categories, mainly due to “high impacts of raw material production, transport, and the generation of methane from landfill.” Paper bags?

“The paper bag has to be reused four or more times to reduce global warming potential to below that of the con-

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ventional HDPE bag, but was significantly worse…for human toxicity and terrestrial eco-toxicity due to the effect of paper production.” And as the U.K. report noted, it’s unlikely that a paper bag can actually be reused four times.

As for reusable cotton bags, the report said those were worse than plastic even if they’re reused more than 170 times, mainly due to the “energy used to produce cotton yarn and the fertilizers used during the growth of the cotton.”

So the facts are clear: plastic bags, when used and reused as shopping bags, garbage bin liners, and for other purposes, are better for the environment than the other options.

Plastic bags, endlessly useful, are one of the great inventions of the postWorld War II plastics explosion — and a trivial part of Toronto’s garbage system and a microscopic issue relative to the scale of the city’s problems. But forget all that. Time and resources that could be spent sorting out real issues like 24/7 traffic gridlock will now be frittered away on bag ban rules, regulations, and policies.

It shows what we get for playing nice. For years, the bag industry has been cooperating with officials in cities across North America, pledging undying devotion to the “Four Rs” — reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover — in adherence to the principles of sustainable development; principles that green activists and politicians claim to accept but, in fact, only use as cover for co-opting and hamstringing the industrial sector.

The Toronto plastic bag ban is possibly illegal, definitely an infringement of the rights of citizens to make their own choices, and certainly harmful to the city and to the environmental principles those 27 councillors claim to uphold.

And it calls for an aggressive response.

As a Toronto Sun editorial put it, “If the plastics industry doesn’t sue the city over this, it deserves what it gets.”

Mark Stephen, editor

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 EDITOR Mark Stephen 416-510-5110 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: mstephen@canplastics.com ART DIRECTOR Andrea M. Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Hofmann 416-510-6757 E-mail: shofmann@bizinfogroup.ca PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER Phyllis Wright SENIOR PUBLISHER Judith Nancekivell 416-510-5116 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: jnancekivell@canplastics.com SALES MANAGER Brayden Ford 416-510-5124 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: bford@canplastics.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Anita Madden 416-442-5600, ext. 3596 Fax: 416-510-6875 E-mail: amadden@bizinfogroup.ca HEAD OFFICE: 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON, M3B 2S9. 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-5134 CANADIAN PLASTICS is published 7 times a year by BIG Magazines LP, a div. of Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd., a leading Canadian information company with interests in daily and community newspapers and business-to-business information services.

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Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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Photo Credit: Stora Enso

ideas & innovations

A new lightweighting solution for in-mold labeling

S

candinavians have contributed their fair share of inventions to the modern world over the years: the wrench, the cheese slicer, and dynamite, to name a few. Here’s one more: a new specialty paper material that can replace traditional in-mold film labels on injection molded packaging to deliver significant lightweighting potential and other sustainability benefits.

Manufactured by Finnish pulp and paper company Stora Enso, InnoMould paper is designed to allow the industry to slash the amount of nonrenewable material needed for injection molded plastic — mainly polypropylene — packaging.

Until now, a printed label film has been used and placed in the mold before injecting plastic melt to create a finished container, but Stora Enso said these can now be replaced with its innovative paper label, thus boosting the package’s renewable material content.

The InnoMould labels — which can be used for injection molding processes for pots for yoghurt and dairy products, as well as containers for processed fish and butter — offer some serious lightweighting, and therefore cash-saving, opportunities. “The paper combines with the plastic melt to an integral unit that is much stiffer than packaging made using a conventional film label,” the company said. “The higher bearing pressure of the pot permits higher stacking and the walls of the pots can be produced with up to 50 per cent less material. That means brand owners can easily achieve a significant reduction in the percentage of non-renewable materials in their packaging.” Material savings of between 20 and 30 per cent are easily reached, the company added, with the rest realised by working on the container design and adjusting the manufacturing process.

In addition, InnoMould is designed to support the use of high-resolution visuals and a huge raft of different colors, including gold and silver, making it easier to achieve the realistic aesthetics that brand owners demand for maximum advertising impact at the point-of-sale.

And it’s a lot less dangerous than dynamite.

CPL Stora Enso North America (Stamford, Conn.); www.storaenso.com; 203-541-5100 www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

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news

ACID-FREE: ONTARIO MOLD ENGRAVER INSTALLS RARE LASER ABLATION SYSTEM

A

ICS Laser’s new five-axis laser ablation machine.

small industrial engraving company in Windsor, Ont., has gone where almost no other Canadian job shop has gone before: it’s offering laser ablation services for moldmakers.

ICS Laser Technologies Inc., which marks 20 years in business this year, recently installed a fiveaxis laser ablation machine made by Swiss-based G F AgieCharmilles (GFAC) on the floor of its 4,250-squarefoot plant. When applied to a mold for a plastic part, laser ablation is used to add texture and patterns by removing unwanted layers of steel; the laser ablation performed by a GFAC machine is done with a pulsed ytterbium laser on spot sizes that range in diameter from 30 microns to 70 microns.

The laser is guided by a program that’s based on digital input, usually either a CAD model of the texture to be achieved or a 3D scan of a physical model of the desired surface. By following the digital model, a higher degree of consistency can be achieved than through the traditional method of using chemical etching for creating surface texturing.

ICS Laser president Ian Murray believes the tool can solve a lot of problems for moldmakers, beginning with repeatability.

“Because variation is essentially nonexistent on laser ablated molds, service shops in North

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America can now offer global repeatability on mold surfaces, which can go Inc. chnologies S Laser Te IC t: a long way towards di re C Photo keeping work away from foreign competition,” Murray said. “If vehicle manufacturers, for example, are looking for consistency across 3D surfaces, then the pulsed laser processing is the way to achieve it because the same pattern can be produced on each of the tools.”

Or take chemical etching itself. “When texturing with acid, the process has to be stopped away from the parting line or else the acid washes over that corner — it’s a controllable technology, but it can’t always deliver perfect consistency or part geometry,” Murray said. “With laser ablation, we can start and stop the texturing exactly where we want, and there’s no etching mismatch when the two mold halves come together. We can also penetrate more layers on the mold with laser ablation than with acid, which allows us to create more interesting patterns.”

ICS Laser had enough confidence in the GFAC machine to go all in, buying it without a bank loan or government funding. “We’re only the second company in Canada to have this laser ablation technology, and the first job shop that services and supports the moldmaking industry,” Murray said. “It’s another golf club in the bag, another way to show OEMs around the globe that they can bring new tooling programs, and new business, into the Essex county area because we can support it.”

CPL

NEW PROJECTS BY CHEMICAL SUPPLIERS HIGHLIGHT GROWTH OF SHALE GAS FRACKING

for a word to describe the Lingooking potential influence of shale gas frackon the North American plastics

Lights out up to 200 tons

industry? How about “transformative”?

In the few years since the energy industry started to tap deposits in the Marcellus Shale Formation in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, U.S. natural gas reserves have increased almost 30 per cent. The full impact remains to be seen but chemical suppliers are practically breaking their necks in the rush to tap into this new wellspring. Dow

Phone: (705) 375-0770 Email: sales@niigon.com

www.niigon.com 6

Chemical Co., Formosa Plastics Corp.

USA, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP already have announced North American expansion plans; ExxonMobil Corp., meanwhile, is considering building two new polyethylene lines in Mont Belvieu, Tex., as well as a new ethane cracker in Baytown, Tex. North of the border, Nova Chemicals Corporation has a series of growth projects of its own in development in Ontario’s Chemical Valley, including the possible construction of a new world-

Still curious? There’ll be a lot more on fracking and other trends at the Canadian Plastics Resin Outlook Conference, Oct. 2-3, 2012.

Visit www.canplastics.com/conference for details.

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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Photo Credit: Nova Chemicals Corporation

news

Nova’s Corunna, Ont. facility.

scale polyethylene plant in Sarnia-Lambton.

A decision on the Sarnia-Lambton plant isn’t expected until 2013, the Calgary, Alta.-based company said, and hinges on the progress of two other projects. “In June of this year we began cracking an ethane/propane mix from Conway, Kan., and in the second half of next year we expect to begin cracking ethane from the Marcellus Shale basin,” Chris Bezaire, Nova’s senior vice president, polyethylene business, told Canadian Plastics.

“These changes allow us to think about the expansion of our Corunna, Ont., cracker that would support a new polyethylene facility in the Sarnia region, and a de-bottleneck of our LDPE facility in Mooretown, Ont.” The company is waiting for approval from the Ministry of the Environment for the estimated $250 million Corunna plant revamp, which would make it capable of running with

100 per cent natural gas liquids feedstock.

Another project set to proceed is an eight-kilometre pipeline extension from an existing St. Clair River, Ont., crossing that will deliver natural gas liquids originating from the Marcellus Shale basin to Nova’s Corunna plant. “Construction is scheduled to start in early 2013, with startup expected in the beginning of the third quarter of 2013,” Bezaire said.

“The extension will enable access to additional ethane for our Corunna cracker.”

Analysts see the moves by Nova and other domestic resin producers as attempts to develop lower cost feedstocks and create more widespread reshoring of manufacturing to North American suppliers before outside pressures reign them in.

“The rapid development of shale gas resources in North America has helped make local producers of resins produced from large amounts of ethylene, such as polyethylene and PVC, some of the most cost-competitive resin producers in the world,” said Phillip Karig, a managing director at research firm Mathelin Bay Associates Inc. “North America has a huge head start on taking advantage of lower cost shale gas, but the future will depend on how quickly other parts of the world adopt fracking technology, how long low-cost natural gas can stay bottled up in North America and isolated from world energy markets, and how environmental concerns might affect North American production.”

CPL

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To become a proud member of SPE Ontario, register at: www.4spe.org/joinnow

www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

CPLSep12 p06-9 News_Exec Corner.indd 7

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news

PEOPLE — Film and sheet extrusion systems supplier Macro Engineering & Technology Inc., of Mississauga, Ont., has appointed Jim Stobie as its vice president of sales and marketing.

Jim Stobie Larry Doyle — Custom and proprietary injection molder Plastiques GPR, headquartered in Saint-Felix-de-Valois, Que., has appointed Marie-France Sosa as director of sales and business development.

— Auxiliary equipment supplier The Conair Group, of Cranberry Township, Pa., has named Larry Flemming John F. Martich III Doyle as its new president. Doyle Bjørnslev replaces Chris Keller, who will continue serving as president and CEO of Conair’s parent company, IPEG. — Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Lanxess Corp., the North American business unit of specialty chemicals, plastics, and rubber maker Lanxess AG, has named Flemming Bjørnslev as its new president and CEO. — Injection press maker Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has appointed John F. Martich III as chief operating Jim Mitchell

officer of the company’s two U.S. operations: Sumitomo (SHI) Plastics Machinery (America) LLC in Norcross, Ga.; and Van Dorn Demag Corp., in Strongsville, Ohio. The company has also appointed Jim Mitchell to the newly created position of executive officer, global key accounts and business development.

— Rick Forbis has been appointed as sales manager for packaging for extrusion equipment maker battenfeld-cincinnati USA (formerly American Maplan Corporation), which is based in McPherson, Kan.

NEWS BRIEFS After a year-long, $3.6 million investment, rotational molder Rotoplast Inc. has expanded and consolidated its operations into a 40,000-square-foot plant in East Farnham, Que. Prior to the move, the company was divided between plants in East Farnham and Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby.

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Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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executive’s corner

Overcoming the challenges of developing a foreign market

By Mark Mensing, Canada Export Centre

T

he past few years have taught Canadian exporters a harsh lesson: having all your eggs in one export basket (the U.S.) can be extraordinarily risky.

One reason that Australia — to pick a country that Canada shares a lot in common with — was able to sustain its strong economy during the global economic downturn was its huge diversity of exporting destinations.

So it’s obvious that there are huge benefits to building multiple international sales channels rather than relying 90 per cent on the U.S. Benefits of doing so include increased sales, increased profitability, improved understanding of competition globally, better product positioning, more consistent and secure revenue streams, reduced exposure to economic cycles, expansion of company “reach,� and overall increased security.

Summed up like this, the pluses seem obvious, but in a country with a culture of exporters geared to doing business in their own back yard, it bears repeating: we still have to hone our skills and our approach internationally so we can overcome the challenges. This is no small task, because there are a lot of hurdles, including finding the right market, understanding that market, dealing with language and cultural differences, finding the right contacts and/or partners, understanding unique regulatory requirements, and dealing with hidden costs and logistical issues.

When preparing to penetrate a new overseas market, many companies head directly to the nearest trade show in hopes of meeting the right players. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s only one tool in developing a new market and shouldn’t be the first one you use.

Before entering an overseas market, consider a more surgical approach, one that can save money and, in many cases, years wasted in dealing with the wrong partners. Ask yourself the following important questions:

• • • • • •

hat is the potential size of the market?

W Who are my competitors?

How are my competitors doing?

What are my barriers to entry?

What does the value chain in this market look like?

Who are all the key players — distributors’ agents, and influencers?

The answers will dictate who your best strategic partners are, how attractive the market actually is, how many

resources should be put towards it, how to get in, how to get around barriers, who you need to build your partnerships with and who to avoid, and what your market entry plan should look like.

Developing foreign markets might just be the key to your company’s success. In the end, let what you’ve learned about the market through investigation help you better determine your approach.

CPL Mark Mensing is the president and CEO of the Vancouverbased Canada Export Centre. With 11 offices around the world, the company works with clients who are looking to generate direct international sales, develop new distribution channels, and develop joint venture partnerships or licensing opportunities. Visit www.canadaexportcentre.com.

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CPLSep12 p06-9 News_Exec Corner.indd 9

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packaging report

Photo Credits: Farnell Packaging Ltd.

Farnell

Packaging Ltd. Photo Credits: Farnell Packaging Ltd.

This family-owned flexible packager is a big part of Dartmouth’s past, present, and future.

10

thinkstockphotos.com

I

ntegrated converter Farnell Packaging Ltd. isn’t just located in Dartmouth, N.S. — it developed almost literally alongside the city. Dartmouth was incorporated as a city in 1961, the Converting film extrusion through printing rollstock. same year in which the company was created by grocery executive Don Farnell and his wife Amy. layer and co-extrusion lines supplied by Macro EngineerDartmouth has grown some since then, and Farnell ing and Technology Inc., and Brampton Engineering; and Packaging has gone on to make its mark across North printing equipment that includes an eight-color, 52-inch America with its innovative flexible packaging solutions.

PrimaFlex CM flexographic printing press and an eightThe company serves customers from coast to coast in Cancolor, 52-inch NovoFlex press, both from Windmoeller & ada, has a U.S. market in the New England states and as far Hoelscher Corporation. west as North Dakota, and also does business in Europe.

The company’s product portfolio includes the Olympic brand films, which have been optimized for use on highFOOD FOCUS speed form-fill-seal machinery; Opaltone digital print The beginnings were humble enough. The company’s imaging technology that digitally mixes process inks to first foray into the manufacturing world was in the late create more colors from less ink; remote proofing ser1960s with the purchase of a used Tayo bag machine. vices and web-based press approval tools; and its PRO2010 With this technology they began creating their “Big Boy” blends of film. From the start, food packaging has been at brand of poly bag products. By the mid-1980s, the comthe heart of the business. “Currently, it represents about pany, now known by its current name, had become a fully 80 per cent of what we do,” said David Stanfield, Farnell’s integrated operation, extruding, printing, and converting vice president of sales and marketing. polyethylene and LLDPE films into finished products such as bags, rollstock, and sheets. Nowadays based out AWARD-WINNING RESULTS of a modern, 80,000-square-foot facility, the operation Farnell has racked up an impressive number of achievements features blown film and converting systems, with monoin its 50-odd years. It developed an award-winning comCanadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

CPLSep12 p10-14 PackRpt.indd 10

12-08-09 12:42 PM

Photo Credits: Farnell Packaging Ltd.

Photo Credits: Farnell Packaging Ltd.

packaging report

postable film packaging application — now in its fifth generation, the product was recently granted use of the Biodegradable Film Product Institute logo, certifying it 100 per cent compostable as per the American Society of Testing and Materials standards. “We’re also one of the few companies in Canada to have achieved the PAC-Packaging Association’s PACSecure certification, which is based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) criteria and recognized by the United Nations and most of the food industry worldwide,” Stanfield said.

Along the way, the company has taken home almost as many medals as Michael Phelps: in 2011, Farnell won the gold at the Canadian Printing Awards for excellence in quality printing, environmental initiatives, and industry contribution; and earlier this year, it was awarded the bronze Halifax Business Award for Business of the Year.

Through it all, the company — which currently employs 160 workers in a 24/7 operation — has remained family-owned. At present, three generations of Farnells are involved, headed by co-founder Amy Farnell, who assumed the role of president after Don Farnell — the recipient of the Canadian Plastics Industry Association’s 2004 Leader of the Year award — passed away in 2010.

With five decades under its belt, how did Farnell handle the worst recession in over eight decades? “We weathered it well; we had a record year in 2009, leveled off in 2010, began growing again in 2011, and we’re now hiring again,” Stanfield said. “We owe our

success throughout to our excellent customer base. We listen to them, and try to get in front of the changes they might want. Our goal is to be the flexible packaging company of choice by putting the customer at the centre of what we do.”

CPL Farnell Packaging Ltd. (Dartmouth, N.S.); www.farnell.ns.ca; 800-565-9373

www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

CPLSep12 p10-14 PackRpt.indd 11

thinkstockphotos.com

Checking an eight-color narrow web label press.

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12-08-09 12:42 PM

packaging report

Copol

David Sawler (left), Copol’s vice president of business/ product development; and Denis Lanoë, vice president of operations and general manager.

International Ltd.

M

ost of us probably know Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island for a few specific things: the Cabot Trail, the coal industry, and maybe the Rankin Family.

Cast polypropylene (CPP) film doesn’t exactly leap to mind, but for Cape Breton’s Copol International Ltd., manufacturing highly customized CPP is its sole business — and lately business has been good.

Since its startup 20 years ago, when it took over a 90,000-square-foot plant that had been producing PVC stretch film, Copol has slowly grown into a major presence in the North American CPP industry, currently providing customized mono- and multi-layer films for food and textile packaging, industrial applications, and heath care products for customers across North America — just as CPP itself has been penetrating traditional packaging and non-packaging applications.

“CPP delivers a unique set of properties, in particular high-temperature resistance, excellent stiffness, and great optics,” said Denis Lanoë, Copol’s vice president of operations and general manager. “It’s a niche market for highquality, high-end products, and it’s where we’ve always focused our efforts.”

A NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY The company has a variety of different CPP film structures, from three single-layer lines to one three-layer line, and is in the process of commissioning a new five-layer Filmex CPP line from Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation. The addition of the new W&H line will expand Copol’s film gauge

range from 0.7 mil up to 6 mil and facilitate the eventual production of CPP with up to nine layers, allowing the company to offer more to its current customers...and to pursue some new ones. “Customers are looking for more sophisticated films, barrier films, special applications for lamination, and pealable films,” Lanoë said. “Having five layers will allow us to add different characteristics for food grade applications and focus on new, value-driven product development.

The first part of the line arrived in late June, and the line will be running by the early fall.”

How well does Copol do CPP? Both of Copol’s primary material suppliers, LyondellBasell and ExxonMobil, have used the company’s production equipment as an extension of their own R&D operations to test new resin formulations and film structures, Lanoë said.

SECRETS TO SUCCESS As with any manufacturer trying to stay ahead of the curve, the name of the game for Copol is product flexibility combined with control. The company operates multiple slitter/ rewinders that can produce custom finished rolls ranging from 0.75 inches to 72 inches. Copol determines the optimal resin/additive packages for each application, Lanoë said, but it also works to ensure that alternatives are always available to strengthen supply chain management. “Offering a broad portfolio of resin/additive packages allows for product customization to meet specific and unique requirements,” he explained. “We can customize an existing product to meet specific client performance parameters, or develop a new product that best delivers specific performance parameters.

Either way, it helps our customers differentiate themselves and strengthens their positions in the market.”

And because of the depth and breadth of the product range, there’s no such thing as a dedicated production line at Copol. “We will combine orders from various customers in a

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A small Cape Breton Island cast polypropylene supplier is making a big splash in a really big pond.

Photo Credits: Windmoeller & Hoelscher.

Continued on page 14

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Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

CPLSep12 p10-14 PackRpt.indd 12

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packaging report

single production run as needed,” Lanoë said.

If you’ve ever been to Cape Breton, you know that it’s not exactly centrally located. “While we’re obviously not situated close to most of our markets, we remain accessible to everywhere in North America and we ship as far away as California,” Lanoë said. “Seventy-five per cent of our business is in the U.S., and we can offer lead times of two or three weeks to anywhere on the Continent.” What about the dreaded manpower drain from the Maritimes to points west?

“People assume that it’s difficult to keep employees in Cape

14

Breton, but this hasn’t been the case with us: most of our employees have been here from the start, and we have almost no worker turnover,” Lanoë said.

Not even during the Great Recession. “We experienced a slight slowdown during the recession, but it wasn’t drastic, and things have recovered since,” said Lanoë. “Our customers stayed with us throughout because of our service, quality, and flexibility.”

CPL Copol International Ltd. (North Sydney, N.S.); www.copolinternational.com; 800-668-2700

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Copol operates multiple slitter/rewind machines that can produce custom finished rolls ranging from 0.75 inches to 72 inches.

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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Steve Hamilton (left) and Douglas Hamilton (right), co-owners of Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd.

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Three generaTions of experience in helping plasTics processors To improve producTiviTy For nearly five decades, the hamilton family has been in the plastics equipment business.

In 1965, A.C. Hamilton and Co. Ltd. was founded by Arthur Hamilton. The main selling point was: “Service, experience and success. We have the resources to get the job done properly and promptly.” There have been changes in the company logo and company name over the years, but that’s still the guiding principal today.

Arthur’s sons Richard and Steve went on to manage the business, and today the company is run by his grandsons Steve (son of Richard) and Douglas (son of Steve) under the name Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. In May of this year, Hamilton Plastic Systems acquired the assets of Hamilton Avtec, the company’s manufacturing arm, thus completing the transition due to Richard Hamilton’s retirement.

A.C. Hamilton and Co. Ltd. started out as a leading supplier of capital equipment to the plastics processing industry. As the trend toward one supplier responsibility developed, Hamilton turned its attention

to providing not only the major processing machinery, but all the auxiliary equipment necessary to obtain the optimum output from processing machinery.

Despite the numerous changes in Canada’s plastics equipment industry over the past decade, the Hamilton business remains rock steady and true to its path. It is the last remaining Canadian-owned manufacturer of raw materials handling equipment.

In addition to manufacturing, Hamilton Plastic Systems is a distributor for a number of leading plastics equipment manufacturers based in Europe and Asia. “Working with our partners makes us a stronger group and enables us to tap into worldwide technological expertise,” says Douglas.

Hamilton can provide systems for recycling scrap and for finished parts handling. And it can supply turnkey plastics processing plants that included everything from tooling through to finished products.

In spite of the company’s growth, it is structured to handle requirements as simple as one hopper loader, dryer or belt conveyor, to the planning, manufacturing and installation of integrated, microprocessor-controlled bulk and in-plant systems.

Large materials handling solutions and systems for handling powders are particular strengths for Hamilton. Says Steve: “Tackling these tough jobs helps us to continually improve our entire product line.”

Just as in their grandfather’s day, Steve and Douglas concentrate the resources of their company on innovative ways to automate material flow, by servicing their customers promptly and by maintaining a large finished units and spare parts inventory.

With Hamilton Plastic Systems, you will find the engineering, manufacturing and field service assistance needed to solve your toughest productivity challenges economically.

A.C. Hamilton and Company Ltd. management team in the early 1980s.

Left to right: Steve Hamilton, Vice President; Carmen Lowe, Sales Manager; Arthur Hamilton, President; Richard Hamilton, Vice President; Bill Gilmore, Controller.

Hopper Loaders and Loading Systems Weigh Loading and Blending Systems Dehumidifying and Hot Air Dryers Coloring and Blending Equipment Liquid Chillers Mold Temperature Controllers Granulators Robotics A. C. HAMILTON AND COMPANY Storage Silos Belt Conveyors Parts Separators Blow Molding Machines Injection Molding Machines A. C. HAMILTON AND COMPANY

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packaging report

Plastics recycling in Canada:

It’s getting

BETTER Life is almost perfect for Canada’s plastic scrap recyclers.

Consumer access to recycling programs? No problem.

Brand owners and retailers on board? Done.

Enough post-consumer material? Hmmm…

By Mark Stephen, editor

A

t present, the post-consumer plastics industry in Canada is in a bit of a good news /bad news situation.

On the one hand, Canadians have better access to recycling for plastics packaging and our overall recycling rates for plastics are increasing significantly, which is good news for plastics recycling companies. On the other, some plastic scrap markets have been caught in a downward spiral for the past few months; led by a slump in polyester, certain plastic scrap grades have been hit by a combination of lower oil prices, a slumping economy throughout Europe, and a slowing Chinese buyers’ market — this last of which is forcing more plastic scrap exporters to redirect shipments to other destinations.

How do we reconcile these two extremes? Well, maybe we don’t have to, at least in the short term; the enthusiasm for all things recycled is powerful enough to roll right over the contradiction — for now, anyway.

There’s no doubt that the sun is currently shining on the plastics recycling industry in Canada. Two recently released reports show that not only do Canadians have better access to recycling for plastics packaging, our overall recycling rates for plastics are increasing significantly. The first report, released in February by Peterborough, Ont.-based CM Consulting Inc., reported an increasing number of Canadians having access to recycling many different forms of plastic packaging.

This includes nearly country-wide access (95%) to plastic bottle recycling and 91% access to recycling of household tubs and lids (up from 88% in 2009). The report also highlights access for PET non-bottle rigid packaging such as trays or bakery clamshells, which can now be recycled by 76% of Canadians (three percentage points more than in 2009). THE CM Consulting study also noted that the 16

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SATISFYING STATISTICS

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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packaging report

largest increase in access for a particular material is for foamed polystyrene, which is now recyclable by 32% of Canadians (an increase of seven percentage points since 2009). Access to recycling for expanded polystyrene protective packaging has more than doubled, meanwhile, increasing from 12% to 31% in that same time frame.

The second report, released in September 2011 by Sonoma, Calif.-based Moore Recycling Associates Inc., surveyed over 500 companies that handle recycled plastics in North America, including reclaimers, exporters, brokers, and materials recovery facilities. It confirms that Canadian recycling efforts have increased the amount of post-consumer plastic packaging being recycled across the country, including an additional 15% of plastic packaging recycled in 2010 compared to 2009.

Dig a little deeper into the study and the news gets better still.

There was over a 50% increase in plastic film and bags collected for recycling from commercial businesses in Canada. In addition, of the total film and bags recovered, one-third came from consumer curbside recycling programs across the country.

Best of all, Canadian recyclers of plastics are described by both reports as eager to handle even more supply; they have underutilized capacity, creating ample opportunity for consumers and businesses to supply them with more plastics. It’s estimated, for example, that film and bag recycling in Canada is at

38% utilization of the capacity, and non-bottle rigid recycling is at 47% utilization of the capacity. In short, there’s plenty of room to increase plastics recycling.

And that’s good news, because there’s an ever-growing list of goods that post-consumer plastics can be used for. Sports drink and single use water bottles that contain PET can be recycled as clothing fibre and carpet, automotive parts, new bottles, office cubicles, and plastic straps. Cereal box liners or milk jugs made with HDPE can be recycled into new containers, drainage pipes, lawn and garden products, film and sheet plastic, picnic tables, dog houses, and plastic lumber. For LDPE, which usually starts off as squeezable bottles or dry cleaning bags, the end result is recycling into compost bins, trash can liners, shipping envelopes, and floor tiles. Polypropylene can be recycled into battery cables, brooms, brushes, bicycle racks, trays, bins, and rakes.

And polystyrene used in disposable plates, cups, and egg cartons can be recycled into packaging material, insulation boards, license plate frames, light switch plates, rulers, carryout containers, and foam packing.

FOOD GRADE HEADACHE Brand owners, driven by retail forces such as the Walmart scorecard, are definitely on board as well. “Many brand owners are anxious to market recycled content and are pressing their

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product suppliers,” said Joe Lapierre, director of sales, marketing, and procurement with Brampton, Ont.-based recycler Nexcycle Plastics Inc. “A lot of this obviously has to with marketing, and also with end-of-life responsibility for the packing that’s getting introduced into society.”

Some recyclers are trying to get their hands on an even more diverse array of post-consumer material. “Markets such as the medical sector usually can’t use recycled resin by law, but we’re in touch with a Quebec hospital that’s interested in finding a way to recycle all of their plastic waste,” said Michel Camirand, general manager of Yamachiche, Que.-based recycler Groupe RCM Inc. “The general perception is that recycling facilities can’t handle postmedical plastic waste, so the hospitals send it either to landfills or incinerators.

But we’re working to develop the sorting capabilities to deal with it — provided the material is relatively sterile — and this particular hospital wants to be a part of the process.”

So far, so good. But despite recyclers’ great ingenuity and entrepreneurial skill, the landscape of some markets remains blurry. Take food grade material. According to the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, more than 18 North American recycling companies currently boast the ability to produce consistently high quality, food grade post-consumer resin — but agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. aren’t making it easy for them to do so. “The FDA guidelines assure the safety of post-consumer plastic packaging in contact with food; there tends to be a lack of understanding of the FDA regulations among recycling companies, however, and

the FDA itself is not forthcoming with information,” said Tamsin Ettefagh, vice president of Envision Plastics, a Reidsville, N.C.-based consulting firm. “They’re so overburdened with other responsibilities relating to other qualifications that teaching recyclers about what’s acceptable and what’s not is low on their list of priorities.”

In a nutshell, food grade resin producers must develop their own processes to meet the FDA challenge testing, or purchase equipment from companies who have demonstrated to the FDA that their equipment can meet the challenge testing.

One way or the other, though, they’re getting it done. “Due in part to advances in cleaning and purifying technology and the use of closed-loop processes, there are food contact-approved recycled resins available now that weren’t available just a few short years ago,” said Joe Lapierre.

Film and bag recycling in Canada is at 38% utilization of the capacity, and non-bottle rigid recycling is at 47% utilization of the capacity.

NO BOAT TO CHINA

Contrast the excitement in Canada to the situation in China, which had been one of the driving forces for surging plastic scrap prices in 2011. “It’s becoming a much more difficult market to serve,” said a Southern Ontario material recovery facility owner. “Exporters are buying loads to ship to China and Hong Kong, but an increase in tariffs along with weak demand for PET fibre in China have recently led to some major softening in the export market. PET and LDPE film seem to be the two grades being hit the hardest right now.”

So although Shanghai is currently saying no, the market in Canada is sending a different message to plastic recyclers. “Yes, please,” might sum it up.

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THE BASICS OF INJECTION MOLDING Learn the ABCs of... successful injection molding at this full-day workshop.

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packaging report

LIGHTEN UP!

By Mark Stephen, editor

With raw materials prices currently bumping into the stratosphere, building an overweight percentage into extrusion blow molded products to meet minimum specifications just isn’t an option anymore.

The right equipment will keep your parts in spec without having to go over target thickness — and save you some cash in the process.

20

A MATTER OF CONTROL There are some fairly traditional alternatives to overweighting bottles, fuel tanks, and industrial containers, although these can cause headaches of their own. “One method is to program the parison, where you have a program cylinder that opens and closes the die to get you to a certain wall thickness; the disadvantage is that the wall thickness maintains all the way around your part,” said Chuck Flammer, vice president of sales, North America, with Kautex Machines Inc. “A second method is to use ovalized tooling, and make physical cuts to get more material out in certain sections of the parison; the problems are that it’s time-consuming, can add to cycle time, and can result in very thick and unwanted localized areas up and down the part.”

Kautex offers several solutions. “Our static flexible die ring, or SFDR, has a bolt circle that goes around and flexes a piece of metal in and out to add material to a certain section without having to re-machine the tool,” Flammer said. “Our partial wall distribution system, or PWDS, consists of hydraulic cylinders that flex the die ring to create localized thin and thick sections; due to the fact that each PWDS actuator has its own wall thickness profile, it’s possible to move each side independently, thereby adjusting symmetrical and asymmetrical deformations, shifts, and any combinations of these to manipulate the radial die gap. It’s particularly well-suited for the manufacturing of blow molded fuel tanks through continuous extrusion.”

A third option is the company’s WDLS wall thickness layer control system, which uses measurements of the top and bottom flash weight and the net article weight to ensure that the wall thickness profile points remain at the correct locations of the molding, even over longer production runs. “The WDLS system allows extrusion blow molders to make very precise applications of material at precise points, including the thickest area of

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T

he war against overweight is being waged on many fronts — low-fat foods, sugar-free drinks, and gruelling P90X-style workout regimes. But what about an overweight blow molded bottle?

As with excess baggage on the human body, it’s all about overfeeding.

Like every other type of plastics processor, extrusion blow molders have to squeeze every bit of production out of their operations to stay competitive. The problem is, blow molding is a complex process in which a large number of control tasks have to be managed: feeding granulates from the material supply, distributing the melt, and pressing the tube into the mold at the right moment. Probably the most complex control is the partial wall thickness control of the tube, which serves to distribute the material so that every bulge of the frequently complex moldings has the specified wall thickness; the wall thickness has to adhere to specifications, and so must the layer thicknesses if you’re running a multilayer container.

But there’s the potential for a lot of variability here and, unlike film or sheet extruders, extrusion blow molders generally don’t have any kind of system, either a control in the molding machine itself or an online gauging tool, to tell them if material thickness or layer ratios are changing over time. As a result, many tend to process their bottles and containers with more resin than they actually need to ensure they’ll still have usable products.

That might sound prudent, but it’s more like throwing money out the window. “The actual overage may be small, but even if a molder is using just one per cent more resin than necessary, and it runs 20 million lbs. per year, that one per cent translates into 20,000 lbs., and $20,000 worth of wasted material,” said Alan Landers, product manager, blending and upstream products, with The Conair Group. “When you ‘overweight,’ the more material you run, the more you waste, and the dollars add up quickly.”

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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packaging report

the part,” Flammer said. “And since the thickest area determines the length of cycle time, being able to minimize the material in that area can reduce the cycle time.”

Kautex’s SFDR, PWDS, and WDLS systems are all supplied by Troisdorf, Germany-based blow molding equipment maker Handel Elke Feuerherm.

Davis-Standard LLC’s 3DX deformable die ring technology is an alternative to existing PWDS technology, offering a flexible die ring for improved control of radial wall thickness. Advantages of the system include innovative cylinder mounting to reduce heat from the head to avoid damage to cylinder seals, the company said, and a hydraulic safety function that prevents flexible die damage on accidental cold starts. In addition, a proportional pushout mechanism is designed to improve efficiencies on accumulator head

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machines. The flexible ring, hydraulic cylinders, and mounting features of the 3DX allows the blow molders to service the system themselves. “This technology, combined with the quick color changeover and parison control of our accumulator head technology, contributes to production of a consistent and costeffective blow molded part,” the company said.

Kautex and other extrusion blow molding machine makers incorporate Simatic automation technology from Siemens into their machines — and Siemens has done a lot of work to help guarantee wall thickness. The company’s Simatic S7 blow molding system has two variations — the BMH 3100 and the BMH 3300 — that the company describes as well-suited for controlling wall thickness in extrusion blow molding. “The wall thickness profile is Left: PWDS system in D6 version with additional shifting axis from Kautex Machines Inc. Photo Credit: Kautex Machines Inc.

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www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

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GETTING GRAVIMETRIC There are also some solutions available beyond the extrusion blow molding machines themselves. Take gravimetric extrusion-line control systems. “Because these systems read and reactJan to changes as they occur, you don’tAM needPage to set1 thickness Rotogran 12-AB-CPL 2/15/12 11:52 setpoints unnecessarily high in anticipation of process variability in extrusion blow molding — you can really narrow the processing window,” said Conair’s Alan Landers. “Few extruders would attempt to run at a mere 2.5 per cent over gauge, much

less at just one per cent over. However, with the additional control provided by the gravimetric extrusion-line control system, it’s not only possible, but easily cost justified. If you’re able to reduce your amount-over-gauge to something less than half of what you’re accustomed to — perhaps to even as little as 20 per cent — then the system can pay for itself and feed your profitability within weeks or months.”

As with losing love handles in the real world, shedding unnecessary weight from extrusion blow molding applications can pay dividends.

CPL RESOURCE LIST The Conair Group (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.conairgroup.com; 800-654-6661 Dier International Plastics Inc. (Markham, Ont.); 905-474-9874 Turner Group (B.C. and Alberta) (Seattle, Wash.); 206-769-3707 Davis-Standard LLC — Blowmolding Systems (Bridgewater, N.J.); www.bc-egan.com; 908-722-6000 Kautex Machines Inc. (North Branch, N.J.): www.kautex-group.com; 908-253-6012 Siemens Canada Ltd. (Markham, Ont.); www.siemens.ca; 800-263-7444

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defined by a support value table with a maximum 128 equidistant support points,” the company said. “If fewer support points are served, the wall thickness program determines the support values which are not served by interpolation. The entire wall thickness profile is calculated with the served and interpolated support values and displayed on the HMI system. Simatic 7 systems also offer channels for multiple head or PWDS operation of continuous or accumulator head machines, up to 256 nodes for polynomial or linear interpolation, ejection speed controller with 256-step profile, tube length control, fill level control, and quality control.”

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automotive update

CHINA For global auto parts suppliers still recovering from the Great Recession, China offers near-certain prospects for robust growth. It’s no surprise, then, that some Canadian companies are putting the pedal down by investing heavily in the world’s largest auto market. But how smooth is the ride?

By Mark Stephen, editor 24

I

n a famous scene from the classic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman convinces Robert Redford to pull up stakes for Bolivia by telling him, “If we were in business during the California gold rush, we’d have gone to California, right?

So when I say ‘Bolivia’, you just think ‘California’.”

In that same spirit, a lot of global automotive parts suppliers are looking at China and picturing a California gold rush of their own.

Attracted by stunning growth prospects, they’re investing heavily and ignoring a recent slowdown in auto sales in China — in the first four months of this year, sales of passenger vehicles rose just two per cent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

“Notwithstanding the slowdown, China is now officially the world’s largest automotive market, with sales in the range of 19 million vehicles, which is one-quarter of the global production,” said Steve Rodgers, president of the Toronto-based Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association (APMA). “It’s obviously very significant.” Indeed, analysts and industry executives expect light-vehicle sales to reach 30 million by 2020, more than double the 14.5 million sold in 2011 — in other words, in eight years China’s auto market is tracking to match the size

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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Driving into

Left: Shanghai’s Rainbow overpass. Canadian auto parts suppliers doing business in China might be seeing a lot more of it.

of today’s European and U.S. markets combined. Chinese consumers are increasingly aware of — and want — the advanced technology that automakers are lavishing on vehicles sold in North America and Europe.

Even better, because a growing number of autos are built on global platforms, suppliers can gear up swiftly in China by producing the same parts that they make elsewhere.

In a nutshell, it’s a great opportunity for Canadian auto parts suppliers. Canada is one of the largest automotive producers in the world, with shipments of cars and trucks reaching $77 billion in 2011. The auto parts and component manufacturing sector alone employs over 97,000 people, with over 900 businesses producing original equipment and aftermarket auto parts, components, and systems. Approximately 60 per cent of their production value was exported, a significant percentage of that to China.

GETTING IN

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A

automotive update

It’s not exactly news, of course, that a good number of Canadian auto parts makers are already in China, some by having simply followed North American auto makers because of existing relationships. Take Tier I supplier Magna International Inc. The Aurora, Ont.-based company had just one Chinese plant in 2001, has approximately 20 plants throughout China today, and plans to open eight more by 2014. “China is an important market from a top-line and bottom-line perspective, for Magna as well as other parts suppliers,” said Jim Tobin, chief marketing officer and president, Magna Asia.

“We had approximately $700 million in sales in China in 2011, and we expect more than $1.5 billion in sales by 2014.”

One Southern Ontario-based Tier II supplier, which asked not to be identified by company name, has been in China for almost 10 years. “We have six manufacturing facilities in China at this point, supplying mostly interior parts, with some exterior and VH-type applications, for both foreign and domestic automakers,” a company representative said. “It’s a very large market for us, and we see it as being larger in the future.”

Okay, so the trail to China has been pretty well blazed by this point — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some bumps still left in the road, either for well-established companies like Magna and the Tier II supplier, or for parts makers just taking their first steps today. To begin, it helps to understand the structure of the market. “As far as what Canadian auto parts suppliers are looking for, there are two distinct Chinese markets,” said Steve Rodgers. “The first involves a joint venture with a foreign automaker, for example the Volkswagen tie-up with the SAIC Motor Corporation — these are global platforms. The second involves the individual vehicle manufacturers in China; there are about 85 of them, they’re not as far along on the quality chain, they have a tendency to have a local or regional following, and they’re more price-sensitive.”

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GLOBAL PLATFORM = GAME CHANGER

Forecasted Primary Development of Vehicles (2007-2015) 43 Primary development by region (millions)

You might not know it, but there’s a tectonic shift currently underway in the Chinese market, caused by the aforementioned growing number of autos built on global platforms.

One positive result is the simplification of the purchasing process. “For a long time, it was necessary for a supplier to have relationships, for example, with the General Motors purchasing staff and with the SAIC Motor Corporation purchasing staff, because either or both could have an impact on final sourcing decisions,” said Steve Rodgers. “Now, all of the global OEMs are gaining more control over their purchasing operations and over the need to make consistent corporate global purchasing decisions.”

The potential benefit for foreign parts suppliers is hard to exaggerate. “From our perspective, getting involved with a global platform removes a lot of the risk and anxiety that are associated with going into markets that we’re not as familiar with,” said the rep from the Tier II supplier. “Our first investment in China was seeded by a global program in fact, and we went on to build infrastructure from there — it allowed us to look at development opportunities with both foreign and domestic Chinese automakers.”

The opportunities aren’t just theoretical. Daimler AG, the world’s second largest maker of luxury cars, recently announced plans to shift production of its best-selling Mercedes-Benz

33

n2007

33

n2015

26

9 4 Asia

Europe

1

North America

1 Others

Source: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

C-Class from Germany to Alabama in the U.S., and Beijing, China by 2014. “Canadian suppliers that typically had C-Class business in Germany will now have the opportunity to supply to China, as well as to the U.S.,” Steve Rodgers said.

Not that making parts to satisfy a global platform is a license to print money; sometimes it’s the trigger for even more investment spending. Chinese shoppers still have preferences, which is where operating a technical centre to modify global autos for local tastes — as the Southern Ontario Tier II supplier and others are doing — can pay off.

For others, though, the cost of a substantial investment might be seen to outweigh the benefits. “China is unlikely to become Magna’s largest market by sales because most of our products require a heavy capital investment, so to duplicate what we have in North America — which is our current largest market by sales — would be an enormous challenge,” said Jim Tobin. “Also, and notwithstanding global platforms, automakers in China tend to do more in-house component manufacturing than they do in North America.”

HANDLING THE CURVES For many manufacturers, the thought of undertaking serious business in China raises one spectre in particular: the wellknown threat of intellectual property (IP) theft. It’s safe to say that none of the Canadian parts suppliers working with the Chinese are oblivious to this, although most, if not all, have found ways to protect themselves. “We have some concerns about IP protection, but they’re not major,” said Jim Tobin. “There are many other barriers to entry in the automotive business besides IP, such as specifications, testing, warranty, manufacturing know-how, process expertise, and capital. With all of these needs in addition to IP, copying products and supplying them to the OEMs to meet their standards is more of a ‘full service’ challenge.”

For some, constant innovation is the 26

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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be the first.

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best defense. “IP theft exists anywhere in any market, and it’s a real problem if, from the technical perspective, you’re just standing still,” said the rep from the Tier II supplier. “For us, the key has been to keep innovating, so that by the time someone tries to reverse engineer one of our products we’ve already moved on to the next generation.”

A second possible hurdle is the government. China practices a form of state capitalism, with corporations that are only partly free and government often the owner rather than simply the regulator. Simply put, the Party can be dictatorial, with results that don’t always favor foreign businesses. Case in point: China’s central government decreed early in 2012 that government officials must buy vehicles from domestic automakers. That’s bad news for Audi — their brand of choice — but possibly good news for other suppliers that can provide elaborate rear seating areas preferred by chauffeur-driven officials. In the end, the impact of government interference might be a wash. “We haven’t had any problems with the current government,” said Jim Tobin. “That said, 2012 is an election year in China and a new administration will come in and develop its own policies, and we’re waiting to see what some of these changes could mean for Magna.”

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We had approximately $700 million in sales in China in 2011, and we expect more than $1.5 billion in sales by 2014.

A related concern involves some of the things the Chinese government, as a government, is charged with doing: overseeing employment, maintaining roads and railways, et cetera.

China is still a communist country, and that fact has ramifications that will touch on all of these issues, and more. “The cost of labor in China is cheap, but it’s rising, and Canadian suppliers with operations there need to learn how to control the cost structure,” said Steve Rodgers. Mastering the infrastructure can be tricky, too. “The infrastructure for moving goods

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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automotive update

around in China is limited,” Rodgers continued. “There are really only four big automotive centres — Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Guanhzhou — and just because you’re in one of those four areas doesn’t mean that you can ship to the other three locations competitively; this can definitely be a factor in determining where you’re located.”

CULTURAL CHASM? What about broader cultural clashes between Canadian businesses and the Chinese people at large? “As a global company, we are accustomed to working with a variety of cultures on a daily basis, so we don’t view it as a cause of friction,” said Jim Tobin. “That said, we typically have either North American or European staff oversee the development of a new facility in China, depending on the home site of the particular product and whether or not the product is new to the market. In cases where the product isn’t new to market, Chinese staff is fully competent to start a new plant on their own.”

This may be an area where Canadians are at a particular advantage. “While the Chinese are very open and willing to build global business relationships with anyone from almost anywhere, they tend to see Canadians as particularly easy to deal with, probably because we have such large Chinese populations CP Molding Ad:Layout 1

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in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver,” said Steve Rodgers.

“For the suppliers, this can make it easier to find people who are willing to go back to China and assist in startup operations.”

Organizations like APMA work hard to make it easier still.

“APMA has participated in several of the most recent China International Auto Parts Expos in Beijing, taking a number of Canadian suppliers over with us and introducing them to potential partners,” Rodgers continued. “And we continue to work with Chinese companies that are coming to North America in search of partnerships, and interact regularly with all of the Canadian consulate and embassy staff in Beijing and other locations throughout China to help companies get established there and grow their businesses.”

To return to where we came in, things didn’t work out too well for Butch and Sundance down in Bolivia but the road to China is considerably less risky for Canadian auto parts suppliers, provided they take a few elementary precautions. “We studied the Chinese market for several years before going in, and went in with a partner rather than as a wholly-owned business when we finally did,” said the rep from the Tier II supplier. “China is a long way from home and, whether you’re doing Tier I or Tier II business, being successful requires a good, solid plan.”

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technology showcase

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT

Faster job/color changes for gravimetric blenders Maguire Products Inc.’s new Loader Lift is a pneumaticallypowered system that speeds job or color changes for gravimetric blenders by lifting the hopper lid at the touch of a switch, providing easy access to ingredient bins without the need to remove the loaders feeding them. Maguire has designed the bins to be removable.

The Loader Lift system is available for an added cost of US$500 on new units of two of the most widely used Maguire blender models, the MicroBlender (up to 100 lb., or 45 kg, per hour) and the MicroPlus (up to 350 lb., or 160 kg, per hour).

Once the Loader Lift system has raised the hopper lid and the loaders atop it, there is ample room for the operator to remove the bins. Two safety features prevent the operator

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from accidentally having fingers caught if they’re resting atop the bins when the lid is lowered: 1) the lid cannot be lowered unless the operator presses two buttons simultaneously; and 2) a large rubber flange protruding from the rim of each bin leaves more than enough room for fingers even if the lid were fully lowered.

Novatec Inc./Maguire Canada (Vaughan, Ont.): www.maguirecanada.com; 866-441-8409 Barway Plastic Equipment Inc. (Vaudreuil-Dorian, Que.); www.barway.ca; 450-455-1396

ROBOTS & AUTOMATION

Revamped linear robot handles heavier loads The revamped W831 linear robot from Wittmann Battenfeld offers plastics processors the opportunity to automate the production of even heavier payloads on mid-size molding machines (typically in the range of 500 tons).

The new and reinforced W831 robot model can be equipped with vertical strokes ranging from 1,000 mm, 1,200 mm to 1,400 mm. And where up to 1,200 mm of vertical stroke is supplied, the maximum payload has increased to 12 kg.

The horizontal stroke starts with 2,000 mm for standard configurations and can be extended up to 5,000 mm. The possibility of lengthening the Z-axis up to 5,000 mm enables mounting in an L-configuration, offering the possibility of clamp-end placement of the parts. The robot can also be mounted in T-configuration, working the space on both sides of the molding machine.

The W831 also features the integrated control cabinet for space saving next to the molding machine, a moveable kick-stroke design for unlimited space in front of the vertical arm, as well as best balance for the long time of linear rails and bearings.

Wittmann Canada Inc. (Richmond Hill, Ont.); www.wittmann-canada.com; 866-466-8266 Ontor Ltd. (Romark Division) (Toronto); www.ontor.com; 416-781-5286

INJECTION MOLDING

Redesigned all-electric units are more efficient Toshiba Machine Co. has redesigned its EC-SX all-electric injection molding machine line from the inside out, revamping not only its platens, injection unit, and controls,

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase

but also its exterior styling.

Compared to previous designs with three screw and barrel combinations, the new line has five screw and barrel setups to choose from. In addition to expanding the machine’s daylight, Toshiba has also widened the space between the tie bars — the tie bars are greaseless, running on linear bearings, and the tie bar strain gauge on the back lets the machine measure tie bar stress in process, making adjustments as tooling heats up and expands. The platens themselves can be swapped out depending on where the machine will run, accommodating JIS, SPI, or Euromap standards.

Behind the platens, Toshiba has changed out the toggle system, installing its “Linkline” design with two-piece platens that provide greater clamp rigidity. The new Injectvisor V50 controller replaces the V30, offering a larger, 15-inch color touch screen and faster processing, with the loop speed cut from 500 milliseconds to 62.5 milliseconds.

Toshiba Machine Co. America (Elk Grove Village, Ill.); AnnfepacENG.pdf 1888-593-1616 12-07-20 10:47 www.toshiba-machine.com;

C NSmith Machinery Sales Inc. (Georgetown, Ont.); www.cnsmith.com; 416-917-3737

EXTRUSION

Multipass cooling tank for tubing apps The new MedLine multipass cooling tank and related technologies from The Conair Group makes it possible for producers of plastic tubing to reduce wall thickness tolerances and cut material use dramatically while increasing productivity and reducing floor space requirements. Systems are available for extrusion of medical tubing and also for non-medical products like aquarium tubing, small-gauge irrigation tubing, and pneumatic airway tubing.

Besides using vacuum-sizing, the new MedLine tank has several other advanced features, including precision glass bearings on non-driven rollers to reduce drag and stretch-

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technology showcase ing as the tubing makes subsequent passes through the tank at line speeds that can approach 800 feet per minute; a load cell to measure tension on the tubing by sending a signal to the secondary puller outside the tank to automatically adjust speed to maintain a consistent and repeatable tension and prevent shrinkage issues; and an automatic cut and transfer coiler that transfers tubing from full coil to empty coil with minimal operator involvement.

The Conair Group (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.conairgroup.com; 724-584-5500 Dier International Plastics (Unionville, Ont.); www.dierinternational.com; 416-219-0509

HOT RUNNERS

Ultra-responsive 16-zone hydraulic vale gate sequencer DME Company’s new 16-zone hydraulic valve gate sequencer is designed for responsive control of more valve gates, helping meet increasing demands for precise, sophisticated molding.

The control and convenience features of the product include control over electronics to match the hydraulic zones instead of using physical timers per zone; an external alarm contact; the ability to save and load mold recipes; small visual icons that show valve position for each zone; a circular log that shows the last 200 changes; dual-time functions that allow each zone to be programmed with a delay-

time and an on-time; and a manual mode that can turn all outputs on/off and cycle time on/off.

For global customers, the controllers can operate from a wide supply of operating voltages for easier relocation between plants and countries. This plug can be removed and replaced with a wide variety of 240 VAC plugs for instantaneous operation.

DME of Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); ww.dme.net; 800-387-6600

TESTING & MEASUREMENT

Easy-to-use spectrophotometer The new Datacolor 45G handheld spectrophotometer from Datacolor enables quality control of multiple components to a close numerical tolerance for color, gloss, and texture evaluation of a wide variety of plastic parts.

plastics data file Wittmann Innovations

Innovations — Wittmann’s quarterly newsletter — offers plastics processors detailed insight into ways to improve their businesses with news and application stories covering Robots and Automation, IML, Injection Molding Machinery, Material Conveying, Drying and Blending, Granulation and Temperature Control. It is available in print and on-line.

Wittmann Canada Inc., 35 Leek Crescent Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4C2 Tel: 1-888-466-8266 www.wittmann-canada.com

advertising index Advertiser Acrolab Ltd. Arburg Chillers Inc. Compact Mould Dieffenbacher DynaPurge Div., Shuman Plastics Engel Canada Inc. FEPAC Gamma Meccanica Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd. Hosokawa Alpine American IMS Ingenia Polymers Corp.

JEC Composites Maag Niigon Technologies Ltd. PCS Company Plastic Process Equipment, Inc. PolyOne Distribution Canada Ltd. Rotogran International Inc. SPE Ontario UBM Canon – Expoplast Show UltraPurge Weima Wittmann Canada Inc

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E-mail

9 800-265-9542 info@acrolab.com back cover 860-667-6500 usa@arburg.com 5 905-895-9667 sales@chillersinc.com 21 905-851-7724 info@compactmold.com 25 30 866-607-8743 info@dynapurge.com 27 519-725-8488 sales@engelglobal.com/na 31 450-641-5309 pfillion@fepac.ca 18 877-675-0775 info@irecyclingsolutions.com 15 905-890-0055 sales@hamiltonpsl.com 11 508-655-1123 JimC@halpine.com 29 800-537-5375 sales@imscompany.com 14 800-991-9000 28 21 704-716-9000 maagamericas@maag.com 6 705-375-0770 sales@niigon.com 26 800-521-0546 sales@pcs-company.com 35 800-362-0706 sales@ppe.com 2 888-394-2662 22 905-738-0101 info@rotogran.com 7 13 416-572-7684 29 877-884-3129 ultrapurge@ultrapurge.com 17 888-440-7170 info@weimaamerica.com 7 888-466-8266 info@wittmann-canada.com

Website www.acrolab.com www.arburg.us www.chillersinc.com www.compactmould.com www.dieffenbacher.com www.dynapurge.com www.engelglobal.com/na www.fepac.ca www.irecylingsolutions.com www.hamiltonpsl.com www.halpine.com www.imscompany.com www.ingeniapolymers.com www.jeccomposites.com www.maag.com www.niigon.com www.pcs-company.com www.ppe.com www.polyone.com www.rotogran.com http://speontario.com/ www.expoplast.org www.ultrapurge.com www.weimaamerica.com www.wittmann-canada.com

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase The product features best-in-class measurement accuracy and inter-instrument agreement; simultaneous measurement of gloss and color for quality control; 45/0 optical geometry to correlate with visual appearance; a modern, ergonomic design with color screen and Bluetooth connectivity; and easy-to-read display of multiple Pass/Fail tolerances.

The software on the device enables storage of standards and batches, calculation of colorimetric values, and indication of Pass/Fail in quality control. The 45G integrates with

the included Datacolor Tools desktop software, synchronizing standards and batch results to generate quality control reports and manage large amounts of measurement data.

Datacolor (Lawrenceville, N.J.); www.datacolor.com; 609-924-2189 Prism Instruments (Pickering, Ont.); www.prisminstruments.com; 888-717-7476

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To place your classified ad here, contact: Brayden Ford, Sales Manager at 416-510-5124 or bford@canplastics.com www.canplastics.com September 2012 Canadian Plastics

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technical tips

How scientific injection molding can change your company

By Kip Doyle, moldingHELP.com

I

t’s hard to believe, but the injection molding industry is 140 years old this year. The original 1872 design was a simple manually operated plunger-style machine used for replacing ivory in the production of billiard balls. Many advancements have been made since then in materials, part design, tooling, automation, machinery, and processing strategies. In recent years, the introduction of so-called “scientific molding” has had a significant impact on the industry.

In the 1980s, industry pioneers like John Bozzelli and Rod Groleau were starting to develop more systematic approaches to process development. Bozzelli (who coined the term “scientific molding”) was working at Dow Plastics, and Groleau had founded RJG Associates. Both men understood that there had to be a better way and, between them, they developed many powerful tools and strategies.

Other terms besides scientific molding are used to describe this approach, including “decoupled molding” and “point-of-view molding”. In a nutshell, scientific molders use facts and data, rather than gut feelings and emotions, to guide them; they use data to establish a robust process that compensates for normal variation, resulting in minimal process changes throughout the production run.

The basis for scientific molding is to process from the point of view of the plastic. To do this successfully, we must start by recognizing the five critical components of any successful plastics application: piece part design, material selection and handling, tool design and construction, processing, and testing. Each component is equally important, and each must be done correctly. Processing cannot be expected to compensate for errors in the other four areas.

Fundamentally, injection molding is a simple process. From the perspective of the plastic, there are four primary process variables; plastic temperature, plastic flow, plastic pressure, and plastic cooling rate and time. All machine variables are secondary to these four variables. Let’s break it down a little more.

•P lastic temperature: What is truly important is the actual melt temperature (and uniformity of melt) of the plastic prior to injection into the cavity. Machine temperature settings are secondary. Molders often take their own approaches to setting barrel temperatures, giving little consideration to the resulting plastic melt temperature; most molders don’t even have a way to accurately measure melt temperature. This becomes even 34

more difficult when using hot runner systems.

•P lastic flow: We must duplicate the plastic flow rate during the first stage of injection. Fluctuations result in an amplification effect on material variation, resulting in an unstable process. This commonly leads to short shots, flash, dimensional variation, and many other defects.

•P lastic pressure: Plastic is compressible, therefore consistent packing of the plastic in the cavity after fill is critical and must be repeated to achieve process consistency.

•P lastic cooling rate and time: Often, little attention is paid to the cooling phase. To produce a constant part, we must repeat the process of taking the heat out of the plastic. The molder must pay close attention to such details as cavity steel temperature, coolant condition and flow (turbulent flow), coolant line connections, and routing.

If we repeat these four plastic variables, we produce the same part, over and again.

As in any task, you need the proper tools. For scientific molders, there are many tools available, including a mix of scientific molding procedures (viscosity curve, delta P, screw recovery optimization, pressure loss, and gate seal) and hardware (temperature measurement devices, weight scales, and process monitoring systems). Detailed training and proper use of these tools is critical. And we need properly performing molding machines, of course. Machine performance can be evaluated using additional scientific molding procedures, including the load compensation test, non-return valve evaluation, and machine pressure control assessment.

Properly implemented, scientific molding reduces manufacturing costs (scrap, downtime, and labor) and, more importantly, dramatically increases profit. As with anything, it doesn’t come easily or without a price; proper training and floor level and top level management support are all critical.

A cultural change might be required, too, which often means overcoming internal resistance. Scientific molding will eventually have an impact on virtually every injection molder — either by strengthening them or their competition.

CPL Kip Doyle has more than 30 years of experience in the injection molding industry. He is a certified Master Molder level III (certified trainer), and a member of the injection molding consulting group moldingHELP.com. He can be reached by email at kdoyle@moldingHELP.com or by telephone at 269-979-5616.

Canadian Plastics September 2012 www.canplastics.com

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MOLECULAR SIEVE DESICCANT HIGHEST QUALITY – TWO TYPES – TWO SIZES GUARANTEED TO BE PURE – CLEAN – FRESH MOLECULAR SIEVE DESICCANT Desiccant dryer manufacturers recommend changing your FRESH DESICCANT HELPS desiccant tanks or beds periodically to assure optimum ACHIEVE LOWER DEW POINTS! performance of your desiccant drying units.

PPE supplies both types 13X and 4A molecular sieve desiccant in two bead sizes. Due to the various designs of desiccant plastic material dryers, you must replace your bed material with the same type and size that was supplied with your dryer.

Molecular sieve desiccant type 13X has a 12% higher moisture absorption capacity and a larger pore size than type 4A. The larger pores allow it to absorb moisture faster and also absorb larger molecules of moisture as well. Depending on the quantity and type of molecules present, these could react on the surface of the 13X during regeneration and not come off, thus reducing its capacity to function over time. Type 13X is more subject to contamination which in time renders it ineffective.

Because of type 4A’s smaller pore size, it is less subject to 4A 1/8” 4A 1/16” 13X 1/8” 13X 1/16” contamination. However, because of its lower absorption capacity and smaller pore openings, the rate at which it absorbs ALWAYS KEEP YOUR AIR INLET FILTERS CLEAN! moisture will be lower than with type 13X. Another factor to consider is the bead size. Small beads (8x12 mesh) have a faster rate of water absorption, but they are more dense and cause a higher pressure drop than the larger (4x8 mesh) beads. Always specify the correct type and size molecular sieve desiccant. If you don’t know which type of sieve your dryer was designed to use, contact your dryer manufacturer for their recommendation and then call PPE to place your order.

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Production efficiency counts! A broad perspective is essential: every day, some 3.5 billion high-quality plastic parts are produced on ALLROUNDER machines – so the utmost production efficiency is required. If you are seeking to produce that efficiently, we are the right choice. We ensure your economic success. ARBURG for efficient injection moulding!

ARBURG, Inc. 125 Rockwell Road Newington, CT 06111 Tel.: +1 (860) 667 6500 Fax: +1 (860) 667 6522 e-mail: usa@arburg.com

www.arburg.us

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Québec: D Cube · Montréal, QC · Phone: 514-831-6623 | Ontario: Dier International Plastics, Inc. · Unionville, ON Phone: 905-474-9874 | Alberta & British Columbia: Turner Group, Inc. · Seattle, WA · Phone: 206-769-3707

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