Canadian Plastics October 2013

CanadianPlastics www.canplastics.com

OCTOBER 2013

Problems

with your

+

RESIN

FLOW?

Metelix Products Inc. > Started as a tooling shop > Now they’re molding auto

What you need to know to get moving again

parts (and a lot more)

BAD ACTORS

When additives and colorants go wrong

How to solve some common hot runner WIRING PROBLEMS

THEY SAID IT

Moldmakers speak up in our latest BENCHMARK SURVEY

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contents

Canadian Plastics

thinkstockphotos.ca

OCTOBER 2013 VOLUME 71 NUMBER 5

11 in every issue 4

Editor’s View: Green Energy Act hurts manu­ facturing? Color me unsurprised

5

Ideas & Innovations: Can plastics speak? Self-moving gel might just make it possible

6 News: • Entering Trans-Pacific Partnership would boost exports by $15.7 billion: report • Ontario’s EM Plastic & Electric Products bought by Laird Plastics • German packager Gizeh lands in North America with $15 million investment in new Ontario plant • Supplier News & People 9

Executive’s Corner: Family isn’t always the best bet to lead your family business

32 Technology Showcase 34 Plastics Data File 36 Advertising Index 36 Classified Ads 38 Technical Tips: Measuring melt temperature

22

28

cover story 11 RAW MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT: Suck it up What you don't know about the flow properties of your materials can cripple your feeding efficiency. Get moving again with this primer. features 16 ADDITIVES & COLORANTS: In bad taste Because life as a plastics food and beverage packager isn't hard enough, your additives and colorants can make it harder by migrating into products to create unpleasant tastes and odors. Here's how to stop 'em. PLUS: The latest color trend forecasts from the experts.

21 HOT RUNNERS: Wire alarms From connector pin push-outs to crushed cables, failing power and thermocouple assemblies in hot runner systems are shutting down injection molding presses around the world. Stay wired with these tips.

24 MOLDMAKING BENCHMARK SURVEY: Talking shop We asked, and Canada's moldmakers answered. Don't be the last to know what they told us.

28 DOING IT BETTER: Metelix Products Inc.’s wide range This Ontario firm started as a tooling shop in 2009. Then a customer asked them to mold auto parts. They didn't say no. Here's an inside look at a manufacturer that does almost everything.

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Visit us at www.canplastics.com

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Canadian Plastics

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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.

Green Energy Act hurts manu­ facturing? Color me unsurprised

I

n case you missed it, Canada’s Fraser Institute think-tank recently released a report on Ontario’s Green Energy Act (GEA) — and I’m not sure even Stephen King could have penned anything half so frightening.

The report concluded that the GEA is set to push the costs for large energy users to the top in North America, with dire consequences for the province’s economic growth and competitiveness. “Already, the GEA has caused major price increases for large energy consumers, and we’re anticipating additional hikes of 50 per cent over the next few years,” said report author Ross McKitrick, a Fraser Institute senior fellow.

The report calculated that the manufacturing sector will be particularly hard hit by rising energy costs, with returns to investment in manufacturing likely to decline by a whopping 29 per cent. “Provincial efforts to shield this industry through energy subsidy programs only transfer the costs onto Ontario taxpayers, who are already dealing with skyrocketing residential electricity prices,” McKitrick said.

The report shows that the GEA’s focus on wind energy is particularly wasteful, in that 80 per cent of Ontario’s wind power generation occurs when electricity demand is so low that the entire output is surplus and must be dumped on the export market at a substantial loss. How substantial? The province has already lost an estimated $2 billion on surplus wind exports, and will continue to lose $200 million annually.

The Ontario government’s claim that the GEA would create 50,000 jobs has also fizzled, because they failed to account for permanent job losses due to electricity price increases — indeed, some studies suggest that for every job created through renewable energy programs, another two to four jobs are lost elsewhere.

4

The GEA was also supposed to transform Ontario into a major manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels by requiring renewable energy contract holders to source up to 60 per cent of their components in the province — until the World Trade Organization ruled that the policy discriminated against foreign suppliers, that is.

It’s now an open question how much will remain of the province’s fledgling wind component industry a few years down the road.

With the bulk of Ontario’s baseload electricity capacity coming from emissions-free nuclear power that regularly creates energy surpluses up the wazoo, commissioning massive amounts of wind and solar energy at guaranteed sky-high rates was always a dubious idea. To be fair, renewable energy isn’t the only reason Ontario is set to become the highest cost major electricity jurisdiction in North America by next year, but it’s a big one. As a result, the province faces further contraction in its manufacturing base unless it subsidizes big electricity consumers.

It’s another example of why government should stop legislating according to the latest fad. Want social experimentation? Try the dating website of your choice. Leave manufacturing alone.

Mark Stephen, editor

mstephen@canplastics.com

WELCOME ABOARD

Greg Paliouras has joined us as our new associate publisher. He replaces Brayden Ford, who has taken a position as account manager of a sister company, EcoLog ERIS. Greg is a sales professional with over 13 years of experience in business advertising, and is looking forward to working with our advertisers to reach their marketing communications and advertising goals. He can be reached at 416-510-5124, or gpaliouras@canplastics.com.

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 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Greg Paliouras 416-510-5124 Fax: 416-510-5134 E-mail: gpaliouras@canplastics.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Anita Madden 416-442-5600, ext. 3596 Fax: 416-510-6875 E-mail: amadden@bizinfogroup.ca EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Tim Dimopoulos VICE PRESIDENT, CANADIAN PUBLISHING Alex Papanou PRESIDENT, BUSINESS INFORMATION GROUP Bruce Creighton 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 October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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ideas & innovations

Can plastics speak?

Self-moving gel might just make it possible

S

tealing not just a page but Chapters One through Nine from Gothic classic Frankenstein, University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered a selfmoving gel that can give synthetic materials such as plastic the ability to “act alive” and mimic primitive biological communication.

In a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Pittsburgh research team demonstrated that a synthetic system can reconfigure itself through a combination of chemical communication and interaction with light.

Anna Balazs, principal investigator of the study and Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the university’s Swanson School Oscillating gel pieces will move back together after being sliced. of Engineering, has long studied the properties of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) gel, a material first fabricated in the late 1990s and shown to pulsate in the absence by itself unsnap its parts and then put itself back together of any external stimuli. In a previous study, the team had again in different shapes, but also allow you to control those noticed that long pieces of gel attached to a surface by one shapes through chemical reaction and light.” end “bent” toward one another, almost as if they were trying So how big a deal might this be? “Successfully commerto communicate by sending signals. This hint that “chatter” cializing mesoscopic self-propelled objects that self-orgamight be taking place led the team to detach the fixed ends nize into macroscopic materials, which furthermore could of the gels and allow them to move freely. be dynamically reconfigured, would have a dramatic impact Balazs and her team developed a 3D gel model to test the in both manufacturing and sustainability,” the team said in effects of the chemical signalling and light on the material. their paper. “Namely, the same units could be used to form They found that when the gel pieces were moved far apart, structurally different assemblies, potentially enabling difthey would automatically come back together, exhibiting ferent functionalities. This ability to reconfigure a material autochemotaxis — the ability to both emit and sense a chem- into a new shape, without building a new part, would conical, and move in response to that signal. tribute significantly to the recyclability of the system, and “This study demonstrates the ability of a synthetic mate- polymer networks undergoing the BZ reaction constitute rial to actually talk to itself and follow out a given action ideal materials for meeting these challenging tasks.” or command, similar to such biological species as amoeba And it won’t even require grave robbing or a bolt of and termites,” Balazs said. “Imagine a LEGO set that could lightning.

CPL

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Entering Trans-Pacific Partnership would boost exports by $15.7 billion: report C anadian exports could grow by as much as $15.7 billion if the federal government pulls the trigger on entering into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to the Fraser Institute.

A new study from the public policy think-tank concluded that joining the TPP would provide a huge boost to the national economy and help move Canada away from its dependence on the U.S. as a trading partner.

“With the Conservative government signalling that international trade is a top priority, the TPP offers a chance for Canada to gain a foothold in the prosperous and growing Asian markets and move the country away from trade dependence on the U.S.,” international trade specialist and study co-author Laura Dawson said in a statement. “Participating in the TPP is also important to safeguard Canada’s current trade agreements, particularly NAFTA.” While Dawson calculates that the

TPP could provide a $9.9 billion increase in Canada’s gross domestic product, she said the agreement could be equally as important in shaping the rules of future trade agreements and ensuring that gains already made — such as NAFTA — are protected, so that Canada doesn’t have to undertake costly reforms to adapt to a new system.

“The era of easy trade policy gains may be over, but the disciplines imposed by the TPP on investment, regulatory alignment, rules of origin, and market access will, in the longer term, help increase certainty, reduce risk, and lower costs for Canadian exporters and investors in emerging markets,” Dawson said.

Entering the TPP trade agreement would secure a trade alliance between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S., and Vietnam, representing a combined economy of more than $27 trillion, or about one-third of all global trade.

Additionally, the TPP has the potential to expand to include all Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, providing for greater market access gains in the future, Dawson said. “A significant attraction of the TPP is engaging China,” she explained. “If China were to join, the TPP would become the first regional agreement to include the world’s three largest economies: the U.S., China, and Japan.”

The study also noted that when Canada negotiated the NAFTA and World Trade Organization agreements in the early 1990s, issues such as electronic commerce, digital media, and third-party logistics hadn’t yet entered the commercial mainstream — and the TPP agreement provides a platform for discussing and resolving these and other emerging issues. “If Ottawa is serious about diversifying Canada’s trade relationships, then TPP membership is a golden opportunity to do so,” Dawson said.

CPL

thinkstockphotos.ca

news

Ontario’s EM Plastic & Electric Products bought by Laird Plastics P lastic product distributor EM Plastic & Electric Products has been sold to U.S.-based materials supplier Laird Plastics, although industry veteran and former EM Plastic owner Ralph Zarboni is remaining at the helm. The financial terms of the deal are not available as of press time.

Brampton, Ont.-based EM Plastic has been serving the sign, graphic, screen printing, display, and industrial markets for over 50 years, and has been Canadian-owned until now.

Zarboni purchased the company in December 2002. “EM Plastic required new energy when I bought it, and during my stewardship the EM team has been rejuvenated and the EM brand strengthened,” Zarboni said. “Laird Plastics and I have been working on this deal since November 2012, and it will add even more strength and bring new product 6

lines to the company. I’m now 69, have had a wonderful, 50-year career to date, and I look forward to helping Laird Plastics continue the success of EM Plastic.”

Ralph Zarboni (left) and Mark Kramer, EM Plastic has nine president and CEO of Laird Plastics, distribution warehouses confirm the sale. in major cities across Canada. The company offers a range of substrates, including acrylic and lexan polycarbonate sheet and roll stock, foam boards, aluminum composite sheet, styrene, and PVC. It’s also a leading distributor of electrical and LED products to the sign industry.

CPL

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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news

German packager Gizeh lands in North America with $15 million investment in new Ontario plant G

izeh Verpackungen GmbH & Co KG, a German manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging for the food industry, is investing $15 million to open its first North American facility in Brantford, Ont. “A branch of our own in North America is a logical step for Gizeh — it’s an extremely interesting market, particularly for our technologically advanced packaging and decoration solutions for milk and dairy products,” said Ralf Jung, CEO of the Bergneustadt, Germany-based company. Gizeh has been steadily growing for years, he added, and since 2011 has supplied an increasing number of customers in Canada and the U.S. “With a local presence, we want to be closer to our customers and, in the medium term, become a major player in the North

American market,” he said.

The new company is called Gizeh Packaging NA Inc.; installation of the first sleeve system is planned for early 2014. The company will make thermoformed, injection molded, and blow molded packaging.

The company is already onsite in the building, and has begun renovation work. The production area covers 36,250 square feet, and the company has 20 workers already hired, with plans to add another 30 employees by 2015. The Brantford site will be operational as early as November of this year, Jung said, with full operation for one customer by January 2014. Gizeh will be manufacturing plastic packaging specifically for clients based in the region — the company counts as its major clients Nestlè, Unilever,

The new facility in Brantford, Ont. Photo Credit: Gizeh Verpackungen GmbH & Co KG.

Ferrero, Muller Quaker Dairy, and Lactalis.

The decisive factor for the new branch was its strategically favorable location, Jung said, noting that Brantford is located south of Toronto in the heart of the Canadian foodstuffs industry. “This is an optimal location for serving our existing and potential customers in Canada and, at the same time, it’s a good springboard for our further development of the U.S. market,” he explained. “The U.S. border is only 150 km away, and the metropolitan region of Detroit — home to many foodstuffs firms — is only three hours away.”

Altogether, Brantford is the sixth production location for Gizeh, one of the largest European manufacturers of rigid plastic packaging.

CPL

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news

SUPPLIER NEWS — Toronto-based hot runner temperature control system maker AceTronic Industrial Controls Inc. has been appointed the exclusive Canadian distributor for infrared heating technology manufacturer Emitted Energy Corporation, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

— Toronto-based Seville Plastics Inc. — a wholly-owned part of co-ex and monolayer extruded film maker Covertech Fabricating Inc. — has changed its name to Covertech Flexible Packaging Inc. Seville Plastics was purchased by Covertech Fabricating in 2012 for an undisclosed sum. There are no changes to staff or to the management team, and all contacts remain constant.

PEOPLE — Stuttgart, Germany-based compounding and extrusion equipment maker Coperion GmbH has named Thomas Kehl as president and chairman of its Executive Board.

— Avon Lake, Ohio-based resin supplier PolyOne Corporation has named Michael Garratt as the new senior vice president, president of its performance products and solutions business. Garratt replaces Robert Rosenau, who retires after 37 years with the company.

— Resin manufacturer Teknor Apex Company, headquartered in Pawtucket, R.I., has named Marcy Shay as director of sales for its nylon division.

Thomas Kehl

Marcy Shay

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executive’s corner

Family isn’t always the best bet to lead your family business

By Tom Deans

I

t was on the 18th green that a friend who owns a successful executive search firm answered a question about family business leadership that had challenged me from the very first day I sat down to write Every Family’s Business. Finally the penny dropped. As he stared down his improbable 60-foot putt, he opined that his chances were about as good as filling a CEO position in only a week. His comment got me thinking about how difficult it must be to find the very best talent for the most important position in a firm: the CEO. Picking up the conversation after he completed his painful third putt, I asked him how many candidates he would interview for a CEO position. His response surprised me.

He explained that his staff would typically review more than 1,000 resumes, creating a shortlist of 100. A fresh set of eyes would then whittle that list down to 25, and subsequent telephone interviews would narrow the field further to 10 to 20 candidates selected for face-to-face interviews.

When I think about a process that starts with more than 1,000 candidates in a non-family business and compare that with a family with, say, four children, often with only the eldest male destined (ordained, really) for the corner office, the math seems a little lopsided. You don’t have to be an expert in probability theory to discern that non-family businesses have the best chance of finding the very best talent. One need only look at the hyper-growth in the number of family business institutes and consultants obsessing over the grooming of talent to understand the magnitude of the problem, if not the futility of trying to pluck the CEO exclusively from within the family.

When the management gene pool in a family is shallow, you’d think the obvious solution would be for the controlling shareholder to sell the business and protect family wealth to fund his or her long, expensive retirement and the financial future of the heirs. Instead, it has become fashionable these

days for well-intentioned consultants to pander to the founder’s lust for legacy by recommending the family hire professional managers, thereby creating space and time for Junior to grow into the position.

The Juniors I meet in my audiences — who are often in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s — tell me their hired-gun CEOs are there to stay, permanently. The fatal flaw with this plan lies in the question of who will manage the hired gun. Thrusting the succeeding generation into positions of oversight when they have, or more precisely because they have, failed to demonstrate success in the leadership of the firm has to be one of the biggest threats to a family’s wealth.

When a family has concentrated its wealth in one stock — the family business — you can see how high the stakes become. And just like a three-putt, there can be no joy in placing children in positions of leadership and oversight for which they’re ill-suited.

Leadership succession planning is often confused with ownership succession planning — whether a leader is hired from within or from outside the family, the risk to wealth does not abate. The concentration of family wealth in one business remains a clear and present danger.

As a trusted advisor, how would you caution a family business client about their leadership choices, especially when it’s obvious that, when the odds of landing the right CEO are about one in a thousand with a proper search, the likelihood of finding the right person when the search is limited to family is about the same as hitting a hole-in-one?

CPL Tom Deans is an author, public speaker, and a fourth-generation business owner. His book Every Family’s Business is the bestselling family business book of all time. For more, visit www. everyfamiliesbusiness.com.

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raw materials handling equipment

Photo Credit: The Conair Group

WHY you need to understand SOLIDS What you don’t know about the flow properties of your materials can really slow your feeding efficiency.

Get moving again with this primer.

FLOW

By Mark Stephen, editor

S

low motion might make the money shots in an action blockbuster look Oscar-worthy, but it’s definitely not going to win you awards for your raw materials flow. Res-

ins are usually handled with a pneumatic conveying system that typically consists of a system of pipes, manifolds, valves, and controls that are powered by a high velocity stream of air.

In theory, it’s simple. The air stream moves as the result of a differential in vacuum pressure that’s created at the head of the system by a vacuum pump. When granular, pelletized, or powdered materials are exposed to this vacuum pressure differential, they’re drawn into the pneumatic conveyor, suspended in the air stream, and moved to their destination.

Real life, however, isn’t simple. All plastic materials have certain characteristics which govern the amount of power or velocity required to move them properly, and plastics proces-

sors who want to specify an optimal resin feeding and conveying system need to know what they are. Problem is, these characteristics aren’t simple, either. That’s why too many processors don’t really know about the flow properties of their materials, thereby putting their operations at a severe disadvantage, and potentially exposing them to quality problems and downtime. “A true understanding of how bulk solid materials convey and flow, and how that affects the design of a materials handling system, involves a lot more than most people realize,” said Rob Miller, president of Wittmann Canada. “Processors on the whole don’t know as much as they should about material flow characteristics.”

And it’s not just a theoretical problem. Cost is king these days, and many processors send out bids to equipment vendors with little detail on the solids being handled, and a focus www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

CPLOct2013 p10-15 Raw Mats.indd 11

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raw materials handling equipment

on the lowest price. You can probably guess the result. Processors pay little or no attention to solid handling before a system is installed, but after that the pain sets in — dealing with flow problems when the system starts up, by which point the company has probably blown its budget and is forced to deal manually, at the shop floor level, with such problems as throughput variation and product non-uniformity.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The first step in building a better raw materials handling system is getting to know the materials to be handled, especially their measured flow properties. “Flow property testing should be part of routine pre-engineering work,” said Tony Truscott, vice president of sales for Pneuveyor Systems International Ltd. “By obtaining flow properties beforehand, processors can make important engineering decisions at the outset.”

FLOW CHARTS Let’s start with the bad news about flow properties. Plastic resin, either in pellet or granular form, is susceptible to flow problems such as blocking, sticking, erratic flow, inconsistent discharge, poor mixing, and lack of first-in/first-out flow. All of these problems stem from an incompatible combination of solid flow properties and equipment design details. Taking the first point first, flow property is deter-

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FLOW PROBLEMS & FIXES CHARACTERISTIC

MATERIAL BEHAVIOUR

Friability

Tendency to break into fine particles Filtration

SOLUTION

High cohesiveness

Tendency to clump together

Avoid pneumatic conveying

High abrasiveness

More difficult to move, with a tendency to scratch and scuff the system

Reduce air velocity; utilize special bends and wear plates

Low melting point

Tendency to form stringy “angel hairs” that stick to bends of piping system

Avoid velocity in excess of recommendations; convey with chilled air; use special bends

Acidity

A tendency to corrode system elements

Use corrosion resistant system materials

Aerated/De-aerated

Aerated materials flow freely in air; de-aerated materials tend to pile up and block airflow

Avoid moving de-aerated materials through system Credit: The Conair Group

mined by bulk density and a little thing called gravity. “The amount of air required to lift and move particles and pellets through the system is related to the specific gravity and particle size of a material,” said Doug Brewster, conveying product manager for The Conair Group. “The bulk density of materials — either as powder, granules, or pellets — is an important determinant of the size of pumps, pipes, and receivers in the system. Materials with bulk densities between 25 and 55 pounds per cubic foot are relatively easy to convey, while heavier materials may require more power.”

It’s for this reason that some materials are inherently more difficult to convey than others. As the first rule, powders are almost always trickier than pellets. “Powder simply doesn’t flow as well as pellets,” said Robert Hodge, senior technical sales manager for Maguire Canada. “Almost anything can affect a powder, most obviously including moisture. Even PVC powder with granular fill is tough to convey.” Nor does it help that, at the time that a handling system is specified and ordered, data on powder flowability are generally incomplete, unavailable, or unrepresentative of the actual material to be processed.

That said, there are problems associated with certain pelletized materials, too. “Pellets that have a low surface tension or a low durometer rating — meaning they’re very soft on the surface — tend to be more difficult to move,” said Doug Brewster. “Flexible PVC, for example, has the consistency of an eraser tip, and is on the middle to upper end of A or the lower end of D scales on the Shore Hardness scale.

The most difficult of these are square-cut soft materials with straight edges instead of an ovular shape. And almost any elastomer is also difficult to convey.” The characteristics of these materials create additional resistance to flow, Brewster continued, and can require up to two times the horsepower, or double the line size, to attain the required throughput rate comparable to a harder surfaced resin like a polypropylene or a polyethylene.

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raw materials handling equipment

SUCK IT UP So with the measured flow properties of the materials to be handled determined as well as possible, the task then becomes to tailor the system to the flow characteristics.

This can influence specifications for a wide range of system components, including hopper sizes and shapes, conveying line sizes and construction, vacuum pumps, chutes, feeders, dust collection, drive sizing, and operating and data collection systems.

First, there are some basic design rules to keep in mind.

“The higher the velocity in pneumatic conveying systems, the higher the damage to the conveyed granules,” said Heinz Schneider, president of Pelletron Corporation. “With plastic pellets, high velocities create dust and streamers; and with abrasive materials, high velocities will eventually create severe erosion of pipes and components.”

Moreover, common sense dictates keeping piping runs as short as possible, period. But if you have to go long, specialized conveying equipment can help. For example, the APDB

Powder doesn’t flow as well as pellets, and almost anything can affect powder flow. series vacuum pump from AEC Inc. uses a non-reversing valve to convey powdered materials over long distances, while the company’s APC series has a regenerative vacuum pump design to handle free-flowing pelletized materials.

And both models have vacuum gauges on the pumps for visual indication of system performance.

There are also different needs in bulk conveying powder versus pellets, and these should also be taken into consideration. “There’s a specific vacuum loader and receiver design for a powder system, and a specific design for pelletized material,” said Rob Miller. From that point, he continued, the analysis goes deeper, into the type of pellet or powder, and the makeup of the powder. “Most powders are PVC, but they can contain different additives that should be taken into account when the system is being designed,” he said. “For pellets, especially low density polyethylene pellets used in particular by film manufacturers, there are certain parameters that have to be kept in mind because it’s a very soft pellet, and can develop degradation like streamers and angel hairs in an improperly designed system.” One method for avoiding

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angel hair, some experts say, is to incorporate treated pipe into the conveying system. “If the conveying pipe has been treated with material to roughen the inside of the surface, the pellet won’t smear because it’s being continually broken up during conveying,” said Tony Truscott.

“This is a technique for materials like low density polyethylene; the higher density resins don’t require it, and neither does PVC powder.”

Abrasive, glass-filled materials won’t necessarily affect the handling system equipment design, the experts say, but they can determine what the system is built from. “Stainless steel remains one of the best choices, because it’s the slipperiest of all the steels,” Doug Brewster said. “Most resins, including glass-filled, will be conveyed more easily through stainless steel than through aluminum, which has a texture that can impede material flow.” For abrasive materials that flow well, like PET, glass tubing is very effective against wear — but there’s a downside. “Glass is expensive, and relatively few processors are willing to make a complete investment in it,” Brewster said. “An option is to use stainless steel for straight sections, and glass transitions for the elbows and the 45 degree turns.”

And consider incorporating an adjustable distribution box into the system. “Distribution boxes assure smooth material

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raw materials handling equipment

flow with hand adjustable slip tubes that ratio the amount of material to be conveyed in proportion to the air inlet used for vacuum conveying,” Brewster added.

A scenario involving the two most common flow problems — no-flow and erratic flow — tends to occur when a system designed for pellets is used to convey powder without the appropriate retrofitted upgrades. “If a processor switches from running pellets on a dedicated line to running powders, they should definitely make alterations to the conveying system,” said Robert Hodge. “Changing elbows to a minimum of stainless steel is the first step. The second involves the receiver on the other end — if it’s a filterless pellet receiver, consider putting in a wear plate, especially if the line is going to run high volumes of PVC. Finally, upgrade the loader from a pellet loader to a powder loader.” The good news, the experts say, is that switching from powder to pellet conveying is a cinch, in that a powder system can usually handle pellet conveying with ease. “The conveying parameters don’t vary much between pellets and powders,” Rob Miller said. “The pump size necessary to convey a certain rate of powder isn’t much different than what’s needed to convey a similar rate of pellets. A powder loader can most certainly convey pellets or regrind without being upgraded.”

In the end, it’s worth repeating: The key to efficient raw materials conveying is to design the system to the

measured flow properties of the resins to be handled.

Think of it this way, action movie-wise: Bruce Willis might look mighty impressive outrunning the fireball in slow motion, but when it comes to maximizing your raw material flow, let the speed, brain power, and leadingedge technology of Iron Man be your guide.

CPL RESOURCE LIST AEC Inc. (Schaumburg, Ill.); www.aecinternet.com; 847-273-7700 EquiPlas (Toronto); 416-407-5456 Auxiplast Inc. (Ste-Julie, Que.); www.auxiplast.com; 450-922-0282 The Conair Group (Cranberry Township, Pa.); www.conairgroup.com; 724-584-5500 D ier International Plastics (Unionville, Ont.); www.dierinternational.com; 416-219-0509 Industries Laferriere (Mascouche, Que.); www.industrieslaferriere.ca; 450-477-8880 Maguire Canada/Novatec Inc. (Vaughan, Ont.); www.maguirecanada.com; 866-441-8409 B arway Plastic Equipment Inc. (Vaudreuil-Dorian, Que.); www.barway.ca; 450-455-1396 Pelletron Corporation (Lancaster, Pa.); www.pelletron.com; 717-293-4008 Pneuveyor Systems International Ltd. (Woodstock, Ont.); www.pneuveyor.com; 519-539-2054 Wittmann Canada (Richmond Hill, Ont.); www.wittmann-canada.com; 888-466-8266

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Advertorial

NEARLY FIVE DECADES OF HELPING PLASTICS PROCESSORS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY Canadian-owned equipment manufacturer for 48 years The Hamilton family has a long history in the plastics equipment business. In 1965, A.C. Hamilton and Co. Ltd. was founded in Mississauga, Ont. by Art Hamilton. The main selling point was: “Service, experience and success. We have the resources to get the job done properly and promptly.”

That is still the guiding principal today for Hamilton Plastic Systems, run by Art’s grandsons Steve and Douglas.

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.

There are a number of advantages for a Canadian plastics processor in doing business with a local equipment manufacturer,

chief among them local knowledge, support, and fast service and parts delivery.

“Our responsiveness can be key to your success,” says Steve Hamilton. “We make decisions in a timely fashion and can be more nimble than a large corporation with headquarters outside of Canada.”

Hamilton Plastic Systems provides a wide selection of equipment that efficiently moves and stores raw materials and conveys and conditions them on their way to processing.

The company is a market leader in powder loaders, pellet loaders, and bulk handling systems — no wonder it just experienced exceptionally strong growth in sales for its latest fiscal year.

In addition to manufacturing, Hamilton

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

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.

Hamilton has been working with Chinese auxiliary equipment manufacturer Shini Plastic Technologies since 1965 and is the distributor for all Shini products in Canada. It is also the exclusive distributor for the Dutch company Movacolor, a manufacturer of feeders, and the Italian company Plastiblow, a manufacturer of extrusion blow molding machines.

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

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

Hamilton Plastic Systems Ltd., 230 Brunel Rd. Tel: 905-890-0055 • Toll Free: 800-590-5546

www.hamiltonplasticsystems.com

CPLOct2013 p10-15 Raw Mats.indd 15

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additives & colorants

BAD ACTORS:

By Mark Stephen, editor

How additives and colorants can spoil your food and beverage packaging

T

hink Steven Seagal is a bad actor? Compared to taste and odor issues caused when so-called “bad actors” among additives and colorants migrate into the contents of a plastic package, he’s Sir Lawrence Olivier.

Along with catching the eyes of the consumers, minimizing sensory change as much as possible over the shelf lives of foods, beverages, and other goods sensitive to taste and odor is the big goal in packaging. But how’s this for irony: The same plastic packaging that protects the contents can also alter its taste and odor. In most cases, it’s subtle and of little consequence. Sometimes, though, the change can be critical, as in neutral products like bottled water that are especially susceptible to organoleptic influences. Preserving the taste and odor of products in plastic packaging is a complex process that extends throughout a package’s path from formulation to customer. Understanding how functional additives and colorants can impact product taste and

16

odor is essential to limiting the organoleptic interaction between the plastic package and its contents. And since any packaging raw material can cause organoleptic concerns, masterbatch suppliers and others involved in compound formulation have to understand just how the various additives and pigments can go wrong. So if you don’t want your packaging company’s good reputation infected by a bad smell, here’s an introduction to the numerous factors in organoleptic properties.

POOR PERFORMANCES The optimum approach to creating plastics packaging free of taste and odor problems is to choose an “organoleptic-friendly” colorant and avoid the use of functional additives. In general, most FDA-compliant colorants are organoleptically suitable, but colorants still require careful selection because some have chemistries that are more problematic than others when it

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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:

additives & colorants

comes to taste and odor. “Colorants that contain either chlorine or sulfur have the potential to cause sensory issues, and some manufacturers have strict limits on compounds with such colorant content,” said Chris Miller, technical development manager, plastics, for Americhem Inc. “Ultramarine blue, which is a sulphur-based pigment, is one example, and is virtually always used at the lowest level possible.”

Off-tastes can also arise from coatings on mineral pigments, such as rutile titanium dioxide (TiO2), which are often designed to assist dispersion. In fact, only a few of the TiO2 white pigments currently available are suitable, making it doubly important for those formulating masterbatches for plastic packaging to keep an eye on such pigments from all suppliers.

Consideration is also required when selecting organic additives used in packaging resins, including slip agents for torque reduction in closures or as a mold release, antioxidants for protection against thermal degradation, antistatic agents, and dispersion agents that aid in the man-

How’s this for irony: The same plastic packaging that protects the contents can also alter its taste and odor. ufacturing process. “There are a number of slip agents that can create taste and odor issues,” said Peter Prusak, head of marketing and product management, North America, for Clariant Masterbatches. “For example, erucamide slip additives can be bad actors unless they’ve been refined, as can some of the stearates, which are an older technology for dispersion. A vegetable-derived amide, alone or in combination with a behenamide, can be a better alternative.”

Shorter shelf lives are also recommended for masterbatches designed for organoleptic-sensitive applications. “Slip agents tend to migrate to pellet surfaces, so shelf life is usually limited to between six months to one year, as opposed to two years for conventional masterbatches. Customers should therefore either use them up or keep them properly stored in dry, dark spaces,” Prusak said. “This concern doesn’t apply to pigments; as long as pigments aren’t stored in the sunlight, their shelf life is indefinite.”

To reduce the risk of organoleptic problems still further, formulators should opt for high purity additives that contain relatively low concentrations of the lower molecular weight contaminants that can readily migrate out of a plastic. And as with the bad actors among colorants, formulators should use these additives at the lowest effective dosages. “Additives made from vegetable sources are generally preferred to those derived from animal sources, which may go rancid over time,” said Jean Siros, general manager, color, for RTP Company.

Another factor that can weigh in on the organoleptic integrity of a package is the choice of carrier resins used in liquid masterbatches. “Carrier resins such as mineral oils can cause taste and odor issues, as can some of the other components used to keep pigments or additives in suspension,” said Peter Prusak.

“As a rule, liquid carriers should be free of low molecular weight components.”

CRITICAL SUCCESS But even with a high level of organoleptic awareness, processors still have to follow particularly good manufacturing practices. “To safeguard against cross-contamination, packaging manufacturers should consider using dedicated equipment whenever possible for applications sensitive to taste and odor,” said Jean Siros. “Molders and extruders also need to keep processing temperatures from rising so high that the resin degrades and creates species that cause offensive odors and tastes.” Good steps, but there’s more. “Problems with the screw design can create too much shear in the molding machine,” said Peter Prusak. “This was an early issue with PET water bottles: Packaging manufacturers tended to create too much acetaldehyde, which caused some bottled water to develop a very sweet taste. Today’s acetaldehyde reducers can prevent that.”

And we’re still not out of the woods yet, as the rest of the supply chain can also create organoleptic problems. For example, sterilization by ultraviolet light or ozone can affect some of the organic additives in a plastic, creating off-tastes and odors. “Even distribution and storage can alter taste and odor if the package shelf life is exceeded or storage temperature goes too high,” said Chris Miller.

In the end, eliminating taste and odor issues in packaging for foods and beverages comes down to a few critical bullet points. “Packagers should keep their manufacturing processes as simple as possible, use the right pigments at the lowest levels permissible, and omit superfluous steps such as adding extra lubrication,” said Peter Prusak.

They’re the best ways to keep the bad actors off stage. CPL RESOURCE LIST Americhem Inc. (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio); www.americhem.com; 330-929-4213 Clariant Masterbatches Canada (Toronto); www.clariant.masterbatches.com; 800-265-3773 RTP Company (Winona, Minn.); ww.rtpcompany.com; 800-433-4787 www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

CPLOct2013 p16-20 Colorants.indd 17

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additives & colorants

Fast Plastic TOMORROW’S Solutions With

COLORS,

TODAY

IMPROVING YOUR PROFITABILITY WITH INNOVATIVE POLYMERIC

H

ow important is it for plastics product designers to get early and reliable information on tomorrow’s consumer color trends?

That’s like asking how important is it for the Toronto Maple Leafs to beef up their defense. The right color choices can help companies refresh and invigorate their products — and colorant makers can help, by working with color trends experts to identify trends that appeal to high-end consumers, thereby predicting the hottest colors for the coming years. Will they be right? Check back with us in, say, 2016. In the meantime, here are the hip hues and themes that some suppliers are betting on.

MATERIALS AND ON-TIME DELIVERY

• INJECTION MOULDING • EXTRUSION • BLOW MOULDING • ROTO MOULDING • FILM

CLARIANT MASTERBATCHES

Now in its eighth year, Clariant’s annual ColorForward directions are the result of the collaborative effort of plastics color specialists throughout the world. They’ve identified four key trend themes for 2014.

• Keep It Real. “At a time when consumers are overwhelmed with Distributors quality products: Omni Plastics LLC, Vi-Chem, Reinier • Antimicrobial thermoplastics (Kills bugs) brands and bored with me-too products, people want what’s real and Biodegradable thermoplastics (Degrades in Landfill) tangible,” said Norzihan Aziz, head of Clariant’s ColorWorks Asia • Black colour concentrates Pacific Region. “To stand out in the marketplace, designs have to • Reprocessed post consumer thermoplastics connect with consumers on a more personal level. One of the new colors, Genuine, is a classic olive shade that represents transparency and honesty.”

Omnilon Omnipro Omnitech Omnicarb Many unique • Re/use/full. “The colors of Re/use/full are a visualization of thinkand specialized nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, polypropylene, ABS, PBT, PET/polycarbonate and polycarbonate/ABS compounds. ing outside the box, of morphing discarded products into new-generation identities,” Aziz said. “The colors suggest feelings of timelessOmnilon Omnipro Omnitech Omnicarb Many unique Rigid and flexible ness, longevity, and permanence.” and specialized nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, polypropylene, ABS, PBT, PVC compounds.

• There to Share. “The colors of this category are connective, sug- compounds.

PET/polycarbonate and polycarbonate/ABS gesting how individuals around the world share their experiences, thoughts, and ideas across time zones, effortlessly and quickly,” said Judith van Vliet, a designer at ColorWorks. “One Time Zone, one of the colors in this theme, gets its deep, dark color inspiration from the city late at night.” www.poundsofplastic.com • Vamos Jogar Bola. Inspired by what Clariant calls the spirit of 3130 Pepper Mill Ct., Mississauga, Ontario L5L 4X4 Canada Brazil. Splash Green, one of the colors in this category, gets its inspiration from the lush, green Amazonian forests of Brazil.

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POUNDS OF PLASTIC INC.

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18

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p16-20 Colorants.indd 18

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RIC

DING M

C, ls bugs) dfill)

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any unique e, ABS, PBT, nds.

INC.

Recently a customer asked me to develop a material for an application that had both high temperature stiffness and low temperature toughness. Chemical resistance to oils and greases was also criteria as the end use application of the part was to be an environment where hydrocarbons were present. The part was a vessel that contained fluid and the Customer wanted to be able to see fluid levels. The Customer wanted glass reinforced nylon for heat or stiffness @ elevated temperature (HDT) and secondarily strength. He did not want too much glass due to the “see through” aspect. The part was made in two halves and post moulding, welded together to create the vessel. We were limited in the amount of glass reinforcement we could load into our formulation. We also changed the crystallinity of the nylon to obtain more clarity.

We however failed in the application due to weld/knit and meld line weakness. The mould designer elected to use two gates to fill each half of the vessel. Both halves of the vessel were in one mould; family mould.

Each half was significantly different in configuration relative to one another that an unbalanced fill was apparent. My definition of a weld line and a knit line are the same. Two melt fronts coming together from opposite directions. Their line of meeting is the knit line or the weld line. A meld line is slightly different in my definition in that two melt fronts traveling in the same direction or very close to the same direction meet. The meeting line is called the “meld line”. Regardless of the name the part/mould designer must consider first and foremost the type of material he/she wants to use in the part and the wall thickness changes within the part prior to building a mould. It is always better to have a uniform wall thickness in an injection moulded part. Melt will flow easier in a thick section versus a thin section.

He/She must also consider bosses, ribs, cores and inserts. Glass reinforced materials or mineral reinforced materials are basically slurries of solid particles traveling in a “liquid” matrix. Gate location and size is extremely important and the mould designer must use every effort to minimize weld/meld/knit lines. Venting is also extremely important especially as it relates to weld/ knit & meld lines. We elected to use glass reinforced material however unreinforced material would have had weakness @ the weld line as well.

Polymers exhibit “fountain flow”. See fig. 1 Rigidhave and flexible PVC compounds.

Polymers are non Newtonian fluids. The closest

fig. 1

fig. 2

fluids to being Newtonian fluids are water and air. In this particular case the mould had several gates, thus creating several melt fronts. When the melt fronts combined, weld/knit lines were created. There is air between the melt fronts and as the melt fronts come together the air is compressed and will exit via a vent or an escape route or not.

If the air doesn’t escape and air contains oxygen then combustion will take place. See; “Diesel like combustion.” Combustion may not be visible (black part for example) however the damage to the polymer @ the meeting fronts can be detrimental to the performance of the part. When combustion occurs we classify this combustion as “incomplete” combustion.

Since thermoplastics are hydrocarbons when they burn they produce heat, water, carbon dioxide. Incomplete combustion also produces carbon & carbon monoxide.

In the case of nylon burning we will also see a small amount of nitrogen compounds. The water that is now steam exhibits pressure between the melt fronts as do the other gasses. Bubbles may be observed in the weld/knit line. What we determined is that the weld line tensile strength was less than the compound tensile strength. Glass had not gone across the weld/ knit line. We also determined that the weld/knit line tensile strength was less than the tensile strength of the base polymer. Was this due to burning or lack of pressure combining the melt fronts?

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS SERIES #4

ic

The glass in a glass reinforced compound does not migrate across the weld/knit line therefore the highest strength obtainable @ a weld/knit line is the strength of the base material. See fig. 2. In other words if you are going to design a part that will have knit/weld lines and it is to be made from a glass or mineral reinforced compound be aware that the weld line strength will not be as strong as the compound and may not be a strong as the base material. You may consider making the part in unreinforced material. Unreinforced material will in all likelihood have a lower specific gravity and therefore the part will be less expensive.

We also observed that upon vibration welding the two halves together that the glass fibre did not migrate across the weld. Therefore the weld produced in glass reinforced nylon is only as strong as the base material in the compound.

An additional observation regarding the “family” mould; In this particular case the “family” mould impaired the production of the “best” possible parts. Since the mould was unbalanced ideal packing was never obtained in either part. Stress was created in the part that received additional packing relative. In my opinion “family” moulds are penny wise and pound foolish.

om

Canada

For additional information regarding the science of weld/knit lines please don’t hesitate to contact Richard Pounds and or Boris Funduk @ 905-286-9894.

Email us @ boris.funduk@poundsofplastic.com or rpounds@poundsofplastic.com.

CPLOct2013 p16-20 Colorants.indd 19

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additives & colorants

AMPACET CORP.

AMERICHEM INC.

Linda Carroll, Ampacet’s color insight manager, identified three trends driving the company’s food and beverage packaging and consumer goods colors heading into 2014: the digestible, the transformable, and the dissolvable.

• Digestible. “In the digestible category, we take the robustness of the brown embodied in coffee along with the fleeting aspect of digestibility to produce a lighter, neutral brown tone,” she said.

• Transformable. “These are pigments designed to relate to the worldwide trend towards greater product convenience by being optically variable — something that moves in the range of the eye as the consumer walks down the grocery store or shopping store aisle,” Carroll said. “These are effects that help product makers engage the consumer very early on.”

• Dissolvable. “These are frosted, ethereal, and pale color tones — mainly blues, pinks, and greens — that first came out of Asia,” she said.

“They’re dissolvable in that they’re part of the trend to decrease the size of packaging materials. These colors have been in the furniture industry for the past few years, and they’re going to become more common in markets such as electronics goods.”

In addition, Ampacet also recently released new effect masterbatches that are accentuated with subtle color plays, Carroll said, such as combining black and color to add mystery to a part. The Nuanced Blacks line includes subtle shades of Apocalyptic Purple, Passion Crush, Machined Green, Hush Hush Gold, Shadowed Brown, and Blued Mood.

Americhem recently unveiled its 2014-2015 Color Trend Watch, put together with help from a Parisian fashion design company. The result? Four color families for this year.

• Designer. Described by luxurious mood, rich effects, sophisticated harmony, velvet textures, and simplified shapes, according to Ruth Simon McRae, a color trends expert affiliated with Americhem.

• Engineer. “This family is meant to represent mechanical and handcrafted materials, metallic tints, vegetable dye colors, and tinkered shapes,” McRae said.

• Fun Science. The third family is meant to represent experimental mood, translucent effects, sensual textures, and molecular shapes, she explained.

• Urban Power. “These are ultra chic, minimalistic, monochromatic effects, dramatic textures, and aerodynamic shapes,” McRae said.

CPL RESOURCE LIST Americhem Inc. (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio); www.americhem.com; 330-929-4213 Ampacet Corp. Canada (Kitchener, Ont.); www.ampacet.com; 519-748-4654 Clariant Masterbatches Canada (Toronto); www.clariant.masterbatches.com; 800-265-3773

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Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p16-20 Colorants.indd 20

13-09-24 10:56 AM

hot runners

WIRE ALARMS

By Mark Stephen, editor

A quick guide to solving some hot runner wiring problems From connector pin push-outs to crushed cables, failing power and thermocouple assemblies in hot runner systems are shutting down injection molding presses around the world. Here’s how to keep your processes properly wired.

Both images: thinkstockphotos.ca

R

unning a profitable injection molding shop is hard enough these days without the costs associated with failing power and thermocouple cable assemblies in hot runner systems. These costs include tool or controller damage, cable repair or replacement, loss of production, overtime expenses — not to mention ticked off customers.

Power and thermocouple assemblies come in a variety of configurations, many of which are based on rectangular connectors. Failures on the production floor are simple to understand; uncovering their root causes — all too often the result of carelessness with hot runner wires on that same production floor — and hitting on the right remedies takes a bit more savvy.

We talked with some of the experts

about three common hot runner wiring trouble spots and their solutions.

CONNECTOR PINS Connector pin push-out or breakage decreases or eliminates contact with the mating pin, and is commonly caused by a high number of mating cycles, tolerance mismatches between connector manufacturers, loose tolerances, and connector damage due to over-current or heat. The simplest solution to reduce or eliminate pin push-out or breakage? “Use quality components from a respected manufacturer, and avoid using multiple brands of connectors unless you’ve verified that there are no tolerance issues,” said Bill Rousseau, engineering and technical ser-

A GOOD OFFENSE

Quick tips for defending against common wiring issues • Provide enough clearance for wires in manifold plate wire slots.

• Have enough retainer strips in wire slots to avoid pinching wires during mold assembly.

• Use appropriate wire and wire gauge for thermocouple and heaters.

• Avoid having wires close to the manifold, as wire shields may get damaged by high heat and create a short circuit.

Source: Hasco Canada Inc.

vices manager for Synventive Molding Solutions.

Also, machined contacts can reduce the occurrence of pin-push out, the experts say, tend to stay fixed in the connector more reliably, and can withstand high numbers of mating cycles and overall abuse.

CONNECTORS Processors can cut their odds of having connector problems by being smart at the outset. “When hot runner installation is being done on the shop floor, install sturdy, good quality connectors,” said Louis Hébert, managing director for Hasco Canada Inc. And for cripes sake, be careful. “You don’t want to see the connector pins getting pushed inside as you install the cable,” Hébert continued.

“Connector misalignment can cause pin push-outs and breakage.” To make it easier for you, guide pins to replace the connector insert mounting screws are inexpensive, easy to install, and reduce the chances of connector misalignment.

But quality parts and careful installation still only get you so far — mechanical damage can happen all too easily during days and months of production, caused by

www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

CPLOct2013 p21-23 Hot runners.indd 21

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hot runners

anything from connectors getting dropped, getting caught in the tools...even to being run over by forklifts. Broken latches can occur from excessive physical loading on the latch while it’s plugged in, by being latched while there’s a misalignment issue, or by random physical abuse. Other connector damage can include damaged latch “bails,” cracked or smashed hoods, and broken mounts.

CABLES “On at least one-third of the occassions when I encounter an injection molding temperature control issue, the problem lies with the cables,” said Bill Rousseau.

“Cables are fragile at best, and it doesn’t help that they tend to get beat up fre-

quently in a real-world molding environment.”

Oftentimes, the problem is simply that the cable has been pulled out. Excessive mechanical loading and improper strain-relief selection are A pre-wired combination the primary causes of cable pull-out, allowing the cable mold junction box from Athena Controls Inc. Photo Credit: Athena Controls Inc. to work itself out of the backside of the connector. Proper strain-relief heat, stress from repetitive movement, design is the solution, the experts say. and our old friend physical damage.

Select cable glands based on the outside Proper wire sizing is the most effective diameter of the cable to guarantee a tight way to minimize costs associated with fit and maximum holding force. short circuits or cable burnout. And There are other common causes of when replacing a burnt cable, beware of cable failure, including current overload, the do-it-yourself approach. “I’ve seen

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13-09-24 10:58 AM

hot runners

junction box available in three different models. “Each box contains a terminal strip for easy wiring of the power connector, without having to crimp the wires,” said Harry Kitz, president of Athena representative Process Heaters Inc. In the end, investments in quality components and some proper employee training go a long ways toward keeping hot runner wiring problems from short circuiting your parts production.

CPL

YOUR ONE ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSABLE WIRING RULE OF THUMB* (*According to Bill Rousseau, Synventive Molding Solutions)

“Wiring color codes for the J and K style thermocouples differ according to geographic region. On a type J thermocouple in North America, the white wire is positive and the red is negative; in Europe, the red is positive and the blue is negative; and there’s also an international standard that’s black and white.

In all, a type J thermocouple could have one of six or seven coloring codes.

If you’re not sure which one you’ve got, remember this: On a type J thermocouple, the positive wire is always magnetic; and on a type K thermocouple, the negative wire is always magnetic.

So when in doubt, grab a magnet and see which wire it’s attracted to.” many examples of processors having used a connector rated for 10A to replace a cable for a 15A application, which simply leads to another burnout,” said Kim Thiara, president of AceTronic Industrial Controls Inc. Using flex-rated cable will reduce failures caused by repeated flexing, the experts say; and to reduce the chances of physical damage to the cable, just think smart — and get creative. “During

changeovers of very large molds, I’ve seen set-up crews damage cables by unclamping them and then simply dropping them to the floor, which can be as much as a 20-foot drop,” Thiara said.

“Our solution is to install a pre-wired stationary junction box to the machine, with a cable hard-wired from the mold directly into the junction box that cannot be detached.” Athena Controls Inc. also offers a pre-wired combination mold

RESOURCE LIST AceTronic Industrial Controls Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.acetronic.com; 905-564-7227 Athena Controls Inc. (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.); www.athenacontrols.com; 610-828-2490 Process Heaters Inc. (Toronto); www.processheaters.ca; 416-747-8250 Hasco Canada Inc. (Toronto); www.hasco.com; 416-293-5044 Synventive Molding Solutions (Peabody, Mass.); www.synventive.com; 978-750-8065

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www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

CPLOct2013 p21-23 Hot runners.indd 23

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13-09-24 10:58 AM

moldmaking benchmark survey

SAY

SAY

SAY

By Mark Stephen, editor

The survey, consisting of 33 questions, was emailed in August 2013 to approximately 160 moldmakers across Canada in the Canadian Plastics database, as well as to members of the Canadian Association of Mold Makers.

We received 19 completed surveys.

24

The results of the fifth annual Canadian Plastics Moldmaking Benchmark Survey are in. Last year, our respondents reported a return to semi-prosperity after the Great Recession. How does the situation compare 12 months later, as the auto industry heats up? We’ll let their answers do the talking.

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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moldmaking benchmark survey

WHO, WHAT, WHERE

PROJECTION FOR BUSINESS CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS (n=18)

6.7% Excellent Bad 0%

Poor 0%

CURRENT QUOTING ACTIVITY VS. THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR

(n=18)

Same 53.3%

Up moderately 20% Down substantially 0%

Up substantially 6.7%

Down moderately 20%

0

02

04

06

08

WHAT SERVICES DOES YOUR PLANT OFFER? CNC duplicating 62.5% Custom machining 92.3% EDM facilities 61.5% Engraving 30.8% In-house mold testing & try-outs

23.1%

Injection molding of parts

15.4%

Jigs & fixtures manufacturing

38.5%

Mold polishing 76.9% Mold repair & cleaning 84.6%

BUSINESS: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE Asked for a prediction of business conditions in the next 12 months, only 6.7% expected an “excellent” year ahead, 53.3% expected “good” conditions, 40% expected “fair” results, and no one feared either a “poor” or “bad” outcome.

Fair 40%

Good 53.3%

001

As usual, most of the respondents this year — 79% — are located in Ontario, with 31% in the Windsor area, 26% in Toronto, and the rest spread throughout the remainder of the province. Fifteen per cent are in Quebec, and 6% (one shop) in Alberta.

When asked how many employees work at their plant, answers varied from 109 to two. Almost 50% of this year’s respondents are with firms that employ 50 or more workers.

The average respondent employed 62 workers, compared to an average of 59 workers last year, and 46 in 2011 — perhaps indicating that more of the shops that are around today are larger. The average hourly wage is $22.35, a fall from the 2012 average of $25.41 per hour. But there’s no sign this year of the respondent who last year reported paying a whopping hourly wage of $65.00, a figure that might have distorted last year’s total.

The majority of respondents — 78.6% — said they manufactured molds and dies for injection molding applications, a slight rise from 71.4% last year. Fifty per cent this year make injection molds/stack molds, 35.7% make injection molds/unscrewing molds, 28.6% make die cast molds, 21.4% make vacuum forming molds, 14.3% make blow molds, 14.3% make reaction injection molds, and 7.1% make structural foam molds.

Compared with 2012, the 2013 responses reveal a slight but noticeable shift in the manufacturing habits of the moldmakers. Last year, 71.4% of respondents listed the auto industry as their top market; this year, 80% list it as their top market. Seventy-three per cent of respondents this year make molds for consumer goods and houseware products, down from 81% in 2012. The auto industry is being described by many analysts as red hot these days, and our respondents seem to bear that out. Also, 33.3% of respondents this year supply molds for packaging applications, and 26.7% supply molds for electrical applications. The number of respondents working for the medical industry is holding steady: Fiftythree per cent of respondents this year make molds for medical applications, compared to 54% in 2012, and 45% in 2011.

Ninety-two per cent of this year’s respondents offer custom machining, compared with 85% last year; also, 84.6% offer mold cleaning and repairing, which is too close to the 85% last year to get a cigarette paper between them. Almost 77% provide mold polishing, compared to 66.7% last year; and 61% reported having an EDM facility this year, down from 85% with EDM last year. Also this year, 61.5% reported offering CNC duplicating, and 30.8% perform engraving works. Almost 24% of this year’s respondents have in-house mold testing or try-outs, compared to over 30% last year.

Prototyping 53.8%

(n=18)

SLA Modelling 7.7%

www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

CPLOct2013 p24-27 Mold Survey.indd 25

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13-09-24 11:00 AM

PURCHASING, TRAINING, R&D So now we turn to buying new moldmaking machinery, which is where a lot of the suppliers I’ve just put to sleep might wanna wake up. The respondents were clear — and for the third year in a row, most are in a buying mood. To be precise, 62.3% are looking for new equipment, which is a slight rise from 52% last year. The even-better news? Almost 84% will be on the hunt for new equipment exclusively, compared to 72% in 2012. The rest are willing to consider either new or pre-owned.

Digging a bit deeper, 58.3% of this year’s respondents will be buying to add new capacity, and the rest to replace existing equipment.

On the training front, 50% of this year’s respondents report allocating 2% of annual budgeted expenses for employee training, 12.5% spent 1% on training, and a frighteningly safe and efficient 31.3% invested 3% or more. Doing the math thusly, we see that 6.2% reported having no expenses at all set aside for training in 2013, compared to 19% with nothing socked away for it last year.

And when it comes to research and development, the spending

0

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

WHAT MARKETS DO YOU SERVE?

(n=18)

Aerospace 33.3% Appliance 53.3% Automotive 80% Consumer goods/Housewares 73.3% Electrical/Electronic

26.7% Medical 53.3% Oil & Gas 0% Packaging 33.3%

Sporting goods

26.7% Toys 26.7%

Blow molds

01

02

03

04

05

06

WHAT TYPES OF MOLDS AND DIES DO YOU MANUFACTURE?

07

(n=18)

13.3%

0

Other

08

Last year, 5% expected excellent conditions, 40% expected good conditions, 35% expected fair conditions, and 20% thought they were in for either a poor or bad year.

Asked for their average machine utilization rate over the past 12 months, almost 28% reported using 80% or more of their equipment, 61% reported using between 60% to 79% of their machinery, and 11% used 59% or less. Last year, 20% used 80% or more, and no one reported using 59% or less.

Turning to quotations for new business, the numbers fall off a bit compared with last year’s results. Almost 27% of respondents this year reported quoting for moderately or substantially more business than in 2012, a drop from the 38% last year who quoted more than in 2011. On the other hand, a whopping 53.3% of respondents this year said they placed the same number of quotes as last year, which is a big increase from the 23.8% reporting the same number of quotations in 2012 and 2011. And only 20% reported a moderate to substantial quoting decrease compared to 2012 — down from the 38.1% of respondents reporting a moderate to substantial quoting decrease last year. All in all, then, the results seem mixed.

RFQs are one thing — quotes that result in new business are a whole ‘nother ball game. This year, 10.5% of respondents said that 50% or more of their quotes wound up winning the contracts — way down from 35% saying the same thing last year. Another 47.4% said they were successful between 21% and 50% of the time, and the remaining 42.1% reported getting the contract 20% of the time or less.

08

moldmaking benchmark survey

14.3%

Compression/transfer molds 50% Die cast molds 28.6% Extrusion dies 7.1% Injection molds 78.6% Injection molds – stack molds 50% Injection molds – unscrewing molds 35.7% Reaction injection molds

14.3%

Structural foam molds 7.1% Vacuum forming molds

21.4%

continues steady. Seventy-one per cent of this year’s respondents will invest 3% or more of their annual budgeted expenses on R&D, compared to 65% last year; and — to invoke the rare double negative — no one reported To view the full survey results, go to http://www.canplastics.com/survey/moldarchives2013.asp making no R&D investments in the next 12 months, compared to 20% saying the same last year.

CPL

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Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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doing it better

METELIX PRODUCTS INC. All photos courtesy of Metelix Products Inc.

FROM TOOL SHOP TO LARGE SCALE CUSTOM MOLDER...FAST

28

Above & this photo: Post-mold trimming and packaging of automotive parts.

Think the Transformers can change shape quickly? Just a few short years after being founded to service one sector, this Ontario manufacturer is hoovering up contracts in another.

By Mark Stephen, editor

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p28-31 DoingItBetter.indd 28

13-09-24 11:02 AM

doing it better

I

t pays to be versatile. In the early 1900s, American athlete Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, tore it up as a pro football, baseball and basketball player, and wound up with a town named after him in Pennsylvania.

In the here and now, Brampton, Ont.-based Metelix Products Inc. is following its own versatile pathway as a tool maker; as a designer, manufacturer, and assembler of cutting-edge blow molded automotive parts; as a designer and molder of a wide range of industrial products; and as a global supplier with international operations in Detroit, Mexico City, and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Not bad for a company that only got its start in 2009 as a tooling shop.

Although Metelix opened its doors officially four years ago, the firm’s roots actually go back decades. “Our background is that of a large automotive supplier, but we were bought out of that business in 2006,” said Tim Chapman, Metelix’s vice president.

If the company’s name doesn’t strike you as overly “plasticky,” there’s a reason: it derives from the firm’s beginnings as a tool shop making metal components for luxury armored vehicle maker Conquest Vehicles — a contract Metelix still has. “We supply Conquest Vehicles with machine hinges, steering wheels, running boards, door handles, and more,” Chapman said. The transition into designing and molding

plastics parts came about two years ago in an unusual way: by request. “A former customer approached us and offered to support us in getting back into automotive molding,” Chapman said. “And they’ve been as good as their word, coming through with about 10 order programs for us so far.”

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY The firm was able to make the transition into plastics parts molding in part because many of its 55 employees have plastics backgrounds, and also because its newly-renovated 60,000-square-foot facility in Brampton — formerly the site of a glass recycling firm — contained enough room to stock with a wide range of blow molding machines and assorted auxiliary equipment. And good timing allowed Metelix do so without breaking the bank. “Almost all of our equipment was purchased used at a time when there was a surplus available at auction, which isn’t the case anymore,” Chapman said.

“We had a window of opportunity and we took advantage of it. Currently, we have 12 machines ranging in shot capacity from five pounds to 60 pounds, all purchased on the used market, and we have a machine-building staff to add PLC and other upgrades.”

Indeed, do-it-yourself is something of a mantra at Metelix. “We designed and built all the tools, molds, and downstream finishing equipment, and also our robotic

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CPLOct2013 p28-31 DoingItBetter.indd 29

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13-09-24 11:02 AM

doing it better

cells,” Chapman said. “The cells follow swimmers to put their wallets, iPods, and two concepts: one is at the machine other valuables inside; the panels are inserting metal components, removing blow molded, with metal framing in­serted and trimming the parts, and presenting as a secondary operation. We have the the parts to the operators. We also have capability to make 100,000 per year.” As a universal cell that we’ve developed to if this isn’t a broad enough product offerdo secondary work, such as putting ing, Metelix’s sister facility in Brazil holes in parts. This allows us to better makes plastic pallets from 100 per cent utilize our capital and optimize our post-consumer plastic — a mixture of flexibility. For a low-volume product, PET and polypropylene — for the food we can remove the nest and put in industry. “The pallet, which was designed another product — we don’t need an here in Brampton, is rackable, meaning it The finished poolside safe. expensive fixture for each product that can withstand being supported from only Structural components are manufactured only ends up being underutilized.” the two ends while holding up to 2,000

by Metelix for PoolSafe Inc. If DIY is the inner philosophy, product pounds of product at high temperatures,” design is what the company sells itself on to the outside world.

Chapman said. “It’s a different criterion to satisfy than sim“We have the engineering design expertise necessary to make ply being stackable, and required a much more complex aerodynamic and styling exterior products: spoilers for Cadilengineering design.” lac, wind-splitters for Camaro that feature insert-molded Metelix doesn’t perform injection molding yet, but does metal parts, air deflectors for Chevy Silverados and GMC produce finished automotive parts that contain injection Sierras, and a variety of running boards,” Chapman said. molded components. “We’ve been awarded injection mold“We’re also going into production next year with air curtain ducts for some Ford vehicles.”

A good example of what Metelix brings to the table, Chapman continued, is the air deflector for the GMC Sierra. “The air deflector was originally an injection molded part that GM wanted to have blow molded — they wanted the part to have a back wall, whereas the injection molded part was single-walled,” Chapman said. “The part we designed and manufacture goes in front of the rear tire, and helps to improve fuel economy.” One hurdle that had to be ing business that comes as a package — for example, brake cleared was part texture. “The part had to have a very fine cooling ducts for the new Camaro Z28, which is produced through a combination of blow molding and injection moldgrain on it, and blow molding is an inherently more difficult ing,” Chapman said. “We designed the injection molded process to impart grain from the mold than injection molding, so we developed a technology called the MTEX Process parts, and we outsource the actual molding and then perform final assembly here in Brampton.” that creates the fine, crisp texture required,” Chapman said.

If Metelix’s business sounds complicated — toolmaking, The order calls for approximately 1.2 million parts per year, which led to design hurdle number two. “Since the part cycle design, engineering, system integration, molding and assemtime is just over one minute, we run a multi-cavity mold to bling aerodynamic and styling products for the auto industry, produce two parts per minute to match vehicle production and an assortment of industrial manufacturing — its business philosophy isn’t. “Customers are relatively straightforlevels in the U.S. plants,” he added. ward: they want innovation, solid program management, cost SWITCHING GEARS FROM AUTOMOTIVE savings, better quality, and prompt delivery. In our previous But Metelix isn’t about just parts for vehicles. The company incarnation we learned that innovation is how a company was recently awarded a contract to mold polyethylene traffic really grows its business, and we’re still committed to that barrels, complete with value-added reflective tape. “We’re idea with Metelix,” Chapman said. “We also have the benefit not in production on this project yet, but the mold is 90 per of good timing: There are opportunities in the post-recession cent finished,” Chapman said. The barrels only scratch the world for a new company like ours to be competitive. So in a surface. “We also blow mold sukkahs, or prayer huts, that are sense, we have the best of both worlds — experience, but also used on Jewish holidays,” Chapman said. “And another order a fresh approach. It makes us a very versatile manufacturer.” program is the design and manufacture of a line of safes, That ectoplasmic sound you might be hearing right now is similar to what you see in hotel rooms, that sit poolside for Jim Thorpe approving.

CPL

In our previous incarnation we learned that innovation is how a company really grows its business, and we’re still committed to that idea.

30

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p28-31 DoingItBetter.indd 30

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C h

INJECTION MOLD, PART & PROCESS DESIGN Getting It Right the First Time Learn how at this two-day workshop.

To ensure your molds will perform as they should and produce high quality, repeatable parts, your team needs to understand the mold process from the design stages of the part and mold, through production runs and mold transfers. Designers, mold builders, tooling engineers and advanced processors are perfect candidates for this workshop.

It is geared towards OEMs and custom or captive injection molders who deal with problematic part designs and the inherent variability of plastic materials.

Workshop topics incLude:

Presenter Thom Smith, Consultant/Trainer, RJG Inc., has over 20 years of experience in injection molding and is an expert in part design and troubleshooting.

part design evaluation • evaluating your machine’s performance capabilities • Mold design (cavity layout, runner design, gate design) • process development at the mold design stage • A team exercise to work through a sample design process october 23 & 24, 2013 humber institute of technology & Advanced Learning 203 humber college Blvd. (hwy. 27 and Finch Ave. W.) toronto, M9W 5L7

Cost: $350, including lunch on both days and a course manual Organized by:

Canadian Plastics Following on the success of our Basics of Plastics Seminars Check www.canplastics.com for detailed information and registration, or call 416-510-6867

CPLOct2013 p28-31 DoingItBetter.indd 31

13-09-24 11:03 AM

technology showcase

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT

Expanded range drying system now supports BMW production Competing against four other auxiliary equipment suppliers, Piovan’s material handling and drying equipment has been selected by German auto maker BMW to play a central role in its new i3 and i8 production facilities.

Two sets of Piovan Modula drying technology were supplied to BMW, with each consisting of a single dryair generator and seven drying hoppers with volumes ranging from 600 to 1,000 litres. BMW also purchased Piovan’s Varyo vacuum conveying systems, MDW gravimetric blenders, and Winfactory control system.

Installed at one of the new German production sites for the i3 and i8 vehicle lines, the two Modula systems will eventually support 12 injection molding production lines, with six lines installed in the first phase of production.

BMW will mainly be drying blends, according to Piovan, including ones with a polypropylene or polycarbonate base, like PP/EPDM and PC/SAN. Parts are molded and immediately transferred to painting lines, a very sensitive production stage in which silicone particles aren’t allowed. The fact that Modula system has no silicone components or parts that could contaminate that painting step was a key factor in its selection, Piovan said.

The Modula system supplied to BMW automatically adjusts and controls all operating parameters for each individual hopper so that only the required amount of energy is used.

Piovan said its patented airflow measuring device, which is located in the air supply line and at each hopper, allows

32

airflow to be adjusted and controlled automatically and individually, hopper by hopper. In the system, control software manages the settings for each hopper on the basis of data collected by sensors installed within the line.

First introduced in 2010, the Modula drying system has now been made available for medium and large capacity applications, ranging in throughput from 200 to 2,000 kg per hour. According to Piovan, energy savings of as much as 50 per cent are possible compared to standard centralized drying systems of equivalent capacity.

Piovan Canada Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.piovan.com; 905-629-8822

Waterless cooling system saves money IMS Company has just released the new Hydra air-cooled circulator, a waterless cooling system designed to provide cost-saving features that pay for itself by eliminating external water, sewer, and cooling tower costs.

The Hydra uses a copper and aluminum finned tube heat exchanger with a large fan to cool circulated water (and glycol mixture). Having an isolated tank that has no need for an external water source makes this mold circulator self-sufficient, and well-suited for shops with a limited supply or poor quality of water. Furthermore, the use of glycol virtually eliminates corrosion to expensive tools and molds, saving time and replacement costs.

Constructed from quality components for its stainless steel pump, heating element, and tank, the Hydra is designed for a long service life. Additionally, it comes with an automatic low fluid level electrical shut-off capability to protect the pump and heater; a solid state PID tempera-

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p32-37 TechShow.indd 32

13-09-24 11:06 AM

technology showcase

ture controller that enables accuracy up to ±1°F; and an 11 gauge, welded, 12-gallon stainless steel reservoir.

By eliminating the need for an external water source, the circulator can be moved easily to any location in a shop with an appropriate electrical source, utilizing the mounted swivel casters.

Equipped with a 9 kW heating element, the new IMS water circulator is available in 230/60/3 or 460/60/3.

IMS Company (Chagrin Falls, Ohio); www.imscompany.com; 800-537-5375

INJECTION MOLDING

Hybrid for demanding packaging applications Engel has added to its speed series with the introduction of the new e-speed 650, a hybrid machine with an electric clamping unit and a completely new drive solution designed for demanding packaging applications.

The toggle clamp on the e-speed 650 is encapsulated, which ensures that oil consumption levels are well below average, and which allows the machine to achieve very short dry cycle times.

T he i nte grated controlled spindle cooling system also helps to shorten cycle times, which can be less than four seconds when thin-wall items like containers and lids are being manufactured for purposes such as food packaging.

Also, a flywheel acts as an electric reserve in the 650 unit, storing the braking energy from the platen movements and transferring it back to the motor as and when it’s required for processes such as the reacceleration of the clamping movements. This ensures that the power requirements of the drive motor are covered. When the storage capacity is reached, the excess energy from the generator is fed back into the network and not converted into heat by the braking resistance. The 650 is therefore able to run with a relatively low, and above all constant, connected load. Power peaks are reliably avoided.

Ejection movements are also executed electronically on standard models. A hydraulic variation is available as an option.

In addition, its particularly long opening stroke allows it to work with large stack molds without any problems.

Screw diameters 80 and 90 are available with the 650 at the outset.

Engel Canada Inc. (Waterloo, Ont.); www.engelglobal.com/na; 519-725-8488

EXTRUSION

Co-extrusion die for high barrier multilayer films The new FlatPack die from Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. is designed for co-extruding barrier films up to 11 layers, and can be used to produce structures using any barrier material including PA (nylon), EVOH, PETG, and PVdC. The optimized design of the FlatPack die, which features round f low channels throughout, streamlines the flow of polymer to optimize residence time distribution and shorten residence time. This reduced residence time virtually eliminates interfacial instability, making the die more versatile for a wider range of film structures. The die also features shortened purging times, allowing processors to perform faster product changeovers with reduced scrap generation.

www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

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technology showcase

The FlatPack die offers improvements in residence time and purging over previous Macro die designs. For example, a nine-layer FlatPack configuration has been shown to reduce residence time up to 30 per cent and shorten purging time by 20 per cent. The FlatPack also gives processors the added flexibility to allow major film structure adjustments by swapping layers, such as reconfiguring an A/B/C/D/E structure to A/C/D/B/E. The die boasts a short height, and is available up to 760 mm die diameter.

Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.); www.macroeng.com; 905-507-9000

MOLD COMPONENTS

Pre-machined insulator sheets save time, money A new line of pre-machined high-temperature insulator sheets from DME is meant to help moldmakers reduce their labor costs.

Designed for standard mold bases, the insulator sheets are said to have the highest level of pre-machined features in the marketplace with locating ring clearance hole, assembly screw clearance holes, and insulator sheet mounting holes all pre-machined. By pre-machining the sheet to this extent, DME saves moldmakers labor, time, and machine wear, enabling them to focus on high-value machining of core and cavity plates.

The newly enhanced sheets are made of highcompression-strength, asbestos-free material with a maximum recommended service temperature of 550°F, making them well-suited for high-temperature applications. The thermal insulating properties of the glass-reinforced polymer composite material inhibit heat transfer from the mold to the platen, or from the platen to the mold (depending on the application), conserving energy and prolong-

WHY USE THIS MUCH OF PURGING COMPOUND...

ing machine life.

The insulator sheets are used on molds and dies between the top clamping plate and the stationary platen, and between the bottom of the ejector housing and the movable platen. The new line of Insulator Sheets also has been designed one-sixteenth of an inch shorter on all sides to prevent damage during mold handling. They are available in standard one-quarter or one-half inch thicknesses, while custom sizes and machining are available upon request.

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

exp

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

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 above.

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REQUEST A FREE SAMPLE 714.708.2663 www.ultrapurge.com ULTRA PURGE CUSTOMERS TYPICALLY USE 2-3 TIMES LESS MATERIAL COMPARED TO OTHER PURGING COMPOUNDS 34

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

CPLOct2013 p32-37 TechShow.indd 34

13-09-24 11:13 AM

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

An ideal introduction if you are new to the injection molding industry or would like a refresher.

Instructor Kip Doyle has more than thirty years experience in the injection molding industry. He spent seven years working for injection molding machinery companies supporting injection molders in various technical positions. He has proven expertise in Scientific Molding techniques and is an RJG certified Master Molder & Trainer (level III).

Workshop topics include: Scientific injection molding expert Kip Doyle, Master Molder level III & Certified Trainer

part design • Material selection • injection mold components • injection molding machine components • injection process variables • specialized injection processes (e.g. gas assist, insert molding, etc.) • injection molding economics Wednesday, november 20 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. humber institute of technology & Advanced learning 203 humber college Blvd (hwy 27 & Finch Ave) toronto, M9W 5l7

Cost: $199, including lunch and a course manual Organized by:

CanadianPlastics

Following on the success of our Basics of Plastics Seminars Check www.canplastics.com for detailed information and registration, or call 416-510-6867 Sponsored by:

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Authorized Distributor

CPLOct2013 p32-37 TechShow.indd 35

13-09-24 11:14 AM

technology showcase

SIZE REDUCTION

Shredder cuts scrap size, volume The new Titan 20 shredder from Munson Machinery Co. can reduce the volume of scrap plastics, resins, and fibreglass products by up to 80 per cent.

The shredder features dual rotors with extended cutter teeth that chop and shred heavy volumes of large solids with minimal power consumption, while self-cleaning without binding, plugging, or increasing the material’s temperature.

The cutter blades are mounted along two parallel shafts that are hexagonal in cross section, reportedly yielding higher strength and greater fatigue

resistance than traditional keyed bar shafts. The cutter blades are constructed of 4140 material that is heat-treated, through hardened, and can be resharpened.

The Titan 20 Shredder is constructed of stainless steel (shown) or carbon steel, in chamber lengths of 711 mm, 1,067 mm, and 1,524 mm, with 15 kW, 37 kW, and 75 kW motors respectively.

Options include smart auto-reversing controls, ram feeders, extended support legs, specialized hoppers, and gravity or pneumatic transitions.

For finer grinding, the unit is available integrated with rotary cutters, hammer mills, or other size reduction equipment from Munson. Also available are Maxum Shredders for shredding of abrasive materials.

classified ads MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT

MATERIALS

To place your classified ad here, contact: Greg Paliouras, Associate Publisher at 416-510-5124 or gpaliouras@canplastics.com advertising index Advertiser

Page

Website

Advertiser

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Maguire Products Canada

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Novatec

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PCS Company

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Piovan Canada

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Plastic Process Equipment, Inc.

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Pounds of Plastics

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Process Heaters Inc.

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Schmolz + Bickenbach

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Sorel Forge

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The Shepherd Color Company

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UltraPurge

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Wittmann Canada Inc.

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Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase

Munson Machinery Co. (Utica, N.Y.); www.munsonmachinery.com; 315-797-0090 C on-V-Air Inc. (St. Hubert, Que.); www.con-v-air.com; 450-462-5959 CTEC Process Equipment Sales (Stouffville, Ont.); 905-640-4500

TESTING EQUIPMENT

Automatic contacting extensometer for better test results New from Instron, the Auto­ X 750 Automatic Contacting Extensometer is designed to offer faster, more reliable, and more accurate materials testing routines, with high accuracy and travel that make it particularly well-suited for tensile and flexure testing of plastics.

Meeting the requirements of ISO 9513, ASTM E83, and ISO 527-1 (2011), the AutoX is used to determine a variety of calculations including modulus, offset yield, and plastic (non-proportional) elongation to failure. It enhances the productivity of testing laboratories with features including automatic gauge length positioning, and attachment to the test specimen. By removing manual, tedious, and time-consuming steps, lab operators can enjoy a simplified testing routine while improving throughput. Additionally, reducing inconsistencies in how a traditional clip-on extensometer is attached greatly improves the repeatability and reproducibility of critical test results.

The AutoX can also be used with either fully automated or manual testing systems. When not in use, the mounting allows operators to quickly and safely position the extensometer out of the test area, providing a safe storage environment for the device. Removing the AutoX from the test area allows operators to easily switch out grips and fixtures without the additional step of uninstalling the device.

Instron Canada Inc. (Burlington, Ont.); www.instron.com; 905-639-8683

MATERIALS

Impact-modified polyamide for automotive parts A new toughened polyamide 6.6 compound for injection molding from Teknor Apex Company is designed to provide good flow properties for intricate or multi-cavity parts, along with flexural strength and low-temperature impact

resistance for demanding automotive applications.

The flexural and impact strength of Chemlon 104 polyamide enables components such as automotive fuel line fasteners to withstand the stresses of assembly and end-use, and endure exposure to cold. When unreinforced polyamide 6.6 provides insufficient flexibility or toughness for an application, Chemlon 104 compound can often fill in the gap. The new compound is an alternative for automotive manufacturers, and is available at a price that’s competitive with toughened polyamides already on the market.

Teknor Apex can supply identical formulations of Chemlon 104 compound worldwide from production facilities in Europe, the U.S., and Singapore. The material is available in natural, black, or any color specified by the customer.

Teknor Apex Company (Pawtucket, R.I.); www.teknorapex.com; CP Equipment Ad:Layout 800-556-3864 1 9/12/2013 4:35 PM Page

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• Material Handling –Loaders, Tumblers, Material Storage Bins and Dryers • Production – Chillers, Water/Oil Circulators and Temperature Controllers • Post-Production – Lime Buster, Conveyors, Granulators and Static Eliminators To learn more about IMS Auxiliary Equipment, please call or visit us on the web at:

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Phone: 1-800-537-5375 (US & Canada) Phone: 001-888-304-1307 (Mexico) Fax: 1-888-288-6900 (US & Canada) equipment@imscompany.com

Since 1949, a trusted source for Molding Supplies, Engineered Components, EQUIPMENT, MROP Supplies & Engineering Services

www.canplastics.com October 2013 Canadian Plastics

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technical tips

Measuring melt temperature

By Allan Griff, consulting engineer

M

elt temperature is not the same as metal temperature. The melt may or may not be the same as the surrounding metal (barrel, adapter, die). Usually it’s not, as the difference between the two is what drives heat transfer.

So why should we measure melt temperature, and how do we do it?

Why measure? All plastics are heatsensitive, some more so than others, and excessive heat breaks the polymer chains and weakens the product. (An exception is HDPE, where sometimes the crosslinking reaction proceeds as fast as the chain-breaking, and the resulting product is as strong as, or even stronger than, the original resin.)

Another reason is that production rate is often limited by cooling capacity, and if the melt comes out cooler it may also be run faster. Blown film extrusion is the most common example of this situation.

For products where chemical reactions are involved, like foaming or cross-linking, melt temperature is critical, since it controls the reaction rate. With foam, for example, too hot (for too long) means bigger cells, and too cool means fewer/smaller cells.

Next question: how do we measure it?

The usual way is a probe into the actual melt stream after the breaker plate. Fixeddepth probes are common — variabledepth is better but much rarer (and more easily damaged). A combination with the pressure gauge is very common, but is misleading and unreliable, especially if behind breaker and screens at the tip of the screw (where only pressure should be measured).

But just because the gauge reads a single number shouldn’t lead to the conclusion that all the melt at that point is at that temperature. Several studies back in the 1980s proved that there are gradients between centre to walls, as well as linear differences. A variable-depth probe will show these (that’s how one of these studies was done), but ignoring these gradients is all too common.

In the best cases, there was only a 10°F (5.5°C) difference at any one vertical plane in the adapter, but in some cases a variation of as much as 50°F (28°C) was recorded.

This variation can be reduced by keep38

ing controllers of the zone around the probe near the melt temperature, and insulating head and die where possible to reduce radiation losses. Selective insulation can be used to alter melt temperature in various parts of the die (for example, pipe and profiles). A tip? Hold the insulation in place with magnets or stainless steel Velcro.

Shear heating of the probe is an error introduced by flow of the melt past the probe. It’s easy to measure, may be as much as 10°C, is usually ignored, and is most important with reactive melts (foams and cross-linkers).

There’s a term for people who don’t measure melt temperature for fear that the probe will be a site for early degradation: “probophobes”. Usually they’re extruders of PVC. If the rest of the system is so streamlined that this is the weak point, they may be right; for the rest of us, get the numbers, even if you use a flush combination sensor.

Infrared (IR) guns and needle pyrometers are useful supplements, but need special skills to use (and, as the saying goes, the results may vary for different users).

For round sections like blown film and pipe, scan across emerging extrudate at a constant distance from the die, and note the maximum. Know the angle that the gun measures — smaller is better, but also more expensive.

No thermocouple or IR gun? You can get an idea of internal melt temperature by changing a controlled value in the adapter, so that the heater just goes on and right off again.

Also, don’t forget feed temperature (almost never measured except with dryers). If this varies (for example, night versus day) it will affect heating in the barrel and affect melt temperature, too. Don’t expect the controllers to solve such problems. In fact, melt temperature can be above any of the control zone settings, because of motorinduced heating inside the barrel. In such cases, changing barrel temperatures may be the only remedy, but it isn’t very effective because of the “Eleventh Law of Extrusion”: the motor opposes the barrel and the barrel opposes the motor. In other words,

if you heat up the barrel, the screw turns easier in the hotter melt on the barrel wall, so less motor power is needed and less heat is put into the system. Cooling the barrel is the reverse: it thickens the melt at the wall, so the motor must work harder (draw more power) to turn at specified speed, and more heat is put in to make up for some of the heat taken out by the cooling.

Heating and cooling in the adapter or die are free of the effects of the Eleventh Law and are therefore more efficient, but still seldom done, perhaps because of increased tooling cost, and because new gradients may be introduced. Insulation, as noted above, may be an equivalent to heating, as it opposes heat loss and may mean a more uniform metal temperature in the head.

The “Fifth Law of Extrusion” is also relevant: stick to the barrel, slip on the screw (in the feed zone). More sticking to the barrel may mean more conveying per turn, which can translate to slower rpm for the same throughput, hence less overheating.

Sometimes, however, the barrel is already so hot that the particles melt on contact and slide around on the wall, reducing the conveying and requiring higher rpm.

If melt temperature is so important, why don’t we control it by measurement and feedback to heaters? I’ve never seen this done, and have been told that the time lag for response is too long, but I wonder if new technology can change this?

A more basic reason is that viscosity is a determinant of how much comes out of the die at any point, and although viscosity is dependent on melt temperature, it also depends on flow rate and resin structure (molecular weight, branching, comonomers, and catalysts), so it may be too complex to be worth the trouble.

Last but definitely not least, keep records. This will help you to understand what’s going on, and also serve as a basis for normal operation. If you know what good is, you’ll also know what it isn’t. CPL Allan Griff is an independent consulting engineer and plastics extrusion expert based in El Cerrito, Calif. Visit www.griffex.com, or contact him directly at algriff@griffex.com.

Canadian Plastics October 2013 www.canplastics.com

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