Canadian Plastics March 2015

Canadian Plastics www.canplastics.com

MARCH 2015

The

Shipping News

?

Is RESHORING MYTH or REALITY

+

NPE2015 PREVIEW An early look at the big show

EXTRUSION How to achieve consistent tubing

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contents

Canadian Plastics MARCH 2015 VOLUME 73 NUMBER 2

LOOKING BACK...

14*

* Percentage of Canadian manufacturers planning to source from China in 2015.

(See pg. 10)

in every issue 4 Editorial: Goodbye, hello 5 Ideas & Innovations: Plastic meniscus implant a North American first

6 News • Haidlmair Group buys

majority of Ontario toolmaker Tesan Mould • Canada’s Ideal Pipe bought

by U.S.-based Advanced Drainage Systems • SPE to honour four leaders at ANTEC 2015 • People

9 Executive’s Corner: The lost art of following up 28 Technology Showcase 36 Advertising Index 37 Classified Ads 37 Plastics Data File

10

©Getty Images/Fuse

Number of the month:

14

©Stewart Sutton/Getty Images/Photodisc

The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) came into effect in Canadian workplaces on October 31, 1989, and the April 1990 issue of Canadian Plastics described some of the challenges faced by raw material suppliers in meeting its guidelines. A big headache was what to do if a foreign supplier failed to label a hazardous product. The short answer? "We have to label things ourselves," one Canadian material distributor said. Longer term, the distributor continued, American and other foreign suppliers were going to have to get up to speed on WHMIS requirements. "We also have to make sure our own employees are familiar with WHMIS," another said. "We teach them in classes of 10." A third issue was the cost of becoming WHMIS-compliant; Canada Colors & Chemicals, for example, spent a cool $500,000 to do so.

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cover story 10 RESHORING: Myth or reality?

To listen to most pundits and commentators, North American manufacturing has made a sea change, and is steaming home from China and elsewhere after a precipitous decline during the 2000s. It's a good story, for sure, but is it getting in the way of the facts? features 14 NPE2015 TECHNOLOGY PREVIEW: Orlando blooms The big show is just around the corner, and some of the exhibiting companies have taken the wraps off early. From processing machines to auxiliary equipment to mold technology to materials, here's an advance look at what's on tap.

22 EXTRUSION: Overcoming some common problems in medical tubing Close enough might be good enough in hand grenades, but it won't cut it in critical applications like medical tubing. Which is why medical extruders can't afford to overlook even the smallest process flaw. We asked some equipment suppliers about the leading causes — and solutions — for off-spec product.

38 Technical Tips:

Eliminating surface blemishes on a cosmetic part (part 2)

Visit us at www.canplastics.com www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

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editorial

Goodbye, hello I

’m writing this a week before my February 13th retirement date. As I clean out my desk and tidy up my files, it’s a time of reflection and nostalgia.

What a time it’s been!

In the early ’80s, I visited a Canadian moldmaking operation and saw my first CAD stations. I was thrilled when they let me try my hand at making a simple rendering of a spoon on the computer screen. Nowadays, not only would that spoon be designed on a computer, the mold flow would be optimized and the cutting path sent to a CNC machine to make the mold. Or, the spoon could be manufactured on the spot with 3D printing.

In my first years with Canadian Plastics, when I was its editor, I was writing articles about the benefits of closedloop versus open-loop machine control.

Today we have molding machines and auxiliaries that “talk” to each other, and any problems can be diagnosed

I

t’s always risky to assume people know who you are, mainly because it’s embarrassing when it turns out they don’t know you from Adam. So allow me to introduce myself. My name is Greg Paliouras, and it’s my great pleasure to be the new publisher of Canadian Plastics.

I’ve been the magazine’s associate publisher since late 2013, so I’m not an entirely unknown quantity, and I’ve talked with a fair number of industry professionals during plant tours, association meetings and telephone calls.

But it’s a big manufacturing sector, and I know I’ve only scratched the surface.

In case you’re wondering, I’ve been in business advertising for the past 15 years, and was the associate publisher at Canadian Architect — a sister magazine to this one — before joining Canadian Plastics. I’d picked up an understanding of some aspects of the plastics industry along the way, but I knew I’d have to do 4

Canadian Plastics magazine reports on and interprets develop­­ments in plastics markets and technologies worldwide for plastics processors, moldmakers and end-users based in Canada.

www.canplastics.com and corrected remotely.

Wood-plastic composites, nanoparticles, multi-component injection molding, 11-layer film, biopolymers, new technologies for plastics recycling — I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

The evolution of plastics technology has been an endless source of fascination for me. But it’s been the people in the industry that has made my time with you so special.

I admire entrepreneurs, inventors, problem-solvers and people who are passionate about what they do — and there are so many of you in Canada’s plastics industry. Almost every working day, I’ve had an interesting conversation.

I shall remember my time with Canadian Plastics and Plastiques et moules with gratitude. My threedecade career has been truly rewarding. Thank you to our readers and advertisers for making it so.

Sincerely, Judith Nancekivell, former publisher

some serious homework once I came on board here. I’ve spent the past year and a half learning all I can, and I’ll continue to do so going forward. I’m also going to continue my practice of asking as many questions as I can at each plastics event I attend. And I can also use your help, which is why I’d enjoy hearing from as many of you as possible; so please feel free to contact me with any suggestions you have for the magazine, or anything about plastics processing you think I should know.

My goal is to maintain the very high standard set by Judith. Doing so will take a lot to work, but I’m hopeful.

In one of my first tasks as publisher, by the way, I’ll be attending the upcoming NPE2015 trade show. It will be a big contribution to my ongoing education, for sure, and I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you there as possible. I shouldn’t be too hard to spot — I’ll be the guy asking all the questions.

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@annexnewcom.ca PRINT PRODUCTION MANAGER Phyllis Wright 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@annexnewcom.ca VICE PRESIDENT ANNEX BUSINESS MEDIA EAST Tim Dimopolous 416-510-5100 tdimopoulos@canadianmanufacturing.com PRESIDENT & CEO Mike Fredericks mfredericks@annexweb.com 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON, M3B 2S9. 416-442-5600, Fax: 416-510-5134 CANADIAN PLASTICS is published 7 times a year by Annex Business Media.

2015 SUBSCRIPTION RATES 6 issues Canadian Plastics, plus Dec. 2016 Buyer’s Guide: CANADA: 1 Year $71.95 plus applicable taxes; 2 Years $117.95+ taxes; single copy $10.00+ taxes.

USA: US$81.95/year FOREIGN: US$126.95/year Buyers’ Guide only: CANADA: $103.00 plus applicable taxes and $5.00 shipping USA & FOREIGN: US$103.00 plus $5.00 shipping.

From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you. If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: phone 800-668-2374; fax 416-442-2191; e-mail: privacyofficer@businessinformationgroup.ca; mail: Privacy Officer, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON M3B 2S9.

The contents of this magazine are protected by copyright and may be used only for your personal non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material you must first obtain the permission of the owner of the copyright.

For further information please contact Greg Paliouras, 416510-5124.

For reprints call RSiCopyright, Michelle Hegland, msh@ rsicopyright.com PAP Registration No. 11035 CANADA POST – Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Dept. – Canadian Plastics, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto ON M3B 2S9.

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED INDEXED BY CBPI ISSN 0008-4778 (Print) ISSSN 1923-3671 (Online) MEMBER: Canadian Business Press, Canadian Plastics Industry Association.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

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gpaliouras@canplastics.com

Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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ideas & innovations

dds are you’ll never hear about your meniscus until it’s too late, and you’ve damaged it. A crescent-shaped piece of cartilage between the thigh and shin bones, the meniscus disperses friction in the knee joint. Not surprisingly, it has to bear a lot of weight — until it doesn’t, at which point it tears.

It’s as painful as it sounds and, to make matters worse, the tear will never heal on its own. It can be treated surgically, but patients often opt to go whole hog for knee replacement surgery — a procedure that isn’t suitable for everyone.

But a new plastic meniscus implantation procedure has the potential to offer patients with a torn meniscus a minimally invasive remedy that overcomes many of the limitations of current treatments.

Surgeons at Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center, in Columbus, Ohio, performed the first plastic meniscus implantation in North America in January as part of an FDA-approved clinical trial. The team implanted the new

A new plastic meniscus implantation procedure has the potential to offer patients with a torn meniscus a minimally invasive remedy.

NUsurface Meniscus Implant — developed and marketed by Memphis, Tenn.based medical product maker Active Implants LLC — through a small incision in a patient’s knee. Over time the implant is expected to form a customized fit to the patient’s knee contour, eliminating the need for prolonged protected weight bearing or braces.

Molded from medical-grade polycarbonate urethane, the NUsurface Meniscus Implant is already available in the European Union and Israel, and has also been granted an Investigational Device Exemption in the U.S. from the FDA. There’s no word yet on if or when the device will be cleared for use in Canada.

According to Active Implants, the implant has come along just in time.

“Approximately 720,000 patients undergo knee replacement surgery each year in the U.S. alone, and that number is expected to skyrocket to 3.5 million cases by 2030,” the company said. “The NUsurface device could treat hundreds of thousands of patients per year whose previous partial meniscectomy surgery was not successful and yet are not ready or old enough for knee arthroplasty.”

Small wonder, then, that Active Implants pegs the potential annual worldwide market for the NUsurface product at more than US$2 billion.

Too bad the company can’t come up with something to add some backbone to the Toronto Maple Leafs roster...

CPL

Photo Credit: Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center

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news

Haidlmair Group buys majority of Ontario toolmaker Tesan Mould Austrian moldmaker Haidlmair Group has established a North American manufacturing base by purchasing a majority stake in Concord,Ont.-based moldmaker Tesan Mould Inc. Haidlmair Group operates 10 plants in six countries, including a service centre in the U.S. The Tesan Mould plant in Vaughan, Ont. Photo Credits: Haidlmair Group Founded in 1979, the company specialin designing and manufacturing molds izes in making injection molds for the for thin-wall packaging applications. reusable packaging industry.

The Tesan family will continue to Tesan Mould will be integrated into own a significant percentage of the comthe Haidlmair Group and renamed pany shares, Haidlmair Group said, Haidlmair North America. and will also continue to manage the The financial terms of the deal have company.

Haidlmair Group anticipates not been disclosed. making some investments in the Tesan “Haidlmair is an international tool Mario Haidlmair (left) and Lucas Tesan Mould infrastructure in the future, and manufacturing company with a worldseal the deal. will also relocate some specialists from wide reputation, a majority partner who will ensure the continued success and positive develop- the Austrian parent organization to Concord to support the ment of our business,” said Lucas Tesan, Tesan Mould’s gen- existing staff.

“Haidlmair Group has been searching for a manufaceral manager. “What we’re most excited about is that we’re now able to take care of our customers in a much better and turing facility in the U.S. or Canada for some time,” said Haidlmair Group CEO Mario Haidlmair. “Tesan Mould more complete fashion.”

Tesan Mould was founded in 1978 by Riccardo Tesan. presented itself as the ideal opportunity. It’s a very well The company is now run by the second generation of Lucas organized company with excellent equipment, including the Tesan and production manager Jesse Tesan, and specializes latest CNC and grinding machines.”

CPL

3D Systems buys CAD/CAM software supplier Cimatron The crowded field of 3D printing equipment suppliers just got a little less so.

3D printer maker 3D Systems Corporation is buying Cimatron Ltd. for approximately US$97 million to strengthen its position in the fast-growing 3D design and manufacturing business.

Israel-based Cimatron provides 3D design software products.

“The integration of Cimatron’s software products into our existing offerings allows us to stake a leadership position in 3D printing-centric advanced manufacturing,” 3D Systems said. “The addition of Cimatron’s products to the existing line enables a seamless digital workflow between design and traditional and additive manufacturing processes.”

3D Systems is headquartered in Valencia, Calif.

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Canada’s Ideal Pipe bought by U.S.-based Advanced Drainage Systems Ideal Pipe, a Canadian manufacturer of HDPE pipe and related accessories, has been acquired by U.S.-based corrugated pipe and water management product maker Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. (ADS) for $56.8 million.

The purchase increases the Canadian footprint of ADS — which is headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio — from two to five facilities. Ideal Pipe has manufacturing facilities in Western Ontario, Eastern Ontario and Manitoba, adding to the existing ADS manufacturing facilities in Ontario and Quebec.

According to ADS, the acquisition also extends the combined company’s Canadian field sales and engineering staff, which will enable ADS to leverage its product and

solution set, including its Allied Products line, through Ideal Pipe’s sales and distribution network.

“Through the combination of our businesses, we will be able to pursue new and exciting opportunities in the Canadian market and offer our customers an unmatched breadth of water management products and solutions, as well as field sales/engineering experience,” said ADS chairman and CEO Joe Chlapaty. “This puts us in a stronger competitive position as compared to manufacturers of concrete, steel and PVC pipe.”

Founded in 1979, Ideal Pipe is headquartered in Thorndale, Ont. The company offers product design, manufacturing, testing and technical support of HDPE plastic pipe systems.

CPL

Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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news

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) is handing out awards for outstanding contributions to the plastics industry to four industry members.

SPE’s highest award, the International Award for an individual’s lifetime achievement, is going to Dr. Richard Spontak, a distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University. “Dr. Spontak’s primary research interests relate to the phase behaviour and morphology/ property development of nanostructured polymers, polymer nanocomposites, electron microscopy and stimuli-responsive (electroactive and shape memory) media,” SPE said.

The Business Management Award will go to Charles Sholtis, the CEO of Plastic Molding Technology Inc. (PMT), an El Paso, Tex.-based injection molder of small, precision components. “Under Charles’ leadership, PMT was named the Manufacturing Leadership Council’s 2014 Manufacturer of the Year,” SPE said.

SPE’s Education Award will be presented to Dr. Sarah Morgan, a professor in the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). Dr. Morgan is an expert in the area of polymer surfaces and interfaces; was awarded the Journal

of Polymer Science Polymer Physics Prize for 2010; and had key roles in establishing an online master’s degree in polymer science and engineering at USM, and a bachelor’s of science Dr. Richard Charles in polymer science and engiSpontak Sholtis neering at USM. Finally, the Research/ Engineering Technology Award goes to Dr. Sureshkumar Shah, a 30-year auto industry veteran with General Motors Co. and Delphi Automotive plc. “Dr. Shah Dr. Sureshkumar Dr. Sarah developed a single-piece Shah Morgan plastics door module in 1992 to replace more than 50 metal pieces, for which he received more than seven prestigious awards worldwide,” SPE said.

The SPE awards will be presented in Orlando, Fla. on March 22, during the SPE ANTEC 2015 show, which is colocated with NPE2015.

CPL

Photo Credits: SPE

SPE to honour four leaders at ANTEC 2015

IPEG sells Rapid Granulator to Sweden’s Lifco Size reduction equipment maker Rapid Granulator has a new owner.

Cranberry Township, Pa.-based IPEG Inc., which owns the Rapid Granulator group of companies, has sold them to Lifco AB, a diversified public company headquartered in Enköping, Sweden.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Rapid is based in Bredaryd, Sweden, with North American headquarters in Cranberry Township. Except for CEO Kirk Winstead, who will take on new responsibilities within IPEG, all Rapid employees are expected to remain with the company, which will continue to operate under the Rapid brand name. Toni Reftman, the managing director of Eldan Recycling, a wholly owned Lifco subsidiary located in Faaborg, Denmark, will assume responsibility for the Rapid business.

Single-shaft shredder manufacturer Republic Machine, previously a division of Rapid Granulator Inc., is now a subsidiary of IPEG, with all personnel continuing to be employed by IPEG. Other IPEG companies — which include auxiliary equipment maker The Conair Group and process cooling solution provider Thermal Care — will not be impacted by the sale.

“Over the last five years, we have doubled the IPEG business through organic growth and acquisitions,” said IPEG CEO Chris Keller. “We are excited to invest the proceeds from the sale of Rapid into our other businesses and to pursue further acquisitions consistent with our strategy.” CPL www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

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news

PEOPLE

Keith Boss

Bob Gilmore

Jerome Hamilton

Gerd Liebig

Gerry Podesta

Michael Roberts

— Tech-Long, a Guangzhou, China-based supplier of packaging systems and turnkey solutions for the bottling and packaging industries, has named Keith Boss as CEO of its North American operations.

— Injection molding machine maker Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH, headquartered in Schwaig, Germany, has named Gerd Liebig as its new managing director, chief sales officer.

— Size reduction equipment maker Vecoplan LLC, headquartered in High Point, N.C., has appointed Bob Gilmore as managing director/chief sales officer.

— Material supplier BASF has named Gerry Podesta as the senior vice president of its dispersions and pigments business in North America.

— Stratasys Ltd., a supplier of 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions headquartered in Minneapolis and Rehovot, Israel, has named Jerome Hamilton as senior vice president of global operations.

— Material supplier Teknor Apex Company, based out of Pawtucket, R.I., has appointed Michael Roberts to vice president and North American business manager of its nylon division.

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executive’s corner

The lost art of following up

By Russell Trahan, PR/PR Public Relations

B

ryan walked into his office and flipped on the lights. It had been one month since his presentation and proposal submission to a potential customer, and that morning was to be the date of their decision on whether or not to do business with his company.

Bryan thought he’d covered his bases and kept in touch; just last week he engaged in some brief social media banter with the firm’s CFO — simple enough to maintain an air of informality and ensure the lines of communication remained open.

His inbox dinged: it was the company’s CFO. “Bryan, we have decided to go in another direction. We require more consistent interaction from our business partners, and while we scheduled today to finalize our decision, we had yet to hear from you in the interim. Good luck in the future.”

Gulp! While Bryan assumed the company would appreciate his keeping his distance, his strategy actually became the nail in his corporate coffin. They were awaiting his traditional methods of follow-up, and his lack of correspondence instead conveyed that his company wasn’t the right one for the job.

The above story is all too familiar. Many business professionals are dropping established means of follow-up, such as phone calls and face-to-face meetings, in favour of sending quick messages over social media or by email. The problem?

They’re sacrificing professional courtesy in an attempt to appear casual. But when it comes to following up, the best practices are the traditional ones.

The first lesson from Bryan’s disaster is that, while social media can build business connections, it can’t maintain them.

Individuals who limit all contact to digital convenience definitely exist in the business realm, and they’ve attempted to streamline their communication with an overkill-level reliance on their social media accounts. But this isn’t just a bad business practice, it’s bad overall form. When it comes to following up on potential deals, use traditional modes of correspondence. Anything less looks lazy and unprofessional.

Second, once you’ve curbed your inclination for social media-centric follow-up, there are parameters to adhere to when following up with leads. The first — and most important — is to establish an agenda when touching base with potential customers, and ensuring that each subsequent call or meeting occurs under the umbrella of providing new information.

There should be a concrete reason for picking up that phone, in other words, and a distinct benefit to the individual on the other end of the line. But don’t overdo it — there’s a big difference between being attentive and being annoying.

Third, give prospective clients the freedom to lead the interactions. Allow them to dictate the follow-up flow by inquiring into their timeline and preference for the next call or meeting, and set a date. Whether your next meeting is two weeks or two months away, your sales prospect has provided

an appropriate date and time for that meeting to occur.

Fourth, too many sales professionals these days are afraid of looking like the stereotypical door-to-door salesman, and this fear deprives them of a valuable sales tool: the cold call.

There’s a palpable aversion among many to following up with established sales leads in favour of “keeping things casual.”

This only leads to one thing: missed opportunity. Let your calendar hold you accountable. Prior to the end of a meeting or call, be sure to schedule an appropriate date to contact your prospect again, and stick to it. “Keeping things casual” sounds cool, but it doesn’t promote sales.

To return to Bryan, he was remiss in his follow-up practices and took a big hit as a result. Learn from his mistakes by rediscovering the lost art of following up.

CPL Russell Trahan is president of PR/PR Public Relations, an Orlando, Fla.-based agency specializing in positioning clients in front of their target audience in print and online. For more information, visit www.prpr.net.

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cover story

The

Shipping News

?

Is RESHORING MYTH or REALITY

By Mark Stephen, editor

To listen to most pundits and commentators, North American manufacturing has made a sea change, and is steaming home from China and elsewhere after a precipitous decline during the 2000s.

But is a good story getting in the way of the facts?

10

P

opular ideas can be hard to resist. Brian Burke convinced a lot of people that Phil Kessel would turn the Toronto Maple Leafs around, for example. Speaking of things turning around, another popular narrative involves reshoring. According to many, long gone are the dismal days when manufacturing jobs and output were lost due to foreign competition. We’re told that higher foreign labour costs, cheap domestic oil and gas, and automation are combining to make North America the new global manufacturing hub.

It’s a winning story, but is it true?

FACT OR FICTION? It’s almost impossible to read a newspaper or watch the news these days without coming across a report of a renaissance in North American manufacturing. The cheerleaders cite an array of heartening examples, including a US$4 billion investment by Dow Chemical to boost its ethylene and propylene capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast, an announcement by electronics manufacturer Flextronics of plans to create a US$32 million product inno-

vation centre in California’s Silicon Valley, and a decision by Airbus to build a US$600 million assembly line in Alabama for its jetliners. Public figures as important as Prime Minister Harper and President Obama have both recently hailed manufacturing sectors in their respective countries that are adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s.

But does this indicate an authentic reshoring movement? Some say no. Forbes magazine has derided the notion of a manufacturing comeback in North America as “a cruel political hoax,” and the New York Times last year ran an editorial by economist Steven Rattner entitled “The Myth of Industrial Rebound.” On the other hand, Chicago-based audit, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton began the executive summary of a November 2013 report by boldly stating that “reshoring is real — and about to dramatically reshape the [North American] economy.” And a new report by Toronto-based KPMG reveals that Canadian companies are increasingly turning away from offshoring as a cost-saving solution. “In 2014, only 14 per cent of manufac-

Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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cover story

©Stewart Sutton/Getty Images/Thinkstock

turers planned to source from China, compared with 31 per cent in 2013,” the report noted. “Likewise, plans to source from India were at three per cent this year, compared to 12 per cent last year.”

And it seems clear that significant numbers of manufacturers are buying into the reshoring idea. One study by Boston, Mass.-based L.E.K. Consulting found that 57 per cent of respondents are convinced that North America is in the midst of a manufacturing renaissance, and a whopping 68 per cent of them believe that their industry will experience accelerated growth in the coming years as a result.

So what’s a Canadian plastics processor to think? In the prevailing sentiment of just a few years ago, much of the plastics industry saw China and low-cost offshore manufacturing as inevitable. Now it seems as though the one-time inexorable march eastwards has not only slowed, but in some cases reversed course.

A third scenario is less black and white than either the cheerleaders or the naysayers would suggest: a modest improvement in Canadian and U.S. manufacturing, yes, but not a wave of reshoring. If more

companies are investing in Canada or the U.S., or considering them as locations for new manufacturing facilities, this is essentially a rebalancing after many years in which manufacturing shifted overwhelmingly to lower cost nations such as China. Reshoring isn’t just a buzzword, this theory goes, it’s an economically driven correction to a supply chain that had become unbalanced. And it’s all about companies wanting production close to demand.

OFFSHORE OPPORTUNITIES The backstory to reshoring is, of course, offshoring. Offshoring was real enough, and didn’t happen overnight. Instead, it was a 20-year trend of incorporating low-cost countries such as China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Vietnam and Thailand — to name a few — into the global economy, during which time a lot of cheap labour was brought into the global market, with the Chinese government in particular subsidizing capacity. If that sounds benign, it wasn’t. It hurt, and Canada’s plastics processors and moldmakers often took it right on the chin.

“Offshoring had a huge and negative impact on our business,” said Brian Holmes, vice president and general manager with Surrey, B.C.-based custom injection molder Columbia Plastics Ltd. “Customers moved production overseas to try and pare costs out of their systems, which resulted in a lot less business to quote on.

Simple, inexpensive products were not being put in front of us, which forced us to change the types of products we were making.

Overall, if a molder didn’t have some kind of specialty niche through the early 2000s, it could get into trouble.” As offshoring gathered momentum, Columbia Plastics, for one, pivoted away from the electronics work that was shifting en masse to China, temporarily stemming the tide by adding some assembly work. It then became a full-on medical parts molder. “The type of com-

SERIOUSLY, IS RESHORING REALLY HAPPENING? Two think tanks, two wildly different conclusions YES

NO

Far fewer Canadian firms are preoccupied with cost-saving and outsourcing production to nations like China, according to a new report from Toronto-based KPMG, The report, based on a survey of 154 senior industry executives, found only 14 per cent of manufacturers planned to source from China, down from 31 per cent in a 2013 survey. As well, only three per cent said they planned to source from India, as opposed to 12 per cent last year.

“Rising energy and transportation costs, along with added pressure on lead times and increased inflation in China, have made Canada and the U.S. more competitive as sourcing nations,” the report stated. “Reasonable energy costs and the quality and consistency of products offered here at home have also driven Canadian manufacturers to look onshore for their sourcing strategies.”

The sourcing response was “surprising,” said KPMG business unit leader Laurent Giguere, adding that it suggests the lure of cheap labour in emerging markets is starting to wane.

A new report by the Washington, D.C.-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) claims that belief in a North American manufacturing renaissance is based around several misconceptions about cost advantages, including incorrect assumptions surrounding Chinese wage growth and productivity, global shipping costs, the role of the U.S. dollar, the importance of the shale gas-driven energy boom, and American and Canadian productivity growth.

The report noted, for example, that Chinese wages, while rising, are estimated to be just 12 per cent of average U.S. wages in 2015; and that growth in wages is in some part offset by rapid Chinese labour productivity growth.

“It is true that some jobs are being brought back to North America,” ITIF concluded. “However, reshoring numbers are modest, and the manufacturing sector is also still sending jobs overseas, roughly at the same rate. While this new equilibrium between companies coming and going is certainly an improvement over rapid offshoring, it is hardly indicative of a renaissance.”

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plex, low-volume products we began manufacturing were not economical to make overseas,” Holmes said.

But it was the moldmakers and mold component suppliers that became the true poster children for the devastation caused by offshoring. “As the automotive sector transplanted manufacturing to overseas locations, die and mold makers were left reeling, particularly small, family-owned shops with five to 100 workers,” said David Palmer, chairman of the Canadian Association of Mold Makers. “An estimated 150,000 tooling jobs have been lost in North America since 2000 due to offshoring.”

WAGE WARS Offshoring was a complex process, to be sure — and grew to involve not just physical relocation of manufacturing, but complex webs of partnerships and outsourcing arrangements between domestic and overseas product makers — but in essence it boiled down to one thing: saving money on labour.

Intriguingly, cost factors are now a key consideration for many companies that are deciding to relocate their manufacturing to North America. The difference in labour costs is still significant, but it has narrowed markedly as wages in China have risen, along with other expenses. As noted in a 2014 Time magazine article, China’s average hourly wage was only US$0.50 in 2000, but is projected to hit US$4.50 by mid-2015; and the cost to ship a 40-foot container from China to the West

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Coast of North America rose from US$1,184 in 2009 to US$2,302 in 2013.

As China’s cost advantage erodes, the lure of North America grows stronger, helped by several other factors.

“Thanks to the boom in North American oil and gas, Canada and the U.S. now both possess an abundance of inexpensive energy, making them increasingly attractive locations for manufacturers that are energy intensive or that can use natural gas as a primary input,” said Carol Wingard, a managing director with L.E.K. Consulting. The clear winners are chemicals and petrochemicals — and, by extension, plastics — and also sectors that serve those industries. “For industries like chemical processing or metals manufacturing, energy costs are a much bigger deal than for machined and electronic goods, and could certainly cause companies to relocate,” Wingard continued.

North American manufacturers have also closed the gap somewhat by enhancing their productivity and their use of automation. Montreal-based injection molder Mega Brands is a case in point. The company had introduced its Mega Bloks line of stackable plastic brick toys in 1985, began manufacturing the blocks in China with a series of subcontractors in 1990, and by 2006 was making 80 per cent of its product in China. But the pendulum began swinging back five years later. “Operating costs at our facility in China were going up, so in 2011 we invested $10 million to boost our production capacity in Montreal by adding equipment and the latest tools as we began returning work from China,” said Jean-Francois Albert, vice president of manufacturing with Mega Brands.

“We were able to bring about 80 per cent of our molding back to Canada mainly because today’s automated counting equipment made it possible. We mold an average of seven million parts per day in Montreal, in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors, making it potentially difficult to obtain the accurate part counts per product bag that our customers require, and convincing Chinese factory owners to invest millions of dollars in this automation was difficult.”

The latest injection molding machines also played a factor.

“Molding machines in North America are getting faster,” Albert continued. “We’ve improved our cycle times from 30 seconds in an eight-cavity machine to 10 seconds in 32-cavity machines, which is must faster than the machines we’re running in our Chinese factory.”

Another factor driving companies to manufacture in North America is the growing desire to locate their production near their customers, so they can respond quickly and efficiently to customer needs and drive growth while simultaneously derisking the supply chain. “It can be difficult to get the same quality level to serve your customers if your supplier networks are far away,” Albert said. Which can be a problem for seasonally-oriented end products like Mega Brands’ children’s toys. “Since a large percentage of our business is centred on Christmas, we can’t afford to take chances on delivery, which was another reason to return manufacturing to Montreal,” he continued. “The logistics of getting our prod-

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ucts shipped from China to Canada in time for the holiday shopping season was always a challenge.”

Booth: S34117

HOLA, MEXICO But if you think the manufacturing turnaround towards Canada and the U.S. is unstoppable, you might want to think again. For one thing, manufacturers in low-cost countries such as China are also raising their games, not least by improving their own uses of automation.

Second, a recent Supply Chain Optimization study by Miami, Fla.-based business advisory firm The Hackett Group debunked what it calls “the myth” that manufacturing capacity is returning in a big way to Western countries as a result of rising costs in China. “The reality is that the net amount of capacity coming back barely offsets the amount that continues to be sent offshore,” the study noted.

And just to dump some more rain on the parade, the Hackett Group study highlighted a basic fact: reshoring doesn’t necessarily bring work back to Canada. Or as the report put it, “few of the low-skill Chinese manufacturing jobs will ever return to advanced economies; most will simply move to other low-cost countries.”

By “low-cost countries”, it means Mexico, and many Canadian plastics processors no doubt agree. “Based on talks I’ve had with other Canadian molders, a large percentage of the work being returned from overseas is indeed going straight to Mexico,” said Brian Holmes.

“That’s less true for complex, higher end products such as medical components, but for inexpensive consumer goods, Mexico is a new go-to destination.”

And that goes double for molds, tools and dies. “Mexico is becoming the new China, but I still consider this an improvement for Canadian and American toolmakers because it allows them to react to demand in a better manner,” said David Palmer. “Numerous tool shops in Windsor, Ont., for example, now have satellite operations in Mexico, and there is huge demand for parts suppliers to have operations in Mexico to satisfy the Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and BMW plants already in that country. The Tier One suppliers — our customers — require nearby tool shops to satisfy not only the tooling demand, but also engineering changes and mold repairs.”

So is reshoring for real? The best answer might be a nuanced “yes.” “In general, we don’t expect many companies to close their existing facilities in China and to reshore them in North America,” said Carol Wingard.

“But we do expect many companies to locate new manufacturing facilities in North America, particularly in sectors such as aerospace and defence, industrial manufacturing, oil and gas, and the automotive industry. The bottom line is that companies will locate close to where their growth is originating.”

And if it doesn’t exactly amount to a renaissance, it’s definitely a welcome course correction.

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ORLANDO BLOOMS technology preview

By Mark Stephen, editor

W

hen it comes to signalling shifts in the plastics processing technology landscape, the triennial NPE show doesn’t just move the needle, it buries it.

And this time around, it’s official: NPE2015 has surpassed all previous NPEs for exhibit space, with more than one million net square feet of space booked. Overall, more than 600 companies will have equipment at their booths and over 400 will be operating systems, often with multiple machines — some of them completely integrated manufacturing cells — running simultaneously.

Some of the exhibiting companies keep their new technologies as secret as the third season plotline of House of Cards, which is fair enough. Others take the wraps off early. Courtesy of this latter group, here are glimpses of what buyers can expect to see at some exhibits at the big show.

INJECTION MOLDING

The new Jupiter II series from Absolute Haitian is getting its first North American showing at NPE2015. Previously available from 1,349 tons to 4,496 tons, new model sizes include 440, 618, 730, 844 and 1069 tons. The high-performance Jupiter II is provided with extra wide platens to open the possibility for molders to 14

North America’s largest plastics trade show is just around the corner. From processing machines to auxiliary equipment to mold technology to materials, this stuff is so cutting edge it bleeds. Here’s an advance look at some of what’s on tap. accommodate larger parts while paying for a smaller, less expensive machine size. The wide-platen Jupiter II is available in 1,069, 1349 and 1798 tons. “The Jupiter II is the best equipped for North American molders, given its balance between capability, productivity per square foot and economical operation,” said Absolute Haitian president Glenn Frohring. “The Jupiter II’s servo-hydraulics delivers significant energy cost savings over older, hydraulic machines. It should be of real interest to the automotive industry.”

Arburg Inc. will be showing an I/M machine in a version especially designed for the packaging industry: the hybrid Allrounder 630 H (P), which has been specially configured for thin-wall applications. During the show, it will produce four round lids per cycle made from a transparent PP with a label from Verstraete IML that’s printed on both sides.

The mold was built by partner StackTeck Systems, and an in-mold labelling (IML) system from Yudo is used for the automation. The cycle time is said to be around four seconds. The show also marks the North American launch of Arburg’s Freeformer additive manufacturing machine.

A Freeformer will combine an elastic standard TPU material with a special sup-

port material at the show — a first in additive manufacturing, Arburg said. Possible applications include bellows, hoses, sleeves and flexible components for robotic grippers.

Making its trade show debut, Athena Automation Inc. will show four systems in partner booths: an XForm 300 preform system with 72-cavity mold; an A300 stack mold carrier system with high-performance injection; a 50 flip-top closure molding system with integrated servo-driven function for unscrewing and closing; and a rotary table that offers integration into the moving platen, mold services via stainless steel rotary union, and a choice of mold mounting and full ejector patterns.

Beck Automation will showcase its B4 IML system at the KraussMaffei Group booth. The turnkey production

Beck Automation’s B4 IML system.

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cell consists of a Netstal Elion 3200-2900 all-electric injection molding machine and a four-cavity injection mold from Glaroform, and will make 44-ounce stadium cups with a wall thickness of 0.86 mm. Total cycle time is 7.5 seconds, which translates into about 1,920 cups per hour. “The B4 IML system is very quiet and allows stress-free movements,” said Nick Lewis, Beck sales partner in North America. “Equipped with the latest control and drive technology, the system is operated via touchscreen. An integrated remote access provides the option to log into the system from outside in order to provide cost-efficient and fast operator assistance when required.”

Boy Machines Inc. will exhibit nearly its entire product range: a whopping nine machines on display, as well as a showcase of its compact automation solutions. Making its debut at NPE2015 will be the Boy 2C XS injection unit for the production of a second component, which will make marbled delicacy dishes in conjunction with a Boy 25E. Also on display will be a fully automated production cell producing beer glasses made of highly transparent PC. The molded plastic glasses will be removed from the mold with a removal handling device, printed with a laser and then placed on a conveyor belt.

Engel will have one more molding cell than at NPE2012 and operate eight in all, showing solutions for automotive, medical, packaging, teletronics and technical

molding applications. One of the systems on exhibit will be for molding a geometrically optimized, stress-resistant brake pedal based on a new process developed in partnership with ZF-Friedrichshafen.

Using a vertical insert molding machine with a multi-axis industrial robot and infrared oven, a continuous-fibre-reinforced thermoplastic semi-finished product (known as thermoplastic fabric) will be heated, preformed in a mold and immediately overmolded with polyamide. The system produces ready-to-fit components with no cutting required, Engel said.

Husky Injection Molding Systems will have a HyPET HPP5 system running at its booth — a fully integrated injection molding system for PET preform manufacturing. The system will be running Shotscope NX, Husky’s integrated process and production monitoring system that provides a real-time snapshot of information to help optimize overall factory efficiency. This NPE is also the official tradeshow introduction of a Husky barrier solution built on the HyPET HPP5 platform. “The PET preform barrier module offers manufacturers new possibilities to explore PET as a packaging material for beverages, sauces and other food products,” the company said. “With the barrier module, packaging manufacturers can now take full advantage of significant cost-saving opportunities that were previously impossible for applications that required a barrier.”

KraussMaffei Group is

WHEN, WHERE, ETC.

WHEN: March 23-27, 2015

WHERE: Orange County Convention Center HOW MUCH: The registration fee gives you access to the exhibit floor for all five days of the show. The early bird registration expired in January (too late now), advance registration of US$145 is available until March 22 (you’d better hurry), and on-site registration (available during the show) is US$200.

WEB: www.npe.org

KraussMaffei’s new GXH multicomponent machine with parallel injection units.

unveiling its new GXH multi-component injection molding machine. “The ‘H’ is symbolic for two or more injection units arranged in parallel,” the company said.

Using the horizontal arrangement, the melt is guided directly into the respective mold-half, reducing the number of dead spots in the hot runner. Additional advantages of injection units arranged in parallel are the simplified mold design and space-saving design of the entire machine. Typical end applications of the GXH are found in vehicle manufacturing, in packaging and in optical components.

At NPE2015, a GXH 550-1400/1400 will work in combination with an LRX linear robot to produce covers for fog lights.

MHS — Mold Hotrunner Solutions is unveiling its new M3 Mini micro molding machine. At its heart is direct gate hot runner technology: eliminating cold runners reduces waste in the form of scrap material and leads to substantial cost savings in the molding of miniature parts. Like the earlier M3 unit, the Mini produces tiny plastic parts through direct gating into modular inserts with micro cavities. The difference is that the M3 mini can deliver a bigger range of shot weights, the company said, anywhere between 1 mg and 400 mg.

The M3 mini clamp force of 20 kN (2+ tonnes) is generated by a set of industrial electromagnets. The M3 series operates on a new rheological technology developed by MHS called Isokor, which conditions the polymer for injection close to the gate, so that melt residence time is significantly reduced.

There are no conventional injection molds in the M3 concept, MHS said.

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cm cavity insert plate that can be installed in less than one minute. Each insert contains six individual cavities, and a typical set of micro parts will run in a five-second cycle.

Negri Bossi will exhibit four injection molding machine models and several of their Sytrama brand Cartesian part removal robots in simulated factory floor molding cells. A Vesta all-electric series model VE330-1580 and the new Sytrama S series robot model S9-L will be running a Bauer four-cavity coat hanger mold with gas assist technology; an Eleos hybrid series model Eleos65-210 and the new Sytrama One series robot model One-L will be running a single-cavity sunglasses case with live-hinge; a Canbio series model eV300-2100 and the new Sytrama S series robot model S9T-L will be running a specialized industrial part featuring MuCell microcellular foam I/M technology; and a Canbimat multi-material series model eV210-850h-320v with rotary mold table and the new Sytrama S series robot model S7-L including special gantry mounting.

New from Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. Ltd., the NPX7 Advance hybrid micro molding machine has a 69 kN (7.7 tons) clamping force, and can mold micro parts below one gram. Equipped with a 12-mm inline screw, the system actualizes stable molding of micro parts to offer a wider selection of molding. The most distinctive feature of NPX7 Advance, Nissei said, is its innovative energy-efficient hybrid pump system, which achieves 40 per cent less power consumption than comparable hydraulic units. “Also, the machine’s clamping unit is a straight hydraulic type with linear guides on the die plate — since it opens and closes the mold with stable

Water bottle caps from Sumitomo (SHI) Demag.

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clamping force, the force is transmitted evenly to the mold,” Nissei said.

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag will demonstrate nine machines, including one that the company will use to try to beat the world speed record for production of water bottle caps. The company’s El-Exis SP 420820-3000 hybrid machine with 80-mm barrier screw will be running a 96-cavity hot runner mold. “Each hour, the machine will be producing over 180,000 lightweight 1.3-gram HDPE water bottle caps with tamper-evident bands molded by mechanical slides,” said Mike Uhrain, technical sales manager, packaging. “At cycles this fast, it’s difficult to consistently maintain the caps’ essential physical properties related to sealing function, opening/ closing torque, tightness after drop test or temperature variation, and prevention of over-winding. While the El-Exis SP can handle all of these challenges, this speed can only be achieved if there is a perfect match between the mold and the machine.

Mold engineering, as well as machine performance and precision, is key.”

EXTRUSION

Battenfeld-cincinnati USA — formerly American Maplan Corp. — will debut its new twinEX and solEX extruders. The twinEX 148-28 was designed and engineered to meet the growing demand for large diameter PVC pipe extrusion and high-output profile extrusion in the North American market. It’s also suitable for foamed PVC sheet applications, the company said. The twinEX 148-28 also has a Z design gearbox with the main motor in the back for easy maintenance, and can process both virgin and regrind PVC with output rates of up to 2,000 kg per hour (4,400 lbs per hour). The solEX high-performance single screw extruder series yields high outputs with low melt temperatures and homogeneous melt for polyolefin materials, and has now been extended by the new solEX 150. Said to be wellsuited for the demands of the growing large diameter heavy wall PO pipe market, the solEX 150 offers outputs of up to 2,750 kg per hour (6,000 lbs per hour) for PE-HD applications.

Making its North American debut, Coperion’s newly redesigned ZSK 26 Mc18 twin-screw laboratory extruder has

EVENTS AT A GLANCE

Sunday, March 22 • 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

2015 SPE Annual Awards Dinner.

The SPE Annual Awards will be presented to the recipients of SPE’s top four awards at the Plastics Hall of Fame Reception & Ceremony in the Linda W. Chapin Theatre at the Orange County Convention Center.

Monday, March 23 Exposition: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm • 11:15 am – 12:15 pm SPE ANTEC Program

• 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference

Tuesday, March 24 Exposition: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm • 8:00 am – 5:30 pm SPE ANTEC Program

• 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference

• 11:15 am – 12:15 pm

SPE ANTEC Plenary session

Wednesday, March 25 Exposition: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm • 8:00 am – 5:30 pm SPE ANTEC Program

• 8:00 am – 5:30 pm

SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference

• 11:15 am – 12:15 pm

SPE ANTEC Plenary session

Thursday, March 26 Exposition: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm • 8:00 am – 1:00 pm SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference

• 12:30 pm – 5:00 pm

IDSA Southern District Design Conference

Friday, March 27 Exposition: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm • 8:00 am – 1:00 pm SPI’s Business of Plastics Conference

• 9:00 am – 6:30 pm

IDSA Southern District Design Conference

an increased torque of 15 Nm/cm3, and is capable of higher throughputs than the company’s successful ZSK Mc18 series.

The new unit is mobile and requires only a minimum of floor space, as the control cabinet is integrated into the base frame of

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Coperion’s ZSK 26 Mc18 twin-screw laboratory extruder.

the machine. Heating and cooling systems are installed ready for use (Plug & Play).

The ZSK 26 Mc18 laboratory extruder has a simple design, is operator-friendly and easy to clean. With a wide throughput range of between 20 lbs per hour to 400 lbs per hour, the extruder is also suitable for the compounding of small production batches. The feed enhancement side feeders type ZSB-FET and the side vent stuffer type ZS-EG complement this new research platform, Coperion said.

At the Davis-Standard LLC booth, buyers will see a running profile line for producing ABS 3D printing that’s in sync with NPE’s focus on 3D technology. A second exhibit is a direct drive extruder with energy-efficient technology; the direct drive technology uses a permanent magnet synchronous motor and an energy-efficient heater and screw design to promote operational efficiency. Third, the MEDD extruder with DS-eVue controls is a compact extruder for medical tubing, featuring a direct drive motor, linear movement, replaceable feed section liner, and interchangeable barrel assemblies. Finally, the company will highlight the dsX technology, a new product line for blown film, cast film, extrusion coating and medical tubing applications.

New from Entek Extruders, the QC343MM co-rotating twin-screw extruder for compounders is designed to allow for fast, easy screw-set changeovers. Featuring a 43-mm barrel bore diameter — a new size for Entek machines — the extruder offers increased production rates (33 per cent higher output shaft torque) with 200 hp/1,200 rpm motor and increased screw OD/ID for compounding some of the most challenging formula18

tions. Smart controls feature enhanced graphics, recipe library, trending software and web-based connectivity for remote troubleshooting.

Gneuss will show the latest generation of its Multi Rotation System (MRS) extrusion technology. A complete extrusion line with an MRS 160 extruder, a fully-automatic filtration system RSFgenius175, and an online viscometer will be on the show floor. The MRS extruder permits the processing of PET without pre-drying by using a simple water ring vacuum system to process the material directly to highquality end products, Gneuss said. Based on a conventional single screw extruder, the MRS is a drum containing eight satellite single screws, driven by a ring gear and pinion transmission. The “barrels” cut into the drum are approximately 30 per cent open and provide optimum exposure of the melt — a design feature that allows for a devolatilizing performance approximately fifty times greater than that of a Gneuss’ MRS extruder.

conventional single screw extruder, Gneuss said. By avoiding the need for a high vacuum system and pre-drying, the MRS is an economic alternative to conventional technologies.

Graham Engineering Corporation’s American Kuhne, Welex, and Graham Engineering brands will show a series of extrusion and blow molding innovations.

American Kuhne’s Modular QuickChange extrusion system is designed to reduce time for job changes and remove the contaminating changeover activity from the cleanroom environment by “hotswapping” the barrel, screw and die head.

The modular extruder design allows the removal of the barrel and its replacement by a pre-heated barrel with pre-mounted tooling, all within a few minutes. The Welex XSL Navigator control system,

meanwhile, offers intuitive navigation on a Welex line designed to make it easy for the operator to set up quickly and work easily with the machine. Built on a “soft” industrial PC, the system also enables processors to integrate data from a machine or line to an ERP system using client-server architecture. Finally, the Graham Revolution MVP rotary wheel extrusion blow molder is the next generation of the Graham wheel technology, featuring an allnew, modular clamp design, as well as a variable pitch option. The modular clamp enables offline maintenance, repair or replacement of a single clamp station to minimize downtime, and will be exhibited on the Graham High Speed wheel; the variable pitch feature, meanwhile, will be demonstrated live at the show.

Film and sheet extrusion machinery supplier Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. is introducing a new extrusion line to produce polylactic acid (PLA) foam. The line uses tandem extruders to mold foamed PLA sheet between 1.2 mm and 5.0 mm thick and up to 1,270 mm wide with a foam density of 0.07 g/cc. The sheet can be thermoformed into compostable clamshell packaging and trays used for cold food applications. According to Macro Engineering, it uses a proprietary new extruder design to address obstacles that are inherent to foaming PLA, in particular working around the material’s low melt strength, melt crystallinity and narrow processing window. The result is uniform melt temperature distribution and reliable foaming.

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT/ RAW MATERIALS HANDLING

Conair will unveil several new products at NPE, including a material handling proofing system that uses machine vision to help prevent material contamination caused by operator error. Dubbed “Material Vision Proofing” (MVP), the new vision system includes a motorized camera that automatically confirms that the connection between material sources and destinations has been made correctly and conveying can begin. New ESE series EarthSmart central chillers, meanwhile, are modular and scalable — users can install one or more chillers, and then add more modules up to a

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Conair’s ESE series EarthSmart central chiller.

total of six for cooling capacity to 960 tons. And the MicroWheel desiccant dryers — said by Conair to be quite possibly the smallest desiccant wheel dryers available — are designed to offer an alternative to compressed air dryers and small twin-tower units. The new small dryers are offered in two basic models: the MW1 and the MW2.

Because they use brushless blowers with speed control built in, Conair said, the dryers can be easily programmed to

deliver exactly the right amount of process air flow to dry the different resin volumes. Each model is available with several different hopper capacities.

A new drying hopper bank from DriAir Industries Inc. has an integrated central conveyance system that can supply multiple resins to multiple machines.

Quick-change manifolds let users switch from one hopper to another or connect multiple machines to a single drying hopper. Closed-loop conveyance and line purge keeps material lines clear and resin dry at the throat, where a compact just-intime receiver is the only press-mounted component. Systems are available for up to 10 machines. Easy-to-use rotary selector switches or color touchscreens provide fast and easy setups. Hopper banks include separate temperature controllers for each hopper, allowing processors to dry different materials at different temperatures. A central dryer provides dry air to the hopper bank, while shutoff valves can isolate hoppers not in use.

The new Vertical Z conveyor from

Dynamic Conveyor is meant to save floor space when it’s necessary to get parts to a higher elevation. The DynaCon vertical incline conveyor is custom designed to a desired height, and includes widths ranging from four inches to 60 inches. The conveyor can include an optional hopper designed to meet desired parts conveying needs. Optional casters are available to make the system easy to move in and away from other equipment.

New angel hair traps are available from Lorenz Conveying Products in two configurations. Square traps mount at the base of the silo or storage bin, and fit directly onto the Lorenz probe box and Lorenz maintenance gate or silo/hopper shut-off.

Inline angel hair traps, meanwhile, mount in the material stream to collect angel hair while allowing pellets to pass through; they have a clear viewing cover for level indication. Automated models are available to eliminate downtime.

Pelletron Corporation will show a new “DeDuster” feature with automated inlet devices designed for cleaning large

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Pelletron’s “DeDuster”.

capacities of plastics pellets or other granular bulk materials, from 18 tons to 150 tons per hour. According to Pelletron, the new device eliminates the use of expensive and heavy rotary valves that are normally used for feeding product into the DeDuster. “The automated inlet deflectors move to adjust the product flow to the desired flow rate, evenly distribute product over the wash decks of the DeDuster, and can shut down the product flow completely,” the company said.

“Rugged pneumatic actuators with integrated positioners move the inlet deflectors to any position based on a control signal from the plant DCS.” Wittmann Battenfeld will feature no less than six injection cells with integrated robots, automation, material handling and auxiliary equipment. In material drying technology, the company will spotlight the Aton Plus segmented wheel dryers, which feature a new intuitive touch display and built-in energy saving functions, including the 3-save process and EcoMode. Also on display will be the FC Plus for DryMax battery dryers. This new option for extending the functionality of a frequency-controlled battery dryer allows adjustment of dry-air volume and contributes significantly to additional energy savings, the company said.

In temperature controllers, the new Tempro with direct cooling will be in operation; the newest Tempro is said to feature a more compact design and enhanced heating and cooling capacities.

RECYCLING/SIZE REDUCTION

Erema is showcasing the Intaremak, a new fully automatic processing system designed especially for the recycling of 20

PE edge trim. One of the key benefits of the new system, the company said, is the direct feeding of the edge trim via piping and cyclone, which takes place automatically and offers maximum flexibility through possible combinations of cyclone, roller intake or conveyor belt.

As a result, pre-cutting of the edge trim isn’t necessary. The fully automatic throughput adjustment to the actual amount of edge trim also ensures minimum labour requirements. This efficiency boost results in high-quality, clean pellets, up to 100 per cent of which can be returned to the production process.

The Intaremak system can be integrated not only in production lines, Erema said, but also installed externally as an offline system. It also features the new Counter Current core technology for improved

NGR said, and also effectively removes spin oil from fibres.

A new series of single-shaft shredders from Vecoplan LLC use variable-frequency inverter drives, which eliminate gearboxes and fluid couplings. The electric drive senses tramp metal and stops automatically; it can also match rotor speed and torque to the load, a function of infeed volume and the material’s resistance to size reduction. A development of the company’s VAZ line, the new V-Eco shredders use “W” rotors, said to be equally suited to flexible, fibrous, rigid or bulky materials. Units can have single or double rows of bedknives that are externally adjustable. The drop-down screen carriage has pneumatic assist, while the cutting chamber floor has hydraulic liftup for safe and convenient access.

The new WLK1000 shredder from Weima America features a V-rotor design that reportedly makes it well-suited to handle just about any form of hard plastic scrap. The drop-down screen basket is said to make changing the screen on this machine much easier. The model on display will also show a pipe-spacer hopper design. The WLK1000 comes standard with a 14.5-inch rotor diameter.

Erema’s Intaremak system.

MATERIALS

material intake and higher output capacity, the Smart Start system for easy operation, and enhanced EcoSave technology for low energy costs.

The new P:REACT system from NGR Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH is designed to improve the properties of PET, making it a good bet for both PET converters and PET recyclers.

P:REACT actively controls the residuetime of the PET melt inside the reactor and automatically adjusts the machine parameters to receive the desired IV at a consistent level. Using the design principles of LSP (liquid state polycondensation), the system utilizes the inherent capability of PET to post-condensate in the molten phase under vacuum, which effectively decontaminates the material from harmful chemicals, allowing its further use for 100 per cent food contact. The cleaning of the material exceeds limits set by recognized food safety standards,

Struktol Company of America has developed what it calls unique process additives for reclaimed/recycled plastics and for polymer compounds that contain recycled content. First up is Struktol RP 11, a lubricant package that reportedly provides an unmatched combination of viscosity reduction and mold release characteristics for recycled PP resins and compounds. Loading levels as low as 0.2 per cent can result in increased melt flow and allow for significant improvements in mold filling and release, the company said. In addition, Struktol RP 06 reportedly provides similar viscosity modification and mold release combined with low odor and volatiles that are well-suited for automotive applications. And Struktol RP 37 is said to provide good viscosity modification and lubrication in recycled PP compounds and resins that contain high levels of PE contaminants.

Making its market debut in Orlando is

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NPE2015 preview

a polymer alloy technology platform that enables Teknor Apex Company to custom-formulate capstocks to meet tough outdoor standards for rigid PVC and polyolefins, while providing colors from basic outdoor white to an assortment of very dark colors. Many of the capstocks available from Teknor Apex are alloys of PVC and other resins with weatherable polymers such as ASA. The company supplies them in pellet form, Teknor Apex’s decking materials in action. including pre-colored compounds matched to customer requirements. Some molded, extruded, blow molded or comof the recommended applications include pounded are 8150, a black 48 Shore A railing systems, window components, TPE with a matte surface finish suitable for consumer goods and industrial applifencing, siding and decking.

New grades being introduced by Elas- cations calling for UV stability; 8078B, a tocon include the Elastocon CLR series of black 82 Shore A TPE offering rubberclear grades, which comply with FDA like properties and suitable for applicaregulations and can be overmolded onto tions calling for UV stability; 8088N, a PP and other materials, making them black 88 Shore A TPE for automotive well-suited for medical applications and applications; and 8088BL, a colorable 88 toys. Also, four new grades in the Elasto- Shore A grade that’s FDA-compliant and con 8000 series of TPEs that can be over- well-suited for applications requiring high

impact resistance and a reduced coefficient of friction.

Also, some of the heaviest hitters among the raw material suppliers at NPE2015 will offer customer service centres where they can connect with processors, designers, OEM/brands and other business professionals in facilities nearby the exhibit floor. As of press time, nine companies are on board with the centres: Dow Chemical, DSM Engineering Plastics, DuPont, Eastman Chemical, ExxonMobil Chemical, Formosa Plastics, LyondellBasell, PPG Industries and Westlake Chemical.

All of the processing machines and countless other technologies outlined above merely scratch — or maybe don’t scratch, depending on the polymer — the surface. If you want to dig deeper, these and hundreds of other exhibitors will be happy to see you at the big show in Orlando.

CPL

www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

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extrusion

Photo Credit: Davis-Standard LLC

©Thinkstock & Getty Images/Fuse

Overcoming some common problems in

MEDICAL TUBING BECAUSE THERE’S NO ROOM FOR ERROR IN CRITICAL CARE APPLICATIONS.

C

lose might be good enough when tossing a hand grenade, but it won’t cut it in critical applications like medical tubing. Which is why medical extruders can’t afford to overlook even the smallest process flaw.

And there’s a host of problems that can impact tolerances and generate scrap in medical tubing. Chief among them are melt fracture, pressure control, gels and a variety of downstream considerations. We asked some equipment suppliers about the causes and cures for these four product killers.

MELT FRACTURE A common issue when small tooling gaps are used with polymers such as HDPE, LLDPE, PC, and fluoropolymers, melt fracture is surface roughness. “Melt fracture is caused by a disruption of uniform flow along the metal surfaces when high shear is present,” said Mike Puhalla, general manager, global extrusion with Milacron LLC. “Typically, melt fracture occurs in the final tooling gaps and is a result of the shear rate on the polymer, which is a function of the tooling gap, melt viscosity and output rate.”

22

One logical approach to avoiding the problem is to utilize larger tooling gaps, which means making the tubing with a larger drawdown. “This is done commonly with fluoropolymers, where melt fracture is quite evident,” said Bill Kramer, president of American Kuhne. “Tooling drawdowns of 2:1 or 4:1 are common for many polymers, whereas fluoropolymers have used drawdowns of 50:1 and larger,” added Kevin Slusarz, American Kuhne’s vice president of processing technology. The challenge, though, is that larger drawdown leads to more orientation in the tube, which can affect its physical properties. “Tooling land length doesn’t offer much assistance in reducing melt fracture,” Slusarz continued.

Since melt fracture is pretty much all about shear stress, reducing that stress — particularly along the die wall — is crucial. “The easiest place to start is with the extrudate melt temperature,” said John Christiano, director of technology, global, with Davis-Standard LLC. “Since the polymer viscosity is a function of temperature, increasing the temperature of the extrudate will lead to a decrease in viscos-

By Mark Stephen, editor

ity, causing a reduction in the shear stress at the die wall. If the shear stress is reduced below the critical level, the melt fracture will be eliminated.”

Another way to reduce the shear stress at the polymer die wall interface is to increase the temperature of the die, Christiano added. “But this intervention will only work when the melt fracture is very slight,” he said.

An obvious way to minimize melt fracture is to slow down, but this isn’t a popular choice among processors. “Reducing the throughput until the shear stress at the die wall falls below the critical shear stress region will eliminate the melt fracture, but at an operating condition that is not economically feasible,” Christiano said.

Changing the resin formulation is another option. Some processes, like blown film, use special fluoropolymer additive masterbatches when extruding PE through small die gaps. “The additive coats the metal surfaces and reduces or eliminates melt fracture,” said Kevin Slusarz. “Medical tubing processors are often limited by federal regulations in the kinds of additives they can use, however.”

Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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extrusion

PRESSURE CONTROL Pumping consistency from the extruder is a key to holding good tubing tolerances.

But it’s not always easy, especially in extruders of 25-mm diameter or smaller.

“Getting the polymer to feed well early in the extruder, and having a screw design that controls the melting process, leads to good pumping stability at the end of the extruder and a good chance of small dimensional variation in the tubing,” said Mike Puhalla. “But even when the best attempts are made to control feeding and melting, some pressure variation is often seen on smaller extruders.”

Gear pumps have been used for years to improve the flow stability of tubing extrusion systems. “The gear pump is a positive displacement pump that ensures that a consistent flow rate of material is delivered to the die as long as the inlet to the melt pump is maintained in a reasonable range,” said Dave Czarnik, R&D lab manager, downstream extrusion with Conair. “In some cases, a gear pump can

be used to mask the poor performance of a bad screw design.”

Indeed, a gear pump might just be part of the ideal solution. “A gear pump combined with an optimum screw design is the best option to produce the highest quality tubing,” said John Christiano.

A second option is to use a pressure control setup that allows rapid control of screw speed to reduce variation measured in the die adapter. “A control system that can graph the pressure readings is a good tool for analyzing extrusion stability in a tubing system,” said Bill Kramer.

GELS Gels, or bumps, on the tubing surface probably date back to the very first extruded tube. “Gels have a variety of causes, including material inconsistencies, degradation, crosslinked particles and contamination,” said Dave Czarnik. “Their size depends on the source; the thinner the tubing wall, the more obvious the gels typically become.”

And it doesn’t help that many popular

polymers are “gel-prone”, including flexible PVC, TPU, and some other TPEs. Gels in flexible PVC are typically the result of PVC resin particles that have not absorbed enough plasticizer; thermoplastic urethanes, meanwhile, can have issues with durometer differences throughout the extrudate, especially where the material has been made from different durometer stocks.

Gels should be investigated to try to discover their source and how they can be minimized. “Attempting to melt them can sometimes be done on a heated, temperature-controlled surface; if they don’t melt at all, you know you have a severe problem,” said Bill Kramer. “Another clue is whether the gels are a different color from the main material, suggesting degradation or contamination.”

To get rid of gels, our equipment suppliers say, first try a high-shear screw with elevated barrel temperature settings to see if the gel level can be reduced by shear and temperature. If the gels aren’t reduced noticeably, it’s safe to assume the screw

COCA-COLA HELLENIC We have definitely benefitted from the technical innovation and support that Piovan hasprovided over the years.

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Piovan Group One key factor has always stayed the same as a guideline for our way of doing business: maximum commitment to innovation for the success of our clients.

Together at your service

www.piovan.com

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Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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extrusion

won’t solve the problem. “The options then are to either find a way to filter out the gels with a fine-mesh and large-area filter, or have the gels removed prior to extrusion,” Kramer said. “If it’s impossible to get rid of gels entirely, filtering is the best option, particularly by using either a largearea filter or a candle filter for polymers that are gel-prone.”

DOWNSTREAM ISSUES Cutting and feeding medical tubing is a lot like trying to push forward a very small, wet noodle, so everything in the process has to run smoothly. If you’re not careful, downstream problems start early.

“The puller itself has to have to have a very stable drive system so there’s no speed variation,” Kramer said. “It’s also important that there are no spots in the cooling tank where the tubing can drag and become deformed. Control of the water coming out of the front of the tank also has to be consistent, as too much water surging out can cause the tube to

bounce, creating variations in diameter.”

Many medical tubes are both small and low in durometer, making them difficult to feed to the cutting blade. PTFE inserts can help to reduce drag in the bushings, but may require an FDA-approved lubricant — such as alcohol or distilled water — either dripped or sprayed on the tube as it enters the bushing to further decrease drag.

Also, air-feed upstream bushings are becoming common; these create a vacuum that draws the tube into the bushings. “In most cases, even with air-feed bushings, lubrication is still required to enhance feeding and keep the blade wet for optimized cut quality,” Mike Puhalla said.

Sharp edges should be maintained on the cutting surfaces of both the upstream and downstream bushings, Puhalla continued, with the downstream cutter-bushing bore typically larger than the upstream bore by a fraction to offset any potential misalignment.

“Cutting blade choice is also very important,” said Dave Czarnik. “Blades too thick for the particular cutting applica-

tion can leave burrs on the cut tubes. And it’s important that blades be held in close proximity to the actual cut site for optimum blade support while using the thinnest blade possible.”

So take these keys to consistent tubing to heart, and always consult your equipment supplier with any questions. That hand grenade we mentioned at the outset explodes at a safe distance; errors in medical tubing can blow up in your face. CPL RESOURCE LIST American Kuhne (Ashaway, R.I.); www.americankuhne.com; 401-326-6200 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 Laferrière (Mascouche, Que.); www.industrieslaferriere.ca; 450-477-8880 Davis-Standard LLC (Pawcatuck, Conn.); www.davis-standard.com; 860-599-1010 Auxiplast Inc. (Ste-Julie, Que.); www.auxiplast.com; 866-922-2894 Milacron Extrusion Systems (Batavia, Ohio); www.milacron.com; 513-536-2000

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EREMA North America, Inc. 23B Old Right Road / Ipswich, MA 01938 (978)356-3771 / www.erema.net

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Your Ticket to Success!

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technology showcase

AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT

Versatile volumetric feeders Designed for both continuous and batching applications, Acrison Inc.’s ruggedly built 170-1-2 and 170-2-2 (pictured) volumetric feeders incorporate a versatile metering mechanism featuring two independently driven metering augers for the accurate and reliable feeding of a diverse variety of dry solid ingredients over a wide feed range.

The design of the 170-1-2 and 170-2-2 feeders is intended to eliminate the need to change the size of the feeder’s metering auger whenever a feed range is required that cannot be effectively achieved by a single size auger.

By incorporating two separate metering augers sized accordingly, a very wide feed range is possible. Additionally, for batching applications, these feeders are able to provide both high and low feed outputs (rapid feed/dribble feed) to help facilitate the highest degree of batch accuracy.

These model feeders also feature a unique self-emptying design that incor-

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porates a novel discharge port to enable rapid and virtually complete emptying. To further enhance, expedite and simplify clean out, the 170-1-2 and 170-2-2 feeders are available with optional “quick-disconnect” construction for rapid and complete access to all internal areas.

In addition, for maximum ease of removal, the hoppers of these model feeders can be supplied with optional lift-off/ swing-out mechanisms, offering easy and complete clean out.

Acrison Inc. (Moonachie, N.J.); www.acrison.com; 201-440-8300 Hamilton Process Systems Inc. (Kirkland, Que.); www.hps.ca; 514-693-2003 Flow-Water Products Ltd. (Cole Harbour, N.S.); 902-497-3948

Bulk container dumper reduces changeover times, improves product safety A new fully automated, two-tiered bulk container dumper from National Bulk Equipment Inc. is designed specifically for processing applications handling nonfree flowing, high bulk density materials.

Features of the bulk container dumper include specially milled 304-2b stainless steel sheet — with a greatly reduced coefficient of friction relative to typical flat sheet — for improved material release during infeed and faster, more thorough cleaning during changeovers.

Additional design features that speed changeovers and improve product safety include the elimination of internal angles that could harbour contaminants; the use of rounded-radius framework turned 45 degrees to horizontal to speed moisture run-off; and sub-assembly designs that enable single-operator access, removal and replacement. The thick-wall, eight-inch by six-inch stainless steel chassis ensures stable, heavy-lift performance during the raise-and-rotation sequence of the 2,500-lb loads at a 16-foot dump height.

Despite the two-tiered operating environment of the application, changeover times are reduced as a result of its careful design and solid construction. The new bulk container dumper also improves process safety, as the material discharge carriage features a container lift-and-seal function that eliminates the release of migrant material dusts into the operator work area.

National Bulk Equipment Inc. (Holland, Mich.); www.nbe-inc.com; 616-399-2220

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Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

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technology showcase

Quick change cutting chamber for reduced downtime

A new quick change cutting chamber for strand pelletizing machinery from Reduction Engineering Scheer is designed to deliver easy and fast removal of the cutting chamber with minimum downtime.

The patent-pending quick change cutting chamber is unique because it features a gearbox which positively drives the upper and lower feed rolls and helps to maintain machine performance and dependability. It is designed specifically for continuous polymerization systems that can’t be shut down. The quick change chamber lowers downtime and reduces capital expense by eliminating the need to purchase entirely new pelletizing machinery.

Targeted for larger production strand pelletizers, the quick change system features quick couplings which detach all connections between the stationary structure and the cutting chamber. Other key elements include universal joints which connect the gearbox to the cutter and feed rolls, along with a quick tension belt release. All connections to the air lines, the gearbox and the belt are easily removed, resulting in just 15 minutes of downtime on average.

Reduction Engineering Scheer (Kent, Ohio); www.reductionengineering.com; 800-844-2927

INJECTION MOLDING

The Allrounder is specially equipped for production in a clean environment and features a laminar-flow box, a stainless steel sorter unit and an extended machine conveyor belt with tunnel housing for docking to the cleanroom. In addition, the light grey colour and raised machine feet ensure easy cleaning.

The direct-acting servo-electric drives on the machine are encapsulated and liquid cooled as standard to ensure a clean, low-emission production environment. A further energy-efficient measure is energy recovery during braking. Finally, a clean air module with ionization (Class ISO 3) above the clamping unit provides the necessary clean atmosphere.

Arburg Inc. (Newington, Conn.); www.arburg.com; 860-667-6500 DCube (Montreal); www.dcube.ca; 514-272-0500

Vertical machine for micro parts New from Plustech Inc., the North American branch of Sodick’s IMM Division, the HC03VRE micro vertical molding machine is designed for the high-speed molding of precision micro parts.

The machine achieves a dry cycle time of only 0.9

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LSR processing for medical parts Arburg Inc. has unveiled a new application for processing liquid silicone (LSR), a heat resistant, flexible and resilient material in demand for medical parts molding.

The company has incorporated an electric Allrounder 470 A with a clamping force of 1,000 kN and a size 170 injection unit specially equipped for processing LSR. The mold features open cold runner technology for direct injection, ensuring the production of flash-free and therefore rework-free parts. Demolding of parts is performed automatically via an innovative pneumatically actuated wiper unit.

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www.acetronic.com www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

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technology showcase

seconds, made possible using a mold clamping system that closes and clamps in a single motion, coupled with a belt-driven table rotation. The electrically driven hybrid direct-pressure mold clamping system uses four tie-bars to ensure excellent alignment and high rigidity so that clamping force is applied uniformly.

The HC03VRE also features Sodick’s V-Line system, which separates the plasticization and injection processes. This twostage plunger system enables consistent measurement and injection that is well-suited for miniature/micro precision components.

With a compact footprint of only 1,625 mm by 1,178 mm (63.9 inches by 46.4 inches), the HC03VRE has a 460-mm (18.1-inch) table and a clamping force of 3.3 tons.

Plustech Inc. (Schaumburg, Ill.); www.plustech-inc.com; 847-490-8130

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Rebuilding loaner program for winders and bag machines Converting Systems Inc. (CSI) has launched a new machine rebuilding loaner program to help customers update their old dual turret winders and bag machines without disrupting the output of a production line.

CSI rebuilds older machines — often plagued by dirty, leaky hydraulic systems — to run faster and operate more safely and efficiently. Customers can now take advantage of these innovations without incurring the expense of purchasing brand new machinery. Once a customer decides to rebuild one or more of their dated winders or bag machines, CSI will deliver a loaner to take the place of the machine that’s currently being refurbished. The only downtime

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technology showcase

occurs while installing the loaner machine into the line.

The rebuilt machine is then returned with electronic servo system, touchscreen operation, and a full warranty.

Converting Systems Inc. (Schaumburg, Ill.); www.convertingsystems.com; 847-519-0232

3D PRINTING

Expanded FDM and PolyJet material options Stratasys Ltd. has introduced new colors for its ASA thermoplastic and expanded its digital materials.

Adding to the previously launched ivory and black, the eight new color options for ASA include: red, orange, dark grey, yellow, green, dark blue, white and light grey. ASA offers a superior surface finish and has the best aesthetics of any FDM material available. Compared to ABS,

details such as printed text and other features are greatly improved by ASA’s matte finish.

Compatible with the Fortus 360mc, 380mc, 400mc, 450mc and 900mc 3D Production Systems, ASA thermoplastic can be used by manufacturers in a variety of industries including sporting goods, outdoor tools, electrical, toys and automotive.

In addition to ASA’s new color options, Stratasys is expanding its PolyJet technology (which offers more than 1,000 material options) by adding 20 two-component digital materials that combine Endur with other base materials. Endur digital materials allow users to create parts using a range of grey-scale colors with rigid material options, as well as the ability to select a variety of Shore A values with flexible material options.

Eight new rigid digital materials offer a range of six grey shades and two white shades.

Twelve new flexible digital materials offer a range of Shore A values; six of these combine Endur with TangoBlackPlus and six combine Endur with TangoPlus.

Stratasys Ltd./Javelin Technologies (Oakville, Ont.); www.javelin-tech.com; 877-219-6757

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technology showcase

ROBOTS & AUTOMATION

Robots for medical applications and more The new LR Mate 200iD robot series from Fanuc Corporation is designed to be a versatile solution for a wide range of manufacturing operations that require access into small spaces.

A very slim arm — about the same size as a human arm — and a bottom cable exit option minimize interference with peripheral devices. The LR Mate 200iD robots offer a “best-in-class” work envelope for both upright and invert mount installations.

The robots also offer four kg to seven kg wrist load capacity with six-axis articulation; integrated 24VDC power, signal and air for easy end-ofarm-tool connection; integrated thru-arm cable option for iRVision, force sensing, Ethernet and auxiliary axes; flexible mounting (upright, invert, angle); high rigidity and the most advanced servo technology enable smooth motion at high

speeds; and easy integration into machines.

In addition, one of the robots in the series, the LR Mate 200iD/4SC, is ISO Class 4 (Class 10) cleanroom certified for electronics, pharmaceutical and medical part applications. It features a white FDA-compliant coating; a stainless steel wrist; and NSF-H1 grade grease on all joints to provide reliable performance in demanding production environments, including rigorous sanitation procedures.

Fanuc Robotics Canada Ltd. (Streetsville, Ont.); www.fanucrobotics.com; 905-812-2300

PURGING COMPOUNDS

New high-temperature grades for engineering resins Sun Plastech Inc., the manufacturer of the Asaclean purging compound, has added two new high-temperature grades to the product portfolio.

The Asaclean PX2 grade is an improved version of the PX compound. PX2 is a glass-filled grade offering a service temperature range of 280°C and 420°C (535°F to 790°F), and

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www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

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technology showcase

is designed for purging engineering resins such as PEEK, PPS, PEI, and LCP from thermoplastic injection molding machines and extruders. The PX2 grade was specifically designed to provide superior cleaning Canadian Plastics power while generating 4c lowhorizontal levels of the smoke and odor that can be common 1/2 pg occurrences when purging high-temperature resins.

NPE2 Asaclean PF, meanwhile, is a non glass-filled compound that offers service temperatures of 280°C and 420°C (535°F to 790°F), and is well-suited for purging such engineering resins as PPS and PEI from thermoplastic injection molding G FEatUrES machines and extruders. The PF grade is also suitable for hot runner cleaning and — thanks to its superior thermal stability — can be used as a sealing material during machine shutdowns within the temperature ranges of 280°C to 370°C (535°F to 700°F).

Sun Plastech Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.); Access Easy access to shredding room www.asaclean.com; 800-787-4348

O 900

•

V-ECO 900

V-ECO 900

•

O 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

O 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

O 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

SOFTWARE

Removing weak points in injection molding production The new SmartMonitoring process data acquisition software from Wittmann Battenfeld in cooperation with T.I.G. (Technische Informationssysteme GmbH) is designed to be a powerful plant and production data acquisition system for all types of machines in series production, helping with the optimization of production processes by removing weak points in injection molding production.

Through reducing scrap and downtimes, as well as cutting energy costs with measures made possible by visualization, SmartMonitoring has a long-term positive effect on

Y p D c b

G FEatUrES Screen change

Rotor bearing

O 900

opt.

O 1300

•

O 1700

•

O 2100

•

O 900

•

V-ECO 900

•

O 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

O 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

O 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

O 900

opt.

V-ECO 900

opt.

V-ECO 900

•

O 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

•

O 1700

•

V-ECO 1700

•

O 2100

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Quick and easy during maintenance or on demand for different input material

Access Easy access to shredding room

Wear High durability due to wear resistant steel on machine bottom and pusher

Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life of bearing

V-ECO 900

V-ECO 1300 opt.

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Cutting rotor cutting rotor with optimized cutting geometry for maximum performance and reduced generation of heat

G FEatUrES OUtStaNDING FEatUrES

O 900

opt.

O 1300

•

O 1700

•

O 2100

•

O 900

•

O 1300

•

O 1700

•

O 2100

•

O 900

opt.

O 1300

•

O 1700

•

O 2100

•

O 900

opt.

O 1300

•

O 1700

•

O 2100

•

Screen change Quick and easy during maintenance or on demand for different input material

Access Easy access to shredding room

Machine design compact machine design for smooth operation and lower noise

Wear

opt.

•

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Rotor bearing Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life of bearing

V-ECO 900 V-ECO 1300 • V-ECO V-ECO900 1700 •• V-ECO V-ECO1300 2100 •• V-ECO 1700 •

V-ECO 2100 V-ECO 900

opt.

V-ECO9001700 • • V-ECO

smooth operation and lower noise

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Screen change Quick and easy during maintenance or on demand Hydraulic aggregate for different input material Hydraulic aggregate standard with shock valve to avoid hydraulic shocks

Wear

Access Easy access to shredding room

•

High durability due to wear resistant steel on machine Machine design bottom and pusherdesign for compact machine

Hydraulic aggregate standard with shock valve to avoid hydraulic shocks

O 1300

•

V-ECO 1300

OUtStaNDING FEatUrES

Hydraulic aggregate

O 900

V-ECO 900

V-ECO 1300 opt.

V-ECO1300 2100 • • V-ECO

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO900 1700 opt.• V-ECO V-ECO1300 2100 •• V-ECO

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

34

V-ECO 900

opt.

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Cutting rotor cutting rotor with optimized cutting geometry for maximum Access performance reducedroom Easy access toand shredding generation of heat

Rotor bearing Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life Screen change of bearing Quick and easy during maintenance or on demand for different input material

5

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300 V-ECO 1700 900 V-ECO

•

V-ECO 2100 1300 V-ECO V-ECO 1700

• ••

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO900 1700 V-ECO

•

V-ECO1300 2100 •• V-ECO V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO V-ECO 1700 900 V-ECO V-ECO 2100 1300

•• ••

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

V-ECO 1300 opt.

• • • 5 • • •

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300 • VFD Inverter Drive - Eliminates gearboxes & fluid couplings.

V-ECO 1700 • V-ECO 2100 • “W” Rotor, with 5 Rows of Cutters - Equally suited for a variety of materials.

Single or Double Rows of Bed Knives - Produces smaller particle sizes.

V-ECO 900 • V-ECO 1300 • Pneumatic Assist Screen Carriage - Makes screen changes fast & easy.

V-ECO 1700 • V-ECO 2100 • Hydraulic Lift-Up Floor - Quick access to the cutting chamber.

Externally Adjustable Bed Knives - Quicker, easier maintenance.

Rotor bearing Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life of bearing

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

vecoplanllc.com (336) 447-3373

#1

Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com Screen change Quick and easy during maintenance or on demand for different input material

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

Cutting rotor V-ECO 900 opt.

V-ECO 900 • CPL Mar2015 p28-37 Tech Show.indd 34 cutting rotor with optimized

High durability due to wear

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V-ECO 1300

•

Rotor bearing Large distance between rotor and rotor bearing for long-life of bearing

V-ECO 900

•

V-ECO 1300

•

V-ECO 1700

•

V-ECO 2100

•

15-02-19 9:43 AM

You’ve got a process…

Davis-Standard can make it better!

The Global Advantage™ in Extrusion & Converting Exceptional value, consistent performance, and outstanding customer service – that’s Davis-Standard’s commitment to The Global Advantage™. Our capabilities encompass much more than proven equipment technology for nearly every extrusion and converting application. Professional design engineers, laboratory personnel, training experts, an application-focused sales team, hands-on field technicians, and aftermarket parts and service specialists comprise a powerful force with one mission – to ensure our customers have what they need when they need it.

Every piece of equipment bearing Davis-Standard’s red keystone logo is backed by more than 70 years of industry experience. Our time-tested brand names and trusted reputation are synonymous with quality.

Let us know how Davis-Standard’s Global Advantage can support your process and profitability.

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CPL Mar2015 p28-37 Tech Show.indd 35

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technology showcase

the user’s bottom line. The optional mobile module also offers an online overview of the production via a Smartphone, tablet or Internet browser. Important key figures are shown, such as productivity, cycle time, reject rate or degree of utilization. SmartMonitoring is a low-cost, entry-level variant of an MES system, and can be retrofitted with additional functions at any time.

With SmartMonitoring, Wittmann Battenfeld uses a monitoring module with an integrated online overview of the corporate machinery visualized on the Unilog B6P machine control system. With up to 10 program modules, the software offers a range of functions, from a simple overview, analyses and production planning right up to maintenance and process optimization.

Wittmann Canada (Richmond Hill, Ont.); www.wittmann-canada.com; 866-466-8266

The Thermoplay nozzles can be used for direct lengthwise injection on the walls of parts. They have symmetrically arranged tips that can be located at a minimum of 3.2 mm from each other, making the nozzles particularly wellsuited for multi-cavity molding of small precision parts with limited distance between their axes, or for small mold systems with extremely restricted areas.

The nozzles are also suitable for parts requiring a high degree of concentricity.

Alba recommends the new Thermoplay nozzles for use with high-flow polymers such as ABS, PE, PP, and PS. Alba Enterprises Inc. (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.); www.albaent.com; 800-432-6653

HOT RUNNERS

Polyamide 46 for automotive high-heat zones

Multi-tip nozzles for small parts New from Italy-based Thermoplay S.p.A, and available through Alba Enterprises Inc., the Thermoplay DN5/3 series of multi-tip hot runner nozzles are designed for axial injection of small tubular parts, to provide balanced filling that prevents flow lines and reduces the risk of core pin bending caused by high injection pressures.

MATERIALS

Royal DSM’s Stanyl Diablo PA46 high-temperature resistant polyamide 46 is designed to be a big step forward in the use of thermoplastics in automotive high-heat zones.

Stanyl Diablo polyamide 46 provides a weight reduction of up to 40 per cent versus aluminum, and its optimized processing characteristics reduce system cost. It combines very good mechanical performance with superior high-temperature resistance, retaining its high stiffness even under continuous-use temperatures of up to 220°C. A recently introduced hybrid sports car features Stanyl Diablo PA46 in what DSM calls the world’s first high-heat plastic air intake manifold (AIM) with integrated charge air cooler (CAC).

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Canadian Plastics March 2015 www.canplastics.com

CPL Mar2015 p28-37 Tech Show.indd 36

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technology showcase

The injection molded manifold operates at 220°C and withstands pulses of high internal pressure.

DSM worked closely together with a leading system supplier to develop the AIM/CAC combination, with DSM providing extensive development and processing support. The part is made in Stanyl Diablo OCD2100, which contains 40 per cent glass-fibre reinforcement, as well as a specially developed and patented heat stabilizer. This grade has a continuous-use temperature of 220°C and is able to withstand peak temperatures up to 250°C. DSM Engineering Plastics Inc. (Birmingham, Mich.); www.dsm.com; 812-435-7500

Concentrates offer impact strength, color The new TekTuff impact-modified concentrates from Teknor Apex Company are designed to enhance the toughness of polyolefins while imparting the same bright colors available with corresponding unmodified concentrates.

TekTuff concentrates withstood two-thirds greater impact force than standard concentrates in ASTM D562810 falling dart tests, typically enduring up to 161 ft-lb/in,

compared with 96 for unmodified colorants. Depending on the impact improvement needed, higher use rates of the concentrate may be required.

The new concentrates are recommended for such demanding molded products as pails, trash cans and chairs.

Teknor Apex Company (Pawtucket, R.I.); www.teknorapex.com; 800-556-3864

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 website listed above.

classified ads

To place your classified ad here, contact: Greg Paliouras, Associate Publisher at 416-510-5124 or gpaliouras@canplastics.com www.canplastics.com March 2015 Canadian Plastics

CPL Mar2015 p28-37 Tech Show.indd 37

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technical tips

Eliminating surface blemishes on a cosmetic part (part 2)

By John Bozzelli, Injection Molding Solutions

B

lack specks, streaks or color mixing errors are the most commonly recurring problems that mar the surface of highly cosmetic injection molded parts. Three likely culprits causing the surface issues are resin degradation, equipment contamination and/or process miscues. This is a big topic, so I’m breaking it up into parts. Last issue, I discussed resin degradation; this time around, I’m focusing on equipment contamination.

EVALUATING THE EQUIPMENT Eliminating dead spots and choosing the right mixing screw design are major steps toward reducing the chance for part surface marring. General-purpose screws and dispersive screw mixing designs are prime sources of black specks, streaks and color mixing problems. General-purpose screws tend to have dead spots where polymers get hung up and degrade; the material then gets picked up during the molding of subsequent materials, forming black specks or streaks. General-purpose screws

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may not melt resin uniformly, and they are often made from lower steel grades that can actually accelerate resin degradation.

Performing a screw and barrel cleaning will help reveal the true source of a problem. Run a medium-flow PP as a last material before pulling the screw and then check for carbon build-up behind the flights in the metering and transition sections of the screw. Carbon build-up, and the presence of a week-old color, is proof that the new material forwarding is not pushing out all of the previous material in those flights.

Rounding the backside of the flights can eliminate the dead space; flights need to be radiused in the transition and metering section of the screws.

A barrier screw or high-intensity mixing device can also cause trouble. Barrier screws can yield severe resin degradation and higher black speck production due to the huge dead spots in its design. The screw should prevent unmelted solids from getting through. This can be achieved using a modified barrier design that isn’t a continuous barrier flight, but rather tapers into a metering flight. Also, the screw should be highly polished, without visible sanding marks, to minimize the chance for hang-up spots.

Misuse of the mixing design in the screw can be a major source of poor part surface appearance. A tip: choose distributive mixing, not dispersive mixing. Dispersive mixing is a high-shear step that breaks sand-sized particles into ultra-fine micron-sized particles. On the other hand, distributive mixing blends the components into a uniform intermix. For color mixing, the distributive mixing design gently tumbles the melt and ends in a slow taper. A good distributive mixing takes a few black granules in a natural resin and generates a uniform grey part color. Poor distributive mixing or dispersive mixing will give you streaks of black in the natural resin. It’s best to use a 20:1 L/D screw or better to attain good distributive mixing. If your screw has an L/D ratio of 16:1, you’re asking for trouble.

You can check your screw for mixing capability by adding just a few color granules at the feed throat. Count how many shots it takes before the color begins to show up in the parts, so you’ll know the residence time. If the color comes out as uniformly blended pastel, you have good mixing. If it comes out as streaks, you need a better screw design.

Next issue, in my final column on this topic, I’ll wrap up screw design and discuss process miscues.

CPL John Bozzelli is the founder of Injection Molding Solutions in Midland, Mich., a provider of training and consulting services to injection molders, including LIMS and other specialties. He can be reached at john@scientificmolding. com or visit www.scientificmolding.com.

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