Injection Moulding Asia Thermoplastic Elastomers Likewise focused on delivering TPE solutions for an eco-conscious market, United Soft Plastics (USP), a US manufacturer and custom compounder of TPEs has developed a series of sustainable solutions, produced from renewable, post-consumer, post-industrial, and biobased sources. Its first commercially available grades, based on styrene-ethylene-butylene- styrene (SEBS), are made of up to 100% PCR and post-industrial materials. The grades have the typical soft touch, anti-slip properties, adhesion, and haptics. The injection moulding grades are available in 45-65 Shore A hardness and are suitable for a variety of consumer applications, including personal care. Three other series of sustainable TPE solutions are currently being commercialised. These low-cost SEBS grades contain up to 70% renewable products such as wood flour, rice hull, and/or hemp. These have a limited performance threshold, which excludes use in highly engineered TPEs. Also in commercial development phase are biopolymers, which utilise
non- fossil-based materials with up to 100% content. These biobased TPEs deliver almost similar performance as standard materials for injection moulding applications (although available quantities are limited), and hold considerable potential of market impact and carbon emission reduction, USP said. Bio-hybrid TPEs, which can combine renewable, postconsumer, post- industrial, and biobased content up to 100%, are also included in USP’s sustainable TPE portfolio.
USP offers sustainable TPEs produced from renewable, postconsumer, postindustrial, and biobased sources
Industry 5.0
Human touch in robotic-enabled industries Through collaboration with robots, human ingenuity unlocks the key to increasing manufacturing efficiency and sustainability, adds Angelica Buan in this report. Robots uprising: threat to human jobs? The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) has been a game changer in reshaping smart industries, which aim to improve productivity by enabling collaboration and data sharing among vendors, producers, suppliers, and other entities in the supply chain, with the help of big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). Robotics is an integral automation technology in Industry 4.0. Robots can perform high-volume, repetitive tasks with greater accuracy and at a relatively low cost and are now used throughout the advanced process chain, from part installation to packing and labelling, to ensure consistent and timely production, shorter cycle times, and higher throughput.
The dominance of robots in automation systems has ignited concern, particularly about impact on the workforce. In the face of a labour shortage, robots are widely perceived to displace workers or low to mid-skilled jobs, and are discreetly viewed as competitors, particularly because they are less likely to make errors than humans. An AI takeover or a robot uprising, according to conspiracy theorists, is plausible in an Industry 4.0 scenario.
Robotics in Industry 5.0 places emphasis on human workers
7 APRIL 2022
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