PRA May 2011

A S l A ’ S L E A D l N G m aga z l ne f o r t h e p las t l c s and r u b b e r l nd u s t r y

業界新聞 玩具業: 玩具車庫為新材料開啟大門 在 Chinaplas 期間參觀 PRA 的展示攤位 - Hall 3.1 攤位 D01

c o nt e nt s 目 錄

Volume 26, No 181

publlshed slnce 1985

R E G U L A R S 概要

4 Industry News

8 Materials News 16 業 界 新 聞

A S l A’ S L E A D l N G m aga z l ne f o r the plastlcs and rubber lndustry

F E A T U R E S 焦點內容

20 玩玩 具具 業車 :庫 為 新 材 料 開 啟 大 門

cover feature – US 12 Front extrusion machinery producer Davis-

22 Kiefel will display its filling unit at Chinaplas

Standard expects to corner the Asian market with its latest developments

22

German machinery and technology – Asia, especially

China, figures largely on German machinery producers’ map as they head to Chinaplas, to be held in Guangzhou from 17-20 May, to display their latest wares

One of Schöttli’s moulds will be shown producing syringes at Chinaplas

sustainable resins while films are layering up and new technology is introduced from the West

Circulation Dona Margaret e-mail: pramalaysia@gmail.com

Additives – the latest updates 32 include capacity expansions; a

Singapore Office Contact: Anthony Chan Tel: +65 63457368 e-mail: acesap@gmail.com

sustainable flame retardant; EU control on phthalates and food contact approval for additives

34 collaboration resulted in the successful application of a material for a toy garage

– In this article, 36 Management Bob Wrighton draws some parallels between the position of a manager and that of a dictator

– the trend to 40 Photovoltaics generate electrical power from

Yule Catto’s acquisition of PolymerLatex was formalised recently

renewable sources is perking up demand for solar modules

Supplements in this issue ….. A round-up of machinery to be displayed at Chinaplas 2011 ……. The synthetic rubber market is growing amidst a demand uptrend

Cover photo:

Davis-Standard’s Converting Systems unit has installed more than 20 lines in China over the past five years, including the thermal lamination line shown here

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Chinese Editor Koh Bee Ling

28 film processors are offered a choice of

Toy Industry – a four-way

RJA 2

Executive Editor Tej Fernandez Tel: +60 3 4260 4575 e-mail: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com

Editorial/Production Coordinator Angelica Buan e-mail: pramalaysia@gmail.com

Film & sheet extrusion – Asian

IMA 1

Publisher Arthur Schavemaker Tel: +31 547 275005 e-mail: arthur@kenter.nl

Permits ISSN 1360-1245

MICA (P) 187/08/2010 KDN PPS 1700/12/2011 (028142) Printer KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd

PRA is published 8 times a year in Mandarin and English by Kenter & Co Publishers’ Representatives BV. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct, the publisher makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the nature or accuracy of such material to the extent permitted by applicable law. © 2011 Kenter & Co Publishers’ Representatives BV No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or used in any form, or by any means, without specific prior permission from the publisher.

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News INDUSTRY

Strong start to deal making

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he year has started off on a positive note with cash rich companies tapping investment opportunities in the chemicals sector, with some intending to expand their businesses to the emerging markets through the buyouts.

Belgian chemical supplier Solvay is buying speciality chemicals business Rhodia for US$4.8 billion. Solvay has said it will concentrate on growth in emerging markets, which already generate 40% of sales for the combined group. While Solvay will gain knowledge of the Chinese market, Rhodia can leverage its new parent’s strength in markets such as Russia and Thailand. Flush with funds as a result of a restructuring exercise (it sold its pharmaceuticals business and fuel tank blow moulder Inergy and reduced its costs

by EUR65 million/year by laying off 800 staff), Solvay turned to Rhodia after being outbid by US chemicals supplier DuPont for Danish food ingredient maker Danisco this year. Solvay had sales of EUR7 billion last year, while Rhodia has 14,000 employees worldwide and generated sales of EUR5 billion last year.

The deal comes against the back of other major takeovers – BASF bought Cognis for US$4.3 billion last year and is undertaking the integration process. More recently, US billionaire Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway purchased US-based lubricant/chemical

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maker Lubrizol for US$9.2 billion.

Rhodia itself recently completed the acquisition of Indian company PI Industries’s engineering plastics business. The buy is a major step in Rhodia’s growth plan as it aims to double its local capacity to represent 15% of the Indian PA compound market by 2015. According to Rhodia, India’s demand for engineering resins is more than 100,000 tonnes/ year and growing at 14% a year. PA represents 25% of the total market in the country, or 28,000 tonnes in 2010. Rhodia has taken over PI’s compounding facility that employs more than 80, its R&D capabilities, customer base and logistics network in the country.

US-based Momentive Specialty Chemicals will sell its North American composites and coating resins business to PCCR USA, a subsidiary of Investindustrial, a European investment group. Momentive’s business makes epoxy, phenolic and coating resins for coating formulators and composite moulders.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Last year, the business had sales of US$230 million.

It employs 255 personnel who will join PCCR. Investindustrial said the deal is a continuation of the globalisation of its European assets. It has operations in speciality chemicals, resins and intermediates including Italy-based Polynt, which was formerly the polymer intermediates division of Lonza.

In France, Arkema will take over Total SA’s coatings and photocure resins business by this October. Terms were not disclosed. The company said that 2011 will be a pivotal year for it as it becomes one of the major suppliers to this market.

Last year, Arkema said it hoped to boost its sales to EUR7.5 billion by 2015, which is an increase of EUR5.8 billion in 2010, by building on growth in emerging markets and through new acquisitions.

Meanwhile on the retail side, American Graham Packaging, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone, will be acquired by consumer goods packaging producer Silgan Holdings for US$4.2 billion to bolster its plastic packaging business. Graham, which had sales of US$2.5 billion last year, makes custom blow moulded rigid plastic containers for consumer products makers. The deal will add manufacturing facilities in

the US, Europe and Asia, and create a company with annual sales topping US$6.2 billion and 17,000 employees in 19 countries.

And while Graham Packaging waits for approval of its buyout by shareholders and regulatory authorities, it has announced that its Italian subsidiary is planning to buy Italian blow moulding machinery company Techne for US$12.8 million. Techne, which stopped taking orders for new machines last year, is under liquidation proceedings with the Court of Bologna, Italy. The deal is subject to approval by Techne’s creditors and ratification by the court.

Techne makes extrusion blow moulding machines and has sold more than 1,000 machines to around 200 customers in 70 countries. The machines make bottles for dairy, household, industrial, personal care, pharmaceutical and food and beverage markets.

Uflex expands to the US

I

ndian film supplier and flexible packaging converter Uflex is investing in the US. Its first phase of the US$180 million project will include a 8.7 m, 500 m/ minute biaxially oriented polyester (BOPET) film line and a complementary plasma-enhanced, highbarrier metalliser. Said to be one of the world’s largest, the film line will produce 30,000 tonnes/year of film and is expected to come on stream by the end of 2012.

The second phase of

the operations, to come on line in 2014, includes adding on capacity of 60,000 tonnes/year.

Noida-based Uflex’s other facilities are in Dubai, Mexico and Egypt in addition to several plants in India. It is also in the process of setting up a BOPET facility in Poland by the middle of 2012, into which it is pumping US$90 million to produce 36,000 tonnes/year of packaging film. The company claims a fifth place ranking in the global packaging market.

INDUSTRY NEWS

News In Brief Perstorp expands in Singapore To cater to the HDI market, which is growing at 6% a year, Perstorp has launched a new production line for HDI derivatives at its facility in Singapore. With a capacity of 12,000 tonnes/year, the HDI derivatives will start up in 2012. It also plans to include a new 2-EHA capacity expansion in the facility. With a capacity of 40,000 tonnes/year, it will be operational in 2013.

Samyang looks East for growth Seoul-based industrial conglomerate Samyang has set up a EUR10 million compounding plant in Hungary to compound 10,000 tonnes/year of PC and PBT, with plans to double this by 2013.

The output will mainly be for electronics giant Samsung, which has plants nearby in Jászfényszaru and in Poland and Slovakia.

Samyang also has another facility on a site owned by Hungarian automotive and electronics components moulder Jász-Plasztik.

DSM to expand activities Dutch company DSM has set up a functional materials business unit, which will be part of its performance materials cluster, to expand its activities in the area of formulated coatings and composites.

The activities of

its current DSM Desotech unit, which produces UV-curable materials including DeSolite optical fibre coatings and Somos stereolithography additives, will be integrated into this new structure.

Turbocharged masterbatch market US market research firm Global Industry Analysts (GIA) forecasts the world market for masterbatch to reach US$8.25 billion by the year 2017. Technical developments that help impart the desired colour and physical properties to polymers, simultaneously reducing their cost, will aid in “turbocharging” the market’s growth in the medium to longterm period, says GIA. More nylon in Germany Rhodia has debottlenecked its PA6.6 production capacity in Freiburg, Germany, increasing capacity by 50%.

Chinese bio-product plant starts up China Green Material Technologies has started up its new facility in Heilongjiang Province. The company produces biodegradable packaging materials, tableware and containers using starch as raw materials.

The installation of a double-layer coextrusion sheet line, will increase capacity of finished products from 9,000 to 20,000 tonnes.

News INDUSTRY

Bio-ethylene project and more ethylene from Dow

T

otal Petrochemicals, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) and its subsidiary Axens have announced an alliance with the objective to develop a technology for the production of ethylene by dehydration of ethanol. The quality of the monomers will be in line with modern derivative production processes, allowing the production of PE, PET, PS, PVC and ABS in existing unmodified downstream polymerisation installations.

Based on Total’s original proprietary catalyst development, this new technology will open the way to the production of bio-ethylene from renewable resources with lower energy consumption and lower CO 2 emissions, compared to traditional ethylene.

Within the agree-

ment, Total will continue its work on the optimisation of the catalyst formulation at its research centre in Feluy, Belgium. IFPEN, a research, industrial innovation and training centre, will complete the process development in France.

Meanwhile, Axens will prepare the technology for commercialisation by ensuring the industrial catalyst manufacturing and by providing all process licensing-related services to Total and other potential customers worldwide.

It is expected that the technology will be ready for industrial implementation around the end of 2011.

In the US, Dow Chemical is planning to increase its ethylene and propylene production and to integrate its US operations into

feedstock opportunities available from increasing supplies of US shale gas in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shale regions.

“The improved outlook for US natural gas supply from shale brings the prospect of competitively priced ethane and propane feedstocks to Dow,” said Executive VicePresident Jim Fitterling.

“Our plan is to further integrate Dow’s businesses with the advantaged feedstocks, based on shale gas deposits and long-term ethane and propane supply agreements.”

Dow is currently finalising plans to increase its ethylene supply and ethane cracking capabilities by re-starting a cracker at its St. Charles site by the end of 2012; improving ethane feedstock flexibility at its Louisiana site

Asian producers adding on PET capacity

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hai polyester producer Indorama Ventures will expand its European PET capacity by 220,000 tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes. Expected to be completed in 2013, the new plant will be built on a brownfield site, which is deemed to be more cost effective than a greenfield site. But it has not yet decided on the location.

Indorama has

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five European PET plants that are located in the UK and the Netherlands – it bought over Eastman Chemical’s plants in Workington and Rotterdam.

It also took over Equipolymers’s plant in Ottana, Sardinia, and in 2006 set up Orion Global PET in Lithuania. It’s most recent purchase is SK Eurochem’s plant in Poland. In addition, it has two PTA plants

in Rotterdam and Ottana.

In India, conglomerate Reliance Industries plans to set up a new PET plant in Dahej, Gujarat, with a capacity of 540,000 tonnes and an option to double that later. It is also planning a 2.3 million tonnes/year PTA plant in Dahej, with the option to increase it by another 1.15 million tonnes at a later stage.

These plants will be integrated with the

in 2014 and at its Texas site in 2016; as well as constructing a world-scale ethylene production plant in the US Gulf Coast for start-up in 2017.

On the propylene side, it plans to construct a new, world-scale facility at its Texas site that will start up in 2015 and explore an option to commercialise its own technology to produce propylene from propane, with the potential start-up of a new production unit in 2018.

In addition, Dow has signed an MOU with a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based gas company Range Resources to enter into a long-term supply agreement for ethane from the Marcellus Region in southwest Pennsylvania to Dow’s existing operations in Louisiana.

paraxylene plants at Jamnagar for raw material and will in turn cater to the new polyester plants being constructed simultaneously.

The company says that demand for PET, which is already India’s fastest growing polymer, is poised for exponential growth due to continued demand in the bottling, packaging and food & beverages sectors.

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20.04.2011 08:24:44

News

GREEN MATERIALS

Reducing carbon emissions Sustainability is being adopted by most brand owners and it includes car makers and beverage producers that are using recycled materials in their products. Meanwhile, Pepsi has introduced a 100% renewable resource bottle, though Coke had a head start in this, and plastics from fruits and chicken feathers could be a reality soon.

Automotive parts get a boost from recycled materials US car maker Ford Motor’s use of EcoLon material in its Escape, Fusion, Mustang and F-150 vehicles last year, has resulted in saving more than 1.8 million kg of carpet from landfills and in reducing the consumption of petroleum by 430,000 gallons.

A nylon resin made from 100% recycled carpet

by Wellman Engineering Resins, EcoLon is used for cylinder head covers that are injection moulded by Dana Holding for Ford’s 3 l Duratec engine in its Fusion and Escape vehicles while a 5 l engine powers the Mustang and F-150.

The automotive cover used in Ford’s vehicles is said to be the first product of its kind manufactured from post-consumer recycled nylon

The car maker says the cylinder head covers are another example of the use of sustainable materials in its vehicles. Other materials include soy foam seat cushions, recycled yarns on seat covers and recycled blue jeans for sound-dampening material.

The cover is said to be the first automotive product of its kind manufactured from post-consumer recycled nylon. To repurpose it to nylon, Wellman grinds used nylon carpeting into fibre and recaptures the material through a patented, proprietary process. This is then used by Dana to mould into cylinder head covers.

Meanwhile, German materials supplier Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has introduced a recycled material for horizontal vehicle body panels. The Makroblend GR

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235M PC/PET blend is made from post-consumer and post-industrial recyclate and, according to BMS, its property profile is comparable to Makroblend UT 235M, which is established in bodywork production.

The PET for the material comes from beverage bottles and the PC is a material that was developed for commercial 5 gallon water bottles.

BMS’s new material is offered for horizontal vehicle body parts

The material is said to be suitable as a substitute for sheet moulding compounds, sheet steel and aluminium in bodywork applications. Possible applications are parts such as spoilers, trunk lids and skirts as well as covers for aerials and convertible top compartments.

The material is said to be economical in large production runs because it yields moulded parts that require no reworking and that can be coated without pretreatment to produce components with Class A surfaces.

Other advantages include the low, largely isotropic thermal linear expansion; the ability to achieve tight gaps between adjacent assemblies for a seamless look and high heat resistance.The material can also be used to fabricate large components with very low internal stress and thus exhibiting only minimal distortion.

Fruity car parts, next With the car industry looking for lighter materials, automotive plastics of the future could be made of nanosized fibres produced from pineapples, bananas and other fruits, according to the American Chemical Society (ACS).

In fact, the new plastics, targeted at car parts like dashboards, bumpers and side panels, are said to be 30% lighter and up to four times stronger.

Besides weight reduction, nano-cellulose reinforced plastics have mechanical advantages over conventional plastics like greater resistance to damage from heat, chemicals, water and oxygen. Automotive manufacturers are already testing the new materials and it is expected that these will be launched in two years.

News GREEN MATERIALS

Cellulose is the main material that makes up the wood in trees and other parts of plants with its fibres used to make paper. In more recent years, scientists have discovered that intensive processing of wood releases ultra-small or nanocellulose fibres and these can be added to raw material used to make plastics.

The most promising of the fruits are the leaves and stems of a pineapple. Another is curaua, a plant related to pineapple that is cultivated in South America. Other good sources include bananas; coir fibres found in coconut shells; typha or cattails; sisal fibres produced from the agave plant and fique, another plant related to pineapples.

To prepare the nano-cellulose fibres, the scientists insert the plants into a device similar to a pressure cooker.Then they add certain chemicals and heat the mixture over several cycles, producing a fine material that resembles talcum powder. Though the process is costly, it requires 0.5 kg of nano-cellulose to produce around 50 kg of material.

And though presently targeted at plastics, in the future, steel and aluminium used in automotives could be replaced with these materials.

Improved plastics from chicken feathers Yiqi Yang, an authority on biofibres and biomaterials at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Institute of Agriculture & Natural Resources in the US, has reported about a new process that uses chicken feathers as raw materials for the production of plastics.

According to Yang, plastics developed by other processes using chicken feathers had poor water resistance whereas the new method shows strong water resistance and mechanical properties. Yang said that keratin, a strong protein found in wool, horns and hair, can give durability and robustness to plastics.

The new process involves processing of chicken feathers with methyl acrylate, a clear liquid used in nail polish that goes through polymerisation. The resulting polymerised product is known as feather-g-poly(methyl acrylate) plastic.

When used in making films, it has demonstrated better tearing resistance than starch or soy-based plastics, says the researcher.

Golf balls get the lobster treatment Another learning institution in the US, University of Maine, in conjunction with the Lobster Institute, has developed a biodegradable golf ball made from lobster shells. The ball is intended for use on cruise ships.

Though biodegradable golf balls already exist, this is the first to be made with crushed lobster shells with a biodegradable binder and coating, creating value from waste material. The university also says its balls are cheaper.

Biodegradable golf balls that are now on the market are sold at around US$1 per ball while the raw materials for the lobster shell balls cost only US$0.19 cents per ball.

It also says the balls perform similarly to the biodegradable counterparts, plus they can be used with both drivers and irons. The university has filed a provisional patent for the lobster shell mixture, which can also be used for producing plant pots that decompose in the ground.

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Pepsi’s bottle is made from 100% plant-based materials

Pepsi develops “green” bottle, just like Coke, and Evian is lighter First it was Coca-Cola, now PepsiCo has developed what it says is the w o r l d ’s f i r s t P E T plastic bottle made entirely from plantbased resources.

Coke introduced its PlantBottle in 2009 and 30% of its material is renewable, from sugarcane ethanol from Brazil.

PepsiCo says its bottle is made from bio-based raw materials, including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks.

The company expects to broaden the renewable sources for the raw materials to organic waste from its food business like orange and potato peels, oat hulls and other agricultural byproducts. The new bottle will be commercialised in 2012.

Already two years in the market, Coke will sell 5 billion PlantBottles this year. It has licensed the technology to food giant Heinz to package its ketchup in PlantBottle.

Coke also recently introduced its Odwalla and Dasani beverages in the PlantBottle packaging. While the Dasani bottles are produced from 30% of plant-based materials, Odwalla uses a mixture of HDPE and 100% plant-based materials.

Also Danone Waters of America, the marketer of Evian bottled water, has introduced a new version of its 1.5 l bottle that is lighter and uses more recycled material. The bottle weighs 28.6 g, instead of the previous 32 g and uses 11% less plastic. It also contains 50% recycled PET material.

The company says the lighter bottle will reduce its carbon footprint by 30%. The company’s goal is to reduce its CO2 emissions by 40% by the end of this year.

Overcoming use of PLA in packaging Recent material developments for sustainable packaging from US-based DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers includes its Biomax Strong 120 to help accelerate the growth of bio-based PLA polymers in packaging. To date, the crinkly sound of PLA-based films have limited their acceptance in flexible packaging applications such as snack bags. Preliminary testing of mono-layer films shows that Biomax reduces such noise at a low percentage loading, says DuPont.

As well as delivering significant toughening effects in brittle PLA materials, the modifier also cuts power consumption while increasing thermal stability during extrusion.

Moreover, during extrusion, it acts as a lubricant in the solids conveying sections of the extruder, resulting in an increase of up to 21% in extruder energy efficiency with just 2% by weight of Biomax use, says the company. ◆

Front cover feature

Moving forward in an emerging market At the upcoming Chinaplas show in Guangzhou, US-based Davis-Standard will focus on several growing markets, with a variety of extrusion equipment targeting high end applications.

Presence expanded through technology China is not a new market for extrusion and converting machinery manufacturer Davis-Standard. For instance, its Converting Systems unit has installed more than 20 lines in China over the past five years. “The majority of the machines being extrusion coating lines for flexible and aseptic packaging, fabric coating and thermal lamination,” said Steve Post, Director of Business Development Asia at Davis-Standard.

Davis-Standard has been supplying its agricultural film lines to China for some time now

A p a r t f r o m t h a t i t h a s i n s t a l l e d e x t r u d e r s , coaters and winders for oriented film lines. It has also manufactured systems for downstream use of those films, such as complete lines for window film applications.

At the Chinaplas exhibition in May, the company will have graphic and end product displays from its Converting Systems and Extrusion Systems groups showcasing cast film, extrusion lamination, fabric coating, liquid coating and laminating, blown film, blow moulding, pelletising, tubing and sheet lines.

A pilot-size co-extrusion blown film line for laboratory testing

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Said Steve, “We will focus on several growing markets as well as green technologies that offer greater energy savings, reduced scrap and improved processing for both extrusion and converting operations.” Other technologies will target applications in electronics, engineered films and packaging.

Keeping up with the trends China is the fastest growing country in the Asian region and it is rapidly adapting new technologies a c r o s s t h e b o a r d . S t e v e s a i d , “ We h a v e s e e n a dramatic migration from commodity to value added end-products, including films and composites for photovoltaic and lithium ion batteries applications, liquid and flexible packaging, surface protection, thermal lamination and waterproof membranes.”

In the area of electronics, Davis-Standard has engineered systems for protection films, optical PC, PMMA and PET sheet and MDO technology. The technology strides made in the US, trickle down to Asia, too. “We have installed some very sophisticated film lines for brightness enhancement and photovoltaic panels, which is a new and innovative technology.

The details, however, are confidential,” he added.

Work in green and new markets includes technology for EVA encapsulation, solar back sheet, flexible solar cover sheet and biodegradable resins.

Extrusion carriage for optical quality EVA film

Front cover feature

In addition, the company’s Extrusion Systems unit continues to have a strong presence in rubber, foam and medical tubing applications with many systems installed for these applications.

The sales and marketing is handled by a direct sales/service office in Shanghai, which is responsible for the entire Chinese market.

But even with the wide portfolio of machinery it has to offer, the company cannot address all the needs that are being driven by the rapid growth of machinery needs in China.

An extrusion coating and laminating line for flexible packaging: liquid coating and laminating equipment for adhesive or dry-bond lamination can be added on to further expand its capabilities

A lamination station for flexible packaging

“We do not proclaim to be a company that can supply everything to everybody. We realise we can only supply to the higher end producers,” says Steve.

It is in the liquid packaging and thermal lamination sectors that the company has claimed its market share. “We also have strong positions in flexible packaging and fabric coating and see our position strengthening there as converters seek out higher quality, better efficiency, increased line speeds and tec h n i c a l c a p a b i l i t y w h e n p r o c e s s i n g m ore value added products,” he added.

Interesting prospect for packaging lines Whereas in China it is able to tackle a wider range of applications, its business in Southeast Asia has primarily been honed into packaging. “We see an emerging trend for high-speed flexible packaging lines up to 450 mpm in speed and wide width CPP lines in excess of 5 m,” said Steve.

When asked how the company is able to compete with lower cost machinery, especially from South Korea and India, Steve says, “We cannot compete in every market. The Southeast Asian flexible packaging market has become less fragmented requiring machines with greater output and speed and this is where we are able to supply more of our high-speed extrusion coating and wide width CPP machines.”

The region also bolsters a sizeable stretch wrap m a r k e t . H e a d d s , “T h e s t r e t c h f i l m m a r k e t s e e m s to be shifting to in-line hand wrap rolls from large jumbo rolls.”

T h e c o m p a n y ’s l a t e s t h i g h - s p e e d S 4 w i n d e r caters to such operations. “It has the fastest rollto-roll cycle times in the industry at 22 seconds, allowing high line speeds when making finished hand wrap rolls in-line.” Based on upstream capabilities and 95% line uptime, the company says its winder can produce up to 20,000 rolls per day.

The latest high-speed S4 winder for the stretch film market boasts a 22-second roll-to-roll cycle time and a capacity of up to 20,000 rolls/day

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Front cover feature

Meanwhile, coreless winders may soon make their way to Asia. Last year, at Chinaplas 2010, Davis-Standard signed an agreement with Noel of Italy to jointly supply coreless winders to the US market. “We have installed some of their equipment in our laboratory facilities in Fulton, NY. We have performed many trials for our existing customer base and are quite impressed with the capabilities. We see this as a large growth area in stretch film,” said Steve.

Forefront of new technology One of the company’s assets is its wealth of engineering experience and talent, said Steve. And it is with this that it is able to continue to introduce new technology.

At the end of last year, its order intake exceeded prerecessionary levels by a significant margin, driven mainly by developments within both the converting and extrusion business units.

A recent development is a direct drive extruder.

In recent tests conducted, it was shown to provide a quieter (as much as 70% at 100 rpm) and more energyefficient operation (as much as 25%), when compared to AC or DC-drive counterparts. At the heart of the system is a permanent magnet synchronous motor, which does not require a mechanical gear reducer to multiply the torque to rotate the screw. Supplied in sizes of up to 114 mm, the extruders are capable of processing a variety of resins for all extrusion applications.

One of the company’s latest developments is the direct drive extruder, providing a more quiet and energy-efficient operation

Its Converting Systems has introduced a new series of Black Clawson Converting Machinery underwater, water ring and air ring pelletisers for micro, normal and macro pellets in laboratory sizes to high-capacity virgin resin plant sizes. The pelletisers allow for 5 to 25% more production than previous models. Manufactured in-house, the die plates have been redesigned and are said to have been field proven to enable higher outputs while nearly doubling the face life of the die plate.

This design also enables improved process flexibility for a broad melt viscosity processing range without a die change. The technology was developed to support new markets like bio-resins as well as de-bottlenecking projects and improved scrap recovery at all levels.

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Its die technology has been further boosted with the addition of the Triple Lip air ring and Vertex die.

“These are recognised for increased cooling capacity and output rates,” says Steve, adding, “the Triple Lip is unique because of its singular design of one air ring, blower and chiller, instead of two. It has a counter-cooling concept along the hi-stalk and an easily adjustable elevator system.” Processors have a wider production range and improved outputs with a BUR (blow up ratio) of 2.0:1 to 4.4:1. Performance increases in the 30 to 40% range are common with benefits like improved thickness control and simplified maintenance. The air ring is available on new lines or as a retrofit to existing Davis-Standard lines.

Further technology developments include a scrapless winder that eliminates the film scrap typical during winder indexing; expanded medical tubing capabilities and more efficient heating and cooling systems.

T h e c o m p a n y i s a l s o i n t h e p r o c e s s o f commercialising its high-speed extruder technology, which will improve the return on investment for specific applications.

Bright outlook ahead Though China’s economy is expected to grow slower at 9.6% this year, compared to 10.3% last year, according to the Asian Development Bank, the growing middle classes, rising incomes and increasing affluence in the country will lead to the need for more sophisticated products. Furthermore, the Chinese government has laid out measures to rebalance economic growth drivers in its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) by putting more emphasis on domestic consumption and services.

Hence, Davis-Standard expects its extrusion technology, especially its sheet, foam and medical t u b i n g t e c h n o l o g y, t o g e n e r a t e m u c h i n t e r e s t i n the country. “Our XP Express roll stand system is versatile, cost-effective and available for fast delivery.

It is designed for nearly every sheet and packaging application and has capabilities for lamination, coating, auxiliary cooling, slitting and trimming, embossing and protective film,” said Steve.

When asked if the company had any intentions of setting up manufacturing in Asia, Steve says, “We have sales offices in Manila and Shanghai. Along with that, we have nine service engineers in the region to support our growing market base. At present, we do not have any plans to manufacture locally.”

The Pawcatuck-headquartered company maintained a “strong” position worldwide despite the global downturn last year. This is attributed to its attention to detail, according to Steve.

“We put a lot of engineering content into each of our machines. We scrutinise the process, listen to our customers concerns, run laboratory trials if necessary and develop the best machine for that market. Based on this exhaustive process, we have had a high probability of meeting customer needs,” he concluded. ◆

新聞 亞洲生產商擴增 PET 產能

業 界

泰 國 的 聚 酯 生 產 商 Indorama Ventures 將其歐洲的 PET 產能從 22萬 噸 擴 大 至 130萬 噸 。 預 計 於 2013 年完成的新工廠將建立在一 個棕色地塊，它被認為比建立在 綠色地塊更符合成本效益。不過 確實地點尚有待決定。

Indorama 的 5 家歐洲 PET 工 廠分別坐落在英國及荷蘭 — 它 收 購 了 Eastman Chemical 位 於沃金和鹿特丹的工廠，並接 管 了 Equipolymers 在 撒 丁 島 ， Ottana 的 工 廠 ， 以 及 在 2006 年 於立陶宛設立了 Orion Global PET 工廠。這家公司最近也在波蘭買 下了 SK Eurochem 工廠。另外， 它也在鹿特丹和 Ottana 擁有兩家 PTA 工廠。

在印度，企業巨擘 Reliance Industries計 劃 在 古 吉 拉 的 Dahej 設 立 一 家 產 能 達 54 萬 噸 的 PET 新廠，並在日後可依據需 要將產能提高一倍。它也計劃在 Dahej 設立一家年產量達 230 萬噸 的 PTA 工廠，並可在稍後階段選 擇 將 產 能 擴 增 至 115 萬 噸 。 這 些 工廠將與賈姆納格爾的對二甲苯 工廠進行原料整合，從而滿足同 一時間興建之聚酯新廠的需要。

公司指出，作為目前印度成 長 最 快 速 的 聚 酯 ， PET 的 市 場 需 求有望取得倍數增長，這主要是 因為裝瓶、包裝、食品及飲料行 業的需求持續增加所致。

強勁交易開始蘊釀 今年取得很好的開端，現金充裕的 公司積極探討化學領域的投資機 會，一些公司有意通過收購行動擴 大它們在新興市場的商業版圖。 16

MAY 2011

比利時的化學供應商 Solvay 以 48 億 美 元 購 下 特 殊 化 學 品 公 司 Rhodia。Solvay 說，新興市場 的業務增長將成為集團的焦點， 有關市場已為合併後的集團帶來 40% 的銷售額。Solvay 將獲得中 國市場方面的知識，而 Rhodia 則 可從其新的母公司的市場實力， 如俄羅斯及泰國的市場受惠。 由於重組活動（出售其製藥業 務 及 油 箱 吹 塑 成 型 機 Inergy， 以 及 裁 員 800 人 ， 每 年 省 下 6 千 500 萬 歐 元 ） 而 坐 擁 大 筆 資 金 的 Solvay， 在 今 年 收 購 丹 麥 的 食 材 製 造 商 Danisco 行 動 上 被 美 國 的 化學品供應商 DuPont 擊退後而轉 向收購 Rhodia。Solvay 去年的銷 售額是 70 億歐元，而在全球擁有 1 萬 4 千 名 員 工 的 Rhodia， 去 年 的銷售額達 50 億歐元。

其他接踵而來的主要收購活 動 — BASF 在去年以 43 億美元收 購 Cognis 後，目前正在進行整合 過程。最近的收購個案尚有美國 億萬富豪華倫巴菲特的伯克希爾 哈撒韋公司動用 92 億美元收購以 美國為據點的潤滑油／化學品製 造商 Lubrizol。

Rhodia 本 身 最 近 完 成 了 收 購 印 度 公 司 PI Industries 的 工 程塑料業務。此項收購行動是 Rhodia 成長計劃中重要的一環， 其目標是在 2015 年將當地的產能 提高一倍，以佔據印度 PA 化合物 市場的 15% 份額。根據 Rhodia， 印度的工程樹脂需求每年超過 1 0 萬 噸 ， 年 成 長 率 達 1 4 %。 在 2010 年 ， PA 佔 了 該 國 市 場 總 額 的 25% 或 2 萬 8 千 噸 。 Rhodia 已 經 接 管 了 PI 在 該 國 聘 有 超 過 80 名員工的複合工廠，其研發能 力，客戶群和物流網絡。

總部設在美國的 Momentive Specialty Chemicals 將 出 售 其在北美洲的複合材料及塗 料樹脂業務予歐洲投資集團 Investindustrial 的子公司 PCCR USA。Momentive 的業務是製造 供塗層配方使用的環氧、酚醛及 塗層樹脂，以及複合製模機。公 司沒有披露協議的條例。去年， 公司的銷售額是2億 3千萬美 元 ， 所 僱 用 的 255 名 員 工 將 加 入 PCCR。

Investindustrial說 ， 有 關 交易是該集團全球化歐洲資產的 延續行動之一。它涉足特殊化學 品、樹脂和中間體業務，包括總 部 設 在 意 大 利 的 Polynt， 它 原 先 是Lonza的聚合物中間體部門。

在法國，Arkema將在今年 1 0 月 接 管 To t a l S A 的 塗 料 樹 脂 及光引發樹脂業務。條款沒有披 露。公司說2011年將是關鍵性 的一年，因為它成為此市場的主 要供應商之一。去年Arkema表 示 希 望 銷 售 額 在 2015年 能 躍 增 至 75億 歐 元 。 通 過 在 新 興 市場的增長及新的收購行動， 2010年 的 銷 售 額 增 加 58億 歐 元。

與 此 同 時 ， 在 零 售 方 面 ， 消 費 品 包 裝 生 產 商 Silgan Holdings 計劃斥資 42 億美元收 購由私人股權投資公司黑石集 團 所 擁 有 的 美 國 公 司 Graham P a c k a g i n g， 以 加 強 其 塑 料 包 裝 業 務 。 Graham 去 年 的 銷 售 額 是 25 億美元，主要為消費品製造 商定製吹塑成型硬質塑料容器。 這項交易將增加在美國、歐洲 及亞洲的製造設施，創造一家 年銷售額達62億美元及在全球 19個國家僱用1萬7千名員工的 公司。

新聞 Uflex擴展業務至美國

業 界

印度電影供應商兼彈性包裝轉換 商Uflex在美國進行投資，首階 段的1億8千萬美元投資項目將 包括一條8.7米，500米／分鐘 雙向拉伸聚酯 (BOPET)薄膜生 產線及輔助等離子增強，高阻隔 金屬器。這據說是世界最大的 薄膜生產線每年可生產3萬噸薄 膜，預計將在2012年年杪投入 生產。

次 階 段 的 操 作 將 在 2014年 啟動，包括增加產能至每年生產 6萬噸薄膜。

總 部 設 在 諾 伊 達 的 Uflex， 除了在印度擁有多家工廠，在迪 拜、墨西哥及埃及也設有廠房。 該公司目前正籌備2012年中期在 波蘭設立一家BOPET工廠，注資 9千萬美元每年生產3萬6千噸包 裝薄膜。該公司聲稱它在全球包 裝市場排名第五。

Perstorp擴展業務至新加坡 為了滿足不斷增長及年成長率達 6%的HDI市場，Perstorp展開 了一項擴展產能行動，為其新加 坡的工廠增加一條HDI衍生產品 新生產線。這擁有1萬2千噸／年 生產能力的HDI衍生產品生產線 將在2012年投產。該公司也計劃 在 工 廠 內 擴 增 新 的 2-EHA生 產 能 力，其產能為一年4萬噸，並將 在2013年操作。

Samyang向東尋成長機會 首爾的工業巨擘Samyang已耗資 1千萬歐元在匈牙利設立一家複 合 工 廠 ， 每 年 複 合 1 萬 噸 的 P C及 PBT， 並 計 劃 在 2013年 將 產 能 18

MAY 2011

再翻一倍。其供給量將以電子 業巨頭三星電子為主，後者在 Jászfényszaru附近及波蘭和斯 洛伐克設有工廠。另外Samyang 也在匈牙利的汽車及電子元件模 具商Jász-Plasztik所擁有的一個 工業單位設有另一家工廠。

輪胎回收過多造成轟動 韓 國 輪 胎 製 造 商 K u m h o Ti r e 在 中國天津的工廠由於使用太多回 收橡膠製造輪胎而成為熱鍋上的 螞蟻。該公司已經召回不符合標 準的輪胎。一份獨立調查報告指 出，有缺陷的輪胎可能因為凸起 或分 裂 而 導 致 意 外 事 故 的 發 生 。

Kumho在天津、南京及長春 的工廠每年生產3千萬條輪胎， 供應給由主要原始設備製造商所 生 產 的 35款 車 型 ， 包 括 通 用 汽 車、福士偉根、現代、東風標致 雪鐵龍和國產品牌如長城汽車及 Hafei。

根據該項獨立調查報告，多 達一半的輪胎配方是採用再生材 料，唯被允准的最高使用量卻是 25%。 Kumho初 時 否 認 這 項 報 導，但隨後卻表示它已進行了一 項調查，發現其部份僱員在化合 物中混入太多的再生材料。

Evonik銷售碳黑和計劃首次 公開招股 德國化工巨頭Evonik配合其未來 15個月準備進行公開售股，將出 售其碳黑單位予美國的金融投資 者Rhone Capital。這項交易的 價值超過13億美元，包括債務在 內。

該集團的碳黑業務涵蓋11個 國家的16家生產設施，2010年

的銷售額為12億美元。該單位是 以整體方式被收購，包括其1千 650位員工，當中有 500人是在 德國。

首席執行員Klaus Engel在 一 項 聲 明 中 表 示 ， “ 這 是 Evonik朝 向 更 明 確 業 務 發 展 的 重要步驟之一，它在公開上市時 將成為一家領先的特殊化學品公 司。”Evonik的多數股權是由一 家政府投制的信托所擁有。私募 股 權 公 司 CVC Capital Partners 在2008年購下25%的Evonik股 權。

新擠出機支持環保輪胎 配合支持低滾動阻力輪胎的目 標 ， KraussMaffei Berstorff 在 新 的 QuintoPlex 生 產 線 增 加 5台 擠出機，擴展其Multiplex擠出 生產線生產的輪胎組件。輪胎生 產商因而可以在胎面加入額外的 導電化合物或其他的組件。

新的QuintoPlex生產線可用 於結合多達5種不同化合物的輪 胎組件—上蓋、底座、翼、坐墊 和“煙囪”—在一個工作流程內 結合在胎面上。根據工序需要， 該 生 產 線 可 配 備 直 徑 45至 250毫 米螺絲的冷餵擠出機。

其生產線是進一步發展 QuadroPlex擠出頭所取得的成 果，它在中央機頭內置入熱分離 第5擠出機。擠出頭內特別設計 的短流道是該項新概念的額外優 點。這使得材料可以從螺絲部位 的圓直徑轉移至扁平長方形的輪 廓形狀，而不會受到極端變形的 影響。

除了減少空間需求，它也方 便操作員處理機器。尤其是不對 稱低滾動阻力輪胎的化合物，胎

業界新聞 面上導電化合物的放電位置可使 用特別的嵌入物來自由地更動。

許多輪胎製造商提供含導 電桿的胎面—即所謂的“煙囪” —來改善高矽含量胎面的靜電釋 放功能。“煙囪”確保靜電電荷 被排放到路面。

該公司表示 自推出以來，它 已售出多個5擠出 機Multiplex生產 線。

印度輪胎公司出售 德國輪胎公司Continental經與 印 度 的 V K Modi Group簽 署 一 項收購其輪胎公司Modi Tyres的 協議，唯協議的條款沒有披露。 供應商表示，交易完成取決於

數項條款是否獲得履行。一旦完 成 交 易 後 ， M o d i Ty r e s 將 成 為 Continental的全資子公司。這 家公司將專注於當地生產及分 銷，供應印度市場的斜交和子午 線卡車／巴士輪胎，以及子午線 轎車輪胎 。

越南的橡膠出 口量上升 越南的農業及鄉區 發展部部長表示， 因為全球的需求上 升，預計這個印度 支那國家今年的 橡膠出口額超過 30億美元。

中國佔了該 國橡膠出口總額 的 70%， 至 於 出 口至大馬和香港 也在上升。比較 去 年 的 79萬 噸 產 量，越南今年的 橡膠產量將提高 4%， 這 是 因 為 該國的橡膠種植 面積增加了4萬公 頃。越南今年首 季 出 口 超 過 17萬 3千 噸 橡 膠 ， 為 該 國 帶 來 7億 7千 400萬 美元 收 入 ， 在數量和價值方 面比去年同時期 分 別 增 長 40%及 135%。 MAY 2011

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German machinery and technology

German suppliers keen to partake in China As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, Chinaplas is seeing more foreign exhibitors interested in getting a share of the Chinese plastics industry. This year, 95 German exhibitors will exhibit over 2,542 sq m of space. This is no surprise since China was the top sales market for German plastics and rubber machinery last year and German suppliers have outranked their Japanese counterparts as the leading foreign suppliers of plastics machinery to China.

China and East Asia come out tops in exports German exports to China last year by an impressive 64.4% with deliveries of machinery totalling EUR587.2 million. “This growth more than made up for the slump the year before,” said Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the German plastics and rubber machinery association VDMA. “In terms of value, exports fell only slightly short of the 2004 record,” he added.

With a rate of 60.4%, a sharp rise in sales to East Asia as a whole was recorded; deliveries t o S o u t h K o r e a a n d Ta i w a n a l s o s h o w e d a b o v e average increases of 141.4% and 33.4% respectively.

Meanwhile, Asia’s share of all German exports rose to 37.8%.

World Exports of Plastics and Rubber Machinery to China Country

2008 Mio. EUR

2009

Change

Mio. EUR 2009/2008 (%)

Germany

494.5

357.1

-27.8

Japan

523.2

313.8

-40.0

Taiwan

189.4

107.0

-43.5

US

75.5

84.0

11.2

Italy

97.9

79.3

-19.0

117.2

71.3

-39.2

France

59.5

52.2

-12.3

Canada

34.7

46.3

33.2

1,745.8

1,253.4

-28.2

South Korea

Total

Germany has overtaken Japan as the leading exporter of machinery to China

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As for the rest of Asia, most of the growth from Central and South Asia (15.1%) was accounted for by India (7.5%), which ranks third in the world top ten destinations for German machinery. Among customers in Southeast Asia (3.6%), Indonesia is now the clear leader.

However, it was not just Asia that contributed to the growth last year. Exports to the 27 EU countries were up by 16.3%, with Italy and France almost level pegging and Poland in third place. Exports to the rest of Europe grew by 16.6%. In spite of sales being down again, Russia remains the region’s most important customer while Turkey’s purchases have more than doubled.

In Africa, Egypt has taken the place of South Africa as the major sales market. In the US (30.3%), orders were up by just under a third, while the growth rate for Central America (25.1%) reflects rising demand from Mexico. Deliveries to Brazil, which more than doubled in 2010, made a significant contribution to South America’s overall increase of 60.7%.

The situation in the Middle East is more subdued, with exports down by 12.9% compared with the previous year and the major markets of Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates all contributed to the decline.

Even though the global exports were up by 25.6% last year, compared to the sharp decline of 33.9% the previous year, VDMA says it is still short of the record figure of EUR3.989 million achieved in 2008.

Bonding with TPE Kraiburg TPE says its products provide flexibility and optimal adhesion properties on various materials.

For the production of plastic panels for cars, for instance, the materials of the TPE specialist are able t o b o n d a t l o w t e m p e r a t u r e s o f d o w n t o - 4 0 °C o r at high heat temperatures up to 90°C. This enables producers to injection mould, which saves time and costs.

Furthermore, TPEs also ensure elastic recovery and for window glass sealings, the compounds provide sealing properties and bonding to particular types of adhesive. Thus, they can be directly bound to

German machinery and technology

the window glass during the overmoulding process at a temperature of up to 250°C. Moreover, TPEs do not have to be pre-dried and cool down fast after the injection, which also reduces the cycle time. The company has three production sites in Germany, the US and Malaysia and operates two sales offices in China.

New extruder to be launched at the show H a n n o v e r- b a s e d K r a u s s M a f f e i Berstorff’s ZE30 UTX twin-screw extruder will make its world premiere at the show. The series was first launched in 2001 and the new machine rounds off a portfolio that starts with the ZE25 laboratory-size to the 40 UTX production-scale machine.

The new machine is targeted at laboratory applications, recipe development and production processes with outputs ranging f r o m 8 0 - 2 5 0 k g / h o u r. T h e company says it is available in a short version for homogenising applications as well as long variants designed with side feeders, degassing openings and injection nozzle.

KraussMaffei Berstorff will premiere its ZE 30 UTX twin-screw extruder at the Chinese exhibition

Besides inductive hardening, additional features of the barrel housings are the cartridge heaters and optimised cooling bores that are a rr a ng e d i n s pi r al s a ro u nd the housing opening and provide constant temperature control. The company says minimum space is required since the base frame houses all the ancillary units and the electrical equipment are integrated below the drive and the processing section.

It comes with a touchscreen central operating panel and can be optionally equipped with the UltraGlide travelling unit. In this version, the melt-filled extruder screws continuously moved backwards out of the stationary processing section in a few seconds. All phases of the compounding process can thus be quickly evaluated, says the company, allowing for efficient R&D applications, with less downtime and screw cleaning.

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German machinery and technology

Extruder for recycling pellets is internationalised Since the last Chinaplas, Gneuss says it has sold more than 15 of its Multi Rotation System (MRS) for film, fibre and repelletising applications worldwide – i n G e r m a n y, R u s s i a , B r a z i l , A r g e n t i n a a n d t h e US. A main advantage is that it permits the processing of PET without pre-drying but by using a patented water ring vacuum system. Based on a c o n v e n t i o n a l s i n g l e - s c r e w e x t r u d e r, t h e MR S i s a drum containing eight satellite single screws, driven by a ring gear and pinion transmission.

The barrels that cut into the drum are 30% open and provide optimum exposure of the melt.

The company says that with this design, the devolatilising performance is fifty times greater than that of a conventional system, at a vacuum of 25-40 mbar. Besides being economical, it features a rugged design and a competitive price, adds Gneuss.

Furthermore, it is able to process contaminated p o s t - c o n s u m e r w a s t e f o r t h e f o o d i n d u s t r y, with endorsement from the US FDA. Analysis by the German Fraunhofer Institute also shows that devolatilising extracts water and also decontaminates the material so that up to 100% PET bottle flakes can be processed to food quality containers.

High performance venting extruders Having constructed single-screw extruders for more than 60 years, Breyer says its speciality are the high-performance venting extruders, able to

Though Breyer will not display its latest extruder, it will have material on it

p r o c e s s h y g r o s c o p i c m a t e r i a l s , l i k e A B S P MM A and PC, without pre-drying. It offers single-screw extruders from 30-250 mm diameter and outputs up to 2,000 kg/hour.

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MAY 2011

At the K show last year, it had on display a 75 mm diameter screw with outputs from 450-550 kg/hour and a moderate speed range of 200-250 rpm, as a result of the direct drive.

High pressure extrusion Swiss company Maag, which has a base in Germany, says that demand is increasing for gear pumps designed for high-pressure applications. The trend is being driven by the increased amount of applications involving complex processes. These include foam processing, used for material-efficient foam pipes, as well as blown film processes. The use of modern filter equipment for ultra-clean plastics also requires increasingly high pressure levels during extrusion.

Maag will display its latest generation Trudex gear pump for high-pressure extrusion applications

The hallmark of t h i s t r e n d i s i t s Tr u d e x series working with operating pressures of greater than 120 bar, with the tooling pressure as high as 400 bar. The latest generation features a new gear geometry, promising a higher degree of efficiency for the pump. The pump bearing has also been modified to increase its emergency r u n n i n g p r o p e r t i e s . Va r i o u s t e m p e r i n g o p t i o n s , including the choice of electric or fluid media, cover almost all extrusion applications. Maag also offers special configuration of the pump to match specific requirements as an optional service.

For multi-layer blow moulding Kautex Maschinenbau will present the KCC15D medium-scale blow moulding machine, which is designed as a double station and is equipped with a six-fold die head in a two-layer DeCo configuration.

A dedicated extruder for the outside layer gives a constant optical picture and saves the use of masterbatch in the overall consumption. The inside layer can be made from the flash from the process as well as from other applications, without any effect on the outlook of the bottle. The conveyor system transfers the parts to a single point. Several additional peripheral devices are available on request, to further automate the production process.

The double-station machine is suitable for all conventional blow moulding materials and consumer packaging in sizes from 50 ml to 5 l. For quality control, the parts are checked by an automatic weighing scale during the process. With a total of 12 cavities, the KCC series achieves an output of 3,600 bottles/hour.

German machinery and technology

Electric blow moulder on show in Asia Another blow moulding machine developer Bekum, having presented its new 10 tonne electric EBlow 307 DL model at the K show last year, will now bring to Asia the X07A. The latter is available in two versions: with a traditional hydraulic system and in a fully electric Eblow version.

Bekum will show its new Eblow electric series

The fully electric version is said to render energy savings of up to 50% and reduced dry cycle times for production that is up to 15% faster. Non-impact machine movements extend the working life and afford positioning accuracy within 0.01 mm with quick build-up of the clamping force. At a maximum of 72 dB, the EBlow is a low noise machine. The new design of the clamping system in the X07 allows for a uniform distribution of the clamp force, with a trouble-free pinch-off. The new clamping system can be installed at the bottom calibration and, therefore, allow for both top and bottom calibration. Mould widths in the range of 350-700 mm and a clamp force of 10-24 tonnes are offered.

Meet PRA and its representatives at Chinaplas in Hall 3.1, Booth D01

Under one umbrella with thermoforming and film machines A member of the film stretching firm Br端ckner, Kiefel will present its Speedformer KMD78B automatic pressure forming machine, with 760 x 540 mm forming area, shown demonstrating the processing of an APET tray tool. It has also developed a new stacking concept for tilting machines.

preview

German machinery and technology

The Freilassing-based company has also developed new filling systems for infusion and blood bags. At Chinaplas, Kiefel will demonstrate an IV Express production unit, said to render a high output in a compact footprint. It can be supplied either as a standalone unit or for integration with automated lines.

Kiefel will show its biaxial stretching for moulding and laminating in automotive sector applications that saves on foil material

In automotive solutions, it will show a concept with material savings of up 10%, by optimising the moulding and laminating processes using a re-jigged configuration of its new in-line thermoforming unit.

It has a two-way rotating bottom platten and fourway rotating top platten. The foil material finishing of the doors on a four-door car, for example, can be carried out in just 80 seconds.

Apart from the tried-and-trusted practice of stretching the foil crosswise, a feature of this new technique is the possibility of pulling the material lengthwise, undertaken by a patented two-part chain guide system from Kiefel. The higher conveying speed of the second chain guide, which operates in the flow direction of the machine, ensures the continuous lengthwise stretching of the foil material. This is what allows manufacturers of laminated door linings to attain material savings of up to 10%. Quality is also increased, the company says, due to the improved, uniform surface of the end-product.

Brückner, meanwhile, will present CPP m a c h i n e r y, w i t h a n e t f i l m w i d t h o f 6 . 2 m a n d a capacity of 16,000 tonnes/year. Its newest member, PackSys Global, will show a complete line for the f o l d i n g a n d s l i t t i n g o f t a m p e r- e v i d e n t c a p s f o r t h e b e v e r a g e i n d u s t r y, r u n n i n g u p t o 2 , 4 0 0 c a p s / minute. The line will demonstrate the ability of the feeding system, camera and packing options to safely switch between colours without mixing the caps.

Auxiliary equipment on show Brabender will show its Plastograph EC with a W50 EHT mixer and the mini-compounder. Plastograph EC is an economical table-top version of the universal torque rheometer Plasti-Corder LabStation for laboratory use. With its digital 3.8 kW m o t o r, a t o r q u e m e a s u r i n g r a n g e o f 2 0 0 N m a n d speed from 0.2 to 150 min-1, it can be used with Brabender’s 30 and 50 measuring mixers, type 19 extruders and the conical twin-screw extruder. It can be used for raw material and recipe development, material testing and quality control.

Its KETSE 12/36 mini-compounder features a twin-screw extruder in a miniature scale. The clam shell barrel (length of 36D) is divided horizontally, can be tilted open and allows visual assessment of individual processing steps. Furthermore, a comfortable mounting of the screws and quick cleaning of the cylinder are possible. In addition to the main metering at 0D, metering or venting ports at a barrel length of 6D, 12D and 26D are available. Side feeding can be installed at 14D. Other accessories like metering systems and downstream equipment are available to build complete extrusion lines. ◆

Meet PRA and its representatives at Chinaplas in Hall 3.1, Booth D01 Brückner has sold a 6.2 m wide CPP line

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Film & sheet extrusion

Additions across the board Asian film processors are offered a choice of sustainable resins while films are layering up and in China, at the upcoming Chinaplas exhibition in Guangzhou, visitors will be able to view new technology from the West.

Roll out of sustainable products Melbourne-based manufacturer Stellar Films has released a new range of sustainable films for the personal care and medical products industry. It is using Cardia Bioplastics’s Biohybrid patented technology, which says its bio-resins are used in a broad range of applications like flexible film, injection moulding, blow moulding, foam, extrusion and coating uses.

Stellar Films’s personal care films is using Cardia's Biohybrid technology

To expand its presence in the region, Cardia has appointed Wesco, a joint venture with South African petrochemical company Sasol, as its distributor in China.

The products will be supplied from Cardia’s purpose-built facility in Nanjing. Cardia was established in Australia in 2002 as Biograde and has its headquarters and research centre in Melbourne. It also recently launched a range of certified compostable bags, for sale in Australia and New Zealand. Carbon dioxide is transformed into a polypropylene carbonate and blended with starch using the company’s new technology to produce its bio-resin for the bags, which are compliant with global standards and certified to the US ASTM D6400; European EN13432 and Australian AS4736.

Another company that is keen to sell its bio-resin to the plastic bag market is Indonesian masterbatch supplier PT Inter Aneka Lestari Kimia. Established in 1990, the company specialises in producing masterbatches and polymer compounds. Its factory is located in the province of Banten, on a 35,000 sq m site.

Herman Moeliana, a major shareholder as well as President of the company, says that the company’s biodegradable Enviplast resin is produced mainly from tapioca starch, a derivative of vegetable oil and other ingredients derived from “abundant natural resources”.

When asked about the benefits, he explains, “It dissolves instantly in hot water, softens in cold water and leaves only a small amount of ash when burnt. Based on experiments we have conducted, when a plastic bag made of Enviplast is buried in soil, it will almost disappear in three to six months, depending on soil conditions, like the water

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content, amount of organisms and microorganisms present in the soil.”

And though Enviplast has not yet been certified in accordance t o EN 1 3 4 3 2 , t h e c o m p a n y ’s preliminary pilot testing has shown that it is fully biodegradable.

“Enviplast, being in the same product catagory as PLA, is more economical and cheaper than Herman Moeliana of PLA,” adds Moeliana, explaining Aneka is promoting that as a biodegradable resin it the company’s leaves no hazardous residue and is Enviplast resin. cost effective compared to resins He adds, “We are under the existing similar product confident that classifications.

Enviplast will be a reasonable Meanwhile, US company Dow alternative for Chemical is on a road show in Asia most shopping bag to introduce its Elite Advanced applications that Technology (AT) PE resins, with a currently use PE.” key factor of sustainability driving the new launch. Developed after years of research, the resins are a proprietary and patent-pending postmetallocene technology built on Dow’s Insite technology.

The company says that the mLLDPE resins are able to improve performances of sealant, stretch wrap and stretch hood films. Included in the range is the XUS 59999.15 P, which offers lower back pressure and power consumption and bubble stability and is targeted at vertical-form-fill-seal (VFFS) bags. Another grade, XUS 59999.06 P, stretches the performance of stretch wrap film. It is designed specifically to be used in downgauged machine wrap films, with a distinctive combination of stretch properties, in particular to high-on pallet puncture resistance.

The third resin, XUS 59999.02 P, is for stretch hood films. With its benefits of toughness, elastic recovery, holding force and optics, it is targeted at the industrial and consumer packaging market segment. With clean running and low die build-up, the resin is also used as a core in combination with Dow’s Attane NG 4701G ultra-low density PE resins, offering elasticity and tear resistance.

The company says that this resin could potentially result in savings compared to ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), which has lower tear and toughness but higher density.

For example, Dow says its new resin has lower film weight for the same cross sectional area yielding more packaged pallets per roll when compared to EVA. In addition, the insensitivity of the film to orientation conditions allows for a larger die to increase output with the same film.

Film & sheet extrusion

Showcase of the latest technology at Chinaplas Canadian film and sheet extrusion systems manufacturer Macro Engineering & Technology will exhibit its PVdC technology at the Chinese show to be held in May. Macro says its R&D team mastered the technology to process PVdC 20 years ago and it now has a range of options to suit a variety of high barrier food packaging applications.

On the blown film side, Macro offers its BXL sevenlayer blown film line with PVdC encapsulation to make seven or nine layer structures containing PVdC. As well, the company offers mono-layer PVdC biaxially oriented blown film lines, with a horizontal orientation for the production of shrinkable sausage casing films and non-shrinkable film for lamination. This is rounded off with the DXL doublebubble lines, which are used to create biaxially oriented five or seven-layer shrink films with PVdC. Macro will highlight its horizontal PVdC biax extrusion line at Chinaplas

On the cast film side, it has the CXL seven-layer cast film line with encapsulated PVdC, which like the BXL creates multi-layer structures for a variety of food packaging applications. Finally, PVdC extrusion coating systems are available for a variety of substrates, thicknesses and widths.

Meanwhile, German Reifenhäuser Group, which had already been focusing on the Asian market before the global economic crisis, will now set the course for comprehensive technical targets at Chinaplas, said the company’s Managing Director Ulrich Reifenhäuser.

Last year, at the K2010 show, the Troisdorf-headquartered company featured its Evolution nine-layer blown film line and this will be brought to Asia. Presented by Reifenhäuser Kiefel, the line features low temperature barrier screws with heating and cooling zones, making it suitable for all types of polyolefins and technical polymers such as EVOH, PA and EVA. The flexible blown film dies designed as horizontal distributors allow the processing of a wide range of layer ratios. Further line components are the oscillating take-offs with collapsing units and side guides in special splitted design. Loss-free film production is ensured by an optimised width control and slitting knives.

Another feature of the line is the multi-purpose centre, surface and gap winder with special tension and lay-on pressure controls; intuitive smartphone-like line operating system using a 24 in. touchscreen.

The company will also promote its new Reitruder twinscrew Powerline extruder. Finished products with improved stiffness properties and dimensional stability under heat can be obtained as well as a reduction of raw material costs by up to 30%, compared with the processing of pre-mixed

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compounds. Problem-free foaming and filling of most different polymers is a further advantage of the Reitruder technology, says the company.

More layers challenge the industry U S c o m p a n y We l e x h a s i n s t a l l e d a c u s t o m i s e d nine extruder, five-layer sheet extrusion system for the production of multi-coloured striped sheet for thermoformed yoghurt cups in Europe.

Multi-coloured striped yoghurt containers are a big market in Europe and Welex says its system broadens the capabilities for thermoformers of these form, fill and seal containers. The challenge is to fit a number of extruders on one die, says the company, adding that the extruders can be configured to provide unlimited multiple stripe and layer combinations.

The system produces sheet up to 1,500 mm wide with a thickness range of 500 to 1,500 microns at a rate of 1,500 kg/hour. The nine extruders are 2.5 in. and 3.5 in.

30 LD vented, air-cooled versions with two-stage screws to run high-impact PS (HIPS) in a range of colours. The fivelayer sheet structure includes a crystal PS gloss layer, a five-colour stripe layer, a white layer, a scrap foam layer and a white bottom layer. The scrap foam layer is produced via a proprietary gas-blown foam process. The system can also run PP with no equipment changes.

Each mobile-mounted extruder includes a slide plate screenchanger and gear pump. The extruders feed into a valve distribution block before the die for easy control of the individual component destinations in the multimanifold and feed block equipped die.

Welex’s colour touchscreen control interfaces are incorporated into each extruder and the sheet take-off. The sheet profile is monitored by a Scantech x-ray gauging system that controls the Autoflex thermal expansion boltactuated die. The line also features Welex’s Evolution individual roll drive sheet take-off system.

Japanese company Kuraray’s research centre in the US has installed a Davis-Standard cast co-extrusion film and sheet pilot line for its EVAL division, for testing and developing film structures ranging from seven to 21 layers using a Cloeren nano-layer feedblock and five extruders.

It is capable of producing film and sheet in thicknesses ranging from 25 to 1,524 microns for applications in food packaging, medical, agricultural fumigation, crop protection and building and construction. Other components are Davis-Standard’s EPIC III supervisory control system.

Kuraray says that the new line will allow film and sheet processors to co-extrude structures and measure critical performance barrier properties. It will also reduce the number of iterations required to deliver the final product, shorten development cycles and cut costs. Meanwhile, the Cloeren technology will allow processors to determine the value and performance of multi-layer feedblock designs while saving development time and costs for conventional structures.

Kuraray claims that its EVAL division, which produces EVOH, has a 65% market globally. It has 10,000 tonnes/year capacity of EVAL in Japan; 35,000 tonnes/year in the US and 24,000 tonnes/year in Belgium. ◆

ADVERTORIAL

C

anadian extrusion systems manufacturer Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. has been providing innovative machinery to the plastic film and sheet industry for over 30 years. The company has earned a global reputation as an advanced technology equipment supplier through industry leading equipment like air rings and custom-built winders, and also through the company’s ability to produce innovative solutions to complex processing requirements. The company has over 40 machinery and process patents and has played an important role in pioneering new technologies.

Macro manufactures blown and cast film systems from one to nine layers, sheet extrusion lines, extrusion coating/laminating lines and a variety of web-handling systems.

To learn about Macro’s latest technologies visit us at Chinaplas 2011, Booth 9.2M61, or online at www.macroeng.com.

Contact Details: Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. 199 Traders Boulevard East Mississauga, Ontario Canada L4Z 2E5 Tel: (905)507-9000 Fax: (905)507-3000 E-mail: sales@macroeng.com Website: www.macroeng.com

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Additives

Expanding additives use The latest updates on additives include market expansions made by companies like Adeka, Wells Plastics and AkzoNobel. New to the industry is a sustainable flame retardant designed to replace HBCD for XPS/EPS foams that has been commercialised by Chemtura using Dow Chemical technology. While the EU is placing controls on phthalates, other additives receive food contact approval.

Additive expansions Japanese additives supplier Adeka is establishing a joint venture company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to expand its operations by developing a production and sales structure for additives in the Middle East.

Initial manufacturing will be one pack granule additives production. It is investing by buying a 49% stake in Al Ghurair Additives (AGA), a subsidiary of Al Ghurair Petrochemicals, which is part of Al Ghurair Group.

With an estimated market scale of US$120 million, the additives market in the Middle East is expected to grow 10% a year in the future. In particular, the consumption of one pack granule additives, incorporating light stabilisers, antioxidants and other additives, is expected to rise from 20,000 tonnes in 2008 to 40,000 tonnes in 2014. Moreover, the market for the functional polymer additives, in which Adeka is experienced, is likely to grow and evolve in the future. Consequently, the Japanese company expects to expand the capacity and product line-up of the joint venture as sales grow, as well as capture a market share of 25% in the region.

Another company targeting growth from the Middle East is UK-based additive masterbatch manufacturer We l l s P l a s t i c s t h a t h a s b e e n b o u g h t o u t b y i t s management as well as investment company Key Capital Partners. The latter has taken up a "significant" minority stake for £3.8 million. With this, Wells expects to exploit the growth opportunity for its Reverte oxo-biodegradable product, with a particular focus on the Middle East, Africa and South America. The company will also use the investment to market the product directly to consumers to increase awareness of its benefits. In recent years, Wells has achieved 20% growth, driven largely by the demand for Reverte.

AkzoNobel, meanwhile, is boosting capacity at its plant in Stockvik, Sweden, for its Expancel expandable microspheres in order to meet growing global demand.

The additional capacity will come on stream in 2012. It will invest EUR30 million, which will be used partly to further improve eco-efficiency at the factory and to implement several additional upgrades.

Expancel is used as a blowing agent or lightweight filler in markets such as thermoplastics, printing inks,

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coatings and paper and board. It is made up of small plastic spheres filled with gas. When the gas inside the shell is heated, it increases its pressure and the thermoplastic shell softens, resulting in a volume increase of more than 50 times. Available in both unexpanded and expanded versions, applications for its new ultrahigh temperature microspheres for engineering plastics include fillers for vehicle bodies, injection moulded PVC soles for footwear, tennis balls and wine bottle corks.

New flame retardant for EPS and XPS foams US-based Great Lakes Solutions, a Chemtura business, has worked closely with Dow Chemical to develop a commercial manufacturing process for Dow’s proprietary brominated polymeric flame retardant for expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) and extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) insulation.

As the first licensee of this technology, Chemtura, through Great Lakes, will have the rights to manufacture and sell the flame retardant for use in EPS and XPS foams. Although it is expected to take several years for the industry to fully convert to this technology, Great Lakes says it is moving forward now, making a significant capital investment into a full-scale facility to support this conversion.

The technology has been validated in cooperation with EPS and XPS manufacturers through an extensive pilot-scale sampling programme. The new material will be part of Great Lakes’s Emerald product line targeted globally at the building/construction and electrical/ electronics industries.

Dow, which developed the new polymer as a replacement for HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane), says it is aiming to finalise agreements with other licensees by the end of 2011 to ensure sufficient volumes are available for the global market.

HBCD is used as a flame retardant to ensure that EPS and XPS foam insulation meets high fire safety standards.

Although HBCD plays an important role in protecting human lives and property from fire, the substance is listed as subject to authorisation under the European Union (EU)’s REACH legislation. Unless it is expressly authorised as a flame retardant its use will be restricted as of 2015 due to environmental concerns.

Dow says its new polymer ensures the same flame retardancy as HBCD while offering a better environmental profile.

Meanwhile, BASF says tests it conducted with the new flame retardant on a small to medium scale have yielded “promising results.” As soon as sufficient amounts of the polymer are available, BASF plans to test new product formulations on a larger scale. Should these tests and customer trials also prove successful, BASF will then start to switch all its product lines, like its Styropor, Neopor and Styrodur C, to the new flame retardant.

Additives

The German company says that HBCD is added in very small amounts to formulations for PS insulating foams in order to meet high fire safety standards for construction applications. The substance is fully embedded in the plastic foam and is therefore not associated with a risk to health or the environment during or after the use of the product. It adds, “Industry-wide, several years will be needed to replace HBCD completely. In the meantime, it will be necessary to continue to use HBCD for PS foams.”

EU control on phthalates and Eastman to stop producing Phthalates used in plastics have now been placed under a special EU control list that will ban them from 2015 unless a specific function has been authorised by the European Commission.

First to be placed on the list are the three phthalates of bis(2-ethylexyl) (DEHP), benzyl butyl (BBP) and dibutyl (DBP) that are among a group of six chemicals.

DEHP makes plastics more flexible, including those used in medical products such as blood bags and dialysis equipment and also in construction materials like cables, roofs and tubing. Meanwhile, BBP has been used as a plasticiser for PVC for applications like automotive parts and vinyl floor coverings. And DBP has been used in PVC for vehicle parts, construction materials, cables, medical devices and toys.

In related news, US company Eastman Chemical will no longer manufacture two of its ortho-phthalate plasticisers – DEP and DBP. With the recent acquisition of the Benzoflex family of benzoate plasticisers and the launch of its DBT non-phthalate plasticiser, Eastman says it is able to offer a number of non-phthalate alternatives.

Food contact approval for additives Eastman’s 168 non-phthalate plasticiser has also received the US FDA clearance, Food Contact Notification (FCN) 1056, which permits its use in contact with all food types at levels up to 55% by weight of the finished plasticised PVC formulations for repeated use articles.

Meanwhile, BASF’s Uvinul 4050 FF is the first monomeric hindered amine light stabiliser (HALS) registered for food contact. The product is compliant with the EU Directive 2002/72/EC and with FCN 647 in the US. The low-molecular weight HALS is used in appliances made of ABS as well as in packaging applications that require food contact approval, such as PP food crates and bulk bags made of PP tapes.

Developed to replace Uvinul 4050 H, it is supplied in an improved product form that generates less dust and has better flowability than powders, making a significant contribution toward improved occupational health and safety during the compounding or masterbatching process, says the company. ◆

BASF’s HALS has received food contact approval for use in appliances

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Toy Industry

Toy garage opens the door to new material A four-way collaboration, between an OEM, a moulder, a polymer distributor, and a polymer manufacturer resulted in the successful application of a material for a toy.

T

he outlook for the toy industry in Europe has been flat. Traditional toys have been impacted by the booming gaming industry, while the target age group for traditional toys has fallen. This scenario has prompted original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Halsall Toys Europe (HTI) of Fleetwood, UK to develop innovative new toys to stay in the business.

Thus, HTI developed a new toy known as “Pack Away Garage”. It was imperative that the toy met the safety regulations, which is also in line with the commercialisation process to ensure that a toy meets the standards and safety requirements for the various markets in which it is to be sold, such as ASTM F963 (US) and EN71 (European Union).

Pack Away Garage toy that folds up into a tyre casing

In this instance, the toy garage was having problems passing the drop test and there was a risk it could miss the main sales period.

“The lead time from design to launch of a new toy is typically six to eight months,” said Jonathan Stoneley, Buying Controller, HTI. “And it was critical that the toy would be ready for commercial launch in the early second half of the year, during the run up to Christmas.”

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Undeterred by the challenge of passing the drop test, looked HTI to its moulder, polymer distributor and polymer manufacturer for an innovative solution to the problem.

A challenging toy HTI started the design of the “Pack Away Garage” in 2007, with tooling completed by the moulder Ever Force Toys and Electronics Dongguan of Guangdong, China, in 2008.

The “Pack Away Garage” is a modern version of a classic toy. It is a three-level, multi-storey garage featuring a helipad, gas station, car wash, ramps and car lift between levels as well as die-cast cars. It all packs away into a neat, compact tyre-shaped carrying case.

The toy presented several challenges. The whole garage is large, weighing 3.15 kg and measuring 41.91 x 37.59 x 19.10 cm. The design is unique yet complex, requiring ten moulds with a combination of parts. The garage can be opened for play and then closed, to save space when it is not being used. To ensure the different storeys of the garage fold consistently and effectively when opened and closed, there are support ribs inside the tyre case. As a result, it requires materials of high quality, flexibility, toughness and with good impact resistance. It was the ribs, which protect the case from external impact and everyday wear and tear, that proved to be the most challenging part of the project.

Initially, the finished moulds of the tyre case, made of impact co-polymer polypropylene (ICP), failed the critical ASTM F963 drop test. Under this test, the folded case is dropped five times from six different directions from a height of 91.44 cm. During the test, both the surface of the tyre case and the support ribs broke. The ICP lacked the flexibility and strength to resist the high external impact of the test.

HTI, keen to maintain its quality, had to be confident that the tyre The garage has become a best mould would not break seller for its manufacturer or deform, so it had to pass the drop test as well as meet the tight lead time to market.

Modifying the moulds was not a viable option HTI, having worked with Ever Force for six years, discussed with its moulder how the problem of the drop test could be resolved. Based on their long working relationship, the two companies had established a process to ensure the launch of any toy is per a planned schedule, including the design, mould tooling development, testing and production. Ever Force runs tests in its laboratories, while HTI sends toys for third party testing and certification in Hong Kong.

Toy Industry

In this case, there were three options the companies could take. Firstly, the production process could be adjusted, which was considered a priority; Secondly, the ICP could be assessed and improved; and, lastly, the moulds could be modified.

Modification of the moulds was regarded as a last resort because it was expensive and it could cause delay of the commercial launch date. Hence, the companies had to find an innovative solution that would be successful within the other two options.

Innovative material for enhanced strength Ever Force engineers adjusted the production process in several different ways, but the toy garage still failed the drop test. So they consulted polymer distributor Kin Sang Chemical of Shenzhen, China; and polymer manufacturer ExxonMobil Chemical for their advice. The two companies recommended altering the formula of the ICP by adding ExxonMobil’s Vistamaxx propylene-based elastomer as it can be used as a drop-in modifier to improve performance.

In compounding and polymer modification, the company says that its Vistamaxx elastomer enhances PP compounds by adding flexibility, increasing impact strength down to -20°C and improving adhesion. Furthermore, dry blending 10-30% Vistamaxx with PP at the injection moulding machine provides improved impact strength to minimise breakage and eliminates the need for mould modification or an increase in part thickness to maintain costs, says the material supplier.

Having worked together for over ten years, Kin Sang and ExxonMobil discussed the different levels of Vistamaxx that should be trialled in the ICP and provided continuous engineering support relating to material specifications, tooling and standards.

Ever Force spent three weeks testing different concentrations and after these tests, a modified ICP formulation including 15% Vistamaxx was selected, as it comfortably passed the drop test. In contrast, the 100% ICP material, which had originally been used for the garage, could only pass the drop test from a height of 20 in., well below the 36 in. required for the test.

Blending 15% A modified ICP formulation with 15% Vistamaxx Vistamaxx with ICP at was used in the toy to conform to the drop test the injection moulding machine not only provided the required improvement but it also eliminated the need to replace the existing tools.

“If modifications to the design of the tool had been necessary, it would have been very costly and there would have been delays of at least four months in commercialising the toy,” said Stoneley. “This innovative solution meant we did not miss the peak sales period leading up to Christmas.”

Becoming a best selling toy Due to the working relationship between the four companies, HTI was able to launch the “Pack Away Garage” in the period leading up to the peak sales season. Launched in the summer of 2009, 80,000 units were sold in Europe during the run up to Christmas, making it HTI’s third best seller. Moreover, 120,000 units of the garage were sold last year in Europe and Australia. ◆

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35

Management

Managers as dictators In this article, Bob Wrighton covers a very topical issue that is headlined in almost all newspapers currently – that of dictators. He draws some parallels between the position of a manager and that of a dictator from a book titled “Why your Manager is Programmed to be a Dictator” by Chetan Dhruve and underlines the particular factor of “ power” coming into play.

Powerful hold Dictators have been in the news for a while now and generally for all the wrong reasons. There seems to be a wave of feeling across the Middle East that enough is enough.

The people seem to want their dictatorial leaders to go. In Egypt and Tunisia, they went quietly and in a fairly short time. In Libya, the situation is somewhat different. Gaddafi seems most unwilling to go and is making many people pay dearly for expressing their sentiments.

Meanwhile, in Ivory Coast, Africa, its dictatorial leader was voted out of office – but he still refuses to go! Hence, Ivory Coast and Libya have descended into what is in fact civil war with death and destruction all round. The situation elsewhere in the Middle East is a little more confusing, but getting equally bloody. (At the time of publishing this article, Ivory Coast’s leader had been ousted.)

There is ample coverage of these dreadful events in the media and a frequent comment from various television commentators and industry pundits is that these dictators want to “hang on to power”.

What is power? There are more than 20 definitions o f t h e w o r d i n D i c t i o n a r y. n e t , t w o o f t h e s e a r e specifically relevant to this article: • Strength, might, force • Position of control or command over others There is little doubt about either of these definitions.

All the dictators clearly show, or showed, strength, might and force and there is little doubt about their being in positions of control and command over others. There is an English aphorism that says, “all power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This appears to be the case in the recent events.

Power corrupts because it can put the power holder into a position where the person makes the rules but does not necessarily have to follow them, which is the classic case of “do as I say and not do as I do”. Recently, Libya’s leader Gaddafi announced that any one found hoarding food, a scarce commodity in the country right now, would be shot.

One wonders whether the pantries in his palaces are as empty as those of his subjects.

A novelist writing extensively about dictators said that even though Libya is rich in oil, the revenue it has been earning has been channelled to the leader’s family and his cohorts. This situation is reminiscent of Indonesia’s dictator Suharto, who ruled the country some 15 years ago. As the story goes, he was into mining – “that’s mine, that’s mine and that’s mine too!” The freezing of overseas assets of the Gaddafi family early in the revolution revealed the extent of his wealth. And the overrunning of some of his palaces o u t s i d e o f t h e c a p i t a l c i t y Tr i p o l i s h o w e d a s t a r k contrast between the homes occupied by his subjects.

Absolute power is clearly addictive: once you have gotten used to it, you do not want to lose it, to the extent that you want to keep it in the family.

Managers as dictators?

Is there a parallel between managers and dictators?

There surely is, as highlighted by Chetan Dhruve in his book titled “Why your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator” (Marshall Cavendish, 2007). He draws clear parallels between the amount of power a manager and a dictator have and contrasts these with those of a leader.

He notes that, like dictators, managers are appointed, they are not elected. In some extreme cases, managers come into power through an organisational coup d’etat. In theory, corporate managers are under the control of the Board of a company, to whom they report. However, in many cases they may be both CEO and Chairman of the Board – so they are in fact reporting to themselves! This is an example of d i c t a t o r i a l p o w e r. C E O s w h o a r e also company owners are in an even more dictatorial position – what they say goes, or you are out of the company.

Power is by “ definition amoral. It is

there to be used and it can be used for doing good as well as evil.

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”

Holding on to staff In fact, the main thrust of Dhruve’s book is simple: dictators have subjects who are totally beholden to them. He also says that leaders are elected and have followers. Since managers are appointed and not elected, therefore, they are, by definition, dictators and they are made so by “the system”. However, the distinction between a manager and a leader is far too broad to be discussed here.

amut115333_DExe_P&R_ENG.indd 1

12-04-2011 11:11:00

Management

This does not, though, make every manager or company owner a Gaddafi-like dictator. Power is by definition amoral. It is there to be used and it can be used for doing good as well as evil.

In the 1990s, an American management scholar, Robert Greenleaf, introduced a concept known as servant leadership. In this approach to leadership, the leader – still organisationally appointed and not elected – sees him/herself as a servant of the company and its staff, with the role of leading from the bottom, almost.

In the 1980s when Jan Carlson was appointed CEO of Scandinavian Airline Systems, his famously recorded first act as CEO was to turn the organisation chart upside down on its head. The chart became an inverted triangle with Jan at the very bottom. He explained this action by stating that “if you are not serving the customer, you are serving someone who is.” Here is a classic case of the servant leadership concept, even though this idea was not even thought of at that time.

This action of an inverted organisational chart did not make Carlson a “soft leader”. He still had the power of a CEO but he chose to use it in a different way. For instance, he is equally famous for calling up pilots in the cockpit of any aircraft that were still on the tarmac for more than 15 minutes after the scheduled takeoff time, especially since a key results area for SAS was on how punctual it was with its takeoff times.

It can be seen that this business model for SAS foreshadows the current business models of budget airlines like Virgin and Air Asia. In fact, a soft leader can be a liability to an organisation.

reinforced. Dictators are clearly on top of the world with the unlimited power and money they have and this indeed may well be the case for small-medium size business owners. An example of a dictatorial mindset at work is when an owner of a company drives a large flashy car while the workers – who are the actual income earners for the company – resort to alternative means of transportation, like public transport or smaller vehicles.

.....the words “ command and control

describe a set of management practices that verge on being dictatorial and a style of management that is exclusively directed downwards....

In command and in control It is interesting to note that the second definition of power cited above links the two words “command” and “control”. These words are often linked in management literature to describe a set of management practices that verge on being dictatorial.

It is a style of management that was prevalent until the end of last century and no management writer in the last ten years has spoken of command and control management with anything but distaste.

It is regarded as a style of management that is exclusively directed downwards. If an order is given it is expected that it will be obeyed. Sadly, this form of management style is still quite common in Asia, especially in companies that are owner-managed.

Command and control is a mindset that underpins management actions, in the same way that dictators have a mindset that underpins theirs.

If a certain mindset brings results that are pleasing to the individual, then the ideology has been

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”

Conclusion Hence, to summarise, managers and company owners have much in common with political dictators since being in power can be used for doing both good or evil. It is in fact less likely that workers will rebel against their bosses, but if it does happen it will likely result in a manager being removed from his/ her position. Though workers have the option of leaving a company managed by a dictatorial manager, many of them will probably not leave because, perhaps, the only working experience they might have had is with command and control

managers.

The critical factor is being in power. Do managers have power over their staff? To some extent they do.

They are able to make decisions about their staff and they are able to do this with impunity and, sometimes, on the most tenuous of pretexts.

In conclusion, there are two things that are worth remembering: • S t a f f d o n o t l e a v e c o m p a n i e s o n t h e i r o w n accord, they are probably driven to leave by bad managers.

• If your staff had the opportunity to elect you as their manager/leader, how do you think they would vote? ◆

Acknowledgement: Bob is an English-born New Zealander who has lived in Asia for the past 20 years. He has been in the field of human resources his entire working life and has been a management consultant since 1980. Most recently, he has been functioning as an ideas broker, which means reading widely, mining new ideas and linking them with ideas already mined, then sharing them with managers and companies that are interested in keeping themselves at the cutting edge. Bob shares ideas on his free blog at newbizideas4u.com.

Visit us at Chinaplas 2011 - Hall 10.2 Booth A41

Photovoltaics

Sway towards renewable energy sources Energy efficiency is a prime factor for the growth of renewable energy sources and the manufacturing of solar cells and photovoltaic (PV) modules has advanced considerably in recent years. With market growth expected in Asia, solar cell manufacturers are constructing facilities in the region.

This has led to the escalation of demand for film encapsulants, necessary in the manufacture of solar panels.

PV industry grows The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan has opened the eyes of the world to the dangers of nuclear energy sources and this may even swing the pendulum further away from nuclear and more towards solar and other renewable sources of energy.

Hence in the current context, it is good to be gung ho about photovoltaics (PV), which harnesses the sun’s energy to produce solar power for electricity. It employs solar panels composed of a number of cells.

A new report on the PV industry from energy research firm Solarbuzz says that though the overall r a t e o f g r o w t h w i l l s l o w t h i s y e a r, 2 5 % m a r k e t expansion is expected. Furthermore, tariff cuts of up to 45% in the top five European markets, scheduled to occur by the middle of this year, will lead the market on.

In 2010, solar PV installations more than doubled, generating a record revenue of US$82 billion – up from US$40 billion in 2009. Geographically, the top five countries by PV market size were Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Japan and the US – representing over 80% of global demand – while European countries represented 81% of world demand with Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic at the top.

However, the geographical pattern is expected to change in 2011. Further PV installations are expected in the US and Japan and Solarbuzz projects the European market share to fall around 50% by 2015.

The analyst firm also says that First Solar now ranks as the world’s third largest cell manufacturer, behind the Chinese giants Suntech Power and JA Solar.

The San Francisco-based company also noted that thin-film solar technologies are starting to make a significant impact, accounting for 13.5% of all production last year.

More solar film capacity in Asia Japanese company Mitsui Chemicals, which is one of the top three global producers of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) encapsulating films for solar cells and has a market share of 20% globally, expects the market

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EVA film is used to cover the highly sensitive PV panels

demand for these films to grow 20% annually over the next few years.

As such, it is pumping in more investment to bring its market share up to 30% by 2013. Its recent venture i s t h r o u g h s u b s i d i a r y M i t s u i C h e m i c a l s To h c e l l o (MCTI) that is setting up an EVA film plant jointly with Malaysian processor Scientex.

The facility will be located in Malaysia’s so-called “solar valley” in Malacca, south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. To commence in 2012, the first phase of the facility will produce 10,000 tonnes/year of EVA film.

MCTI currently has a capacity of 31,000 tonnes/year at its Nagoya plant in Japan and expects to increase this to 50,000 tonnes/year, from the new Malaysian facility and possibility of further expansions. The company says that the strategic positioning of its facility in Malaysia will allow it to respond to the needs of the expanding Asian markets in China and Japan.

MCTI’s facility will be Malaysia’s second such to serve the PV market. US-based STR Solar operates a solar film encapsulant facility in Johor. It has a current capacity of 2 GW and STR has started up expansion

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Photovoltaics

plans to double its capacity by this year. Meanwhile, US-based SunPower and AUO SunPower, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s AU Optronics, are also setting up a solar cell plant in Malacca. When it is completed in 2013, the facility will produce 1.4 GW of high-efficiency solar cells.

Meanwhile, Japanese company Bridgestone will add a new production line for EVA film at its facility in Poland, at an investment of 5.25 billion yen. Scheduled to begin in 2013, the line will be capable of producing 1,080 tonnes/month. Currently, Bridgestone produces EVA film at its Japanese plant in Iwata with additional production scheduled to begin at its Seki plant in the second half of 2011.

EVA – dominant polymer At a PV conference organised last year by British firm AMI, speakers highlighted opportunities to cut production costs of modules and said that key features of polymers should be longevity, reliability, cost-effectiveness, manufacturability, safety in use and in disposal and commercial availability in large quantities.

For example, encapsulants for solar cells must have excellent adhesion to cells, back sheet and glass; high light transmission over the lifetime of the module; weatherability; be thermoplastic for recyclability; inert in the module (low VOC); good moisture barrier; high flexibility; flame spread index of less than 100; fire resistance of at least UL960 Class C; and be REACH and RoHS compliant.

E VA i s t h e d o m i n a n t m a t e r i a l u s e d a s i t s h i g h VA c o n t e n t g i v e s g o o d l i g h t t r a n s m i s s i o n , b u t i t needs to be crosslinked and cured during module manufacturing, which results in long cycle times in the vacuum lamination process. EVA films can also absorb moisture over time, releasing acetic acid that attacks circuitry and the transparency coating of the PV cell.

To overcome these challenges, UK company BP Solar is using a special grade of EVA, with a polyester back sheet and high strength frame materials for module packaging. US company STR Solar’s current research aims to reduce cure times and give high dimensional stability for EVA, which can shrink during module lamination.

Germany-based Lanxess also has EVM materials for encapsulation with varying content of vinyl acetate. In tests, the material cured under UV in less than 120 seconds and silanes increased adhesion. The company also says that stress-strain properties were similar to standard EVA. Alternative materials developed Though the failure of modules in recent years has been due to the use of alternative materials with limited long-term experience, there is a move to find alternative materials as solar covers. Apart from EVA, other polymers used in the industry are polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyvinyl butyral (PVB),

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polyethylene ionomers, polyolefins and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).

Another alternative material is PMMA from Evonik Degussa that is being used in PV glazing, since it has a history of outdoor-use of over 70 years and light transmittance of 92% (2 mm DIN5036). PMMA is also used in solar concentrators and as an encapsulant for thin-film PVs. Evonik Industries also recently announced its first project house outside Germany in Taiwan. The project house seeks partnerships and joint developments with Taiwanese institutes as well as with local electronics companies. Evonik already maintains partnerships with Taiwanese companies through the joint ventures Evonik Forhouse Optical Polymers manufacturing acrylic polymers in Taichung for TFT liquid crystal displays, and Evonik Cristal Materials, which produces glass lenses for the next generation of LEDs. A provider of polyimide thin film products, US company Nexolve has developed a transparent nanocomposite of POSS (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes) and polyimide. This new development shields the polyimide from degradation by atomic oxygen, by forming a self-passivating surface layer after exposure. This composite is now in production as a lightweight solar cover.

US chemical giant Dow Chemical, meanwhile, has introduced Enlight, a polyolefin encapsulant film said to provide greater module stability and improved electrical performance versus traditional EVA-based encapsulants. Suitable for C-Si and thin-film modules, the new film offers good adhesion to glass, low water vapour transmission rate, colour stability, no curing (high melting temperature), low glass transition temperature and good electrical insulation.

The films also help lower production costs and reduce cycle times by 30%, according to the company.

Dow also says that modules made with Enlight can retain efficiency levels after more than 10,000 hours of damp heat exposure, whereas its testing shows that EVA modules show a sharp drop off in efficiency levels after more than 2,000 hours in damp heat. It began commercial-scale production of the speciality films at its Ohio plant late last year.

BIPV market There is great potential for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and this requires innovative materials. One trend is to include PV in architectural glazing. PVB from companies like Saflex has been used for many years as an interlayer in automotive glazing and more recently in thin-film PV applications.

Austrian start-up Crystalsol, meanwhile, has developed a PV module mainly for the BIPV market by producing monograin solar cells using CZTS s e m i c o n d u c t o r. I n t h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s , t h e membrane is printed, embedding semiconductor powder is applied, the front contact is deposited then sealed and the back contact is printed and sealed, all using the roll-to-roll process. Besides the

Photovoltaics

high availability of raw materials, the technology offers other advantages as modules can be flexible, transparent, coloured and tailor-made in size and shape, with cost savings of 50-60% compared to the current industry average.

Going forward, French conglomerate Saint-Gobain, which recently gave Crystalsol an innovation award, will support Crystalsol in commercialising its patented CZTS technology.

Other materials for components Due to their durable and UV-resistant properties, fluoropolymers are used in applications such as back sheets. French company Arkema provides the recyclable Kynar PVDF fluoropolymer film and says it is heat, abrasion and radiation resistant. The company recently brought on stream a polymer plant at its Changshu site in China, thereby boasting significant VF2 and PVDF resources in Europe, the US and Asia. Early this year, before the start-up, Arkema announced an additional 50% capacity, which should come on stream by mid-2012.

Arkema has also linked up with INES (Institut National de l’Energie Solaire) to set up a research laboratory for the development of polymers for PV modules. This cooperation will be initially for four years.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics makes fluoropolymer front and back sheets as well as bonding tapes and EVA encapsulants. The ETFE or FEP front sheets act as light-weight glass replacements with good light transmission and surface treatment promotes long-term adhesion. PTFE films are being developed for back sheets with improved performance. A major player in the PV market, SaintGobain’s PV sales in 2010 were EUR300 million and it has a EUR2 billion goal for 2015. It spends up to EUR25 million in R&D investments related to PV energy and has projected this to rise to EUR1 billion by 2015.

Another supplier is DuPont Teijin Films, a 50:50 joint venture between US-based DuPont and Japanese Teijin Films. Its product for back sheets is a sandwich of Mylar PET film with two outer layers of Te d l a r P V F, k n o w n a s a T P T l a m i n a t e . The PET provides electrical insulation and strength, while the fluoropolymer provides resistance to hydrolysis and UV. Sometimes EVA is used as the inner layer of the laminate. The company is also developing film for the latest generation II/III thin-film cells, as both a substrate and encapsulant, as well as stabilising its PET grades to move towards an all-PET back sheet.

Silicon-based materials are used extensively in PVs from wafers and passivation coatings, to silicone sealants and encapsulants. Dow Corning Solar S o l u t i o n s s u p p l i e s t h i s t e c h n o l o g y. T h e s i l i c o n e encapsulants are UV stable, durable, increase light transmission (and therefore efficiency), and the liquid process is said to be less labour intensive and more cost-effective.

Solar panels are traditionally framed with materials like aluminium and German company BASF is developing a PU product as an alternative for this application. It boasts high UV stability, weathering performance and can be processed on standard equipment.

Machinery in China I n t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f E VA f i l m f o r s o l a r m o d u l e s , processors attach importance to cost-effectiveness and quality since the film used to cover the highly sensitive silica slices and all electrical connections between the individual cells must exhibit precise embossing and low shrinkage. In addition, excellent adhesion, long service life and optical features are required to ensure high efficiency of the PV modules.

One such company offering machinery for t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f E VA f i l m i s G e r m a n c o m p a n y KraussMaffei Berstorff that has installed a co-rotating twin-screw extruder and a PlanetCalander smoothing unit at Chinese film manufacturer’s facility.

KraussMaffei Berstorff has installed an extrusion line for the production of EVA flat film used in solar plants in China

Since the raw material is directly processed into the finished film without requiring repeated heating and cooling of the polymer, the company places emphasis on gentle material treatment to allow for film quality.

The flat sheet lines are designed for output rates of over 1,000 kg/hour and film widths of up to 2,000 mm.

In the PlanetCalandar, the first and the third roll can be adjusted relative to the second roll, with the cooling conditions adapted to the material-specific cooling behaviour. At the same time, the rolls ensure constant and reproducible embossing on both film sides. The downstream temperature control unit compensates the shrinkage stress generated by the extrusion process. ◆

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Machinery News

“Green” prospects at Chinese show This year ’s edition of Chinaplas, to be held in Guangzhou, China, from 17-20 May, is going green – not literally, but with a focus on the environment. Besides an “eco-friendly plastics conference”, the organiser Adsale will showcase a statue made from 3,000 recycled bottles, to set a new record in the Guinness Book of World Records. The exhibition will have 2,200 exhibitors over 180,000 sq m, with exhibitors also taking up the green theme in their machinery and materials showcases.

720H with a 2100 size injection unit, featuring a highspeed, thinwall packaging application. The machine i s c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y h i g h p ro d u c t i v i t y, s h o r t c y c l e times and up to 40% energy savings due to the toggle clamping unit and servo-electric dosage drive.

The Hidrive series currently comprises six machine sizes ranging from 60-500 tonnes. The servo-electric clamping units originate from the electric Allrounder A series and are complemented b y h y d r a u l i c i n j e c t i o n u n i t s f ro m t h e A l l ro u n d e r S with electro-mechanical dosage drive and positionr e g u l a t e d s c r e w. P e r f o r m a n c e - a d a p t e d h y d r a u l i c accumulator technology completes the package.

Eco-conscious materials US-based PolyOne will showcase its Stat-Tech POMb a s e d f o r m u l a t i o n s t h a t a re c o m b i n e d w i t h c a r b o n nanotube technology. These are targeted at electronic media storage, integrated circuit packaging and semiconductor devices. The new solutions offer consistent electro-static discharge (ESD) performance a n d h i g h p u r i t y w i t h n o t r a d e - o ff s i n m e c h a n i c a l performance, says the company, allowing for higher yields and cycle times.

It will also display its OnColor liquid colourant system that combines metering technology with refillable, returnable containers and liquid colourants in a closed-loop system, thereby reducing wastages.

Other products include the OnFlex HFFR nonhalogen TPEs for wire and cable and ECCOH SolarT LSFOH compounds, additive and colourants for photovoltaics (PVs). The company says the latter are s o l u t i o n s t h a t m e e t w e a t h e r a b i l i t y a n d re g u l a t o r y re q u i re m e n t s f or PV s such as b ack -sheet laminat es and TUV wire.

The plastics industry in China has continuously maintained high-speed growth for the past 30 years and the Chinese market has become the single largest market for PE and PP with 30 million tonnes consumed in 2010. One such company benefiting from this is Borouge, promoting PE and PP pipes for a wide range of applications including cooling water transportation, sea water intakes and outfalls and effluent disposal.

Wi t h t h e a d dition of new Bormod homopolymer grades, Borouge also offers solutions for CPP flexible packaging structures that enable up to 30% downgauging, to realise cost savings. A joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria-based Borealis, the company has a 50,000 tonnes/year compounding plant in Shanghai, with a second plant now planned for in Guangzhou and expected to be supplying 105,000 tonnes/year of compounded resins by 2012.

At the Chinaplas, Arburg’s Allrounder 720 H machine will show a highspeed thinwall application for the packaging sector

The independent axes movement and toggletype clamping unit ensure reduced cycle times, says the company. And the injection unit, featuring a position-regulated screw, hydraulic accumulators and servo-electric drives for mould and dosage, also contributes to reduced cycle times.

Arburg’s second exhibit will be the 150 tonne Allrounder 470C Golden Edition, an entry-level h y d r a u l i c m a c h i n e . Wi t h f i x e d c l a m p i n g f o r c e / injection unit combinations, these machines are targeted at technical components, offering a competitive price/performance ratio.

Swiss machine maker Netstal will present its 280 tonne hybrid-drive Elion showing a closure application. The 280 tonne model, along with a 220 tonne version, was shown for the first time at the K2010 last year. Thanks to their modular execution,

Energy saving machinery On the machinery side, German injection moulding machine maker Arburg will display an example of its Hidrive hybrid machine series, a 320 tonne Allrounder 1

I n j e c t i o n M o u l d i n g A s ia • M A Y 2 0 1 1

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. 5.1D41

Machinery News The Ecodrive will also be featured on the Victory 050/160, which will demonstrate the production of thinwall 2 ml syringes on a 32-cavity Schöttli mould.

Engel’s all-electric E-max 200/100 will demonstrate LSR seal rings using an Elmet dosing unit, while a second E-max will be at Max Robot’s booth, d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h e p ro d u c t i o n o f t h i n w a l l m o b i l e phone covers with an insert-placing part.

the machines combine the new electrically-driven mould clamping unit with the hybrid injection units of the EVOS range, allowing for energy savings of up to 30%. The achieved dry cycles of 1.3 and 1 . 4 s e c o n d s , re s p e c t i v e l y, p e r m i t t h e u s e o f t h e s e machines in application areas that were previously re s e r v e d f o r h y d r a u l i c a l l y d r i v e n m a c h i n e s , s a y s the company. The Elion also features a closed loop control of the operating process, allowing for quality products and lower rejects.

In the small range of machinery, Boy will showcase its XS that has a footprint of 0.7 sq m and a stroke volume from 0.1-8 cu cm, opening new possibilities f o r m i c ro a n d s i n g l e - c a v i t y a p p l i c a t i o n s , w i t h t h e moulded part manufactured without a sprue. This, the company says, eliminates the need for expensive mould-specific hot runners.

Catering to LED lighting growth With the LED lighting market expected to grow at 30% over the next few years and exceed a value of US$5 billion in 2012, many machinery makers are catering to the growth and replacement of conventional light s o u rc e s , i n c l u d i n g h i g h - e ff i c i e n c y f l u o re s c e n t a n d HID fixtures.

Having shown its 60-tonne insert machine first at K o p l a s i n S o u t h K o re a l a s t y e a r, w h e re i t re c e i v e d encouraging response, Engel will show it again demonstrating an LED application on a 256-cavity mould by South Korean Woosung Hitech, with a 10second cycle.

Ta i w a n e s e c o m p a n y M u l t i p l a s h a s a l s o b e e n offering high-speed vertical machines for many years a n d i t s a y s i t h a s s u p p l i e d t h e s e t o m o s t Ta i w a n based LED manufacturers. At Chinaplas, it will have a live demonstration of a lead-frame moulding for a side-view LED using a 128-cavity mould on a machine running at an injection speed of 700 mm/ second.

Boy’s XS is a compact machine with a small footprint

Ancillary equipment In automation, Austrian company Keba, which is r e p r e s e n t e d i n A s i a i n C h i n a , Ta i w a n a n d J a p a n , will show its KePlast control solutions for injection moulding machines. New is its ServiceNet plug &

It will also have its 1.9 sq m size E-series with the new servodrive, said to have a quiet operation.

The four-tiebar 35 E with its cantilevered, two-platen clamping system will be shown with its new swivelout injection unit. This feature reduces changeover times of the plasticising unit.

Austrian company Engel’s focus on energy efficiency will hone into its five exhibits including the Duo 5550/700 machine, which will be producing engine covers on a Mecaplast mould. It is equipped with the servo-hydraulic Ecodrive, which comprises a servomotor with fixed displacement, or variable capacity pump, instead of a permanently running asynchronous motor. The machine’s speed is directly linked to the drive speed and when it is not running, for example during the cooling phase, it does not c o n s u m e p o w e r. T h u s , i t s a v e s u p t o 7 0 % e n e rg y compared to conventional hydraulic and fully e l e c t r i c m a c h i n e s , s a y s t h e c o m p a n y. T h e E c o d r i v e a l s o re d u c e s c o o l i n g w a t e r c o n s u m p t i o n a t t h e o i l cooler to a minimum.

Keba’s KeMotion is said to be an easy to integrate solution for automated handling of materials in injection moulding processes

3 I n j e c t i o n M o u l d i n g A s ia • M A Y 2 0 1 1

Machinery News play solution for operating and monitoring machines re m o t e l y. A n a d d i t i o n a l f e a t u re i s a s m a r t p h o n e , with built-in functionalities, that can be integrated with the concept.

It will also display its KeMotion robot solution, with a Euromap 67 i n t e r f a c e a n d s u p p o r t o f l i n e a r ro b o t s .

Intuitive, graphical programming allows comfortable teach-in of the robot, allowing for fast take-out times and low vibrations of robot arm and tool.

for traceability/accountability purposes, which contributes to the overall production efficiency. â—†

TSM’s new multi-blend batch blender

UK-based TSM, which has sales o ff i c e s i n b o t h C h i n a a n d Ta i w a n a n d an agent in Thailand, will display its Multi-blend system that allows the end user to centrally locate the blending of all materials and recipes in its TSM3000 g r a v i m e t r i c b l e n d e r. I t c a n h a n d l e u p to 12 materials with automatic cleaning between recipes. Its centralised off-line blending can feed multiple machines, doing away for individual blenders.

All material consumption is logged

Meet PRA and its representatives at Chinaplas in Hall 3.1, Booth D01 4 I n j e c t i o n M o u l d i n g A s ia • M A Y 2 0 1 1

IndustryNEWS Electric vehicles on the rise China is leading in electric vehicles adoption, against the back of reducing CO2 emissions, oil concerns, growing congestion and automotive advances.

In fact, the Chinese government has extended its large pilot programme to 25 cities, says a new report by consulting firm PRTM and the World Bank. Even though China’s plan is to invest US$15 billion into this industry, other countries are now moving quickly to realise the opportunities of e-mobility.

The study estimates that global sales will likely comprise 10% of new vehicle sales by 2020. This rapid growth is expected to usher in a new global electric vehicle (EV) era estimated to be worth US$250 billion worldwide in ten years. Yet, the countries face steep challenges including vehicle-charging infrastructure, need for common standards, safe equipment, new business models for batteries, consumer acceptance and grid storage.

Meanwhile in Germany, Sabic is collaborating with powertrain specialist IAV to develop materials that can replace metal and optimise lightweighting in EVs and hybrid powertrains. To sustain the full environmental advantages of hybrid, plugin hybrid and battery EVs, the additional weight of battery packs – up to 300 kg on a mid-sized car – needs to be offset by weight reduction in other areas.

This is where PPO and PBT resins from Sabic can replace steel in battery frames and housings.

The increasing use of lithium ion and lithium polymer batteries, which have higher power and energy density, requires thermal management solutions. To control temperature, liquid cooling often replaces air cooling and if power is withdrawn from a battery, it will heat up. As a result, these liquids require chemical and temperature resistant materials like Sabic’s PEI and PBT resins.

Lanxess’s PAs and PBTs are in demand in the manufacture of plug connectors for EVs

In hybrid-electric vehicles, the higher the voltage, the more important electromagnetic interference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) shielding becomes to control the potential disturbance from the different electronic components such as inverters, electronic control units and battery management system. LNP Faradex compounds from Sabic cater to this.

Meanwhile, EVs rely on battery power for heating and air-conditioning, making insulation more vital to avoid a heavy drain on the battery. Sabic’s Lexan PC glazing is said to offer five times the insulation performance of glass while specialised infrared (IR) absorbing grades of Lexan can further optimise airconditioning by reducing the amount of heat load transferred to a vehicle’s interior in hot climates or sunny weather.

Another German company Lanxess also supplies its PA and PBT for batteries and electrical/ electronic components in EVs. For battery trays that need to be lightweight while also exhibiting a high absorption capacity for crash energy, Lanxess has a plastic-metal composite or hybrid technology based

The Sabic/IAV collaboration will explore material solutions for powertrains

5 I n j e c t i o n M o u l d i n g A s ia • M A Y 2 0 1 1

on PA6 and sheet steel or aluminium. It allows for 30% lower weight compared to similar sheet steel solutions.

PA and PBT can also be used in place of other materials for non-loadbearing battery components, such as battery covers and power electronic housings. Components like these mostly need to offer protection against electromagnetic radiation and have been made of metals or sheet moulding compounds (SMC) that are metallised/coated with an electrically conductive coating. An alternative is to use highly reinforced, stiff PA and PBT grades that can be vaporised with aluminium after the injection moulding process. The metallising step can be eliminated if the manufacturer uses electrically conductive PA6, 66 or carbon fibre-filled blends, which Lanxess says it is already at an advanced stage of development.

Due to the high voltages and strong currents present in the area of the batteries and drives of EVs, it can be assumed that flameretardant material grades will be required here like Lanxess’s Durethan AKV 30 FN00 PA66 that offers high tracking and is free of red phosphorus and halogens.

IndustryNEWS PBT growth to come from Asia Demand for engineering resins such as PBT is largely dependent on the growth trends like the level and rate of replacement of traditional materials in the automotive, electrical/electronics and consumer appliances industries, says a new report by Global Industry Analysts.

Even though there is gross underutilisation of the material in some Asian countries, with per capita consumption of less than 0.5 kg, demand is expected to grow due to the continued shifting of global production bases and increase in foreign investments.

China and India are forecast to especially emerge over the global horizon to drive growth in the medium to long-term period. The demand for PBT in China is driven by the demand in the automotive

NEWS in brief Buyer found for Husky?

Private equity firm Berkshire Partners is said to be in discussions to buy Canadian Husky Injection Molding Systems from buyout firm Onex, which bought Husky for nearly US$1 billion in 2007 from founder Robert Schad and other shareholders. Bain Capital and several other private equity firms had also looked at the business but they are no longer involved as the discussions have reached a late stage, it was reported. The deal could be worth up to US$2 billion.

None of the parties involved have made any comments.

Plant expansion for more robots German machinery maker KraussMaffei is doubling the space for its robot plant in Schwaig to increase the capacity. The company will increase it from 670 to 1,570 sq m to meet increasing demand for injection moulding automation cells. The plant started operations in 1986 and was expanded in 1999, with a second plant opened in Schwerin in 2001. Further expansion of robot production took place in 2004

industry and extensive usage in switches, connectors and circuit breakers by the electronic/electrical industry. Currently about 50% of the PBT demand in China is met through imports.

The report goes on to say that with the significance of PBT gradually improving in applications, manufacturers are focusing on further technological developments of PBT like the use of nano-particles. Currently, PBT products that feature exceptional resistance to hydrolysis are attracting attention. In line with the growing clamour for environment protection through resource conservation and use of renewable resources, PBT producers are also developing materials with large amounts of recycled content. when additional space was made available at KraussMaffei’s Allach plant.

Single OEM package for machine and MuCell US-based Trexel and German machinery maker Arburg have entered into a new OEM agreement where Trexel will provide Arburg with supercritical foam (SCF) gas dosing hardware and in turn, customers are now able to purchase from Arburg a turnkey MuCell injection moulding machine. Hence, no separate license agreements or license costs are necessary.

Previously, while Arburg could sell a MuCell-enabled machine, customers had to buy a gas dosing system from MuCell’s parent company Trexel, which added administrative burden and the need to coordinate the installation and training from two suppliers.

Trexel, which executed a similar OEM reselling agreement with KraussMaffei last year, says this new model has accelerated the deployment of MuCell systems globally in the automotive, packaging, electronics and appliance industries.

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I n j e c t i o n M o u l d i n g A s ia • M A Y 2 0 1 1

IndustryNEWS New extruder supports eco-tyres

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ith the objective of supporting low rolling resistant tyres, KraussMaffei Berstorff has extended its Multiplex extrusion line tyre components by adding the new QuintoPlex line with five extruders.

Tyre producers can thus, include additional conductive compounds or other components into the tread.

The new QuintoPlex line is suited for combining up to five tyre components of different compounds – cap, base, wing, cushion and chimney – to one tread in a single working cycle.

Depending on process requirements, the line can be equipped with cold-fed extruders featuring screw diameters of 45 to 250 mm.

Its new extrusion line is the result of further development of its QuadroPlex extrusion heads, which has been optimised to place the thermally decoupled fifth extruder in the centre head.

NEWS in brief Rubber exports on the rise in Vietnam The Indochinese country expects to make over US$3 billion from rubber exports this year because of rising global demand, says its Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. China accounts for 70% of the country’s total rubber exports, while exports to Malaysia and Hong Kong are on the rise. This year it will increase its rubber production by 4% compared to 790,000 tonnes last year, as the rubber plantation area has increased by 40,000 ha. The country earned US$774 million from exporting over 173,000 tonnes of rubber in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 40% in volume and 135% in value.

The special design of the short flow channels within the extrusion head is an additional benefit of the new concept. The material can thus be transferred from the round diameter in the screw area to the flat rectangular profile shape without being subjected to extreme deflection.

In addition to the reduced space requirements, there is easy machine access for operators. In particular, with compounds for asymmetric low rolling resistance tyres, the discharge position of the conductive compound on the tread can be freely varied using special inserts.

Many tyre producers provide their treads with a conductive bar – the so-called chimney – to improve the electrostatic discharge properties of treads with high silica content. The chimney ensures that electrostatic charges are discharged to the road.

The company says it has sold several fiveextruder Multiplex lines since its recent launch.

Indian tyre company sold German tyre company Continental has signed an agreement with Indiabased V K Modi Group to acquire its tyre business, Modi Tyres. Terms were not disclosed. The supplier said the completion of the transaction depends on the fulfilment of several conditions.

After completion of the transaction, Modi Tyres will become a fully owned subsidiary of Continental.

The company will focus on local production and distribution of bias and radial truck/bus tyres as well as radial passenger car tyres for the Indian market.

A schematic showing the Quintoplex extrusion head with five rubber extruders for the production of treads from five different compounds

Goodyear’s groundbreaking American Goodyear Tire 1

rubber journal ASIA • M AY 2 0 1 1

& Rubber has broken ground on its new global headquarters complex in Akron, US. The project is scheduled to be completed in early 2013 and involves the relocation of 2,000 staff. The new building will serve as headquarters for the company’s global operations and its US tyre team.

Michelin growth on track in China French tyre maker Michelin will set up a joint venture company with Double Coin Holdings and Shanghai Huayi to produce and market Warrior brand passenger car and light truck tyres for the Chinese market. Michelin will own 40% of the new company with the rest to be taken up by its Chinese partners.

It will operate a plant in Anhui Province.

Update to FKM processing Conglomerate 3M says its Dynamar RA5300 process aid for fluroelastomer (FKM) compounds has been shown to perform at a higher level. It also shows potential as a replacement for conventional materials like carnauba wax.

Capillary rheometry was used to compare the flow properties of each compound over a range of shear rates and processability of four compounds was evaluated for Garvey die extrusion.

Additional processing comparisons were made via an injection moulding trial to evaluate flow, mould release and fouling.

IndustryNEWS Evonik sells carbon black and plans for IPO

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erman chemicals conglomerate Evonik will sell its carbon black unit to US financial investor Rhone Capital, in line with its step to ready itself for a public flotation within the next 15 months. The transaction is valued at over US$1.3 billion, including debt.

The group’s carbon black business, which comprises 16 production facilities in 11 countries, achieved sales of EUR1.2 billion in 2010. The unit is being acquired

intact as a whole including its 1,650 employees, some 500 of whom are based in Germany.

“This represents another major step toward a more clear-cut profile for Evonik as a leading speciality chemicals company when it goes public,” Chief Executive Klaus Engel said in a statement. Evonik is majority owned by a governmentcontrolled trust. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners bought a 25% stake in Evonik in 2008.

Too much reclaim in tyres creates furore

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outh Korean tyre manufacturer Kumho Tire is in hot soup for using too much reclaim rubber in its tyres, made at its Tianjin plant in China. The company has recalled the below par tyres. An independent report stated that the defective tyres could have bulges or splits, leading to accidents.

Kumho, which has a capacity of 30 million tyres/year at its factories in Tianjin, Nanjing and Changchun, provides tyres to 35 car models produced by major OEMs including GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Dongfeng

Peugeot Citroen and homegrown brands like Great Wall Motor and Hafei.

According to the independent report, as much as half of the tyre formulation consisted of recycled material, while the maximum allowed is 25%. While Kumho initially denied the report it subsequently said it had conducted an investigation and found that some of its employees were mixing too much recycled material into the compounds.

Nitrile latex giant created in Malaysia

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he acquisition of Germanybased PolymerLatex by nitrile latex market leader Synthomer’s parent Yule Catto, which was completed recently, has created an emulsion polymers group with a combined turnover in excess of EUR1 billion. PolymerLatex, which makes a similar range of rubberbased products as Yule Catto, was previously owned by private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners.

The acquisition strengthens the group’s position in Europe and Malaysia and also adds scale to the latter's already important nitrile latex market. The country currently caters up to 65% of the world’s natural glove market and also supplies about half of the world’s nitrile glove market.

Furthermore, Malaysia-based

Synthomer says it aims to support the Southeast Asia region by investing another RM10 million into its R&D centre, to develop laboratories, add on automated reactors and expand its human resources. Furthermore, Synthomer and PolymerLatex also recently invested close to RM500 million into their Malaysian plants.

The 50-year old Synthomer is a major producer of styrenebutadiene (SBR) and acrylonitrilebutadiene (nitrile) latex, used for dipped gloves as well as in SBR latex for construction. The main plant for nitrile latex, and the largest of its kind in the world, is currently in the Malaysian city of Kluang and it is supported by additional manufacturing capability in Europe.

2 rubber journal ASIA • M AY 2 0 1 1

Synthetic rubber forcing companies to cut down on production, the polymer displays tremendous potential.

With China’s self-sufficiency rate of NBR production being as low as around 30%, a major portion of the domestic demand is met through imports. With signs of stabilisation in the automotive and construction sectors, consumption of NBR in the US and West European countries is projected to increase this year.

Meanwhile, developing markets such as Asia Pacific and Latin America are slated to display strong preference for CR. Even though it faces intense competition from natural rubber and other synthetic rubber alternatives, it is finding new uses in industrial products and automotive components, especially in China, Japan and the US. Nevertheless, the adhesives market captures the largest share of overall CR demand. However, with respect to fast track growth potential, the market for industrial rubber products is projected to forge ahead at the strongest CAGR over the 2009-2017 period.

Growth aided by market demand Countries in Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, and Latin America have emerged as the major hubs for synthetic rubber consumption. The market is expected to witness growth this year, after declining steeply over the previous two years,

Tyre sector spurs market growth Germany-based Evonik Industries has started up a Meanwhile, capacity increases are being 110,000 tonnes/year isobutene plant at its Antwerp announced by companies to cater to the site in Belgium. The company says it invested tens of millions of Euros to triple its capacity growth from the tyre market. for isobutene, which is used in butyl rubber for applications such as inner liners with low air permeability in automotive tyres.

The new plant is part of Evonik’s C4 production platform at Antwerp where it produces starting NBR and CR markets growing products and intermediates from crude C4, a byThe global market for nitrile butadiene rubber product of ethylene and propylene production.

(NBR) is projected to exceed 645,000 tonnes by Isobutene is produced by splitting the anti-knock the year 2017, according to a new report by Global agent MTBE using a new process developed by Industry Analysts. The US company’s other report Evonik, which the company says is environmenton chloroprene rubber (CR) also predicts growth friendly and resource-efficient. with the market forecast to reach 445,000 tonnes by Another German company that is adding on more the year 2017. specialist rubber capacity The Asian region is for use in tyres is Lanxess. slated to race ahead as the ….the Asian region is slated to race It is expanding its facilities fastest growing market at for solution styrene a compounded annual rate ahead as the fastest growing synthetic butadiene (SSBR) and of more than 3% through neodymium polybutadiene 2017, with Europe and the rubber market, with Europe and the US (Nd-PBR) rubbers by 20,000 US trailing behind. The tonnes in Texas, US. With Asian demand is powered trailing behind…. an investment of EUR10

by China, which dominates million, the new capacity is as the single largest market expected to come on stream by 2012. for synthetic rubber.

L a n x e s s h a s a l s o c o m p l e ted a debottlenecking Key factors said to be driving both the NBR and p r o j e c t t o i n c r e a s e N d P B R production by 15,000 CR markets include increasing industrialisation, t o n n e s / y e a r a t t h e T e x a s s i t e. This expansion is development of infrastructure projects and p a r t o f a E U R 2 0 m i l l i o n i n v estment to increase automotive industry growth. production of Nd-PBR by 50,000 tonnes/year across Although the NBR market has displayed its facilities in the US, Germany, and in Brazil. The dormancy in recent years, due to soaring prices for a d d i t i o n a l c a p a c i t i e s i n G e r m a n y and Brazil will the butadiene feedstock and the weakening dollar,

due to the global economic downturn.

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3 r u b b e r j o u r n a l A S I A • M AY 2 0 1 1

Synthetic rubber be operational by the first quarter of 2012. These expansions will also lead to an indirect increase in SSBR capacity at the company’s site in France.

The capacity increases are due to the demand for high performance “green” tyres, partly driven by European Union legislation. As of November 2012, new tyres sold in Europe have to be labelled for fuel efficiency, wet grip and external rolling noise. Japanese tyre manufacturers voluntarily introduced tyre labelling at the start of 2010 and the topic is also under discussion in South Korea.

Nd-PBR is part of a tyre’s compound and, according to Lanxess, reduces energy consumption more efficiently than many other tyre rubbers. It also reduces tyre abrasion, playing a part in making cars safer as well as more ecological and economical. SSBR is used in the tread mix of a high-performance tyre to reduce rolling resistance while also improving grip on wet roads.

In related news, Lanxess has renewed its supply agreement with South Korea’s Hankook Tire to supply it with SSBR and NdPBR from 2011 to 2015. It has been supplying the tyre maker for the last six years. Hankook, the world’s seventh largest tyre manufacturer, is currently expanding capacities at its factories in South Korea, China, Indonesia and Hungary. Lanxess also supplies butyl rubber to Hankook as part of a five-year contract that started in 2010.

Meanwhile, Singapore will be the location of a new SSBR plant by Japan-based Zeon Corporation. The first phase of the project, to start up by 2013, will have a capacity of up to 40,000 tonnes/year, with the capacity to be doubled in the next stage.

HNBR star attraction Another synthetic rubber market that is currently growing globally at a double-digit annual rate is the HNBR sector. This is due in particular to a strong global demand from automotive manufacturers, especially in China and India.

To cater to this, Lanxess is expanding its HNBR capacity by 40% at its facilities in Germany and the US. The “low singledigit million Euro” expansion is scheduled for completion by 2012.

US-based Zeon Chemicals is also planning to expand its HNBR capacity by 25% at its US plant. It will come on stream by 2012. The company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zeon, had previously in 2010 expanded its output by 10%.

Keyuan to enter the synthetic rubber market Elsewhere, China-based Keyuan Petrochemicals will work jointly with Ningbo Institute of Technology, an affiliate of Zhejiang University, to develop commercial applications for its styrenic block co-polymer. The partnership will focus on developing commercial applications for the material in synthetic rubber products. Keyuan and Ningbo Institute of Technology will share the rights to products and technologies developed from this cooperation. Keyuan said its resin is a block co-polymer with excellent transparency and antiimpact properties, including flexibility and durability. It is currently used in packaging and plastic products, such as medical instruments and toys. ◆

Tyre Industry

Tyre sector comes out tops Raw materials riding high As for the raw materials, 70% of natural rubber and 50% of synthetic rubber go into tyre production and g l o b a l c o n s u m p t i o n i s s e t t o f o l l o w t h e i n c re a s e d activity in the tyre sector.

The 2010 consumption of 10.7 mil l i o n t o n n e s o f natural rubber for all markets (tyre and non-tyre) is forecast to grow to 15.4 million tonnes by 2020. The comparable figures for all synthetic rubber markets are 13.6 million tonnes in 2010, rising to 18.5 million tonnes by 2020.

Evans also added that this year, rubber consumption will be 10.7% higher than last year with demand to re a c h 11 . 2 m i l l i o n t o n n e s . “ T h o u g h g o v e r n m e n t s are hopeful of targets, with no new trees to tap, the inventory will be 100,000 tonnes short.” He added that the short supply may see the largest consuming c o u n t r y, C h i n a , re s o r t i n g t o l a t e x a l t e r n a t i v e s l i k e guayule, which is grown in the US. Evans also said that natural rubber prices, which have tripled in the past two years, capped in February this year, due to the earthquake in Japan and dramatic increases in demands.

As for synthetic rubber, since early October 2010, prices have increased by 500%, from US$600 to US$3,000/tonne. Plus, the oil-based synthetic rubber has grown more expensive as oil prices have gone up, too.

The rubber market is expected to be given a boost by the tyre sector, as expressed by exhibitors and visitors alike at the 8th TyrexpoAsia 2011 exhibition, held from 2931 March in Singapore. Accordingly, 160 exhibitors from around 40 countries took part in the largest staging of the exhibition’s 15-year history. It also had 3,578 visitors, an increase of 16% compared to the last show in 2009.

Robust tyre growth The Secretary-General of the Singapore-based International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) is predicting strong global demand for tyres through to the end of the decade. Speaking at the opening of the show, Stephen Evans said that much of the extra demand will originate from China and India. He added, “From an overall perspective the years through to 2020 will be a period of opportunity for tyre makers and the replacement and service sectors.”

The Secretary-General of the International Rubber Study Group, Stephen Evans, said that there is no real change in the natural rubber market fundamentals this year, compared to last year

Launches at the show There were a few announcements at the show including Indian OTR manufacturer Balkrishna Tyres (BKT) that confirmed plans for a fourth tyre plant in the country.

T h e U S $ 3 0 0 m i l l i o n g re e n f i e l d s i t e i n v e s t m e n t i n Gujarat is scheduled to come on stream next year and will boost the company’s capacity by 80%.

The OE and replacement tyre markets are expected to push the market along with OE passenger car tyre sales to grow from 290 million units in 2010 to 400 million units by 2020, while replacement car tyre sales will grow from 760 million units in 2010 to 1.2 billion units by 2020.

Evans also said that the current figure of 1 billion v e h i c l e s w o r l d w i de i s e x p e ct e d t o i n cre a se t o 1 . 4 5 b i l l i o n t o w a rd s t h e e n d o f t h e d e c a d e , w i t h C h i n a alone to add on 200 million vehicles.

Some companies used the show to launch new tyre models 5

r u b b e r j o u r n a l A S I A • M AY 2 0 1 1

Tyre Industry BKT Executive Director Anurag Poddar said the additional capacity will allow the company to service its growing export markets and also channel it to the domestic market, which accounts for just 8-10% of the current output.

Another Indian company CEAT also confirmed plans to increase manufacturing capacity at its newly-commissioned Gujarat factory, with 300,000 passenger car tyres and 100,000 truck tyres/month.

UK-based tyre wholesaler Bond International, meanwhile, launched a new company, Admiral Asia to promote the Admiral passenger car tyre brand that has been sold successfully by Bond in the UK for the last six years.

The new company will operate in Singapore and retail a range of tyres comprising 74 summer tyres covering 13 to 20 in. wheel sizes, with Z-rated choices for the 17 to 20 in. options. There is also a 30strong winter tyre range covering 14 to 17 in., T and H rated products.

The range will be available from this April, with full stocks on stream from the beginning of next year.

The exhibition this year had 16% more visitors compared to the show in 2009

New tyres in the market The exhibition also provided a platform for the launching of new products. Singapore-based tyre manufacturer Omni introduced the Radar Verenti R6 UHP M&S range of 35, 40, 45 and 50 series tyre in 15 popular sizes. Also new is the Radar RCX8 crossover for small to mid-size SUVs. Eight sizes are initially available in 17, 18 and 20 in. wheel sizes.

CEAT introduced new car, SUV and 4 x 4 tyre ranges under the Rhino, Theta and Milaze brands plus a new range of CEAT truck and bus radials.

Stamford Tyres introduced a new range of winter tyres marketed as Firenza Nu Ice available in studdable and non-studdable options and 13 sizes covering 13, 14, 15 and 16 in. wheels.

Chinese manufacturer Shandong Linglong announced the launch of its Green-Max range of 19 green silica tyres while Singaporean distributor Mindtrac introduced a new range of bus and truck radials manufactured by Birla Tyres in Haridwar, India.

T h e e x h i b i t i on is organised by UK-based ECI International t hat will have another edition in India, to run from 5-7 July at the C h e n n a i Tr a d e C e n t r e , C h e n n a i . M o r e d e t a i l s c a n b e f o u n d a t w w w. e c i - i n t e r n ational.com â—†

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2 0 1 1 10-13 MAY IIME Vietnam Venue: Saigon Exhibition and Covention Centre, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Contact: Top Repute Tel: +852 2851 8603 Fax: +852 2851 8637 e-mail: toprepute@top-repute.com Internet: www.machinery-vietnam.com 17-20 MAY Chinaplas Venue: China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, China Contact: Adsale Exhibition Services Tel: +852 2516 3325 Fax: +852 2516 5024 e-mail: Chinaplas@adsale.com.hk Internet: www.chinaplasonline.com 15-18 JUNE Propak Asia Venue: BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Contact: Bangkok Exhibition Services Tel: +66 0 2615 1255 Fax: +66 0 2615 2993 e-mail: propak@besallworld.com Internet: www.propakasia.com 23-26 JUNE Interplas Thailand Venue: BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Contact: Reed Tradex Tel: +66 2686 7251 Fax: +66 2686 7288 Internet: www.interplasthailand.com 31 AUGUST-3 SEPTEMBER Tiprex Venue: BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand Contact: Messe Düsseldorf Tel: +65 6332 9620 Fax: +65 6337 4633 e-mail: tiprex@mda.com.sg Internet: www.tiprex.com 5-8 SEPTEMBER AP Plas Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China Internet: www.applas.com.cn/english/

28 SEPTEMBER-1 OCTOBER Koplas Venue: Kintex, Seoul, South Korea Contact: Korea E&Ex Tel: +822 551-0102 Fax: +822 551-0103 e-mail: ashley@eandex.co.kr Internet: www.eandex.co.kr 18-20 OCTOBER JEC Composites Asia Venue: Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore Contact: JEC Tel: +33 0 1 5836 1500 Fax: +33 0 1 5836 1513 e-mail: exhibitors@jeccomposites.com Internet: www.jeccomposites.com 18-22 OCTOBER Fakuma Venue: Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre, Friedrichshafen, Germany Contact: PE Schall GmbH & Co Tel: +49 7025 92060 Fax: +49 7025 92060 e-mail: info@schall-messen.de Internet: www.fakuma-messe.de/en/fakuma 25-29 OCTOBER IPF Japan Venue: Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, Japan Contact: International Plastic Fair Association Tel: +81 3 3542 1487 Fax: +81 3 3543 0619 Internet: www.ipfjapan.jp 9-12 NOVEMBER M-PLAS Venue: KLCC Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Contact: Messe Düsseldorf Tel: +65 6332 9620 Fax: +65 6337 4633 e-mail: mplas@mda.com.sg Internet: www.mplas.com 16-19 NOVEMBER P & R Indonesia Venue: Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran Contact: PT Pamerindo Indonesia Tel: +62 021 316 2001 Fax: +62 021 316 1981 e-mail: wiwiek@pamerindo.com Internet: www.pamerindo.com

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1 Visit: www.plasticsandrubberasia.com 2 Select the 'Advertiser' tab from the website’s page menu 3 Select the year that the advertiser appears in 4 Select the issue that the advertiser appears in 5 Select the advertiser from the list displayed 6 This will then take you to the homepage of the advertiser

PRA

INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Publishing Office Postbus 130, 7470 AC Goor, The Netherlands Tel: +31 547 275005 Fax: +31 547 271831 e-mail: arthur@kenter.nl Contact: Arthur Schavemaker Regional Office D21, Menara Impian, Jalan 2/4, Taman TAR, 68000 Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +60 3 4260 4575 Fax: +60 3 4260 4576 e-mail: tej@plasticsandrubberasia.com Contact: Tej Fernandez China & Hong Kong Creatim China Room 702, No.2, Lane 707, Greenland Avenue, Kunshan 215300, China Tel: +86 21 392 18471 Fax: +86 0512 576 96725 Mob: +86 130 232 35195 e-mail: creatimchina@gmail.com Contact: Henry Xiao Germany, Benelux, Austria, Switzerland & France Kenter & Co BV Postbus 130, 7470 BV Goor, The Netherlands Tel: +31 547 275005 Fax: +31 547 271831 e-mail: arthur@kenter.nl Contact: Arthur Schavemaker India Tara Media & Communications 50-2, Jalan 1/76D 55100 Desa Pandan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +60 3 9281 1826 e-mail: pra@taramedia.com.my Contact: Winston Fernandez Italy MediaPoint & Communications Srl Corte Lambruschini, Corso Buenos Aires, 8, Vo Piano - Interno 9, 16129 Genova, Italy Tel: +39 010 570 4948 Fax: +39 010 553 0088 e-mail: info@mediapointsrl.it Contact: Fabio Potesta Korea Hau International 407, Jinyang Sangga, Chungmuro 4 ga Jung-ku, Seoul, Korea 100-713 Tel: +82 2 720 0121 Fax: +82 2 720 0122 e-mail: hauintl@chol.com Contact: JW Suh Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia & New Zealand ACESAP Marketing Services 271 Bukit Timah Road, 04-06 Balmoral Plaza, Singapore 259708 Tel: +65 63457368 Fax: +65 67388512 e-mail: acesap@gmail.com Contact: Anthony Chan Taiwan Worldwide Services PO Box 44-100, Taichung, Taiwan Tel: +886 4 23251784 Fax: +886 4 23252967 e-mail: sales@acw.com.tw Contact: Robert Yu/Kelly Hsueh USA & Canada Plastics Media International P. O. Box 44, Greenlawn, New York 117430, USA Tel: +1 631 673 3199 Fax: +1 631 673 0072 e-mail: mjm@4m-media.com website: www.plastics-media.com Contact: Michael J. Mitchell

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