Plastopedia

Coming on the heels of a similar announcement in China, BASF SE recently released plans for the expansion of its engineering plastics plant in Anson, South Korea. The expansion will increase production of the company’s nylon and polybutylene terephthalate compounds by 13,000 metric tons per year.

Milacron LLC has made a series of organization changes, including creating a global key accounts team and several new positions, as part of the plastics machinery maker’s customer-driven strategic focus.  In moves announced March 3, Glenn Anderson becomes senior vice president of global key accounts. Anderson had been Milacron’s vice president and general manager of North American injection machinery and global extrusion. He has more than 27 years of experience in both injection molding and extrusion technologies.

These engineering plastics work well in molding micro and thin-walled components.With the miniaturization of many products, manufacturers are streamlining devices to pack more features into smaller packages. For instance, the pitch (spacing) between contacts in electrical connectors is narrower than ever before — as small as 0.2 mm compared to older-style power connectors with pitches exceeding 12.0 mm. Nominal wall stocks have also thinned considerably as the overall size of connectors has shrunk.

Graham Engineering Corp of York, PA, USA, a Global leader in Extrusion Blow Moulding equipment has recently installed two extrusion blow moulding machines for TrafFix Devices Inc. in the USA.  TrafFix Devices Inc. is one of the world’s largest producers of road safety products with four manufacturing sites throughout the USA and Mexico.

Technology firm XG Sciences Inc. is spending almost $7 million to relocate to a larger site in Michigan, where it plans to add at least 50 jobs in the next five years. Lansing, Mich.-based XG makes XGNP-brand graphite nanoplatelets, which are used as plastics additives in products for automotive, aerospace, appliance, sporting goods and other industries. The firm plans to spend $6.6 million to move to a 25,000-square-foot site in nearby Delhi Township.

In a search to expand its domestic market and help speed traditionally slow growth, China’s rotational molders have set their sights on another of China’s still-nascent industries: agricultural machinery.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY (February 16, 2011) -- Sales of plastics and rubber machinery from German manufacturers rose 17 percent in the last financial year, which is faster than the companies anticipated a year ago.

Injection molder Continental Plastics Co. is negotiating to sell the 60-year-old firm to a buyer from within the industry.  If successful, the deal could close by the end of April, according to Russ Thomas, Continental’s chief operating officer and executive vice president.

Machining equipment at the HPM plant in Mount Gilead, Ohio, will get auctioned off on March 29, in what could be the final chapter in the 134-year history of the maker of plastics and die-casting equipment.  The plant shut down in December 2009.

Global plastics auxiliary machinery manufacturer Piovan has appointed the Serbian company Neofyton as its new distribution agent in the Balkan countries.

ABB Robotics is expanding its product range with a new 12-20kg robot family. The three new IRB 2600 models are fast and compact, and improve production cycle times by up to 25%, claims the firm.

A new stretch hooder from Chronos is designed to secure different types of stacked loads to a pallet.

UK extruder manufacturer Boston Matthews, which will be exhibiting at CHINAPLAS 2011, recently announced the successful launch of the new range of Medium Speed "Squeeze Tube" Extrusion Lines.

Hozelock has invested £1m at its Midpoint Park factory in Birmingham. According to the company, the money will enable it to achieve record delivery times for its premium hose systems, including the new AutoReels with automatic hose rewind.

Hozelock has invested £1m at its Midpoint Park factory in Birmingham. According to the company, the money will enable it to achieve record delivery times for its premium hose systems, including the new AutoReels with automatic hose rewind.

Indian equipment maker Kabra Extrusiontechnik Ltd. is spending about 85 crore rupees (US$18.8 million) to double its manufacturing capacity, as it sees the Indian plastics machinery market growing about 15 to 20 percent a year for the next five years.

Indian plastic equipment maker Windsor Machines Ltd. plans to double the size of its manufacturing plants for injection presses and extruders because of what it says is strong demand in its home market.

A new stretch hooder from Chronos is designed to secure different types of stacked loads to a pallet.

Gnosys, a UK-based science and technology company, has developed a new polymer analyser for compounds and masterbatches.

UK-based ancillary supplier Braby says its Vacatex product – a vacuum transfer and batch weighing packaging machine – is ideal for small to medium sized companies that cannot afford bespoke handling packages.