October 2011 Issue
September 2011
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Central or Portable? ‘Off-the-Floor’ Central Chillers Cost Less, Provide Processing Gains
In deciding whether to use portable or central chillers, there are a variety of variables to consider. Here are the key issues.
Read MoreHow to Keep Your Conveyor Running Smoothly
Low-profile conveyors are ubiquitous in industry, typically used in 24/7 applications in packaging, assembly, labeling, inspection, and sorting. Here's how to keep them up and running.
Read More'Beastly' Line Adds Sheet Extrusion Flexibility
They call it the “The Beast,” a new sheet line installed recently by custom extruder Rowmark in Findlay, Ohio (rowmarkllc.com). It’s nearly as long as the new 175 x 75 ft facility built to house it.
Read MoreRodon Beats the Heat with 'Green' Cooling Towers
Custom molder The Rodon Group recently upgraded its plant in Hatfield, Pa., with three new cooling towers that replaced units that had been in service for 25 years.
Read MoreWhy & How to Assemble Parts While They’re Still Warm
For any molder seeking to maximize productivity and efficiency, carefully managing inventory and warehouse space is a key concern. One way to address this challenge is to assemble parts directly out of the mold, when they’re still warm.
Read MoreFirst Production-Ready Thermoplastic Wheel
At the Fakuma show in Germany this month, BASF AG will show off what’s said to be the first all-plastic car wheel that’s ready for high-volume production.
Read MoreSABIC Joins Automotive Innovation Joint Venture
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has agreed to purchase an equity stake in INPRO, a joint venture dedicated to collaborative innovation in automotive production.
Read MoreBenchmark Your Extruders For Quicker Processing Fixes
Not recognizing output reductions and resolving them quickly can cost a lot of money. Benchmarking your machines will help.
Read MoreNew/Old Player in Compounding Machines
Two machine builders, each with more than 60 years’ experience in compounding, have united to furnish continuous mixing equipment.
Read MoreCentral or Portable? Flexibility Favors ‘Discrete’ Chillers
Why might discrete chillers be a solution in your plant? In a word: Flexibility. Here is the lowdown.
Read MoreThe Strain Rate Effect
The rate of loading for a plastic material is a key component of how we perceive its performance.
Read MoreCustom Molding Levels Off
Our midyear survey of custom injection molders showed hourly rates still rising, despite a leveling off of the recovery.
Read MoreCalculate Shot Size Vs. Barrel Capacity
It may seem like a dull topic, but it will overcome the emotional experience that follows when you put a new mold into a machine and you find out there is not enough barrel capacity to make a full shot.
Read MoreExtrusion & Injection Molding in One Automated Process
A large German manufacturer of hoses, cable ducts, and other extruded automotive components recently expanded its activities into the white-goods appliance sector.
Read MoreMold Maintenance Training Eases Molder's Growing Pains
Automation Plastics in Aurora, Ohio (automationplastics.com), is a 32-year-old custom injection molder with 50,500 ft² and 30 presses from 35 to 700 tons.
Read MoreCommodity and Engineering Resin Prices Softening
As we enter the fourth quarter, price relief has already been felt in the four major commodity thermoplastics and four large-volume engineering resins.
Read MoreRPET Prices on the Rise
After what looked like a little softening in the RPET market in mid-summer, prices have climbed back up where they are expected to stay at least through October.
Read MoreNew Conference Explores Bioplastics in Packaging & Durables
A new bioplastics conference emerged this June with the launch of the Bioplastek 2011 Forum on Bioplastics Today and Tomorrow, held in N.Y.C. and organized by Schotland Business Research, Inc., Skillman, N.J.
Read MoreStyrolution Opens for Business
WEB EXCLUSIVE: On Oct. 1, Styrolution became a free-standing corporation, owned 50:50 by BASF in Germany and Ineos Holdings Ltd.
Read MoreNew PC Sheet Offers Blast Protection for Buildings
Going a step beyond the bullet-resistant security glazing familiar in banks and taxicabs, a new type of “structural envelope” based on a special polycarbonate sheet laminate from Bayer MaterialScience LLC, Pittsburgh, is said to establish a new level of bomb-blast resistance for building structures.
Read MoreVeteran Compounder Is Now Sold on Twins
Since 1967, FD Plastics in Leominster, Mass., has been supplying processors with color concentrates made with single-screw extruders.
Read MoreWEB EXCLUSIVE: Do Flow Simulation ‘in the Cloud’
Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., has just made available a new version of its Moldflow Insight software that takes time-consuming meshing and analysis functions off your desktop and performs them at a remote data center accessed via the Internet.
Read MoreExtruding Drug-Impregnated Film & Rod
The lines between polymer and pharmaceutical processing continue to cross.
Read MoreOn Site: Evolution of a One-Stop High-Tech Thermoformer
A company that started as a toolmaker has evolved into a thermoforming solutions provider
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