Photo by Greiner

Greiner Packaging International has won the confidence of Romania’s biggest hygiene products manufacturer Hexi Pharma to supply it with plastic bottles for its disinfectants destined for hospitals across the country.

Since December 2015, when it won over this new customer, the Kremsmünster, Austria-based packaging group has been packaging Hexi products in blow moulded 1,000ml HDPE bottles.

Hexi Pharma has been providing disinfectants and cleaning agents to a range of clinics, hospitals, laboratories, hotels and schools across Romania for more than 20 years.

Greiner was able to assure its new customer it could supply safe, certified packaging which is capable of meeting regulations for the transit of dangerous goods on European roads, the moulder said.

“We impressed our customer above all with our high production standards,” commented Günter Ausserw?ger, sales director of Greiner’s Kavo packaging division. “We have many years of experience in this industry and we know what the specialists need in this sector.”

Bottles for the contract are produced in two different mouth sizes and changes can be carried out using a single tool thanks to interchangeable attachments. This provided a cost effective process resulting in significant cost savings for the customer, the executive explained.

Greiner Packaging’s Romanian subsidiary operates three production plants in the country, including a joint venture with Greek packaging firm Thrace Plastics in ?elimb?r.

Greiner Romania, which last year reported annual sales of around €38m, is expected to increase its sales by 5% during 2016.

VW Polo WRC model with Litecor hood.

The Society of Plastics Engineers Central Europe presented applicants, finalists and winners at its 16th biannual automotive innovation awards night in July 2015. The body exterior first place went to a part that does not feel or look like plastic: the hood outer skin of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC (World Rally Car) road version in Litecor from steel producer ThyssenKrupp, cutting overall hood weight by 30% to save 25% CO2 emissions.

Litecor involves two layers of 0.2?0.3mm sheet steel with a 0.3-1.0mm “special thermoplastic blend” film core layer. The patent WO/-2012/126923 (“Composite material and structural component for a motor vehicle”) published on 27 September 2012 refers to “at least one fibre?reinforced plastic layer” with its matrix “based on polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamide, and/or mixtures thereof”.

SPE CE automotive award events are chaired by SPE CE president Dr Klaus-Dieter Johnke (from VW) and commented by Dr Rudolf Fernengel of 2R Kunststofftechnik and Büro für Kunststofftechnik consultancy as jury chairman (earlier at BMW). Fernengel observed, as part of the usual jovial VW/BMW sparring, that BMW had investigated plastic-cored steel body panels much earlier, “but without any success, as the plastic was too thick then – but with its more economical approach, VW has managed [it]”.

Production of 2,500 pre-series Litecor hoods took place at Thyssen-Krupp in Dortmund, where there is also a 30m long x 8m wide x 6m high Litecor sheet pilot line with 10,000 tonnes per year capacity installed in 2013. Volkswagen in Navarra, Spain meanwhile presses Polo R WRC hoods with the Litecor skin in standard VW sheet steel processing tools.

Instead of conventional soft forming steel, Litecor involves easily formable interstitial-free (IF) steel without carbon alloying elements. Cold joining techniques such as punched rivets, screws, Betamate adhesive from Dow or low temperature laser welding ensure the plastic core does not creep. Litecor is however suitable for inline painting, as it withstands exposure to cataphoretic electrodip (“e?paint”) paint coating lines at up to 210°C.

Oliver Kleinschmidt of the ThyssenKrupp car sales department and steel sandwich materials product co-ordinator, who is listed in the above patent as one of the Litecor technology inventors, predicted in March 2013 “we should be able to start supplying Litecor in large quantities as from 2017”.

ThyssenKrupp has identified at least 14 potential Litecor applications as large flat and high?stiffness bodywork components such as roofs, doors, tailgates and hoods. Compared with full-steel design, ThyssenKrupp found Litecor-skinning made a hood 21% more expensive and a door panel 7% more expensive.

In the long term, ThyssenKrupp expects thinner Litecor skins with sprayed polyurethane reinforcement.In July 2015, the organiser of the Composites Europe 2015 fair in September announced on behalf of PU machinery producer Hennecke that it would show a ThyssenKrupp “Incar Plus project” lightweight door on its fair stand with its thin steel/plastic hybrid outer skin (Litecor sheet) selectively back-sprayed with a PU-based plastic. Hennecke’s composite spray technology sales manager Jens Winiarz says this compensates for loss of dent stiffness and resistance associated with use of the very thin steel sheet.

Having also investigated seat shells, ThyssenKrupp says Litecor “is equally ideal for structurally relevant car interior parts, as it is much lighter than monolithic sheet steel and therefore presents a real alternative to aluminium, especially in cost-sensitive volume markets”.

Litecor and Bondal – a similar sandwich product for low noise electric motor stators – are examples of ThyssenKrupp’s 40 different InCar Plus lightweighting solutions announced in October 2014. ThyssenKrupp’s InCar Plus project co?ordinator Dr Axel Grüneklee says Litecor and Bondal “open new potentials for future vehicle generations, so that steel will also be the material of first choice for most vehicle producers”.

In the SPE CE 2015 awards, machinery producer Frimo won the body exterior innovation award for the bionic self?cleaning and aerodynamic (low Cw value) sharkskin-inspired roof and hood surfaces of the “Street Shark” demonstrator used on the BMW Z4 car (European Plastics News July/August 2014). Dominik Schwager of D?style – racing driver son of BMW’s former plastics specialist and i-series project manager Hans Schwager – customised the car.

Eschmann Textures supplied the ceramic?coated textured mould, ISL Berlac the in-mould coating (IMC) paint system for the parts. The parts are produced with a 3D-Core expanded structural composite foam core by low pressure resin transfer moulding (LP-RTM) process with a “snap-curing” Vitrox PU from Huntsman and Puroclear PU from Rühl Polymer.

D-style, Eschmann Textures and Frimo also featured in the body interior innovation award for the BMW Z4 prototype decorative trim strips developed in 2014 with bionic design features and a self-healing surface obtained with Rühl’s Puroclear polyurethane.

The body exterior second place went to Kunststofftechnik Backhaus for an air duct under a charge-air cooler moulded for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class launched in September 2014. Fernengel praised moulding of the two-component part in the 20% talc filled PP grade Hostacom M2UO2 from LyondellBasell and Tefabloc 823, a TPS/SEBS from Feddersen as the soft component, in a Wittmann Battenfeld moulding machine with a highly complex slider system in the mould from Uniteam Italia. The part is first moulded straight for easy release, then bent 90° “like a film hinge” in the mould with an additional slider.

Kunststofftechnik Backhaus also took the power train fifth place for backmoulding to metal of a phenol formaldehyde, Vyncolit W2005 from SBHPP Sumitomo Bakelite High Performance Plastics, in a B&M Formenbau mould by a Wittmann Battenfeld machine to make a brake system pressure component for various vehicles. Although Fernengel said there are no weight or price advantages or disadvantages, this approach reduces heat transmission to the brake fluid.

The body exterior third place went to the Airpanel adaptive grille shutter on the 2014 Mercedes?Benz C-Class, moulded by Montaplast in a TJ Moldes mould. Holger Jakobs of Daimler, Sindelfingen accompanied the part at the SPE CE automotive awards night. Earlier in a 2015 VDI plastics in automotive conference paper, he claimed the actuated plastic louver based shutter application with eight painted louvers behind the C?Class chromed ABS grilles to be “the first time a controllable cooling louvers system has been applied to a car’s visible front area, whereas competing OEMs in general use them behind the vehicle front design area”.

Lanxess supplies PA6GF15 for the louvers and their supporting structure and PA6GF30 as a stiffer, more torsion-resistant material for the crankshaft applying movement from the actuator to the louvers. PPGF30 is used as a low friction material for the sliding bolts. The actuator is made by Mirror Controls International (MCI), applying for the actuator housing its experience in use of PPGF40 as mirror actuation system housing material. This proved to have better acoustic performance than a PBT considered at the prototype stage, Jakobs said at the VDI conference.

Jakobs said that the louvers are painted while mounted on the louver carrier and admits that painting significantly increases the system cost, but this has been compensated with part integration and narrower than usual air slots.

Body interior first place went to the claimed worldwide first all-plastic instrument panel carrier, developed for a BMW M4 (GTS) special model due in March 2016. The IP carrier has been produced in a Siebenwurst mould in a combination of PA66 and 60% glass fibre reinforced PA61/X from EMS-Chemie. IP carrier designs have so far progressed over the years from all-metal, to hybrid PA/metal overmoulded, adhesive bonded or riveted versions.

The new Mercedes-Benz high gloss touchpad produced in the Coverform process (full details: Plastics News Europe July/August 2015) received the electronics and optical parts first place and grand innovation awards. M-B talked at the 2015 VDI plastics in automotive engineering conference about work with mouldmaker AWM Moldtech, which became integrated within Adval Tech group’s Foboha in March 2014 as Foboha (Switzerland).

Among only two other electronics and optical finalists, toggle switches of the 550bhp Ford North America Mustang took second place for use of one injection mould to produce all plated toggles with their red day?and?night symbols. They are moulded in a Schreiber Kunststofftechnik mould on Sumitomo (SHI) Demag machinery, with moulding and plating taking place at BIA Kunststoff- und Galvanotechnik in Schulman’s Polyman ABS Galvano Rot platable material and Alcom PC 740/4 UV WT1257?04LD polycarbonate from Albis, a light-diffusing UV stabilised easy?flow grade containing an unspecified special filler.

BIA also featured with the body interior second place, for use of its BDC “black diamond chrome” (as shown at Fakuma 2014) for the centre console trim in Bayer MaterialScience’s Bayblend T45 PG grade of PC/ABS on the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT C190, launched in August 2014, also moulded on SHI Demag machinery. The console also includes the new touchpad produced in the Coverfom process. A third place in this category went to “piano black” round ventilator housings and lamellae for their high gloss with an impression of depth on 2014 model-year Mercedes-Benz A-, B- and C-Class cars. The parts are moulded by Fischer Automotive Systems on Arburg machinery in Grilamid TR30, a transparent amorphous polyamide from EMS-Chemie.

A lightweight glove box designed by BMW for the 3-series with start-of-project (SOP) November 2018 received the body interior fourth place for substituting conventional flock finishing with a decorated natural fibre reinforced PP film produced by Isowood, applied to Quadrant Plastic Composites (QPC) composite based on a Borealis 30% long glass fibre reinforced PP. BMW has been evaluating the glove box in various moulding machines at its Landshut plant, using a mould from Wisa Werkzeug + Formenbau.

Magna Exteriors & Interiors (Bohemia) submitted and displayed an injection moulded prototype dashboard made in a Minerv grade of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) from Bio-on in Italy, but it did not feature among winners. Bio-On has been making PHA using cane and beet sugar production waste; in April 2015 it announced plans to develop production from potato waste, and in June 2015 it announced that it was ready to grant licences to realise the first PHA bioplastic production plants using glycerol derived from biodiesel by?products.

The electronics and optical third place went to a Continental Automotive head-up-display (HUD) mirror retainer on various vehicles since 2013, on account of precision, dimensional stability and low thermal expansion over a wide temperature range from the Celanese Fortran 6165A6 and 1140L4 grades of PPS that were used. Fernengel says there “was astonishment at integrated clips, but directing glass fibre flow orientation in the clip areas means they don’t break”.

Powertrain first place was received by a water assist (WIT) moulded clutch pedal and associated bearing block on BMW cars as from July 2015. These were developed by compound producer Akro?Plastic, injection moulding machinery maker Engel, mouldmaker Moldetipo PR, fluid assist equipment specialist PME Fluidtec, along with Spanish moulder Batz S. Coop. Use of Akromid B3 ICF15 (pedal) and B3 ICF20 (bearing block) – respectively 15% and 20% short carbon fibre reinforced PA6 grades – cut part weight by 15% and increased stiffness of the pedal by 25% (see also Plastics News Europe, June 2015).

The powertrain grand innovation award went to a gear setting module moulded since 2014 on Arburg machinery by FTE Automotive for all Audi vehicles worldwide using the DKG 7?gear Ultra S-tronic gear system. Fernengel referred to high creep resistance of the EMS?Chemie Grivory HT1VL-50X grade of 50% long glass fibre reinforced polyphthalamide, its withstanding operating temperatures up to 160°C and the need to be processed at over 320°C – “something not all moulders can manage,” he said.

Photo by Michael A. Marcotte Shawn Reilley (left), Milacron's vice president and general manager, Americas, for advanced plastics, and Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Latin America director.

Mexico’s red-hot automotive industry is boosting business for Milacron Holdings, officials said at Plastimagen.

Mexico is becoming a center of the auto supply chain for plastics, including Tier 1, Tier 2 and direct-to-assembly plants, said Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Milacron’s Latin American director.

“Queretaro, particularly, is becoming the plastics hub for Mexico,” Gonzalez said. “Not only molding companies, but also mold makers are coming. Since we have many European company assembly plants, they are bringing with them many, many suppliers.”

Building the supply base is important for Mexico, which has become a powerhouse for automotive assembly. According to AMIA, the Mexico automotive industry trade association, 77.4% of all light vehicles that are assembled in Mexico are exported to the United States — but Mexico still imports 70% of the components for those vehicles.

Most of Milacron’s machinery sales to Mexico — volume-wise — go to multinational companies. But Gonzalez said an active base of Mexican-owned processors also is investing in new equipment. “That’s opening opportunities for local suppliers for the automotive industry, and the local industry is preparing very well in quality,” he said. “They are acquiring better technologies and processes.”

Milacron opened a High Impact Technical Center in Queretaro about 18 months ago, to boost sales, parts and service for its injection moulding, extrusion and blow moulding machinery for Mexico and other countries in Latin America.

Milacron had “very strong growth in 2015” in Mexico, said Shawn Reilley, vice president and general manager of injection presses and advanced plastics processing technologies.

“We think we’re well positioned to partner with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers,” Reilley said in a 8 March interview at Plastimagen.

At the show, Milacron has two injection moulding cells. One has an all-electric Roboshot 165 with an E-Multi secondary injection unit for two-component moulding of liquid silicone rubber and thermoplastics. The cell has a Mold-Masters E-Multi injection unit for liquid silicone rubber.

LSR is used in medical molding, which is growing in the maquiladora region in northern Mexico, Gonzalez said.

Also at Plastimagen, Milacron is showing a Magna T 170, a toggle press that accommodates large and heavy molds.

Milacron also is showing Mold-Masters hot runners for automotive parts and automotive lens production, and a Mold-Masters TempMaster hot runner controller.

From mid-January crude oil and petrochemical feedstock costs were heading even lower

At the beginning of January, standard thermoplastic producers were able to limit rebates to the decline in feedstock prices. However, as crude oil and petrochemical costs continued heading in a downward direction, buyers’ bargaining power improved. By the end of the month, the price decline in most cases exceeded the cost reduction.

L/LDPE and HDPE blown film prices fell €50-60/tonne compared with the €27.5/tonne reduction in the January ethylene contract price. HDPE blow moulding and injection moulding grades fell by €35-40/tonne.

Polypropylene homopolymers fell €60/tonne and copolymers by €40/tonne against the €50/tonne fall in propylene costs. PVC prices declined in line with the proportionate impact of ethylene on PVC costs.

Polystyrene was the exception where short supply enabled small price gains, despite styrene monomer costs falling.

In February, petrochemical feedstock costs continued on a downward trend. During the first half of the month, prices for most standard thermoplastics were trading downward by just less than the reduction in the monthly contract prices. Prices were expected to drift even lower as the month progressed.

Polymer demand was quite lively at the start of the year as converters began to build their inventories after the holiday period. From mid-January however it became apparent that crude oil and petrochemical feedstock costs were heading even lower. Buyers became more cautious in their outlook and ordered just sufficient to meet their immediate production needs, provided the price was right.

Demand held up well during the first two weeks of February although many converters continued to exercise restraint.

Availability of standard thermoplastics improved during the first two months of the year. Most cracker and polymer plants were operating without disruption, although several suppliers had to place customers on allocation. There are also several plant maintenance turnarounds on the horizon in the polyolefin sector.

Imports could however play a more prominent role. New plants in Mexico and the Middle East are preparing to export growing volumes to Europe, and Iran is set to return to the market soon.

A summary of the latest supply-related market developments is presented below:

? Versalis’ 110,000 tpa LDPE line in Ferrara, Italy was switched off 1 February 2016 following a renewed problem – the third glitch that occurred at the site in the space of a month.

? A fire in the 170,000 tpa LDPE/EVA swing plant at Versalis’ Ragusa, Italy site on 6 January forced the company to declare force majeure for all of the “Riblene” LDPE and “Greenflex” EVA grades produced there.

? In the wake of a fire that took place in mid-December 2015 at the refinery in Port Jér?me, Gravenchon, France just as the facility was due to resume operations following a maintenance turnaround, ExxonMobil declared force majeure for its “Primol 352” white oil products at the refinery on 26 January.

? Construction of the low-pressure 300,000 tpa HD/LLDPE plant in Mahabad, Iran, has been completed and operations have begun.

? National Petrochemical Industrial, Saudi Arabia was forced to shut down the propylene and polypropylene plants at its Yanbu site on 11 January because of a technical problem.

? Over the course of the coming weeks, industrial investor Alain de Krassny and private equity group OpenGate Capital will restructure their current 50:50 ownership in PVC producer Kem One.

In mid-February, some market participants considered that feedstock costs and polymer prices could rise in March, given that crude oil prices were edging higher.

Read the full report here.

Paul Schall

Paul Schall, founder and owner of P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG, the trade fair company which organises the Fakuma exhibition in Friedrichshafen, Germany, has died aged 76.

He founded the P.E. Schall company in 1975 and the first Fakuma trade fair for the plastics processing industry started in 1981. It was initially intended as a regional fair for the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria and neighouring countries along Lake Constance, Austria and Switzerland.

Although these geographical areas remain as important as ever, Fakuma fairs – held every year except for those when the K fair takes place in Düsseldorf – have taken on a much greater national and international profile.

The scope has also widened from the original focus on plastics processing machinery (Fakuma derives from “Fachmesse für KunststoffMaschinen”), with a strong emphasis on injection moulding, to now include extrusion machinery, ancillary equipment, plastics materials, mouldmaking, processors, research institutes, thermoforming and even newer rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing technologies.

Following an agreement with Schall, the Crain Global Polymer Group (including Plastics News, Plastics News Europe and PRW) has published English language Fakuma Show Daily publications at the Fakuma 2014 and 2015 fairs.

Paul Schall’s death has come as a surprise to those whom have known him in the plastics and other industries with which he has been associated, as he was as active as ever at Fakuma 2015 last October.

Speaking with the Show Daily at Fakuma 2014, Schall described how his professional career had started with the sale of machines for graphical arts in 1962 and this led to his first Mograma trade fair. This was followed in 1972 by the Fameta metal processing machinery trade fair.

As well as the Fakuma fair in Friedrichshafen, other exhibitions organised by Schall’s company include Blechexpo (sheet metal), Bondexpo (bonding), Control (quality assurance), Druck+Form (printing), Motek (automation), Optatec (optical), Schweisstec (welding) and Stanztec (stamping) fairs. Blechexpo, Control and Motek are held in Stuttgart, Optatec in Frankfurt am Main. Schall ran Control and Motek fairs also in India for the first time in 2014.

Paul Schall held the position of managing partner of P.E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG and has been supported on the company board by his wife Bettina Schall as managing director with responsibility for marketing and public relations. The company owns the fairgrounds in Sinsheim through its ownership of Messe Sinsheim GmbH and also owns the Pescha Media-Agentur advertising and marketing agency.

Photo by File photo Robert Schad

The machinery development and mould making agreement has ended between Athena Automation and Sipa.

Athena is Robert Schad’s Vaughan, Ontario-based company that makes PET preform injection moulding machines. Sipa is a blow moulding machinery manufacturer based in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, with a North American operation in Atlanta.

Athena announced that the agreement has expired in a 17 February news release.

The two machinery companies first agreed to work together in December 2012, to build a line of automated PET injection presses and blow moulders. Sipa also was making all preform molds for Athena machines. Under the agreement, both companies would integrate their respective machinery into a complete system.

In the 17 February announcement, Athena said it would support Sipa in shipping and servicing the remaining inventory of “Athena for Sipa” machines. But Athena’s next generation of PET preform moulding machines will be sold and serviced directly by Athena, alongside its injection presses for other markets.

In the news release, Schad said: “As far as molds are concerned, we’re not forming an alliance with a specific mould maker — we will let customers choose the mold maker they want to use with the post-mould cooling and quick mould-change technologies from Athena.”

Officials from Athena and Sipa were not available for comment.

Currently, Athena manufactures injection presses with clamping forces of 150,300 and 450 tonnes. Athena’s new 155,000-square-foot machinery assembly factory is in the early start-up phase. Its existing 40,000-square-foot building will become the headquarters office and house sales and customer service.

Steep Plast Slovakia

A French-owned automotive plastic parts producer is investing €5m in a significant expansion project at its plant in Slovakia.

Steep Plast Slovakia, an offshoot of French Steep Plastique group, proposes to extend the production hall of its existing plant at Nitra in western Slovakia and construct a new warehouse on site.

The Slovak subsidiary, based in the capital Bratislava, plans to grow its facility in Nitra, close to the site of a €1.3bn assembly plant planned by Jaguar Land Rover nearby. Under construction from this year, the plant is due to turn out 150,000 vehicles annually from 2018.

Work on the Steep Plast project, plans of which still await the green light from the Slovak environmental authorities, is expected to begin later this year. The expansion is set to be completed during 2017.

Steep Plast Slovakia specialises in producing large sized automotive mouldings including covers for the vehicle engine compartment and under body at its site in the Nitra Sever industrial park.

The tier one supplier of injection moulded plastics components is expected to enlarge the plant to an area of 5,200 square metres and the expansion is due to create 60 new permanent jobs on site.

Steep Plastique group, based at Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost near Lyon, France, established its first plant in Slovakia in Bratislava in 2005 and launched the second facility at Nitra in 2008. The latest project at Nitra is reported to be the second of three development phases originally planned by the group. Steep Plastique, which manufactures a range of moulded vehicle interior and engine compartment components, has already embarked on a new project aimed at establishing a plant in India.

It operates a production site at its headquarters in Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost along with the second moulding unit at Décines, France.

Close-up view of Cold Jet dry ice cleaning demonstration at Euromold

At the Euromold and Fakuma exhibitions in Germany last year, Cold Jet, the US dry ice mould cleaning technology firm, showed its new Plastics Edition. This is a line of accessories which is packaged with Cold Jet’s enhanced Aero Series dry ice cleaning systems and dedicated to the plastics industry.

The company has streamlined the Aero Series to three levels of functionality. In addition to the standard benefits of the Aero base model, the mid-level Aero 40FP and top-of-the-line Aero 80FP systems offer full range of pressure (FP); increased feed rates; compatibility with larger blast hoses and more innovative applicators; advanced SureFlow agitation systems with thumper, ramrod and vibrators; and feature an innovative Advanced Radial Feeding System.

Cold Jet’s patented shaved dry ice MicroParticle technology is used in other ranges, the i3 MicroClean and SDI Select 60.

In a Cold Jet webinar hosted by Plastics News Europe in November, Steve Wilson, managing director for vertical markets, said dry ice particle size ranges from 3 mm down to 0.3 mm. The microparticles can penetrate complex geometries in moulds, he said.

Dry ice cleaning is up to six times faster than other methods, said Wilson, as the cleaning can be done while the mould is still in the machine. As there is no wear from using dry ice, mould life can be extended.

“We often get asked about thermal shock. Dry ice slightly lowers mould surface temperature, but not to the extent that it damages the mould,” said Wilson.

Cold Jet also promotes the environmental benefits of using dry ice. It is a byproduct of CO2 used in largescale processing plants at distilleries, fertiliser plants and other industries. There is no waste and no VOCs arising from its use in mould cleaning, said Wilson.

He highlighted other uses for dry ice, including deflashing and deburring of moulded plastic parts, for which Cold Jet technology is suitable.

The BMZ Group's Lithium-ion home storage systems use Bayblend FR3040 from Covestro to safely position the individual battery cells in a so-called cell holder.

German battery manufacturer BMZ GmbH, a system supplier for lithium-ion batteries, has successfully developed a range of stationary Li-ion home batteries for solar power systems with the support of polymer speciality company Covestro AG.

These battery home storage devices make the power generated by solar panel systems available independent of the time of the day and the position of the sun. BMZ, which markets the devices under its own name as the EES 7.0, EES 9.0 and ESS X storage series, uses Covestro’s fire-retardant polycarbonate blends with tailored properties – Bayblend (PC+ABS), which offer good mechanical properties, high impact strength, and high flowability.

Such features allow the material to achieve “the thinnest possible walls” between the individual battery cells when the cell holders are injection moulded.

Covestro supported the various BMZ battery projects with material selection, during plastic-compatible component design and with CAE-based component simulations to meet the requirements of the UN Transport Test for Batteries (UN 38.3).

It also helped the company with mouldflow analyses and technical injection moulding support.

"Every battery project is technically demanding, which is why I am all the more pleased that plastics from Covestro can make an important contribution here," said Jens Ufermann from Covestro, who works with BMZ GmbH directly.

Covestro particularly noted the importance of its “in-depth” understanding of battery systems in the safety aspects of the batteries developed.

"Our… many years of experience in materials for battery applications enable us to provide our customers with both technical expertise and suitable products," added Julian Marschewski, market development manager in Electric Vehicle Battery Packaging.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (centre) on a visit to a Yug Rusi oil bottling plant with group owner Sergei Kislov (left).

A leading Russian agro industrial group, Yug Rusi is continuing to invest in the modernisation of its bottled vegetable oil business as it grows its packaging production.

During 2016, the group based in south western Russia, is spending around €3.87m on construction and renovation at its Labinskiy oil processing plant in the Krasnodar region.

The project has included the construction of a boiler room with new boilers to replace outdated units, aimed at reducing emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Other modernisation work will cover electrical and automation equipment.

The Labinskiy facility is also growing the output of its recently installed plant to produce injection moulded PET preforms and bottle closures to provide packaging for its own oil product range.

Its 1,000 square metre moulding hall has the daily capacity to turn out up to 700,000 preforms for 1-litre bottles and 130,000 5-litre containers for vegetable oil. The building, which began operating with a 19 strong workforce, is equipped with injection moulding machines supplied by Husky.

Preforms are not only used by the Labinskiy operation for its own products but are shipped to a number of other bottled vegetable oil and oilseed plants run by the Yug Rusi holding company across the south west of Russia.

Yug Rusi group is Russia’s number one vegetable oil producer supplying around 30% of its vegetable oil market and 20% of the market in Kazakhstan, where it has a processing plant. The firm, with a turnover approaching €1.84bn, is also a major exporter of bottled and bulk vegetable oil and grain from its 19 farms across the Krasnodar, Rostov and Volgograd regions.

Yug Rusi exports to the CIS nations as well as to Germany, the Czech Republic, Georgia, the Baltic States and as far as Afghanistan and Mongolia.

Hasco has 3D printed plastic inserts in high-heat ABS

In this feature for Plastics News Europe David Vink reports on 3D printed mould inserts and other innovations from Hasco Hasenclever.

Hasco’s stand at Euromold featured a prominent display of moulds fitted with plastic mould inserts as part of the Hasco K3500 quick?change mould system. The inserts had been 3D printed “within hours” by the company in the Stratasys Ultra?tough Digital ABS 5161 and 5131 materials on Stratasys Objet 500 Connex inkjet equipment.

Dirk Paulmann, Hasco executive VP sales and business development, stressed the new plastic inserts approach as “providing moulders flexibility to quickly produce and switch inserts. This is the future of prototype and low volume production”.

The mould insert on display and its slides had been printed for moulding screw-threaded sealing plugs in several colours for mounting onto the stainless steel base plates of the Hasco A8001 clamping fixture system. Hasco printed the parts in six hours compared with 24 hours needed when machining metal equivalents. After optimization, Hasco had moulded plugs within four days from starting the printing of the mould inserts.

Hasco also displayed the A8001 modular clamping system onto which the plugs are mounted. The precisely bored positioning holes permit fast variable clamping of different mould sizes with repeat accuracy of around 10μm. The plastic plugs’ function is to prevent machined metal particles from entering unused positioning holes, reducing mould cleaning time during mould changes.

The company points out however that the plastic mould inserts served only as a basis for trials prior to producing metal insert tooling for serial production. Hasco is working here with the WI-SWF Werkzeugbau-Institut Südwestfalen tool construction institute in Lüdenscheid as part of the institute’s Course4 technology project.

3D printed plastic mould inserts were also featured by Dr. Boy on its stand at Fakuma. A Stratasys 3D printer was set up on the stand to produce the inserts. These were then installed in a mould holder on a Boy XS machine which moulded karabiner hooks made of various materials.

Hasco showed at both Euromold and Fakuma new stack mould technology involving a Z1545 gear housing and a Z1547 rack unit. Hasco says that aside from usual stack mould advantages, the Hasco components enable small distances between injection moulding machine tie bars, while diamond-like coated (DLC) slideways keep wear down and extend maintenance intervals.

DLC also features in new Z443 DLC-coated shouldered long-life ejector pins, enabling high surface hardness, and favourable tribological properties of friction, wear and lubrication. In fact, Hasco says that as the pins can be used without lubrication, they are well suited for cleanroom moulding of food processing and medical parts. There is a stepped diameter version with a fully hardened shaft ensuring high stability, despite small demoulding diameter.

Shown on a video screen at Euromold, new A4300 cylindrical permanent magnets retain metal inserts in cases where there are no other retention options. The magnetic core material of the brass-housed magnets consists of samarium cobalt (SmCo), a material that can withstand continuous temperatures up to 200°C and 300°C for short periods. The A4300 magnets are available in 6mm, 8mm and 10mm diameters. Hasco also talks about the possibility of contouring the front side by up to 2.5mm in order to align it to metal inserts.

To concentrate the magnetic force at the point where it is needed, the pill-shaped magnet is set in a brass housing.

New Z8021 valveless adapters for 9mm and 13mm mould and cooling system connections enable connection of system diameters on injection moulds. The connectors can be used for both water and oil cooled systems.

At the 2015 Hasco open house, Prof. Thomas Seul, president of the VDWF association of German mould and tool producers, talked about potential and application possibilities of what he called “Mouldmaking 4.0”. Hasco is also here making a contribution to corresponding Industry 4.0 principles in mould technology with, for example, a new A5800 mould USB 2.0 Mould Memory data storage device with 16Gb capacity, which archives individual mould and moulded part data. This provides full traceability by storing design, injection parameters and milling program data.

GE staff working at the firm's Appliance park plant

US consumer goods giant General Electric (GE) has agreed to sell its appliances business – a unit that claims to be the fourth largest US injection moulder – to a Chinese firm for $5.4bn (€5.0bn).

Buying the US operation, Chinese appliance major Quingdao Haier has a long-term agreement to use the GE Appliance brand and Louisville in Kentucky will remain the headquarters for the business.

The companies expect to complete the deal in mid-2016, subject to regulatory approval.

“Haier has a stated focus to grow in the US, build their manufacturing presence here, and to invest further in the business,” GE chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt said in statement. “Innovation, new product introduction and brand management are fundamental to their overall strategy.”

Haier Group chairman and chief executive Zhang Ruimin added: “Haier is committed to investing in the US.” He said the two firms will explore opportunities for joint collaboration.

Beyond the appliance business agreement, GE and Haier said they would form a long-term strategic partnership to look at cooperating in the areas of industrial Internet, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. GE also will help Haier improve its manufacturing efficiency.

GE has invested significantly in its massive Appliance Park operations in Louisville and the operation has become one of the most frequently cited examples of reshoring manufacturing work to the US.

When GE announced plans to invest $150m (€138m) in its Louisville dishwasher plant in 2012, the company claimed the Appliance Park operation was the largest plastic injection moulding facility in Kentucky, and the fourth-largest in the United States.

GE said it was spending $1bn (€917m) to expand and modernize its Appliance Park, introducing lean manufacturing with an improved plant layout and ergonomics. The company hired a slate of engineers to oversee the overhaul.

GE had been trying to sell the appliance business since 2008 but the recession made it impossible for it to get the sale price it was looking for. It subsequently spent big money on GE Appliances to make it more attractive to future potential bidders.

The $5.4bn price tag is about 10 times the unit’s previous 12 months of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

“GE Appliances is performing well and there was significant interest from potential buyers, helping drive a good deal which will benefit our investors, customers and employees,” Immelt said.

GE’s announcement came about five weeks after Swedish firm Electrolux revealed it was abandoning negotiations to buy GE Appliances.

Electrolux’s negotiations were cut short when the US Justice Department advised a federal court to halt a possible deal because of antitrust concerns. Electrolux is a major global appliance OEM and its North American operations are centred in large factories in Mexico.