Pechiney Soplaril Flexible Europe, a unit of Pechiney SA, has acquired Avenir Print Service of Montreuil-Bellay, which makes film for cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets. APS’ recently opened plant in Montreuil-Bellay is geared toward short runs for product samples. The firm employs 80 and has annual sales of 15 million euros (US$14.9 million).
COPERION is the world market leader in compounding systems and machinery for the plastics industry, which shows solid long-term growth due to ever increasing applications for plastics products and components.
COPERION is a result of the 2000 merger of three companies, Buss (Pratteln, CH), Waeschle (Weingarten, D), Werner & Pfleiderer (Stuttgart, D), with annual sales of around EUR 400 mill. and approx. 2000 employees.
As originally agreed in 2000, West Private Equity, an experienced financial investor in successful mid-market companies, now reaches a controlling stake at COPERION while the former majority holder Georg Fischer AG (Schaffhausen, CH) reduces its stake. The change in ownership structure occurs during a period of global economic challenges also affecting the machinery industries.
The new controlling shareholder West Private Equity will support the implementation of a growth strategy in order to exploit the existing market opportunities (e.g. Asia) and foster efficiency enhancement measures (’COPERION 2100′) to make COPERION more flexible, where strong focus lies on market requirements.
Plastics are already the most widely-used material for windows in Europe, and their market share is set to rise from 39.1% to 41.5% in 2002, at the expense of wood. According to information from the European Association of Window, Curtain Wall and Door Manufacturers, EuroWindoor, the situation varies greatly in the different regions. While plastic windows occupy an outstanding position in the Aegean with a 74.1% share, in the British Isles with a 58.7% share and in Germany with a 53.3% share, wooden windows still predominate in the Balkan states, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. In Spain and Portugal, by contrast, it is aluminium windows that are particularly popular, with a 73% market share.
Metso Corporation is to sell its film and packaging subsidiary Valmet Converting to Bobst Group for €90m. Metso and packaging machinery producer Bobst this week signed a memorandum of understanding and they expect the deal to be completed in the first quarter of next year. The sale is also subject to regulatory approval. In a statement announcing the deal, Valmet said there will be no change to its current trading position and emphasised that day-to-day operations will continue as normal. Metso made the sale in order to focus on its core pulp and paper industry and mineral processing operations. . The Bobst Group reckons to be the world’s largest manufacturer of packaging machinery, particularly in the fields of folding carton, corrugated board and flexible packaging, and has 30 affiliate companies.
Arla Plast AB has supplied a large quantity of special sized GRIPHEN™, PETG sheets to the Thompson Plastics Group in the UK to make the “ice” panels as a backdrop for the latest James Bond movie “Die Another Day”.
The material was chosen for its outstanding properties, notably its formability and its spread of flame characteristics, which makes it flame resistant.
The 400 thermoplastic panels that were ordered each measured 4 metres by 2 metres.
“It has really been exciting to follow this project of making “ice” out of our PETG material and as you would expect from one of Europe’s leading thermoformers Thompson Plastics has made an excellent job out of our sheets. ”, says Kim Warren Sales Manager
at Arla Plast in the UK.
Geoff Oliver, director & general manager of A&G Moulding, the Thompson Plastics Group company, which managed the project, said, ‘Arla worked well to meet not just a short timescale but also to supply exactly what we wanted exactly on time.’
PETG is extremely easy to fabricate and to thermoform, it has excellent transparency and high impact strength and is a material that is gaining more and more in popularity.
Arla Plast AB has, since the start in 1969, focused on extrusion of solid plastics sheets.
Today the main products are Polycarbonate, Polyesters and ABS. The company is privately owned and is today one of Europe’s leading suppliers of extruded thermoplastic sheet, exporting 80% of its production.
The Danish manufacture of corona treatment systems, Vetaphone, has recently shipped a very efficient custom-built corona treater to one of the leading manufacturers of self-adhesive papers, films and labels in Germany.
The double-sided treater is designed to treat non-conductive film at linear speeds up to 450 m/min. The unique system features a new designed ‘double quick change’ feature. The two complete Corona electrodes are mounted in two specially designed pull-out / push-in cartridges, enabling quick and extremely easy adjustment of electrodes, which keeps maintenance costs at a minimum. Access into the open designed treater station is also provided by means of the pneumatic opening system, which the operator simply activates from the Profi-Bus panel.
The station is a heavy-duty construction with a water-cooled ceramic roller. The treatment range of this TOU24 heavy-duty treater is widths of up to 2200 mm. The treater unit is delivered with a special NIP-roller, which prevents reverse-side treatment and ensures a perfect drive.
The treater generator is delivered with a Wet-start option, which dries out the treater station and thereby prevents electrical flash-over. This ensures that any moisture accumulating during shut-down periods is progressively dried out and does not affect start-up. This gives the possibility of immediate production following holidays and maintenance periods. Additional the unique DPC system gives the generator the ability to run at very low power levels and still deliver an even corona across the electrode
To eliminate the operator’s guesswork during job set-up, Vetaphone uses a power density control system, which ensures consistent treatment levels and product quality regardless of changes in material, web width or line speed.
Kiefel Extrusion, one of the world’s most prominent system suppliers of blown film extrusion lines, was again present at Chinaplas in Shanghai. During the course of the exhibition a control console of the new KIRION generation running in Chinese was introduced. The public response to the Kiefel technology was overwhelming, thereby making the exhibition a complete success. The presentation of Chinese characters on a computer screen is not simple. Kiefel Extrusion was once again able to demonstrate the flexibility of its KIRION C automation, in which Chinese characters or English and/or German text can be displayed. The switch can be made while a line is running, a critical demand for customers and a convenience for Kiefel’s Service team. Extensive trend presentations and production recipes, as well as preventive maintenance make reliable and fast operation of the line possible with optimal film quality. Remote diagnostics is part of the scope of supply for each line, assuring fast assistance if needed.
Green Tree Composites, USA, expects its annual sales to grow fourfold through 2003, and will emphasize expanding its custom business. The 2-year-old, St. Joseph, Mich.-based extruder of composite profiles is up to six lines in its 148,000-square-foot facility, with the recent addition of two American Kuhne extruders. It employs 27 and has begun doing its own tool and die work.
EverWhite, manufacturers of PVC UE building products and systems, has secured the contract to supply a full range of products to one of Ireland’s largest distributors, A1 Allweather Proofing. Based in Dublin, A1 serves the construction industry in both Eire and Northern Ireland. Established in 1994 as installers and suppliers, the company has moved into wholesale and will supply the complete Everwhite range of roofline and cladding products. One of the UKs largest PVC UE extrusion companies, Everwhite produces more than 40 types of fascias, soffits, cladding board, window sills and architrave and employs 75 people at its South Wales manufacturing base.
Toray Plastics (America) Inc. debuts at Pack Expo International 2002 booth N-3975 its new Torayfan PC-2, a highly durable film that eliminates de-lamination during package opening, provides advanced oxygen and moisture barrier protection, and offers superior cold seal bonding. In addition, PC-2’s enhanced de-lamination prevention and puncture resistance provide end users with enhanced brand integrity. New thin-gauge, high-barrier, metallized PC-2 OPP film is the ideal choice for stand up, liquid and dry mix pouch applications.PC-2 film is suited for extrusion, adhesive and cold seal applications. The polypropylene film accepts converting on both sides and can be surface printed. In addition, unlike common foils, which have a high metal content, PC-2’s low metal content and superior metal adhesion enable accurate metal detection during and after the packaging process. Accurate metal detection is a critical step in quality control.
Consumer packaging applications for PC-2 include liquid and powdered beverages, cocoa and spices, as well as personal care items such as shampoo and lotions. Healthcare applications include moist towlettes and tablets. Industrial applications include chemicals and agricultural products.