Strictly-Extrusion

The Oldham-based Status Systems division of PVC profile extrusion group Deceuninck increased its turnover by 15 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with Q1 last year, despite growth in the British market being generally lower than Deceuninck is finding elsewhere. Deceuninck says that because the UK is lagging behind other countries in energy conservation measures there are a number of large-scale renovation projects taking place to update first generation PVC windows installed in the ’70s and ’80s. The company plans to introduce its Zendow line in the UK later this year, following its introduction in France, the Czech Republic, and currently Spain and Poland.

The European Polycarbonate Sheet Extruders (EPSE) has been formed under the umbrella of EuPC in Brussels. The five founder members – Arla Plast, Barlo Plastics, Brett Martin, Dott Gallina and Kaysersberg Packaging – manufacture extruded sheets in solid wall, corrugated and modular systems. Engineering plastics supplier Dow Europe has joined as an associate member. Robin Black of Brett Martin has been elected president of EPSE. He said: “The polycarbonate sheet industry is still relatively young and the opportunities for our products are growing across a broad range of end-user markets. EPSE will provide a new forum for channelling information to the EU institutions and potential end-users, as well as receiving feedback about the future needs of those markets.”

Oxford Polymers, an ISO/QS 9000 compounder and developer of engineering grade thermoplastics, recently augmented its production capabilities with a 69mm Davis-Standard twin screw compounding system. This is the company’s fourth Davis-Standard purchase having previously installed 69mm and 34mm twin screw machines and a 3 1/2-inch (90mm)
Davis-Standard single screw extruder. The new machine, in operation since late 2003, supports Oxford’s growing nylon/polycarbonate compounding business and brings the company’s annual capacity to nearly 40 million pounds.
“Our relationship with Davis-Standard is ideal because of their close proximity, equipment quality and great technical support,” said Nick DeFelice, Oxford president. “They’ve been very good at providing on-site training and our equipment has performed exceptionally well. Davis-Standard backs up their equipment and we’ll definitely look to them for future extruder purchases.”

Oxford is primarily focused on the North American marketplace, supplying a vast range of specialty and standard engineering grade resins. These include ABS, acetal, assorted nylons, polybutylene terephthalate, PC, PET, PPO, PPS, PEEK and engineering alloys. The company’s compounds are sold into all major markets including automotive, furniture, electrical, telecommunications, industrial, consumer, medical and construction. Oxford also offers a variety of custom compounds using additives such as glass, mineral fillers, lubricants, colorants,
flame retardants, impact modifiers and carbon fiber. Additionally, Oxford offers complete laboratory capabilities and close loop recycling at its 100,000 square-foot (9,290 square meters) facility in New Britain, Connecticut.
DeFelice added, “Value-added services and excellent quality combined with our new equipment investments exemplify Oxford’s commitment to the North American plastics industry. We’re able to provide customers with a performance advantage and cost savings that increase their competitiveness.”
For more information about Oxford Polymers, visit www.oxfordpolymers.com. For more information about Davis-Standard’s compounding machinery, contact Al Chrisbacher at achrisbacher@davis-standard.com.

To meet the growing need for enhanced electrical properties in telephone, TV and data cables Borealis, the leading supplier of polyethylene to the global wire and cable industry, has further developed its cellular insulation compounds. Borcell is an extensive range of chemically and physically blown polyethylene (PE) compounds offering improved transmission properties and processability.

The use of the internet and mobile phones has accelerated the need for accurate and fast transmission of large volumes of data, speech and pictures. This has led to a requirement for enhanced electrical properties of the solid or cellular dielectric insulation materials used in communication cables.

Borealis’ new Borcell PE cellular compounds are optimised to generate uniform and evenly distributed cells, which enhances transmission properties. In addition, improved flow properties, melt elasticity and purity ensure the cable producer superior processing allowing high line speeds in combination with minimised capacitance variations.

Typical applications for the various Borcell PE insulation compounds include:
• Multipair telephone cables, CATV (community antenna television cables) and data cables produced with chemical blowing having expansion degrees up to 50%
• High expansion physical foamed insulations, up to 80% expansion.
• 3G mobile phone antenna, using 50 Ohm coaxial cables, which demand minimal losses.

Borcell blown insulating compounds are among the new, advanced wire and cable solutions, which are presented at the Borealis Stand at Wire 2004, D70, Hall 10.

Plastic Engineering Associates Licensing, Inc., exclusive licensor of Turbo-Screws(tm) technology feedscrews, the world’s highest throughput foam extrusion screw technology, is pleased to announce the signing of another licensee in the Middle East. The company is a $30 Billion dollar insulation company. David Fogarty, President of Plastic Engineering Associates Licensing, Inc. reports Turbo-Screws(tm) technology will help the new licensee dominate the Middle East market as well as their emerging markets in eastern Europe.

The new product combines the excellent abrasion & scratch resistance of the established Exatec500™ system with significantly improved weathering performance. According to the Exatec Predictive Weathering Model™, parts will withstand more than 10 years of outdoor exposure, which is one of the most important quality criteria for Polycarbonate windows.
The key technology is a proprietary weathering layer – Exatec SHX™, which was specifically developed as a system interlayer. In addition, the weathering layer’s water-based primer - Exatec SHP 9X™ - is less aggressive on molded parts and more environmental friendly. This innovative solution enables molding with even more innovative part designs and improves the process yield.

Exatec900™ has been validated with specific grades of Lexan® and Makrolon® to meet the most stringent OEM requirements, establishing polycarbonate as an excellent glazing material. Current applications offer up to 50% weight reduction and windows with a truly three dimensional shape. This allows the integration of all parts usually attached to or surrounding the piece of glass in one single polycarbonate part.

Exatec, a joint venture of Bayer MaterialScience and GE Advanced Materials, is continuously developing new technologies as part of the Exatec Glazing System, which is currently licensed to the Tier Industry.

The introduction of Exatec900™ offers OEMs and automotive suppliers the opportunity to define new boundaries in vehicle glazing with advanced Exatec Polycarbonate Glazing Systems. Panoramic roof systems, highly integrated backlites and innovative door modules are only some of the options now available to OEMs.

Customers running trials at Enercon’s laboratory facility will now be able to see and use the latest in atmospheric plasma technology. The new system delivers high-performance surface functionalization with unique high density atmospheric plasma treatment. It features twice as many treatment delivery assemblies, expanded digital PLC control, and is representative of state-of the-art systems currently available from Enercon.
According to Plasma product manager Rory Wolf, the lab upgrade to the latest technology allows Enercon to conduct trials for customers more efficiently, and allows them to view the latest system configuration available from Enercon.
The upgrade is also timely. Since Plasma3’s market introduction three years ago lab trials at the company’s Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin facility have increased exponentially. The lab has become a breeding ground for innovations as leading companies from widely-diverse industries research and develop new ways to harness this emerging technology.
The cooperation of Enercon, technology partner Sigma Technologies and industry leaders has produced dramatic results. Specialty applications requiring stringent surface specifications are often conceived, trialed and refined in the lab, only to later become realities in production facilities across the globe.
The investment in the laboratory is testament to Enercon’s commitment to continue to expand the capabilities of the system that defines the future of surface treatment.

With regards to high-technology processing ROSSI STAMP offers to the industry equipment with high sophistication. The Company can manufacture extrusion tooling and machinery for all types of profile and material, including: PVC, PC, PE, PP, PS, PA, PUR, and ABS. Ideal applications for ROSSI STAMP equipment include co-extruded parts made from a range of materials, the covering of wood, aluminium, steel and multi-material extrusion. The Company has developed an innovative process in Glassfibre Reinforced Extruded Profiles, which provides the means of producing a continuously reinforced extruded profile with the reinforcement located where it is required to give the desired properties.

Battenfeld Extrusionstechnik, Germany, has further optimised its miniBEX — a low-cost extrusion line to manufacture high-end small industrial profiles. The miniBEX, which is delivered as a ‘plug and play’ unit, consists of five components. One of its new features is that all four processing units, the active conical twin screw extruder BEX 2-54 C, the parallel twin-screw extruder BEX 2-50-16 V, and the two single-screw extruders BEX 1-45-25 D and BEX 1-60-25 D are now available upon request with BMCplus control instead of BMCsmart control. This control system is appreciated by customers worldwide for its ease of operation and range of options, which offer maximum flexibility. Another innovative improvement has been made to the drives of the single-screw extruders. Their conventional motors and drives have now been replaced by high-performance CMG compact-drive motors. Small footprint, low acoustic pressure and low vibration, as well as excellent cooling properties, are the most outstanding advantages of this new drive technology. The calibrating table, which is part of the standard down-stream equipment, is now available in two lengths — 6 m and the standard 4 m.

PlastiSoft Corporation Corporation announces the release of a new version of TORI-FLEX 6.14. TORI-FLEX is a full
enterprise solution specifically developed to offer performance enhancements to extruders, printers and converters of plastic flexible packaging. The new release of TORI-FLEX has a series of new features including the ability to accurately estimate the cost of multi-layer bags, a complicated process that has been a consistent challenge for plastic manufacturing companies. Other new features will offer improved barcode shipping by pallet, a full purchasing module, user customizable quotes and work order reports, aswell as a state of the art data-mining module for sales and production statistics.

Tempo Plastics of Barrie, Ontario, a manufacturer of high quality custom plastic bags, pouches and film, will partner with
to implement the new upgrades. Says Rick Hardwick, Tempo’s VP of Quality Assurance, “Our expectation is that
the new release of TORI-FLEX will allow us to greatly increase the level of accuracy when estimating the costs of multi-layer bags, including price quotes for multiple quantities. This benefit will also make our sales team more efficient by being able to decrease turn around times for quotes to our customers and increase the bottom line.”

“We listen to our customers and add new features to our upgrades based on what customers tell us are most important to their business success,” says Jacob Aharon, President andCEOof Corporation. “Our development team has spent 8 years
collaborating closely with flexible packaging plastic manufacturers to understand in depth their distinctive process requirements such as costing factors and other unique requirement for the flexible packaging industry. We are confident that the new upgrade will provide our customers with a viable solution that will exceed their expectations”.
Corporation develops full end-to-end enterprise and financial solutions specifically designed for each and every sector of the plastics industry including: flexible packaging, molding, profile extrusion and recycling.
For more information contact: Jacob Aharon Email: jaharon@plastisoft.com