eMagazine December 2013
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Thermwood!latest!Model!5!Axis!CNC!Router!arrives!in!Australia!
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Flecknoe(is(the(first(to(take(delivery(of(Thermwood‘s(latest(design(in( 5(Axis(CNC(routers(The(model(77( Flecknoe!are!responsible!for!sales!and!service!for!Thermwood!machines!all!through!this!region! From!New!Zealand!Philippines!Singapore!Malaysia!and!Australia! Being!Perth!base!is!Idea!for!support!and!travel!we!can!be!in!most!cities!overnight!! With!the!Thermwood!factory!in!the!USA!we!are!12hours!ahead.!So!customers!can!have!almost!24!hour! free!phone!support!The!Thermwood!machines!are!very!reliable!as!there!is!1!technician!in!the!UK!to! look!after!150!machines!
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PlastixANZ eMagazine for the Australian & New Zealand plastics industry The Australian economy has experienced difficulties in 2013. We are all hopeful, with understandable expectations, that 2014 will be a more positive year for manufacturing. Government will be more stable. Decisions, we expect, will be with the future of manufacturing & positive growth to the forefront. Automation is crucial to overcome our high cost base. Export must be considered at every opportunity. This provides the volumes we require for our quality products. Traditionally, Australian & New Zealand manufacturing has been creative & flexible. Two features we must build on for 2014 & beyond. Go for it!! TBS
PlastixANZ eMagazine published & distributed by: Grange Products Pty. Ltd. 68 Parkhurst Dve., Knoxfield 3180 Victoria Australia +613 9018 7674 info@plastixanz.com.au
NZ manufacturing growth continues 2013 DEC 9 New Zealand’s manufacturing sector experienced a total increase of 0.5 per cent by sales volume in the most recent quarter, despite a downturn in meat and dairy. The Economic Survey of Manufacturing from Statistics New Zealand shows the total volume of sales was up after a 3.5 per cent fall in the previous quarter. News website voxy.co.nz notes that the main shifts in sales were in metal (up 6.6 per cent) and petroleum and coal product manufacturing (up 8.0 per cent). "Although meat and dairy volumes fell, stock levels are very high for the end of a September quarter," said labour statistician Blair Cardno. "Outside meat and dairy, we saw a broad-based increase across the manufacturing sector in the quarter." Meat and dairy sales volumes were down 2.7 per cent. The result follows a robust BNZ-Business New Zealand PMI result for October of 55.7, well above the 50 separating contraction from expansion. Commenting on the October PMI, BNZ economist Craig Ebert noted that all the categories tracked were in expansion, though possible problems around capacity constraints were a concern.
ARBURG Technology Days 2014 Four days of “live” production efficiency Don’t miss out on the ARBURG Technology Days 2014, to be held from 19 to 22 March. The four-day event at our company headquarters in Lossburg will once again offer customers from all over the world the opportunity to experience our bundled expertise in machine technology, robotic systems and production efficiency – both in theory and in practice. A unique event for the industry With more than 5,500 visitors from around 50 countries, the ARBURG Technology Days are one of the highlights of the international plastics industry. With over 40 exhibits, innovative applications, specialist presentations and guided tours, we will present all aspects of the potential and future of plastics processing, We never lose sight of production efficiency – from the production of one-off parts or small-volume batches with the freeformer to the manufacture of large series with our ALLROUNDER injection moulding machines. Visit our technology days Wednesday to Friday: 8.30 am to 4.00 pm Saturday: 8.30 am to 2.00 pm Further information Watch this space for the latest details about the ARBURG Technology Days 2014 programme. view the video ARBURG Technology Days
AUSPLAS @ NMW 2014: FERTILE GROUND FOR GROWTH The move to incorporate Ausplas - Australia’s only national trade exhibition for the plastics industry - into increase the number of buyers visiting Ausplas, says event organiser Reed Exhibitions. Ausplas will be incorporated into NMW 2014 from 13 – 16 May 2014 at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. This will be the first time in 24 years that Ausplas will be staged in Sydney, and the synergies with NMW will underpin a larger, more diverse audience – providing greater opportunity to connect buyers with plastics exhibitors. Anthony Reed, Exhibition Director for NMW 2014 comments, “Given that more than one third of the plastics industry’s output is to manufacturers – and that NSW is now Australia’s largest manufacturing region –NMW 2014 should provide enormous potential for plastics industry companies to make new contacts.” “Certainly, our research suggests this is the case. A survey of visitors to our most recent NMW showed some 84% said they believed there would be great value arising from the plastics industry’s involvement,“ Reed said. Most importantly, NMW – Australia’s largest manufacturing industry event – has a long track record of attracting manufacturing industry business decision-makers. According to plastics industry exhibitors at this year’s NMW, these industry leaders are quick to respond to demonstrations of how plastics can improve their end products. Pacific Urethanes comments that they made significant new contacts at NMW 2013, including one that could see its products used at the core of an iconic sporting item. Jim Hall, Director of Pacific Urethanes says, “One manufacturer just happened by our stand – and as we were talking, he realised our products could replace an unreliable element of his production process. From there, we’ve begun discussions that could lead to a major contract.” “My view is that the future of the plastics industry is in finding these sorts of new applications – and NMW a great place to seek out potential partners. Having NMW and Ausplas together is only going to highlight these opportunities - so I’m very much looking forward to the 2014 event,” Hall adds. There is strong interest in Ausplas 2014. If you’d like to be part of it, or would like more information, please visit nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au OR E: nmw@reedexhibitions.com.au T: +61 2 9422 2568
PVC Pipe Retrospective 2013 - The Issues and Successes
It’s time to look back at the year that was and the issues in the PVC pipe industry for 2013 and see how they compare to what were the issues and trends in 2012. Some of the constant issues for the industry remain the same, pipe corrosion, burst water mains and the use of PE or DI pipes where PVC pipes have proven superior time and time again. Read our 2013 PVC Pipe Retrospective.
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Maer release new range of plastic bottle neck trimmer machines MAER S.A of Girona Spain, specialists in the design and manufacturer of high speed rotary trimmers for neck cutting of plastic bottles and containers, have released a new range of spin trimmers- the SB3 Series. The SB3 Series is based on the superseded TC-4 model with some significant improvements namely: 路
A reduced compact footprint
路 Improved accessibility from both sides of the machine 路
Simplified format change over
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Easier access for cutting blade changeover and adjustment
The new machine has an open design to allow for a greater degree of control and visual inspection of the bottles during the trimming process. The SB3 Series has been designed to handle small plastic bottles made by extrusion blow moulding for food use - in particular single serve yoghurt drink bottles. The machine can be integrated post the blow moulder or into the filling line before the bottle filler, with production outputs of up 8,000 bottles per hour. MAER is represented in Oceania by HBM Packaging Technologies.
Take a closer look The industry’s first integrated solution provides the lowest total cost to produce, best-in-class preform quality, new levels of production flexibility, tooling compatibility and extended mold life.
www.HyPET-HPP.com
Husky launches HyPET® HPP5 – the next step in system level performance for high volume PET preform production Husky Injection Molding Systems today announced the launch of its next generation HyPET® HPP5 preform molding system. Building upon the proven technology of the HyPET® platform, enhancements have been made to HyPET® HPP5 that make it even more capable of delivering the lowest total cost to produce while providing exceptional preform quality. These enhancements allow for up to 12% productivity improvement over the previous generation system and are complemented by all new levels of production flexibility, tooling compatibility and the industry’s first integrated solution for extended mold life. “Husky is commiNed to offering customers the best return on their investments through continuous innovation. When developing our new HyPET® HPP5 system, we listened to what our customers were telling us and with that feedback in mind designed a system that would help them run a more competitive injection molding operation,” said Robert Domodossola, Husky’s Vice President of Engineering and Business Development. “HyPET® HPP5 is the result of meaningful technology refinements to many areas that combined offer the most complete and integrated injection molding system for preform manufacturing on the market today.” Cross-‐‑generation mold compatibility Designed to satisfy the needs of customers with a large installed base of tooling, HyPET® HPP5 offers customers the ability to utilize molds from previous generation products. Simplified cross-‐‑generation mold compatibility packages make upgrading equipment easier and help to preserve valuable floor space, while allowing customers to manufacture a complete product range. In addition, a combination of technical solutions offer enhanced production flexibility, which makes the replacement of legacy assets more viable. Improved maintenance and extended mold life A key enhancement to the HyPET® HPP5 system is the addition of the industry’s first integrated solution for extended mold life, which helps to significantly improve performance and reduce maintenance costs. Benefits include a 60% increase between required mold maintenance intervals and extended tool life up to 10 million cycles without excessive wear or flash. Sensors ensure correct mold installation and detect misalignment between mold halves during operation. If misalignment is detected, sensors signal the operator through the Polaris™ HMI and provide specific instructions to correct misalignment, allowing the vertical position of the cold half to be adjusted and the mold aligned without the use of a crane. Additional features to reduce maintenance and machine downtime include an improved procedure to align neck rings to the cavity plate and specialized anti-‐‑wear coatings that extend greasing intervals up to 120,000 cycles. Performance and energy improvements The CoolPik® dehumidification unit, standard on HyPET® HPP5 systems, has also been improved by replacing the desiccant wheel dehumidification and air to water heat exchanger with refrigerator combined cooling and dehumidification. The HyPET® HPP5 offers air cooling and dehumidification efficiency improvements that can yield a more than 20% reduction in energy consumption. For carbonated soft drink preform applications, when combined with beNer melt control and other advantages, a cycle time improvement of up to 3% can be achieved. Improved ease of use The latest HyPET® HPP5 is much more sophisticated, with software and hardware that have been designed to work together seamlessly. The system has undergone considerable improvements to streamline operation, including upgrades to increase automation and simplify controls. The Polaris™ HMI has been redesigned with a 19-‐‑inch full color LCD display, more intuitive layout for easier access to screens, and the ability to monitor and control auxiliaries. Operating software and menu screens have also been enhanced to simplify start-‐‑up and logic has been provided to act on the auxiliary feedback and alarms during operation. The Altanium™ temperature controller is now also fully integrated and can be controlled using the Polaris™ HMI. Further simplifying start-‐‑up and improving ease of use is Husky’s patented intelligent Mold ID technology, which provides information on mold maintenance, process set-‐‑up and operation for each start-‐‑up. For more information on HyPET® HPP5 click here.
Are “smart routers” the next wave?
We all know about smart phones. Smart TVs and even smart cars are becoming more common. Now, we also have smart CNC routers. In all these cases, the “smart” version does more. Smart phones do more than make phone calls and smart routers do more than cut parts. The fundamental advantage of a smart router is that it makes a lot more money from nested based business. Just like smart phones, smart routers do cost a bit more but they make that back in short order. It is interesting to note that the substantial benefits of a smart router are not in actually cutting parts, but in all the details required to cut parts. It also shines when things go wrong. Most folks considering a router for the first time do not realize that the vast majority of their cost will not be running the router, but instead, will be in a myriad of details required to run the router. Preparation, programming, hold down, procedures, sorting, scrap, assembly and error handling are the main cost areas. Ordinary routers do not focus on these areas. They rely on the user to take care of them and usually it’s not all that easy. The operator must be both skilled and well trained to work within the limits of these systems. Smart routers address these areas in a big way. They address the areas where you spend the most money because that’s where you can make the most money. Ordinary routers may seem less expensive at first, but may prove to be much more expensive in the long run. The basis of a smart router is that, instead of a machine that just executes a program, smart routers automatically perform numerous functions that otherwise must be done by skilled, and expensive people. Smart routers aren’t just controls that move a machine. They actually know the job they are doing, so they can make judgment calls that make it much more efficient. Smart routers also perform valuable new functions that are just not possible with an ordinary router. For example, with a smart router you can run a complete custom cabinet shop, producing custom sized cabinets without a programmer, without a computer and without software - with just the machine itself and a cabinet library. Smart routers process part programs two ways. First, they process CNC programs in the traditional way using output from virtually any design software. Smart routers can even run existing programs written for other brand machines, even if those programs contain codes specific to those machines. This means, with a smart router, you can use software configured for about any machine and you can run programs you already have without reprogramming. Smart routers are pretty much compatible with anything, but if you are running nested based programs, there is a better approach.
In the second approach, instead of using a traditional CNC program, developed with software and a PC, smart routers use part data and create the actual cutting programs within the machine itself. Several major software vendors already offer database output to smart routers plus, any software that can output DXF files will work with smart routers. You send the design to a smart router and it, rather than you, worries about how to make the parts. There are significant advantages to this approach. The first is tremendous flexibility. You can bring parts in from several different sources, including DXF files, nest and cut them as a single job. That’s right, you can run parts from different software packages together, in the same job. You are not tied to a single rigid software path and you do not need to go through the steps of taking your designs and turning them into CNC programs. Also, smart routers adjust programs for their own operating characteristics or for the tooling that is available. For example, a smart router knows how large a part it can hold and cut in a single pass. If a part is smaller, it cuts it in two passes, first leaving a skin and then removing the skin in a second pass. If the part is even smaller it just leaves the skin and lets you remove it. A common problem in nested based machining occurs when the actual material thickness varies from the thickness that was originally programmed. With ordinary routers, you either have to reprogram the entire job and develop a new CNC program for the new thickness or live with the inevitable mismatches. With smart routers you simply input the actual thickness at the beginning of the job and it adjusts everything automatically. Smart routers address backside machining in a different way. A smart router groups all parts that need backside operations on the first few sheets of a job and does the back operations on the full sheet. The machine instructs you to load the sheet with the backside up and then does all the backside machining on all parts. Notches are machined on the sheet edges so when it is flipped over, it can be precisely positioned against locator pads. When the parts are cut and removed, they are complete, front and back. This saves a lot of labor compared to doing back operations one part at a time. You save sorting, identifying, selecting the backside program, loading and unloading parts and you save a lot of scrap when parts are identified, positioned or oriented wrong, which happens all too often. And since we are talking about scrap parts, replacing them is really easy with a smart router. At the end of a job, simply scan the labels of any parts you want to recut and the machine nests them on any material still on the table so you can recut them. This saves a lot over having to create new CNC programs to make replacement parts. With a smart router you can even add parts from previous jobs to a new job, provided you are running the same material (it watches that). When replacements parts from another job are cut, a red bar on the label lets you know this part is for a different job... MORE
Government Grants Many businesses are unaware of government assistance programs that could help them, or they find the applica:on process too difficult. But it can be worth the effort. For example, many firms associated with the plas:cs industry could benefit from the Australian Government’s Enterprise Connect ini:a:ve. Enterprise Connect helps eligible small and medium businesses grow and become more produc:ve and compe::ve. As the core Enterprise Connect service, the Business Review provides in-‐depth analysis of a business’ strengths, weaknesses and opportuni:es for growth. Business Advisers with extensive private sector experience work directly with business owners and managers to provide independent tailored advice and prac:cal recommenda:ons for business improvement. The Business Review is delivered at no charge and is oJen the gateway to a range of other tailored services such as the Tailored Advisory Service and Researchers in Business. AJer comple:ng the Business Review, businesses may be eligible for a Tailored Advisory Service grant of up to $20,000 in matched funding. Businesses use the grants to engage a consultant who has the exper:se to help implement recommenda:ons flowing from the Business Review Report to support capability improvement. The Researchers in Business program supports the placement of researchers from universi:es and public research agencies into businesses, to help develop and implement new ideas with commercial poten:al. Through Researchers in Business, firms can access up to $50,000 to pay half a researcher’s salary costs. The researcher usually works in the business for between 2 and 12 months. Unlike many grant programs, Researchers in Business is non-‐compe::ve and fully facilitated, making it fast and simple to apply. Projects can include product and process development, inves:ga:on of new technologies, research on customer behaviour, or developing new business models. For more informa:on on Enterprise Connect visit enterpriseconnect.gov.au or call 131 791.
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Call us today for a quote – 03 8586 2900 TCL Hofmann & Nitsu – Chilling the Plastics Industry for over 25 years TCL Hofmann are a fully licensed importer of ODS’s (Ozone depleting substances) that are found in Industrial Chilling Equipment, and we are also members of the Refrigerant Reclaim Australia program.
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Ingeo Biopolymer Conference Speakers and Program Announced The Innovation Takes Root International Conference and Ingeo™ Users’ Forum, February 17-19, 2014, in Orlando, Florida, has assembled a world-class roster of speakers and developed an in-depth program covering the latest innovations involving the world’s leading biopolymer – Ingeo. Speakers representing more than 50 companies, including thought leaders from such organizations as 3M, Unilever, Danone, Lego, Kimberly-Clark, Kodak, the U.S. Green Building Council, the Green Sports Alliance, Green Blue, and European Bioplastics will headline NatureWorks’ international Ingeo™ biopolymers conference, Innovation Takes Root 2014, Feb. 17-19 in Orlando, Fla. Internationally recognized innovation consultant and futurist, Jim Carroll, will open the conference. Carroll has a track record of providing unique guidance on cutting edge trends and identifying opportunities for innovation to some of the most prestigious organizations in the world. He was named by Business Week as one of four leading sources for insight into creativity and innovation. Ingeo performance resins, made from plants not oil, are used in thousands of consumer and industrial products – everything from compostable cold-drink and coffee cups to computers and printers. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing with Ingeo PLA, one of the fastest growing markets for this biopolymer, will be highlighted at the conference by Stratasys, one of the industry’s leading manufacturers of 3D printers and 3D production systems for rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing. Six tailored breakout sessions will share the latest in biobased innovations, from raw material to retailer, across a breadth of markets: • New frontiers in fibers and nonwovens • New markets – 3D printing and beyond • Expanding durable applications with Ingeo compounds • Performance advances in flexible packaging • Venue cost savings with Ingeo foodservice ware • Expanding the focus in rigid packaging Plenary sessions Following Carroll’s presentation on Feb. 18th, the plenary session continues with an exploration of the evolution of bioplastics from niche to mainstream material. On Feb. 19th, the plenary session will cover the European perspective on bioplastics. A series of workshops will be offered Feb. 17th. Described by NatureWorks as a collaborative user forum for the global Ingeo community, the 2012 conference attracted 330 attendees, representing 177 companies and 25 countries. A similarly full spectrum of the plastics industry is expected at the 2014 forum, including brand owners, manufacturers, converters, and equipment, additives and blends suppliers. “Innovation Takes Root is like no other conference because all the attendees and the sessions focus on a single, broadly applied performance bio material,” said NatureWorks President and CEO Marc Verbruggen. “This shared interest generates excitement and lively discussions all throughout the conference hall.” Visit the Innovation Takes Root website www.innovationtakesroot.com to register and to obtain information on the just-announced program, world-class speakers, sponsors, sponsorship opportunities. Discounted conference room rates are available until Jan. 17th. Follow NatureWorks on Twitter (@natureworks) for the latest conference and company updates.
Orlando, FL | February 17-19, 2014 Orlando World Center Marriott
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE Moving from Niche to Mainstream
A collaborative
biopolymer forum for the global ingeo community.
Bioplastics - The European Perspective Expanding Durable Applications with Ingeo Compounds Performance Advances in Flexible Packaging Venue Cost Savings with Ingeo Food Serviceware Expanding the Focus in Rigid Packaging New Frontiers in Fibers and Non Wovens New Markets - 3D Printing and Beyond
Conference Registration: www.innovationtakesroot.com
WHO ATTENDS Brands Sustainability Managers Process Engineers Product Designers Academia
Retailers Marketers Packaging Professionals Researchers Media
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trade publicatio ns
With over 300 attendees representing more than 170 companies in 25 countries at our 2012 conference, you'll find a multitude of opportunities at ITR 2014 to launch new products, meet new customers, or build brand awareness. Large segments of representatives of the Ingeo channel including blends and additives suppliers, scientists and academics, equipment manufacturers, distributors, converters, brand owners, retailers, and media attend ITR.
CONTACT US REGISTRATION AND SPONSORSHIP
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Andrea Ziadi Conference Manager, NatureWorks Phone: +1 952 562 3300 Email: andrea_ziadi@natureworksllc.com
Australia Tony Seers Phone: +61 3 5442 6904 Email: tony@seeplas.com.au
New Zealand Rick Poynter Phone: +64 9 412 6154 Email: rick@poynteragencies.com
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Chemicals Business Checklist • Chemicals Business Checklist (PDF 2.4MB) | (DOCX 1.1MB) The Chemicals Business Checklist has been developed from a need identified by the Standing Committee on Chemicals (SCOC) to provide high level summary information about starting and developing a chemicals business in Australia. Industry has often expressed concern about the complexity of the chemicals and plastics industry and its regulatory environment which can lead to confusion about requirements and compliance activities given the number of jurisdictions and agencies involved. The Checklist is a supplement to the business.gov.au educational checklists “Starting Your Business” and “Growing Your Business”. The Checklist will provide high-level, general summary information about the Australian chemicals and plastics regulatory framework including those parts regulated by the states and territories and a comprehensive list of contacts or links to more detailed information. This Checklist covers many of the issues that those establishing and operating a chemicals business need to be aware of. It provides high level, whole of system information about chemicals and plastics regulation in a simple format. The aim of the checklist is to enable better understanding of the regulatory landscape in Australia and direct users to relevant information to ensure chemicals business are compliant, safe and sustainable. The overarching aim of the checklist is to improve efficiency in the chemicals and plastics regulatory system by addressing identified information gaps.
Mulford Plastics has been instrumental in pioneering much of today’s wide applications of plastics through the Asia Pacific Region. This includes innovative materials sourced from a diverse range of technology leading manufactures that are now used across a host of dynamic industries: from Building and Construction, Corporate Signage, Shopfitting, Engineering, Mass Transportation, Digital Printing through to Electrical and Electronic industry. - See more : Visit website
Global polymer and thermoplastic micro molding market at a CAGR of 14% to 2019 Micro molding is used for manufacturing micro switches, connectors and airbag sensors in the automotive industry. It is expected to grow at an estimated CAGR of nearly 14% from 2013 to 2019. Global thermoplastic micro molding demand from drive systems and control is expected to reach over US$89 mln by 2019, as per Research and Markets. Medical and healthcare applications dominated thermoplastics micro molding market and accounted for 35% of the total market in 2012. The rapid development of micro fluidics technology mainly in North America and Europe is expected to drive the market for micro molding in medical and healthcare over the forecast period. Micro molding is used for manufacturing micro connectors in telecom fiber optics. Telecom fiber optics application is expected to exceed US$95 mln by 2019. Silicone is the major raw material used for micro molding, owing to its physical and chemical properties. However, silicone is costly and impacts the profitability of molders. In order to reduce manufacturing cost, polymers came into existence in the 90s. Polymer based micro molded products find applications in almost all of the application areas where silicones are being used. Polymers are further classified as thermosets, thermoplastics and elastomers out of which thermoplastics are majorly used for various applications in enduse industries. In the medical industry, micro injection molding is conducted to manufacture parts such as sensors, implants, tubes, catheter tips, micro optics and others. Molded products are slowly replacing machined components that have been used traditionally in the industry. The growing trend of small devices coupled with increasing number of minimally invasive surgeries per day has been boosting the demand for micro sized parts from medical device manufacturers. The key advantage of micro injection molding over micromachining is cost savings. Micro injection molding takes a fraction of time to mold the components and utilizes low cost raw materials compared to machining and results in high cost savings.
Powder Coating Plastics Duromer Products continues to spreads its plastic wings, and now they are becoming shiny. One of the advantages of thermoplastics is its ability to be coloured, therefore eliminating secondary operations such as painting, but this can cause a challenge when it comes to assembles that include the combination of metals and plastics. A red colour matched plastic may technically be the same colour as a red powder coated mating metal part, but when they are assembled the difference can be “chalk & cheese”.
Injection moulders and material manufacturers work hard to achieve surface finishes such as texture, reflection, surface roughness and/or gloss, in the attempt to provide the best looking part for clients and their applications, but may fall short through no fault of their own. As in the “Road Runner”, a coyote just can’t be disguised as a sheep, regardless of what it is wearing. This is also true when trying to match the appearance of plastics with metals. The solution is to powder coat the plastic, but how to achieve this. Traditional powder coating techniques use electrostatic charges to attract the dry powders to the parts that require coating. Traditional injection mouldable plastics will not allow this to happen, especially with any consistency. The reason is the material to be powder coated with traditional methods needs to be conductive, but traditional plastics for injection moulding are not conductive, actually they are very good electrical insulators, with a surface resistivity of greater than 10 10 ohms. Duromer Products now has added to their brand range of products, materials that have the capability to be powder coated with traditional 3 powder coating techniques. These materials include Duralon AS5106, a nylon 6 which has a surface resistivity of less than 10 ohms, as well 2 4 as Duralon AS5104-A1, which is also a nylon 6, with a surface resistance of 10 -10 ohms. 0
Traditionally powder coating curing temperatures are 200 C, therefore it is important that the material used is able to withstand these 0 temperatures. Both Duralon AS5106 and Duralon AS5104-A1 have a HDT of 216 C, which will provide the thermal properties to allow the parts to be correctly cured, as well as the heat performance to avoid deformation during the baking process. Both grades are glass reinforced nylon 6, with Duralon ET5106 having a higher loading providing improved stiffness and impact resistance. Duromer Products would welcome the opportunity to help with your part development and keeping manufacturing in Australia.
Engineered Thermoplastics Australian Owned & Australian Manufacturing DUROMER PRODUCTS PTY LTD Ph: +61 2 9426 7300 | Fax: +61 2 9426 7399 | www.duromer.com
FEDERAL MINISTER OPENS WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURING AND TECHNICAL CENTRE FOR PACIFIC URETHANES IN MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA
Local Federal MP and Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, launched the expansion of a state of the art polyurethane manufacturing and technical centre at Carrum Downs on 27 November 2013. Mr Billson said he was delighted Pacific Urethanes had made the decision to expand locally. “Small businesses are the real job creators in our local economy and so therefore it’s pleasing to be able to open the expansion of a world-class business based in our own backyard,” Mr Billson said. “The expanded facility will house 10 staff and produce thousands of tonnes of polyurethane for national and global distribution. “This Australian owned company is part of a $60 billion global industry and specialises in the development and production of polyurethane systems which is used in many household appliances including refrigerators, hot water systems, bedding, furniture, carpet underlay and also for home insulation”. Polyurethane is also used by industry for building panels, abrasion resistance, corrosion protection, weight reduction, adhesive, and coating applications to name a few. Pacific Urethanes has more than 100 customers in Australia and Asia and exports to countries in the Asia Pacific region including Indonesia, Thailand, China, Vietnam and New Zealand. Pacific Urethanes Director and General Manager Owen Stam said “it hadn’t been all smooth sailing for the small business in the current manufacturing environment, but thankfully it had -temporarily - avoided a carbon tax king-hit by a sheer technicality”. “When the carbon tax was introduced our costs looked like ballooning. A key raw material luckily missed the first wave, but would no doubt have been caught down the track”, Mr Stam said “The planned removal of the carbon tax by the new Federal government enables us to plan for the future with confidence” he added. The Minister “wished Pacific Urethanes well in growing from a small business to a much larger one"
"Marplex - Proudly Local" Marplex is a leading supplier of quality plastics in Australasia, with one of the broadest and most versatile product ranges of any plastics company in the region. Marplex offers one of the largest sales and marketing teams of their kind, a high level of customer service, and – importantly – strong technical support. Originally, Marplex was solely a manufacturer. Today, the company comprises a blend of product that is locally developed and manufactured, product that is manufactured under license, and products that are traded. This provides enormous flexibility in what we can provide in terms of quantity and type of polymer. As a customer should you require a straightforward, simple, off-the-shelf product, then we can offer that. If you’re after a customised product – be it a colour or particular physical property profile – to suit an application, end use, or specification, then we can formulate and manufacture a product here, locally, in order to achieve those aims. At Marplex we view ourselves as being an important entity and player in the Australian plastics industry as well as the broader manufacturing industry. Maintaining that locality is particularly important to Marplex. We value-add, and we support the industry by employing people into it. We’re perpetuating the value in the industry, and sustaining that industry knowledge – and we’re doing it in the most cost effective way that we can in order to remain competitive, and provide that competitive edge and level of service our customer base requires. Product Range: ØABS ØABS/Nylon alloys ØAcyrlic (PMMA) ØASA ØGPPS & HIPS ØNylon 6, 66 & 12 ØPBT ØPE & PP additive masterbatch ØPET resins & compounds ØPolycarbonate ØPolycarbonate alloys, PC/ABS, PC/ASA, PC/PET ØPolyethylene resins & compounds ØPolypropylene resins & compounds ØPolyacetal (POM) ØPPS ØSAN ØThermoplastic elastomers
"Marplex - Proudly Local"
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