POLYMERS Communiqué - Jun - Jul 2018

A CUSTAGE I N I T I A T I V E Jun - Jul 2018 l Issue 4.5 l ` 150

A Business Warfare

ISSUE SUPPORTED BY

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

1

Jun - Jul 2018 l Issue 4.5

CONTENTS

Global Perspectives From Around the World...

We, at POLYMERS Communiqué, are delighted to have complied opinions from experts around the world. They have taken time out only for you to share their learnings and vision with specific reference to India as a marketplace.

A compilation that would stay relevant for times to come...

34

INDIA BECKONS

Thomas J. Goeke, Chief Executive Officer, Milacron, USA

Antro Saila, Vice President Sustainability World Packaging Organization

38

TALENT DEFiCIT

76

SOLID SUPPORT

David Kazmer, Professor & Chair of Plastics Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMASS), USA

Growing Importance of Specialised Plastics Education: A Global Perspective

Adviser, Plastindia International University (Accreditated with UMASS, USA)

72

THE NEXT BEND

Packaging in Circular Economy

Plastics Underpin the Entire Economy

Philip Law, Director-General, British Plastics Federation

82

TIME TO GO BIG

United Kingdom

Indian PVC Resin Manufacturing: It’s Time for Big Centrifuges

42

CUSTOMER DELIGHT

Ian Livesey, Sales & Marketing Director Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd., UK

Dr. Christoph Steger, CSO, ENGEL Group, Austria

RESEARCH REPORT

48

Tailored Solutions, Integrated Automation and Simplified Processes to Boost Processors’ Competitiveness

HBR PAGES

Leadership Lessons from Great Family Businesses

Presented by POLYMERS Communiqué in syndication with Harvard Business Review

54

ASIAN CURRY

60

66

2

Namaste India

Industry ‘4.0’ is More Like ‘3.0+’ in Asia C. K. Chiang, Vice Chairman - Manufacturing Chen Hsong Holdings Ltd., Hong Kong

WELL JOINED

A Watertight Seal for India’s Growing Infrastructure Martijn Boerma, Business Development Manager Asia Pacific, Trelleborg Pipe Seals, The Netherlands

WHAT NEXT

Micro Pellets, Bio Polymers and Engineering Plastics, Growth Areas for Palletisation Uwe Neumann, Director Sales, Econ GmbH, Austria

86

91

India Plastics Business Story (IPBS) 2018: Results Declared POLYMERS Communiqué Survey Services

ROAD AHEAD

Report on Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers: An Executive Summary

Michael Carus, nova-Institut GmbH, Germany

Dr. Harald Kaeb, narocon Innovation Consulting, Germany

Doris de Guzman, Tecnon OrbiChem, USA

96

Wolfgang Baltus, Wobalt Expedition Consultancy, Thailand Prof. Jan Ravenstijn, Jan Ravenstijn Consulting, The Netherlands Raj Chinthapalli, nova-Institut GmbH, Germany

ADAPTING TECHNOLOGY

China is Growing: Shifting to Higher Technology and Digitalisation

Gerold Schley, CEO, BC Extrusion Holding GmbH, Germany

98

CLOSE QUARTERS

Manfred Geiss, Chief Executive Officer, Geiss AG, Germany

Family-run Businesses: The Backbone of Germany’s Success

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Printed and Published by Manish Chawla manish@polymerscommunique.com

Designed by

102

GREEN ALL AROUND

S. K. Ray, Hon. Secretary Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, Mumbai

People Demonising Plastics, Overlooking Benefits to Humanity

103

SIVaRAM SPEAKS

Dr. S. Sivaram, Former Director, CSIR-NCL

Macro-porous Polyethylene as Heat Dissipating Comfort-fabrics: Fascinating World of Invisible Polymers Honorary Professor and INSA Senior Scientist Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune

108

RIGHT FIT

My Product v/s Your Application: Co-creation Shailesh Sheth, Corporate Strategy Adviser

112

INDIAPLAST 2019: Leveraging Digitisation Cyril Pereira, Managing Director

117

MENTORING

Jyoti jyoti@polymerscommunique.com

Prof. (Dr.) N. C. Saha Director, Indian Institute of Packaging

Advertising Sales - National

N. K. Balgi formerly President & Director at Ferromatik Milacron India Pvt. Ltd.

Bengaluru Siddhant +91-90290 32767 siddhant@polymerscommunique.com

Mumbai Vinisha +91-88790 50327 vinisha@polymerscommunique.com

Vadodara D. S. Bhumra +91-81289 90887 devinder@polymerscommunique.com

Triune Exhibitors Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru

Chief Editor

Arvind Mehta Chairman and Managing Director Welset Plast Extrusions Pvt. Ltd.

New Delhi Vijay +91-98100 15111 vijay@polymerscommunique.com

COMING UP

Editorial Advisory Board

Hyderabad Vani +91-93924 28927 vani@polymerscommunique.com

Management & Manufacturing Technology, Mumbai

Custage Marketing Solutions LLP 401, Vikas Classic Building No 4 4th Floor, Near Basant Cinema Chembur, Mumbai 400 074, INDIA

Empowering Through Mentoring

Advertising Sales - International

Rakesh Shah, RS Coaching and Consulting, New Delhi

124

Dubai Pritam +971-5548-32330 pritam@polymerscommunique.com

Be Empowered for Tomorrow

LITTLE ACTIONS BIG RESULTS

Pushp Raj Singhvi formerly Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Borouge (India) Pvt. Ltd. Rajesh Nath Managing Director German Engineering Federation (VDMA) India Office Rakesh Shah formerly Managing Director at Windmöller and Hölscher India Pvt. Ltd. S. K. Ray formerly Sr. Executive Vice President (Polymers) at Reliance Industries Ltd.

Printed at

Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd. A-403, TTC Industrial Area Near Anthony Motors Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400709 District - Thane

Content Alliance Partners

USA Manisha +1-908-720-3510 manisha@polymerscommunique.com

Shirish V. Divgi, Managing Director Plastics Machinery Asia, Ahmedabad

Subscriptions

128

Bhavesh +91-22-2520 4436 bhavesh@polymerscommunique.com

THE BIG GAP

Moving Higher Up the Skill Scale Dr. Naveen Malhotra, Group Head HR & CC

Business Alliance Partner

Sintex Industries Ltd., Kalol

News

24

Weekend Delights

122

RETRO

100

Golden PAGES

126

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

K ALE’S KUIZ

114

Events

132

Printed and Published by Manish Chawla, and printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd., A-403, TTC Industrial Area, Near Anthony Motors, Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400709, District - Thane and published from 401, Vikas Classic Building No 4, 4th Floor, Near Basant Cinema, Chembur, Mumbai 400 074, INDIA. Editor: Manish Chawla.

Domestic Subscription: Single Issue Price: Rs. 150; Annual Subscription: Rs. 1200 (including shipping) Overseas Subscription: Annual Subscription: USD 60 (including shipping)

Views and opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of POLYMERS Communiqué. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances and so POLYMERS Communiqué does not take any responsibility for any loss or damage incurred or suffered by any of its subscribers / readers / advertisers of this magazine. The publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are correct but do not take any responsibility for the absolute accuracy of the information. Subject to Mumbai Jurisdiction. Some of the images used in this issue are from Shutterstock.

No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publisher in writing.

POLYMERS Communiqué reserves the right to use the information published herein in any manner whatsoever. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged.

3

Mind Speak attention will attract maximum material raw world-renowned of machinery leading manufacturers, as leaders of manufacturers as well a will emerge as Indi as s ider prov gy nolo tech ion of growth. inat dest ising prom t the mos ing exporters lead as rge eme We may not as absorbers of of processed goods; but, ber one while newer ideas, we will be num re of increased being a phenomenal cent 60 years will be consumption. The past s. witnessed in the next 10 year

Pushp Raj Singhvi

India

formerly Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Borouge (India) Pvt. Ltd.

formerly President & Director at Ferromatik Milacron India Pvt. Ltd.

rld, ies in the wo major econom After a brief . ing ow gr fasted ce India is the owth, the pa vely slower gr ll for the spell of relati we rs gu au d. This has accelerate . plastics industry ated to growth cs is closely rel sti pla for nd is relatively Dema ion lat rre co y. This of the econom . rld wo developing stronger in the ible concerns. ver, some vis we ho , are There ding plastics un rro su rratives Negative na ere are some th e hil shriller. W are becoming nt theme is na mi erns, the do genuine conc stics. vilification of pla g down the tential of pullin po e This has th th trajectory. near-term grow

Amongst

S. K. Ray formerly Sr. Executive Vice President (Polymers) at Reliance Industries Ltd.

Prof. (Dr.) N

Director

India being populous, with financially sound, large

N. K. Balgi

. C. Saha

Indian Insti

tute of Pack

aging

Pushp Raj Singhvi

In earlier days, the population of India was considered as a ‘curse’; but today, the population has created a hub of young workforce for the manufacturing sector and thus considered as a boon for growth and development; India, besides creating a great market in itself.

This has led to opportunities for the global investors and thus, globally, India is considered to be a big opportunity.

Arvind Mehta

Rajesh Nath

Rajesh

Nath

or g Direct Managin eering in g En German A) on (VDM Federati ce India Offi

Arvind Mehta

Chairman and Managing Director

Welset Plast Extrusions Pvt. Ltd.

Rakesh Shah

N. K. Balgi

middle class, most global majors have sought for presence in here.

Finding people price conscious, companies resorted to local production. They found Indians have ‘Can Do’ mindset, and ‘Will Do’ attitude.

India became an investment destination for the globe, though ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ratings were low. Many experience India as ‘Organised Chaos’, but they learn to manage and succeed.

Our universe was also born out of ‘Chaos’! India remains attractive as the economy here is set to grow ahead of other countries.

e cal change cam 2014, the politi e ibl vis a g tin ec e, eff at the right tim te known steady sta m fro ay aw move e can the future. On conditions into of optimism. irit sp the l see and fee ess lucrative for busin India is a country positive see can e On and investment. a new the growth of development in untry co a ly ite fin de ia is middle class. Ind one ing be es sid be ects, with great prosp ng economies. wi gro t tes fas of the

In

India’s growth pi cked up sp when the ec eed in Q1 onomy lock ed 7.7% grow (18-19) India’s huge th. (and young) migrating po consumer pulation to base, cities, aspirin class offer va g middle st opportuni ties.

Infrastructur e, automobile s, telecomm consumer unication, appliances, FMCG etc. brightened the scene. have Plastics are not left be hind in join with the ab ing hands ove end-use sectors. Gove push in ease rnment’s of doing bu siness and a tax regime uniform like GST w ill further up prospect brighten s.

S. K. Ray

Prof. (Dr.) N. C. Saha

Feedback ge, also full of knowled ry useful and ve y events all g re in is m e co up The magazin e market. All products in th magazine, e w th ne in g t in en ht nt highlig reading the co to d in it. After w strategies are mentione ideas and ne t uc od pr t a system an illi d te br en e m em so pl I had I have also im ell, I’d my business. w. In a nutsh implement in in smooth flo ed lp he has trepreneurs en ich g wh rin pi rk as at wo trepreneurs, ibe to e existing en ctor to subscr suggest all th e industrial se th in ng rki wo ne yo er ev and publication.

P. B. Francis this particular & Fabricators g in er ne Kennees Engi

POLYMERS

Communiqué is truly a unique communication platform for the plastics industry. The best part being that apart from technical subjects, the articles on management are quite educative.

Current events’ updates also help the industry at large.

Congratulations and all the very best to the team.

Vimalesh Gupta Vivek Polymers

The content published in the magazine is current and industry relevant, hence interesting to read.

Inder Gahlaut

Capital Goods Skill Council

The magazine pr ovides good presentation developments of the and new tre nds. It keeps the new play one aware of ers in the indu str y, exhibitions views of the pl and presents ayers. Overall the magazine glossy and m looks nice an akes one wait d for its deliver y.

nces informative magazine on adva and and developments in polymers , issue t recen a In try. indus plastics ics the information about use of plast and in agriculture was interesting zine informative. We find this maga ted very useful for providing upda and information about the polymer doing plastic markets in India. Keep on the good work. All the best!

Jyoti S. Chandratre

Labchrom Scientific LLP

Ninad Save

Expanded Po

POLYMERS Communiqué is the most

lymer System

s Pvt. Ltd.

atform for is a nice pl Communiqué technical te ica mun stry to com du in s tic . We are as the pl this industry l aspects of in touch be d and industria an d get associate to y d have pp an ha really tics industry news of plas rough th ry st du with overall in s st of plastic be m fro s update e. a this magazin Aniket Tann Parthchem

POLYMERS I am a regular recipie nt of your magazine POLYM ERS Communiqu é.

I find the magazine very useful, well presented and info rmative. If you can add some more articles from small scale industries it could be mo re useful. It could be industries usi ng polymer products, their difficulties and opportunities etc.

Keep it up.

Prof. C. S. Purusho

Visiting Professor -

thaman

University of Mumbai & SNDT

POLYMERS Co mmuniqué filing the magazine gap in th is precisel e industry y informatio by bringing n. Having quality the right informatio m ix of tech n, busine nological ss news promotions and scop make the e for magazine polymer pr a must re ofessional ad for s. Thanks fo r the good work.

Purushoth

am A Inventive Po doni lymers

6

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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POLYULTRA masterbatches are high performance ultraviolet stabilizers for various polymers and have a wide range of applica ons. They have been selected to provide the best possible performance for each class of applica ons.

Key Characteris cs : Based on Hindered Amines Light Stabalizers - HALS chemistry High gas fades resistance Sulphur and pes cide resistant grades Low interac on with organic pigments

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Applica ons: Greenhouse Films Mulch Films Water Storage Tanks Playground Slides PET Bo les

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PVC Decanter Centrifuge Upto 30 T/hr Dry Resin

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News Digest

F

Welset PVC Compound Business Finds Suitor in Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Japan

urthering its strong corporate story, Welset Plast

Extrusion Pvt. Ltd. added another milestone, when on

R

6 June, 2018 it signed an agreement to divest its PVC th

Arctic Biomaterials from Finland gets the Innovation Award, ‘Bio-based Material of the Year 2018’ for degradable glass fibre reinforced PLA

compound business to the globally acclaimed Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), Japan.

Divesting this business to MCC is testimony to the value proposition that Welset has built across its businesses for all its stakeholders; something that has been an integral part of the Welset thought process.

The distinguished position of Welset medical PVC compound business that Buss presents the new COMPEO compounder series at the Compounding World Expo 2018, opening up entirely new horizons by permitting optimised application-specific line configuration

was nurtured since 1998, its position of market leadership in the medical

compounding field in India & ASEAN markets and the expansive marketing channels and infrastructure will provide Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation a platform that they were looking for to expand its footprint in India. Paresh

Mehta, Director, Welset Plast Extrusion Pvt. Ltd. would also be on the Board of Directors of the Indian entity of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation for the PVC

compounds and TPE business. The customers would benefit significantly with

a fortified product range as well as the expertise that MCC would bring to the

TPE business; and Welset will continue to explore with MCC further business Clariant inaugurates new additives production facilities in China to produce speciality additives for plastics, coatings and ink industries

opportunities.

“Welset is set to invest further in its masterbatch business and increase its

capacity from the current 25000 MTPA to 45000 MTPA. Notable being launch

of its Oxo Bio-degradable masterbatch, a new range of products, grades for dedicated applications in plasticulture and an exponential rise in its global

presence are some areas that would see increased activities,” highlights Arvind

Mehta, Chairman, Welset Plast Extrusion Pvt. Ltd. In addition, Welset continues to witness a strong surge in its exports business.

Coperion with its Production Control Center (CPCC), offers compounders a clever solution for the control of their compounding systems

A-C

For the existing business of masterbatches, all contacts and co-ordinates, products and processes remain unchanged.

RIL Launches ‘The Earth Tee’

by R|Elan™ Under ‘Fashion for Earth’ Programme

T

o

commemorate

occasion

of the World Environment Day

- 2018, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) launched a special T-shirt, branded ‘The Earth Tee’ and designed by renowned

24

the

fashion

designer,

Anita

Dongre, under its unique programme ‘Fashion for Earth’. The idea is to nudge

people to switch to fashion that not only enhances aesthetics, but also helps conserve the environment and our planet.

During

the

launch of R|Elan™, at the

IMG

Reliance’s

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Lakme Fashion Week in January, 2018,

environmentally

bottles from the venue - Jio Garden

highest standards of excellence,” an RIL

RIL collected post-consumer (used) PET

Digest Covestro to digitalise activities continuously; engineering, operations and manufacturing to become more efficient and safe, while digital solutions would simplify work

at the BKC. Those have since been processed, recycled and converted into R|Elan GreenGold fabrics - one of

the greenest fabrics using which Anita

Dongre has designed and created the elegant, ‘The Earth Tee’.

RIL a leader in sustainable business

development is focusing on promoting the concept of ‘Circular Economy’. The Earth Tee is the latest initiatives to

commemorate the ‘World Environment Econ India completes 5 years in June, 2018

EconCore presents innovative honeycomb materials that are lightening the load in transportation, allowing users to provide performance-to-weightoptimised materials

Day’. “Reliance is committed to ensure

responsible

sustainable

operations

to

and

achieve

spokesperson said. Reliance Industries, the owner of brand R|Elan, is one of

the largest recycler of PET bottles in

India, recycling 2.2 billion PET bottles a

year. The R|Elan GreenGold, made from recycled PET, substantially reduces the

emission of greenhouse gases, and cuts down on water usage as well. The fabric is made from pre-dyed fibres that does not require much water.

Whatever little water is required, 90% of it is recycled.

POLYMERS Communiqué Salutes Dr. S. Sivaram for His Recent International Award Dr. S. Sivaram, former Director, CSIR-NCL and currently Honorary Professor and INSA Senior Scientist at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune was bestowed with the prestigious International Award from

the Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPS-J) in solemn ceremonies held at

Nagoya on 24th May, 2018 in the presence of over 300 invitees. The Award,

consisting of a citation and a silver medal, was presented by Prof. Yoshiki

Chujo, President SPS-J and Professor of Polymer Chemistry Graduate School ENGEL at the Interplas 2018 in Bangkok illustrates how extremely qualitysensitive products can be manufactured at the lowest possible price per unit

of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. SPS-J presents this award

every year to two or three scientists outside of Japan for their distinguished and meritorious contributions to the discipline of polymer science and

technology. SPS-J is one of the oldest and largest professional societies

of the world devoted to the discipline of polymer science and has over 20,000 members in Japan.

Dr. S. Sivaram delivered the ‘Award Lecture’ on 23rd May, 2018 at the

67th national meeting of the Society of Polymer Science on the subject of Finnish manufacturing industry is taking the digital leap, as it utilises the strong corporate and research sector of the IoT industry in this transformation to make production more efficient

C-F

26

synthesis, structure and properties of novel classes of porous

polymers. This year, he shares this award with Prof. Dr. Axel Müller

Organic

of

the

Institute

Chemistry,

Gutenberg of

Mainz,

of

Johannes

University Mainz,

Germany and Prof.

Dr. Dieter Schlüter

of Department of Material Science and

Polymer

Chemistry,

ETH

Zürich, Switzerland.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

RIL is the only company in the world

To optimise the process, Nordson offers

from creation of PET resin for bottles,

different applications, which offer a

that has built a complete circle - right

Digest Meusburger Group, a manufacturer of standard components, products for hot runner and control systems and more, takes over Segoni, a market leader in the field of ERP/PPS software for medium-sized companies in Germany/Austria/ Switzerland

and collection of discarded bottles to converting them to Recron GreenGold

eco-friendly polyester fibre, which in

turn is converted to R|Elan GreenGold fabric for the manufacture of highfashion apparels.

Nordson BKG® Melt Delivery Products

I

n recycling processes, a successful filtration process is the key. The cleaner

the melt, the higher the quality of the

end-product. The Nordson BKG R-Type is designed for filtration of recycling

of highly contaminated melt in a RPC Bramlage has launched a lotion pump that combines a standard system with a customisable outer body; the pump is suitable for a wide variety of cosmetic and personal care products

continuous and fully automatic process.

The BKG HiCon self-cleaning systems

from Nordson, such as the BKG HiCon K-SWE-4K75/RS and the BKG HiCon V-Type

3G

UNITED CAPS shows breakthrough closures at Propak Asia - GREENER closures made from bioplastics and their new approaches to anti-counterfeiting, an important consideration in the Asian market

M-U

their

well-proven

backflush technology offer a highly effective

and

cost-efficient

polymer

filtration and up to 150 backflush procedures

SONGWON underlines its commitment to the packaging industry and presents new ink binders and adhesives at ProPak

with

to

life significantly.

extend

the

screen

a large selections of gear pumps for high degree of precision and accuracy

while providing a constant volumetric output. Through the elimination of

throughput variations due to pressure

pulsations, the BKG BlueFlow Gear Pump product line helps improving the end product quality.

VDMA Symposium on ‘Industry 4.0 - The Future Concept of Manufacturing’

V

DMA 1

India

international

st

organised

symposium

its

on,

‘Industry 4.0 – The Future Concept

of Manufacturing’ on 6th June, 2018 at Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru and on

8th

June,

Pune, respectively.

2018

at

Hyatt,

In Bengaluru, the

started

event

with

the traditional

lighting of the

lamp by the

Chief Guest, Margit Hellwig-Boette,

The BKG Flex Disc™ is a filtration

Consul General, Federal Republic of

stacked

Guest of Honour, S. R. Mukherjee,

medium which has multiple screens

Germany, Bengaluru flanked by the

optimisation of the design eliminates

Chief Executive Officer, Tata Advanced

filter area significantly, prolonging filter

Managing Director, Forum Industrie

the BKG Flex Disc is an alternative to

Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India.

up

in

a

row.

Rheological

stagnation zones and enlarges the open

Materials

life. Especially in backflush systems,

4.0 at VDMA Frankfurt and Rajesh

conventional filtration media. It creates a

lower

specific

backflush

waste,

leading to lower disposal - and overall screen costs.

Ltd.;

Dietmar

Goericke,

Similar to Bengaluru, the event in Pune started with the lamp lighting by the Chief Guest, Andreas Jahn, Vice

President - Manufacturing Engineering Planning, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. along the Guest of Honour, Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director – Automotive

Research Association of India (ARAI); Dietmar Goericke and Sandip Roy, Regional Head - East.

There were total 8 speakers under the

Technical Session in Bengaluru and 7 in Pune from VDMA member companies.

28

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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Editor: Prof. (Dr.) N. C. Saha (Director - IIP) - 9819996630 For Advertisement and Articles Contact: Asst. Editor: Bhushan Surpur (Assistant Director) - 9821022112 Email: director-iip@iip-in.com/infoiip@iip-in.com Website: www.iip-in.com

Published By

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

From

Around the World...

We, at POLYMERS Communiqué, are delighted to have complied opinions from experts around the world. They have taken time out only for you to share their learnings and vision with specific reference to India as a

marketplace. A compilation that would stay relevant for times to come...

It’s not only you feel about important what others feel important what yourself, it’s also er, we began this background about you. With . to build this issue cs our vibrant plasti global experts of th wi ng cti their era d int bal advances in So, now we starte e of them, the glo m so m fro d d an y) to underst ia as a market an industry (globall they felt about Ind at wh y all ific ec m the others, sp business; and fro meant to them. what really India ese feature tting together th quite happy in pu re we we , on t; something ati on this compil eaningful conten As we look back sh, diverse yet m fre a th wi u yo u, well deserves. icles that come to mmuniqué, as yo Co interviews and art RS ME LY PO reader of of that a discerning have our shares eir own. We did th on s ion ut tit a that are ins , though having d for this, names med personalities tee es e m so We have identifie s, d. ging timeline sted to be excuse en, due to challen muniqué – reque m Co RS ME misses as well wh LY a platform - PO vious a part of this meg ns provide an en keen desire to be periences and pla ex ts, gh ou th ays eir es, th mmuniqué, it’s alw m over 10 countri At POLYMERS Co d. ee With opinions fro cc su d an erate t which can add which one can op e primary conten m so te lla framework within co to ive hard . t endeavour to str industry, at large been our constan business and the ur yo u, yo value to e is that ‘India is th ese interactions th of e m tco ou as an overall bilities with a its all-round capa Most importantly, t the world with rac att to es inu nt none.

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From our side...it’

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Tailored Solutions, Integrated Automation and Simplified Processes

Thomas J. Goeke Chief Executive Officer Milacron USA

to Boost Processors’ Competitiveness

Namaste India

A Watertight Seal

for India’s Growing Infrastructure Michael Carus nova-Institut GmbH Germany

Martijn Boerma Business Development Manager Asia Pacific Trelleborg Pipe Seals The Netherlands

Plastics

Wolfgang Baltus Wobalt Expedition Consultancy Thailand

Philip Law Director-General British Plastics Federation United Kingdom

Dr. Harald Kaeb narocon Innovation Consulting Germany

Report on Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers

Dr. Christoph Steger CSO ENGEL Group Austria

Prof. Jan Ravenstijn Jan Ravenstijn Consulting The Netherlands

An Executive Summary

Doris de Guzman Tecnon OrbiChem USA

Underpin the Entire Economy

Packaging in

Circular Economy

Antro Saila Vice President Sustainability World Packaging Organization

Raj Chinthapalli nova-Institut GmbH Germany

32

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Claudio Fernández Aráoz Senior Advisor Egon Zehnder Argentina

Growing Importance of Specialised Plastics Education

A Global Perspective

David Kazmer Professor & Chair of Plastics Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMASS), USA

Adviser, Plastindia International University (Accreditated with UMASS, USA)

Micro Pellets, Bio Polymers and Engineering Plastics China is Growing

Shifting to Higher Technology and Digitalisation

Growth Areas for Palletisation

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Great Family Businesses

Sonny Iqbal Partner Egon Zehnder India

Jörg Ritter Partner Egon Zehnder Germany Uwe Neumann Director Sales ECON GmbH Austria

Industry ‘4.0’ is More Like ‘3.0+’

in Asia

Gerold Schley CEO BC Extrusion Holding GmbH Germany

Ian Livesey Sales & Marketing Director Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd. United Kingdom

Leadership Lessons from

Indian PVC Resin Manufacturing It’s Time for Big Centrifuges

C. K. Chiang Vice Chairman Chen Hsong Holdings Ltd. Hong Kong

Family-run Businesses

The Backbone of Germany’s Success

Manfred Geiss Chief Executive Officer Geiss AG, Germany

33

INDIA BECKONS

Namaste India “We are in the process of finalising our next steps in India for growth and addressing

global product lines from our Indian facilities. We are highly focused on accelerating our

expansions in India,” elucidates Thomas J. Goeke, in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Q. How do you see the global plastics machinery market?

The trends for growth are very positive worldwide. We see plastics machinery market growing across geographies.

In matured markets, we see ageing fleet replacement for productivity and efficiency enhancement, as well as some capacity expansion. In emerging markets, growth is driven

by plastics consumption, which will be driven by per capita income growth.

Additionally, market segments contributing to plastics machinery growth are as highlighted in Table 1.

Q. What are the key challenges of growth for Milacron in the global plastics machinery arena?

is becoming more and more challenging to find technical talent required for our industry to provide the highest level of customer service and solutions.

Q. How do you see Milacron growth in the next 3 - 5 years in US, Europe and India?

We are very upbeat about growth in plastics worldwide, especially in India, in the next few years. The key drivers

of growth are automotive, packaging, houseware, electrical and construction applications. In all these applications, we are well-placed with our products and technologies to serve our customer base.

In Asia, we have strong demand for machinery and hot

runner business which is expected to grow at a consistently

The greatest challenge is always to understand the

high pace - much ahead of the industry.

managing within the regions with local teams. Being closer

Q. What is your Milacron India growth plan and

customers’ requirements in each region. We address this by to customers gives us the best opportunity to understand as

to how to serve both, the equipment needs and their aftersales parts and service requirements. This objective is only achieved through extensive training of our employees as it

Global Perspectives 34

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Thomas J. Goeke Chief Executive Officer Milacron USA

35

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Global Perspectives POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Growing Importance of Specialised Plastics Education

A Global Perspective

T

he opportunities for plastics has never been greater, with global demand at an all-time high even amidst current concerns regarding plastics in

the environment. To compete, companies will need to advance and protect their technological core, while also addressing the global sustainability issues.

There is no doubt that advances in data and industrial automation will continue. These advances provide growing leverage for their human overseers, such that the key decision making will become ever

more complicated. Thus, there is a growing need for specialists who can formulate problems and synthesise

optimal or near-optimal solutions. This phenomenon

suggests that the best specialists will command huge price premiums for their talent and be worth every

penny since the impact of their decisions is so great

(This phenomenon is referred to as ‘winner take all’ in the business organisation literature).

Plastics Professionals in the Making Regarding the plastics industry, there is exceptional

demand for educated plastics professionals, with only a few universities around the globe providing degreed professionals. Plastics engineering is essentially a blend

Globally, there is an acute shortage for highly trained plastics professionals. The growing

divergence between the labour supply and demand suggests enormous opportunities for the plastics engineering talent and the companies that hire them.

of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and

polymer science. The plastics engineer should have working knowledge in four key areas: NN

Product Design: Be able to design components and moulds / dies for their manufacture.

NN

Polymer Processing: Be able to specify and operate plastics machinery to make products.

NN

Polymer Science: Be able to understand the material / process / property relations to choose suitable materials.

NN

David Kazmer Professor & Chair of Plastics Engineering University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMASS) USA

Property Characterisation: Be able to test the thermal / rheological / structural properties of the constitutive materials and final products.

Adviser, Plastindia International University (Accreditated with UMASS, USA)

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

39

Innovations Vacuumforming machines of type T10

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CUSTOMER DELIGHT

Dr. Christoph Steger CSO ENGEL Group Austria

Global Perspectives 42

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Tailored Solutions, Integrated Automation and Simplified Processes

to Boost Processors’ Competitiveness

“An automated and integrated process is considerably more complex than a simple injection moulding application and it remains the

responsibility of a systems provider to make a complex process easy and safe to operate and control,” shares Dr. Christoph Steger, in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Q. What is the future of robotics in injection moulding machines?

The American markets are continuing to develop dynamically. We have, therefore, decided to start

A robot or a tailored automation solution is increasingly

assembling machines again in our large-scale machine

machines in Asia. This trend particularly reflects the rising

customers with a clear benefit.

becoming a permanent fixture on injection moulding

demands on quality. The production of high-quality

plant in York. This allows us to provide our American

processes, component functions and product qualities,

Q. Bursting manufacturing schedules, revenues of USD 1.84 billion in 2017-18; all seems to be going well...what according to you are the top three drivers for this success?

plastics processors. The significance of automation will,

ENGEL. The share of system solutions is steadily increasing

parts requires reproducible cycle times, which can only

be achieved through automation. In addition, as an

integrated part of the process, automation supports new thus substantially improving the competitiveness of

System solutions are a very important growth driver for

accordingly, continue to increase in future.

worldwide. By system solution, we mean a production

Q. You plan to reopen manufacturing in the US. How will this additional manufacturing site be positioned vis-á-vis the one at St. Valentin, Austria?

Customer proximity is one of our core values, which means also producing as near as possible to our customers’ sites. This allows us to even better adapt our injection moulding machines, robots and system

solutions even to the specific requirements of the

respective regions, and to shorten the delivery times for our customers.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

cell that includes process technology and automation

in addition to the injection moulding machine, and may also integrate worksteps before and after injection

moulding, such as quality control. We individually design the production cells according to our customers’

requirements, which allows us to very thoroughly utilise

quality and efficiency potentials. The topic of simplicity is becoming more and more important in this. An automated and integrated process is considerably more

complex than a simple injection moulding application.

As a system provider, we are responsible for making a complex process as easy and safe to operate and control

43

Global Perspectives Q. Launch of WINTEC in America, what does it mean for your business?

In

addition

to

sophisticated

applications that require tailor-made injection moulding solutions, we see a

strong demand in America for general

purpose injection moulding machines. as an individual injection moulding

paint is not simply transferred from

to gain in significance as it becomes

the foil is punched out and remains on

machine. This aspect will continue more and more difficult for businesses to find highly qualified personnel. The

new technologies included in Industry 4.0 are proving themselves as enablers

in this regard. For example, intelligent assistance systems are making it possible for the injection moulding machine to

continuously analyse quality-relevant process parameters and to automatically readjust them in the running process.

Industry 4.0 is quite clearly a further

driver of growth and, at the same time, innovation.

A

third

driver

is

the

progressive

substitution of material in high-tech applications, includes

which

among

automotive

construction.

Plastics

others

lightweight

and

injection

moulding are important keys for electro-

the foil to the component, but rather the component. Like this, the surface structure and haptics can be handled in a single work step along with colour and pattern. At the same time,

the scratch resistance of the surfaces is increased considerably. Even for small lot sizes, DecoJect offers an

extremely economical possibility to optically enhance injection moulding parts and to harmonise the surfaces in

the vehicle interior. A design change requires only a few minutes to swap

out the foil rolls, which means that the lot size no longer affects the cost per unit. In order to save even

more raw material, the production cell presented at the NPE works with the MuCell foam injection moulding technology by Trexel.

mobility. On the topic of lightweight

Another highly integrated production

beginning

producing thermal switch housings.

construction, a

we

and,

correspondingly

are

still

therefore, huge

at

the

seeing

potential,

especially for composite solutions.

Q. Tell us about your technology showcase (including the DecoJect) at NPE 2018?

DecoJect is an excellent example of

how process integration can increase

production efficiency. The technology

cell at our exhibition booth was Conventionally, of

these

the

electrical

production

components

requires many process steps that are

independent of each other. Together with

our

partner,

MMS

Modular

Molding Systems, we have integrated

these into a clear overall process.

From punching of the contacts to

combines injection

perspectives for the production of high-

the

As

components,

quality interior automotive components. conventional

IMD

(in-mould decorating) processes, the

44

the American markets, we can provide a decent answer to these generalpurpose market needs at an attractive price/performance ratio.

WINTEC machines are preferably used for

high-volume,

single-component

injection moulding, which may not require

any

special

technologies,

yet places high demands on quality and are

process

delivered

consistency.

Machines

preconfigured,

which

guarantees short delivery times and speedy start-up.

Q. Is ‘LSR’ a big opportunity for the IMM business?

Due to its outstanding characteristics

such as reliability across a wide range

of

temperatures

and

bio-

compatibility, LSR is being used in more and more applications. Medical

technology is an important area that has been developing dynamically for

some time and continues to do so.

The area of lighting is a new subject.

From automotive lighting systems

to building and street lighting, LSR is

rapidly

gaining

significance

in

the production of high-quality LED

lighting systems. Highly transparent LSR has a lower yellowness index

an extremely wide temperature range

which opens up new

to

expanding the sales area of WINTEC to

UV-resistant and remains stable across

graining),

opposed

in which WINTEC is at home. By

than conventional lens materials, is

moulding and IMG (in-mould

This is precisely the market segment

inspection

of -20 to

and

labelling of ready-to-use electronic fully automatic.

all

work

steps

are

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

HBR Pages

I

t’s no secret that family businesses can struggle with

governance, leadership transitions and even survival.

Consider a few high-profile examples: Banco Espírito Santo

was rescued by the Portuguese government last year following the resignation of its CEO, the great-grandson of the bank’s Founder, amid allegations of financial improprieties. The Doosan

Group, a South Korean conglomerate, was thrown into turmoil when the clan that runs it replaced one brother with another

in the Chief Executive role. Fiat, the Italian auto group run by

the heirs of Gianni Agnelli, went through five CEOs and three Chairmen in two years before bringing in an outsider to lead it.

Although

we’ve

also

heard

numerous

family-enterprise

success stories, cases of harmony, health and longevity seem to be exceptions to the rule. According to the Family Business Institute, only 30% of these organisations last into a second generation, 12% remain viable into a third and 3% operate into the fourth generation or beyond. Even those that do

continue often see their value decline significantly when power

Leadership Lessons from

Great Family Businesses In family businesses, you should

look for people who understand the company’s ownership dynamics,

accept that responsibility for multiple generations comes with the job, and are able to manage social ventures and sustainable growth.

Presented by

POLYMERS Communiqué in syndication with Harvard Business Review

Global Perspectives 48

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

changes hands at the top. Joseph Fan, a professor

at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, tracked

the market performance of 214 family-run firms in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore; he found that on an average, their shares dropped by almost 60% in the eight years surrounding a change of CEO.

And yet family-owned or -controlled businesses play a key role in the global economy. They account for an estimated 80% of companies worldwide and are the largest source of long-term employment in most countries. These aren’t just mom-and-pop

Claudio Fernández Aráoz Senior Advisor Egon Zehnder* Sonny Iqbal Partner Egon Zehnder* Jörg Ritter Partner Egon Zehnder* *Egon Zehnder is a global executive search firm © 2015 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Idea in Brief The Problem Family-owned

and

-controlled businesses play a critical role in the global economy.

But as a result of poor talent

management,

many fail to thrive or even survive.

The Research In

search

of

best

They found that top family-

Business

things: establish a baseline

practices, Egon Zehnder and

Family

Network

interviewed

International executives

and studied leadership

transitions at 50 leading family

firms

the world.

The Solution

around

led companies do four key of

good

preserve

governance,

‘family

gravity’,

identify future leaders from within

and

outside

the

family, and bring discipline to their CEO succession.

49

R

ASIAN CURRY

“We are finding that, to a certain

extent, the requirements in Asian

countries are quite different from those of the West. In specific, the Indian

market has been great for Chen Hsong’s Taiwanese subsidiary, which has been

growing fast in India and Chen Hsong is investing heavily there for future

growth,” emphasises C. K. Chiang, in

dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

C. K. Chiang Vice Chairman Chen Hsong Holdings Ltd. Hong Kong

Global Perspectives 54

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Industry ‘4.0’ is More Like ‘3.0+’

in Asia

Q. Chen Hsong (CH) seems to have embarked on a project, ‘The Next 60’; tell us something more about this project.

The year 2018 is the 60th Anniversary of the Chen

Hsong Group. As Chen Hsong looks back to the past 60 years, we did a lot of deep reflections on

what will be needed for Chen Hsong to succeed in the ‘next’ 60 years. Our conclusion is that two things are strategically important. Firstly, to build

on our core strengths of a long history and decades of technical and applications experience, and secondly recognise that the world is ever-changing

and that the next 60 years will be quite different

from the past 60 years. So, some old ways must be changed to make way for a ‘New Chen Hsong’

that sheds old baggage of outdated practices and embraces new best practices in an ever-connected, ever info-focused world.

Q. From a mechanical repair shop in 1958, to a dominant global payer in injection moulding machines, share with us your ups and downs in this journey.

For 60 years, Chen Hsong has seen it all. On an average, we managed to witness one major global

financial crisis ever decade, and one minor crisis in

between each. They include the oil crisis in 1970s, the recessions in 1980s, the Asian Financial Crisis in the 1990s, the tech bubble in the 2000s and, of course, the near global meltdown in 2008. After

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

55

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Global Perspectives

60 years, we are still here. This is an indication of the

Industry 4.0 Chen Hsong’s Roadmap

resiliency of Chen Hsong and our solid and reliable

management that allowed us to weather through storm after storm, while many other competitors who propped up during the years folded.

Q. Where is CH as regards Industry 4.0 is concerned? Are the demands of the Asian countries different from the West?

We are finding that, to a certain extent, the

requirements in Asian countries are quite different

from those of the West. In Asia, when talked about Industry 4.0, one eventually meant a high degree of automation and information management - all

Chen Hsong is

majority owned by a charity

foundation - and we take great pride in this.

For every Dollar

earned by Chen Hsong, almost 65 cents go

towards charity.

issues that the West has solved decades ago. So,

in the sense of Industry ‘4.0’, it is more like ‘3.0+’ in Asia, and one must bear this in mind when discussing the same with an Asian user.

For Western users, however, they do attempt to move towards the holy grail of Industry 4.0 - i.e.

‘intelligent’ manufacturing, with data collection, automation and information being only the foundation

infrastructure

upon

which

true

intelligent manufacturing will be based. For these

users, Chen Hsong is glad to be working with a number of global companies on research projects to further this aim.

Q. What is your take on Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

AI is core to Industry 4.0. In fact, in Chen Hsong’s understanding, the entire Industry 4.0 movement can be summarised into three layers: 1) Big Data (roots) 2) AI (trunk) 3) Communications (branches) In other words, there is no meaningful Industry 4.0

(to the sense that a large Western user will view it) without AI (Refer the above conceptual diagram).

Branches

Communications

Trunk

AI

Root

BIG DATA

Q. You have a strategic co-operation with Ube-Mitsubishi for the last 7 years now.

What does this relationship mean to your business?

Mitsubishi (and later Ube-Mitsubishi) has been

working with us for almost a decade and we can say that the cooperation is a resounding success - to the point that the President of Ube-

Mitsubishi recently announced (during Chen

Hsong’s 60th Year Anniversary celebrations) that “Chen Hsong is our (Ube-Mitsubishi’s) best and most reliable partner, and we are working

together closely to develop the global market.”

He said it all.

Q. You consider your MK6 - Servo Driven injection moulding machines as a global model. Tell us more about this product.

The machine is a 3-year effort internally at Chen Hsong, led by senior Japanese engineers with

decades of experience, in an attempt to build

a machine that comes close to Japanese-level hydraulic machine performance, while staying

true to being a super affordable, mass-produced Chinese product. We believe we have succeeded,

and the MK6 product line is head and shoulders above the rest of the competition. There really is

no comparison, and we see that the product line

will satisfy over 90% of global demands, regardless of the application.

Q. At the recently concluded NPE, Chen Hsong had a lot to showcase; how did the event work for you?

NPE was a huge success. CH-America, the Chen

Hsong team in the USA, did a great

job in hosting our booth. We

attracted a huge number of visitors

56

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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Global Perspectives 60

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

W

ater is the world’s most valuable and vital resource. It is at the very core of thriving ecosystems, food

With reference to instances, Martijn Boerma from Trelleborg highlights that superior

materials, coupled with improved seal and joint design, play a key role in extending the service life of elastomeric joints.

A Watertight Seal

for India’s Growing Infrastructure

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

and energy production. However, around

2.1 billion people around the world lack access

to safely managed drinking water services and a staggering 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services1.

Historically, water and wastewater networks across

India

have

been

amongst

the

world’s poorest, but investment into urban infrastructure has grown substantially over the last few years. As the government forges

ahead with plans for smart cities across the country, the support of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation

and

Urban

Transformation

(AMRUT) programme is breeding hundreds

of new urban renewal projects. This includes upgrading

transportation

systems

and

sewerage

and

developing amusement parks, as well as strengthening

drinking,

stormwater management networks. So far, almost 500 water supply and sewerage projects

have

been

undertaken

across

115 cities in the region2. This has resulted in a

rise in the use of PVC pipes across the country.

However, improving the performance of pipeline infrastructure demands not just investment,

but

continuous

innovation

in the materials, as well as their method

of manufacture and installation. Superior

61

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Global Perspectives

materials, coupled with improved seal and joint

removing the need for an installer to fit it on site.

life of elastomeric joints. This has a direct effect

the correct seal is always in the correct place and

design, play a key role in extending the service

on reducing maintenance costs, while improving hygiene levels.

Trends Shaping India While there is a way to go until the entire Indian

systems which connect and seal them. As one of

the recent surge in investment presents an

the seal design and specification can often be overlooked. This is an issue because the joints between each pipe segment are the weakest point of the pipeline, so specifying and installing the right

seal is important to ensure its performance. If the

seal and pipe are not compatible and the joint fails, this can have costly ramifications on the whole

to backup the development of enclosed wastewater

systems, new

plastic double

wall corrugated

(DWC) pipes are setting the new standard.

during stocking, transportation or installation.

Pipeline technology has evolved significantly in

the smallest components in pipeline infrastructure,

investments

removes any possibility of the seal being displaced

Evolution of the Pipe Joint the decades gone by and so too have the jointing

With the AMRUT

In turn, this impacts tolerances and ensures that

system, including increased scrappage rates and project delays.

Originally, the O-Ring was the first seal used on PVC pipe joints. Fitted inside the pipe by an installer, the seal provided robust performance, but required

a high jointing force. This type of seal relied heavily on the skill of the person fitting it to do

so correctly. As such, the seal could easily be displaced during jointing, resulting in a poor seal between the pipe sections which could lead to infiltration and exfiltration.

From there, innovations in materials and design saw pipe seals adapted from a circular shape to a profiled seal with a type of ‘lip’, to the more recent

water network is working effectively and efficiently, opportunity for development. In some areas of the country, the infrastructure in general has been

hugely improved and there are three trends coming to the fore which are driving real change.

Firstly,

we

have

seen

a

move

away

from

plain-ended soil, waste and rain water (SWR)

pipes by large pipe producers, towards an alternative ringfit seal used in a plastic spigot and socket style pipe. By swapping solvent cement

‘glue’ for a purpose designed high performance elastomeric seal, leaks are hugely reduced. For

example, Prince Piping Systems changed its pipe seal specification for its leading range of SWR

pipes to a Trelleborg seal, made of a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) sealing element and a retaining ring made of polypropylene (PP). This locks the seal in the groove and holds it firmly in place

during transportation and installation, significantly reducing leaks and therefore improving hygiene levels surrounding the pipelines. Hemant Kumar, Prince Piping Systems comments, “Prince has

been involved in many housing development

retaining ring system. This composite seal featured

an elastomeric sealing element co-moulded to a

polypropylene (PP) retaining system to ensure the highest level of seal stability. This design meant that loss or displacement during

transport

installation

and

was

eliminated and the seal could be used in both, high pressure and

non-pressure

pipe applications.

Whilst this design is the

most advanced in terms of

sealing performance, further advances have been made to incorporate the seal into the pipe itself to make it one complete system. An integrated seal

is embedded into the pipe during manufacture,

62

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

WHAT NEXT

Q. How differentiated can technology get in underwater pelletising?

of utilising less manpower, low energy and

less scrap material, the long-term use is much

If you compare technology of underwater pelletising

cheaper than other lines. Investigation by several

advantages and benefits. Mainly the following

‘return of investment’ is significant - shorter

with other technologies, then you find many

universities and customers have shown that the

three are the biggest differentiations and most

than 2 years.

important differences,

1. Quality of Pellets: Pellets produced by underwater

pelletiser have uniform and spherical shape

and no fines in the material. All subsequent

processes, for example, feeding at compounding or injection moulding processes are much safer, also the pourability is much better.

2. Efficiency and Availability of Production Process: Especially with ECON-technology, the efficiency

and the stability of production is much higher

than in other systems. After the easy start up

procedure, based on ‘one-button-press-start up’ in ECON pelletiser, no one has to control permanently the production process. And over the complete operation, our machines are producing constant high-quality pellets.

3.

Cost of Long Term

Use: On account

Q. ‘Pellet inconsistency’ is a question that always needs to be answered. How can technology of today address this concern; and the ECON position here?

That is right, mainly the pellet inconsistency comes from bad quality of machines and from

mistakes by manual operation. That is the reason why premium-machines of ECON have high level

control system with easy operation. Here you

can reduce the pellet inconsistency by choosing the right parameter, permanent automatic control

of the process parameter shown on panel and welltrained operator.

ECON focussed on these topics since the beginning of supplying underwater pelletiser by storing parameter per formulation into the control system,

good overview on visualisation at operator panel and by longer training sessions after commissioning.

Mostly we are doing the training with our high

qualified local people. Many customers underestimate the importance of good training.

Micro Pellets, Bio Polymers and Engineering Plastics

Growth Areas for Palletisation

“It is important to make constant market research and try to answer the questions such as what will be the next material that we have to process with our machines,” explains

Uwe Neumann, in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Global Perspectives 66

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Uwe Neumann Director Sales ECON GmbH Austria

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

67

Global Perspectives Q. The last 10 years have witnessed a number of technology advances in underwater palletising. The big changes that you expect in the next 5 - 10 years could be...

to our customers. We need all the input data and

I think that you do not find a lot of innovative new

Q. Any new basket of applications that you think could present a big business opportunity for you?

developments in the market. The last innovative revolution was the thermal isolated die plate unit, developed and patented by ECON.

In the future, more functions are expected to be

covered by automation and control systems.

Process stability and optimisation must run fully automatically by the control system. As well,

remote service and support from other places will be the key factor in the future - especially if we are thinking about Industry 4.0.

The personal relationship

with our Indian colleagues

and our Indian

customers is the

most exciting for me. Customers

have reposed a

lot of trust in us;

I hope we are able to eliminate operator mistakes if we can say, “this is material type x with throughput y” and the machine will find all parameters without

the operator and can permanently optimise the process by itself.

Q. How do you accommodate for changing material characteristics? What approach does your R&D follow in this regard?

The material researcher is developing more complex materials; that means more and new fillers, other types of polymers, biopolymers etc.

I see the

Here we are still working in close coordination

in India as

to be the development partner of our customers.

customers loyal friends.

with our customers as a part of the ECON vision is

information, but not only the pure data, we also need information about the complete processes.

Only then can we solve the requirements and also integrate high-speed cutting.

Yes, today you can see different main streams.

Actually, the production of micro pellets is getting more and more importance. For some solutions and applications, micro pellets is the future; bio

polymers will continue to be very important in

the future; so also, a very big field is engineering plastics. In the future, engineering plastics will replace more and more metal alloys.

Q. Selecting the right pelletisers...according to you, the top 3 attributes should be...

1. Material specifications 2. Requirements to shape the pellets and the quality of the pellets

3. Efficiency and cost of production

Q. Any specific buying trends across different geographies such as North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa?

Especially in America, Europe and Asia Pacific region, the users of plastics need higher quality; e.g. for electronic-, automotive- and medical-applications.

Sometimes we are developing together with our

The requested quality is only reachable with

Parallelly, we are making a constant market research

Q. Any new demand of the pellet processing industry?

customers the perfect machines and technologies.

and try to answer the questions such as what will

be the next material that we have to process with our machines. If the customer come to ECON later, we should have a suitable solution for him.

Here, our air pelletiser a perfect example. ECON

developed this machine and in the meantime a lot of customer needed it for biopolymers like PLA.

Q. With scale-ups being the order of the day, can you share with the readers of POLYMERS Communiqué, how underwater palletisers can integrate here?

underwater pelletiser.

As highlighted earlier, you find a huge trend towards micro pellets, bio polymers and engineering plastics. Also, in building construction, you need other materials for isolation and cabling.

Q. The growth targets that you have set for the company over the next 3 - 5 years...

The growth targets are depending on different markets. But overall, we are convinced that ECON will grow up between 12 and 15% per year.

At the end of the day, the main issue here is to find the best solution together with customers.

That is the reason why we are working so close

68

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

THE NEXT BEND

Packaging in

Circular Economy Packaging can play a significant role in reverse logistics which will be an

important part of the future circular economy. Former waste will become a valuable raw material and should be treated more carefully than before.

T

he world is facing enormous challenges. Principal amongst these

are

environmental

climate

destruction,

change, scarce

resources, globalisation, population growth

change.

as

well

as

demographic

One of the commonly recognised ways

for human societies to adapt to these

challenges is moving from a linear to a

circular economy. Today, we are consuming

raw materials more than the world is able to

produce. Renewable raw materials would last for less than 6 months every year if we would limit consumption to the annual growth.

In order to ensure that the world remains

sustainable for the future human generations we have no other alternative but to learn to live in a circular economy. For this reason, this WPO position paper aims at

Antro Saila Vice President Sustainability World Packaging Organization

Global Perspectives 72

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

highlighting the issue of a circular economy and the

role(s) of packaging within it. This paper builds on recent

data and research carried out by numerous scientists and think-tanks around the world. The end of this paper

deals with current and envisaged role of WPO in a circular economy context.

Circular Economy - The Concept The term ‘Circular Economy’ encompasses more than the production and consumption of goods and services,

including a shift from fossil fuels to the use of renewable energy, and the role of diversity as a characteristic of

resilient and productive systems. It includes discussion of the role of money and finance as part of the wider debate, and some of its pioneers have called for a revamp of economic performance measurement tools.

The concept of a circular economy (CE) was first raised by

two British environmental economists, David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner in 1989. In their book, ‘Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment’, they pointed out that

a traditional open-ended economy was developed with

no built-in tendency to recycle, which was reflected by treating the environment as a waste reservoir. The circular economy is grounded in the study of feedback-rich (nonlinear) systems, particularly living systems. A major outcome

of this is the notion of optimising systems rather than components, or the notion of ‘design for fit’. As a generic notion, it draws from a number of more specific approaches including cradle-to-cradle, biomimicry, industrial ecology and the ‘blue economy’.

Linear ‘take, make, dispose’ industrial processes and the lifestyles that feed on them deplete finite reserves to create products that end up in landfills or in incinerators.

According to Ellen McArthur Foundation, looking beyond

the current take-make-dispose extractive industrial model,

a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of

finite resources and designing waste out of the system.

Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources,

the circular model builds economic, natural and social capital. It is based on three principles: 1. Design out waste and pollution.

2. Keep products and materials in use.

3. Regenerate natural systems.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

SOLID SUPPORT

Plastics

Underpin the Entire Economy Q. According to you, what is the role of the plastics industry in the success of a country?

and an industry that is now one of the fundamental

foundation stones of the UK economy. Essentially,

trade associations facilitate the exchange of

It is very clear that there cannot be a high-tech

experience between like-minded companies and

industry. Plastics underpin the entire economy as a

action - for example, in research and development

lightweight components for automobiles, trains,

the manufacturing environment.

industrial base in any country without a solid plastics

in doing so, they provide opportunities for joint

key enabling technology and provide mobility via

or the development of standards for products or

aircrafts and shipping. They also provide energyefficient building materials, first-class healthcare

products, and protect and preserve food to sustain our populations. The role of plastics in avoiding

food waste and the distribution of safe, clean drinking water is very well documented.

The plastics industry is a major employer and

provides direct employment for 1,66,000 people

in the UK, making it the second largest employer within the UK’s manufacturing sector. It has also been calculated that for every job created in the

plastics industry, a total of 2.74 are created in the wider economy, meaning nearly half a million

people rely upon the plastics industry as a source of employment in the UK.

The plastics industry is also a significant contributor to the global economy and in the UK alone, the industry has a turnover in excess of ÂŁ 25.5 billion.

I would even go as far as saying that without plastics

our

contemporary

economies

and

indeed our contemporary societies would wither quite seriously.

Q. Post Brexit, what kind of support did the UK plastics industry get from the Government?

Brexit has not yet happened and there are many uncertainties over the shape it could take. Since the

referendum, the BPF has been working very closely with the UK government to highlight the concerns

and opportunities our members have. Our members were largely against leaving the European Union; but clearly, we have to make the best of the cards

we are dealt. We will be looking for assistance from the government to keep and develop our highly valued workforce, of which we estimate 18,000 originated from EU member states outside the UK. They are employed at all levels of the industry and they make a significant contribution. Secondly, we want the government to do all it can to deliver frictionless trade with the EU. The EU is an incredibly important trading partner for the UK, accounting for nearly 70% of all plastics goods (materials, machinery and

Q. What role can / should an association / federation play for industry growth?

products) that we trade.

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) was created

opportunities and we are looking

back in 1933 at the very birth of the commercial

plastics industry. Since then, the BPF has witnessed the growth of countless applications for plastics

Global  Perspectives 76

Brexit

also

brings

with

it

to the government to explore

possible free trade agreements with other parts of the world.

Global Perspectives

“I would even go as far as

saying that without plastics

our contemporary economies

and indeed our contemporary

societies would wither quite

seriously,” expresses Philip Law,

in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Philip Law Director-General British Plastics Federation United Kingdom

77

Global Perspectives Training the Next Generation

compatible with the EU, as regulatory

Some positive developments from the UK government in terms of training plastics engineers include:

is highly important to our membership.

Introduction of T levels.

We are also keen that the government maintains

and

develops

legislation

equivalence between the UK and the EU

Q. You have recently highlighted that all plastic packaging and single-use items be reused, recycled and/or recovered by 2030. Share with us your vision and approach in this regard.

We want the UK government to ensure we can find EU research partners with

the same ease as before and that we are able to contribute to the EU’s R&D platforms.

Q. How does the plastics industry there maintain its competiveness as significant amount of raw material and equipment are imported?

The UK continues to be one of the

largest and most productive plastics

economies in the world and continues to drive innovation. The UK plastics

A new technical study

In recent weeks, the BPF has published a

being taught from 2020.

a Circular Economy’.

document entitled, ‘Plastics: A Vision for

programme that will start

The industry is under a lot of pressure

Introduction of the

with numerous demands being made

Apprenticeship Levy

of it. This is not just the case for the

last year, which

UK, but it is also happening at the EU

means companies can

level and in other EU member states

fully or partly fund

such as Germany and France. To give

apprenticeship training

us credibility when in dialogue with

in their business.

authorities, we need ambitious targets.

name a few.

We decided to position these at the

centre of a document that provides

foreign owned. Whilst the UK continues

Q. Combating negativity on plastics is frustrating. Your thoughts on this.

machinery, it continues to innovate and

that will never listen to reason. They

industry is highly international. Over 40% of the members of the BPF are

our government with a coherent plan

about how to raise recycling levels in

to import large amounts of polymer and

There will be some critics of plastics

is the home to numerous world-leading

are simply intrinsically disinclined to

ancillary equipment producers, speciality

additive manufacturers, as well as one of the largest chemicals companies in the world - INEOS.

As we are home to one of the most

demanding customer bases in the world,

listen to the benefits. In my experience,

it is better to focus on the more open-

minded members of society and build

outwards from there. Choose a few simple, but well supported messages and focus on communicating these.

with many global OEMs operating in the

It is also our belief that education

and

wonderful material should start at a

UK, it leads to continuous improvement innovation

within

the

entire

plastics supply chain. Innovation is also

driven by a very strong R&D base, with leading universities such as Bradford, Queen’s University Belfast, Warwick, Loughborough

and

Cambridge,

to

about the positive messages about our young age and for that reason, we are

if we don’t and other less informed

parties fill that vacuum, we are likely to end up with unhelpful legislation and a fundamentally uncompetitive plastics industry.

Q. What role can the current Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system play here?

The PRN system is crucial to our plan for

a circular economy in plastics. Instead of creating something new we should

Campaign’ that is seeing members

of the BPF visit local schools to talk to children about plastics.

£ 1.1 bn deficit

Exports

£ 5.6 bn EU

try to take the lead on this because

co-ordinating a ‘Polymer Ambassador

£ 3.6 bn deficit

Exports

the UK. It is absolutely crucial that we

£ 2.8 bn £ 9.1 bn

Imports

RoW

£ 3.9 bn

Imports

UK Trade Flow: Overview of plastics import and export markets - October, 2017.

78

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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www.engelglobal.com www.engelglobal.com

TIME TO GO BIG

Indian PVC Resin Manufacturing It’s Time for Big Centrifuges

Introduction Employment centrifuges resin

(PVC)

in

50 years now.

of

the

industrial

separation

suspensions

has

solid of

been

bowl

polyvinyl around

decanter chloride

for

over

Whilst the philosophy of operation remains virtually the same, early centrifuges are now virtually unrecognisable when compared with their modern-day counterparts, due to the plethora of technological advancements.

It

is,

therefore,

paramount

when

considering

new

state-of-the-art PVC centrifuge separation applications that all Ian Livesey Sales & Marketing Director Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd. United Kingdom

Several existing PVC manufacturing

plants in India are actively looking at

increasing current throughput capacities.

Some centrifuge manufacturers are now in a position to quote for projects with

offers for solid bowl decanter centrifuges with capacities of 30 T/hr of dry resin per unit.

available advancements are incorporated into the machine.

It is equally important to select a centrifuge OEM who has

played a major role in the successful technological evolution of the modern-day PVC centrifuge.

India’s Demand for PVC A consistent rise in PVC import demand, year-on-year

over many years, has made India one of the most closely monitored markets in the world.

Historically, the PVC industry in India has been driven by the demands from agriculture due to the high demand for

robust, cost-effective irrigation and water distribution systems.

More recently, the additional driving force for PVC in the

country has come from the construction industry with an

Global Perspectives 82

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives ever-increasing demand for improved

at

as piping, window profiles, electrical

OEMs, this is good news as several

sanitation and housing products such fittings and cabling etc.

India is now the largest importer of

increasing

capacities.

For

current

throughput

the

centrifuge

potential centrifuge sales are likely in the near future.

PVC in the world, with latest reports

However, such increases in plant

entering the country. This equates to

pace

suggesting

around

2.5

MT/annum

approx. 50% of the country’s demand. If unchecked, this demand is only going to get higher.

Such high dependency on PVC imports

capacities

are

with

the

demands

significant reduce

and

unlikely

constant not

impact

India’s

to

much greater capacities.

For example, NN

(currently

largest

PVC

capacity

machines installed in the global

the

PVC market)

to

import

300 KT/A would require approx.

2 of 18 T/hr dry resin machines

ongoing

make

dependency requirements.

identical machines or machines with

keep

necessary

high

For the centrifuge OEMs, this means more

NN

450 KT/A would require approx.

3 of 18 T/hr dry resin machines or

approx.

2

of

28

T/hr

dry

within these markets is, as things stand,

Several leading PVC manufacturers

years to come. The addition of other

new, larger manufacturing facilities,

Some centrifuge manufacturers are now

1.5 MT/annum of dry PVC resin being

offers for solid bowl decanter centrifuges

unlikely to change for many more

rising markets such as pharmaceutical, safety and environmental applications compound the demand further.

Possible Solution(s) Several existing PVC manufacturing plants in India are actively looking

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

are

with

currently plant

looking

at

building

outputs

of

around

seriously considered. Current thinking has increased the capacity for a typical

resin machines

in a position to quote for projects with with capacities of 30 T/hr of

single s-PVC resin production line from approx. 300 KT/A to in excess of 450 KT/A.

83

RESEARCH REPORT

India Plastics Business Story (IPBS) 2018

Results Declared

T

he India plastics business story continues to surge making its mark felt across the globe. And why not...don’t we deserve it? After the stone age, it was the metal age and we are today fortunate to be living in the plastics age,

a material that has perhaps touched lives more than ever! The phenomenal response evoked by this survey is

yet another indication of the latent energy set to be unleashed towards a positive and sustainable growth. Candid as it can be...

Industry surveys from POLYMERS Communiqué are crafting a new niche for itself and providing the readers a very valued insight into this fiercely competitive market. Have a read...

Survey Basics

Sample Size: 252

l

Format: Electronic Forms

l

Response Tabulation: Singular

l

Government policies Others*

28.17%

15.08%

22.62% Environmental myths

Volatility in raw material price

14.29%

11.11%

Extent of adaption of technology and automation

8.73% Availability of skilled manpower

The biggest challenge facing the Indian plastics industry...

Others* Lack of infrastructure & Fragmentation of the processing industry

Curious...a wee bit surprising...it’s beyond the business parameters.

Majority of the respondents selected ‘Government policies’ as the biggest challenge and the second choice being on the similar line – ‘the environmental myths’. The message is loud and clear ‘business toh set

hai bhai, just give us some good space to work and we will truly excel’.

Industry fragmentation, which was so much spoken about, came a poor 7th rank (last!). As an industry, we have genuinely evolved.

Global Perspectives 86

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

HIGH OUTPUT UP TO 9,000 BOTTLES / HOUR 7. Bottle Eject

1. Pet Resin

5. Perform Inverter

Edible oil bottle capacity from 0.5L to 5L

6. Pitch Change & Stretch Blow

APPLICATIONS Water bottle capacity from 0.5L to 5L

2. Perform Injection & Cooling

3. Secondary Cooling / Conditioning

4. Continuous Temperature Optimization

CSD bottle capacity from 0.5L to 2L

1.5 Step Injection Strech Blow Molding Machine

PF24-8B

Very Negative

2.39%

Unsure

Positive

9.56%

Very Positive

53.78%

27.09%

7.18% Negative

The sentiment of doing business in India...

‘Dhando kem chale che?’ a very

spoken

question

of

the

day.

With a never say die spirit of the plastics industry, the response was

positive to very positive by over 80% of the respondents. Only a handful of respondents were very

negative about the sentiments.

Guess, one will find such a minority Element of innovation in products

everywhere.

Product specifications

58.74%

57.54%

43.25%

58.73%

The top 3 product assessment criteria include...

Differentiation in technology

54.76% ‘Green’ nature of the product

It’s important to get our product positioning right, isn’t

it! So, are we in sync with the customer perceptions? This

POLYMERS Communiqué survey will help you gauge this! It’s

Return on investment

a tie for the top spot...if you have got an innovation in your product and if it is green...you’ve got it right! Close to 59% of the respondents have chosen these

2 attributes. Then comes product specifications with a close 58%. If you have

26.98% Brand of the company supplying the product

(Values total 300 due to multiple choice answers)

got this combination right nothing else seems to matter. For interest, ROI also scores well on position 4.

Transparency in business

Committed customer support

Knowledge base

Sales network

Delivery schedule

Trade experience

The top 3 business process assessment criteria include...

The operations guys will be keen to test their scores here. Seems

like people are fed up with the

earlier ways of doing business.

69.84%

73.41%

56.75%

43.25%

36.51%

20.24%

Transparency in business came

numero uno with a healthy 73.41%.

Customer

support

(Values total 300 due to multiple choice answers)

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

87

ROAD AHEAD

Report on Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers An Executive Summary

The ‘Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global

Capacities and Trends 2017-2022’ report indicates strong growth in bio-based building blocks and moderate

T

growth in bio-based polymers.

he production capacities of bio-based polymers continue to grow at around 3 to 4% per annum, i.e. at about the same rate as petrochemical polymers. Therefore, the

market share of bio-based polymers in the total polymer market remains constant at

around 2%. However, the individual development of different bio-based polymers varies considerably. While some are virtually collapsing compared to previous forecasts (e.g.

bio-PET), many are showing constant or slightly increasing capacities and a few are even showing significant growth (such as PLA). Additionally, for some bio-based polymers such The Team Michael Carus nova-Institut GmbH Germany

as PHA, PEF, bio-PE and bio-PP, the prospects for the future are quite positive. Overall, Wolfgang Baltus Wobalt Expedition Consultancy Thailand

Dr. Harald Kaeb narocon Innovation Consulting Germany

Prof. Jan Ravenstijn Doris de Guzman Jan Ravenstijn Tecnon OrbiChem Consulting USA The Netherlands

Raj Chinthapalli nova-Institut GmbH Germany

Global Perspectives POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

91

Global Perspectives

PBAT

EPDM

PP

PVC

PU APC PHA

Ethanol

Sorbitol

Isobutanol

Lactic Acid

SBR

5-HMF

Plant Oil

DN 5

Glycerol

Caprolactam

Hemicellulose

ABS Other Furan-based polymers

2,5-FDCA

Aniline

Levulinic acid

Fatty acids Furfural

MPG

Furfuryl alcohol Polyols

Epicholorohydrin

Natural Rubber Starch-based Polymers Lignin-based Polymers Cellulose-based Polymers

Acrylic acid Itaconic acid

Lignocellulose

HDMA

Superabsorbent polymers

3-HP

Saccharose

Natural Rubber

Lysine

PBS(X)

Succinic acid

Fructose

Starch

PU

1, 4-Butanediol

Glucose

Adipic Acid

PU PA

THF

1, 3-Propanediol

PTT PLA

PEF

p-Xylene

Methyl Metacrylate Isosorbide

PBT

Terephthatic acid

Ethylene

Chloride

PET-like

PET

MEG

Propylene Vinyl

PMMA

PE

UPR

LCDA

PFA

PHA PA

Epoxy Resins

PU

PU

Million Tonnes

Figure 1: Pathways to bio-based polymers.

the market environment remains challenging

6

with low crude oil prices, little political support and partially underutilised capacities. Until now,

5

the biodegradability of some bio-based polymers

4

advantage globally.

has not yet been able to generate a real

The new comprehensive market and trend report,

3

‘Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities and Trends 2017-2022’ is published by

German nova-Institute. It contains comprehensive

2

information on capacity development from 2011

to 2022, per building block and polymer as well as

1

information on 102 individual polymer producers.

Aliphatic polycarbonates (APC) - cyclic

Polybutylene succinate (PBS) and copolymers

Epoxies

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

Cellulose Acetate

Ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) Polymides (PA)

Poly (butylene adipate-coterephthalate) (PBAT)

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

A total of 17 bio-based building blocks and

Polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) Polyethylene furanoate (PEF) Polyethylene (PE)

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)

15 polymers are covered in the report.

A Brief Insight Figure 1 shows all commercially realised pathways from

biomass

via

different

building

blocks

and monomers to bio-based polymers. As in

previous years, several pathways and some new

Polylactic acid (PLA) Starch blends

Figure 2: Bio-based Polymers: Evolution of worldwide production capacities from 2011 to 2022 (without PUR).

92

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

ADAPTING TECHNOLOGY

“There is a clear

tendency towards fully integrated lines. With the help of headsets

and other navigation

devices, problems can be overcome much faster than today,”

explains Gerold Schley, in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Gerold Schley CEO BC Extrusion Holding GmbH, Germany

China is Growing Shifting to Higher Technology and Digitalisation

Q. battenfeld-cincinnati underwent significant structural and ownership changes in 2015 and 2016. How do you see the impact of the changes in today’s business?

The overall changes have significant impact on our business performance today. We are much leaner and faster in decisions and actions.

In the past two years, we had a huge amount of investment in R&D and equipment; we showed those at the

K 2016, Chinaplas 2017, 2018 and NPE 2018.

Q. You have had an extensive experience in the China plastics machinery market in the past.

How do you see the market shaping up there?

I still see a fast-growing market in China

with a shift to higher technology and digitalisation i.e. Industry 4.0.

Q. What are the emerging trends as regards the conical twin screw extruder industry?

The trend goes to higher flexibility in terms of the processing window from low to high outputs and to a strong extruder design for high back pressure

Global Perspectives 96

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives applications like the co-extrusion of window profiles.

Q. Tell us about your technology showcase at NPE 2018?

We introduced our new extruder series conEX NG and solEX NG with the

BCtouch UX control system to the US

market for the first time. These extruders provide

energy-savings

and

higher

production efficiency; thanks to their new design and technical features. The

BCtouch UX control is ideally suited for Industry 4.0 applications.

We

also

exhibited

a

STARextruder

for PET processing which received

other navigation devices, problems can

be

than today.

overcome

much

faster

All this will lead to much higher efficiency.

we

are

active

worldwide,

by

country

and/or

extremely important to recognise the the

region.

However, as a general trend, we see many possibilities in the pipe and the packaging (sheet) markets.

the US for the production of food-

Q. Any new regulatory norms for pipe extrusion that could impact your business?

a topic that is of great importance in

regulatory

a letter of non-objection from the

FDA (Food & Drug Administration) in

be

permanently somewhere in the world.

All our extruders are equipped with the BCtouch UX control system, which was designed for intuitive operation

and for Industry 4.0 applications such as

preventive

maintenance,

remote

maintenance, OPC UA functionality and line simulation for trainings.

We

also

take

part

in

further

developing these standards, e.g. in the EUROMAP 77 project which deals with

interfaces

machines

and

between

MES

execution systems).

individual

(manufacturing

Q. Help us define a futuristic extruder for the industry.

There is a clear tendency towards

fully integrated lines. The operator will be supported by the main control

system, where all relevant processing

data from the different components are collected and analysed. Based on

the collected data, the operator will get hints in order to optimise the

process. With the help of headsets and

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

changing

In the past years for example, plastic pipes

have

been

used

more

and

more even for higher pressure classes,

which causes a heavy increase in wall thicknesses.

In order to fulfill these new demands, we developed a new extruder and

die head generation, which allows the customer to produce heavy wall pipes with minimum tolerances.

As machine supplier, we have to adapt

our

machine

these changes.

technology

Q. The biggest business challenge that you have successfully overcome is...

and I am quite sure, that there will

the market.

Q. How integral is Industry 4.0 to your products?

changed direction.

during my life in the plastics industry

We always face the situation that are

trends and adapt the organisation to the

There have been several challenges

grade thermoforming sheet, which is

norms

Q. If you were 35 years today, how differently would you handle your business? market drives the business and it is

importance of each end-use market varies

America and North Africa.

This is a good question. In the end, the

Q. Which end-use market holds the maximum promise for your business?

As

PVC window is strong in Europe, North

to

Q. What are the different buying trends across different geographies such as North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa?

If we look at the pipe business, PO pipes are showing the strongest growth

rates more or less all over the world.

However, PVC sewer pipes are also of high interest in many regions, especially 3-layer pipes.

OPVC is growing across all regions.

some

additional

surprises, which I do not expect today. It would

be hard to point out one special highlight.

Q. How has the Indian market been for you this far?

We, as battenfeldcincinnati, like to

do business with India and look

positively into the future. We always

We are not unsatisfied

find highly skilled

however, as a CEO I am

high interest in

with the Indian market;

always expecting and looking for more.

people with a

technology.

Q. What kind of investments / acquisitions are planned for the growth of your Indian operation?

The majority of our investment goes into R&D, followed by equipment and education of our employees.

Q. What excites you most about the Indian market?

We, as battenfeld-cincinnati, like to do business with India and look positively into the future. We always find highly

skilled people with a high interest

in technology. If I would make one comment: it would be very helpful if the bureaucracy could be reduced to make it easier for our customers and for us.

97

CLOSE QUARTERS

Manfred Geiss Chief Executive Officer Geiss AG, Germany

Q. What has been the biggest change that you witnessed in thermoforming machines in the last 2 decades?

learning

from

my

father

was

to

only

can

be

understand that long-term relationship to

your

customers

successful if you fulfill customer’s

The biggest change in the last 2

expectations. You must be ‘one step

pneumatic drives to the fully-electrical

company’s logo.

decades

was

the

switchover

from

machine. The modern thermoformer

is driven by servomotors completely.

Thermoforming a

more

has

‘handmade’

switched small

from

series

ahead’, what later on formed our

Q. Any revolutionary industry demands on the CNC trimming machines that you are working on?

technology to a fully automated, high

The biggest demand here was to

be achieved by digital controls of the

to meet accuracy needs. Here, we need

quality ‘Class A’-technology. This could

design the airbag weakening machine

process and heater controls.

a reproducibility of the tool path in an

Q. For Geiss, how is your export market when compared to your domestic market?

environment conditions.

As a typical German ‘hidden champion’,

we have an export rate of 80%. So, the export is our core business!

Q. The biggest business learning you have had from Georg Geiss (+)?

Nice question. The most important

area of +/- 0.02 mm under industrial

The biggest challenge was

to supply any machine size

in any automation standard required by adopting our

automatic design system.

Q. As you look back on your journey, what do you consider as the most pivotal period for you in business?

We introduced the core inventions in thermoforming machines in 1994.

These inventions done led me to the cognition that we need to go to the global market now. What I then did.

Q. What is your message to your customers to help them be future-ready?

Thermoforming technology is globally growing. My message is: Do not invest

in the cheapest possible machine but

think about the best product quality output. We demonstrate to visitors

that investing in the best technology makes them success as well.

Q. Geiss is a holder of a number of patents. Share with the readers of POLYMERS Communiqué information on some of the key patents.

Global Perspectives 98

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Global Perspectives

Family-run Businesses

The Backbone of Germany’s Success “While we changed from a private owned

company to a shareholder company, we still kept

the company in hand of the family as I believe this step was essential for our company to succeed

globally,” conveys Manfred Geiss, in dialogue with POLYMERS Communiqué.

Our

plate

key

patents

system,

the

are

the

halogen

window heaters

and the system of the T10 machine with the drives under the forming

surface. These inventions have made

according to you changed the way you looked at business?

standard required by adopting our

We name 3 important steps up for Geiss:

Q. According to you, what is the future of family-run businesses?

NN

advised us for many years literally

and make us the leading supplier of

changed the way we looked at and

thermoforming machines.

Q. On your transition to being a shareholder company...

conducted business.

NN

The change from a private owned kept the company in hand of the family

essential for our company to succeed globally. It also made the generation transfer to my children easier.

Q. As a business owner, how is the next generation handling your business today?

Our next generation is incharge for

10 years now. He continues our business exactly following the way I learned it from my father.

Q. Any specific incident that

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

The

introduction

of

CNC

worldwide

is

family-owned

and

family-run companies!

Q. How has the Indian market been for you this far?

It led us to our way of ‘100% in-

We had good success in the beginning,

house production’.

NN

The backbone of Germany’s success

technology which was a revolution for our productivity and quality.

company to a shareholder company still and will continue like that. This step was

An ingenious tax attorney who

automatic design system.

The invention and performance of

‘automatic design’ of our machines

which I personally programmed. This introduction gave us the deciding

unique feature that any machine size can be quoted and built without prototype risks.

Q. The biggest business challenge that you have successfully overcome is...

The biggest challenge was to supply

any machine size in any automation

but things are struggling at the moment.

We are going to educate our service staff and increase our sales staff.

Q. What is the plan for the growth of your Indian operation?

Growing and increasing service power.

Q. What excites you most about the Indian market?

Fantastic

challenges.

thermoforming is

far

behind

I

business

when

feel in

that

India

compared

to

other countries. I thus see it as an opportunity.

99

1

95

5

J. R. Shah Managing Director, Jayvee Organics & Polymers Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

Pensive look on the face of a final year BSc student in Bhavnagar; JRS as he is fondly called, on the threshold of his degree!

Change being the only constant, we thought it

would be wonderful to capture this and freeze

‘time’. We associate with the ‘current look’ of

our industry colleagues and would it not be

exciting to know of their persona, decades ago. That’s what we did, had them dig

deep into their archives and share this just for your ‘read’... or should we say ‘see’!

1

A visual delight!

97

5

R. S. Sodhi Managing Director, Gujarat Co-Op Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., Anand

Staring his journey from being a consumer of dairy products to making them for the country; R. S. Sodhi gets into CTAE, Udaipur.

100

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

1

9 7 9

Rajiv Sanghavi Chief Executive Officer, Satellite Plastic Industries, Mumbai

1

Honing his management skills in London, Rajiv shares his college days’ picture.

98

6

Shirish V. Divgi Managing Director, Plastics Machinery Asia, Ahmedabad

1

Injecting himself into a profession; Shirish at Windsor; the start of a very successful career

9 8 9

Makarand Dixit Head - Marketing, OPaL, Vadodara

Unbelievable, Makarand in ‘cricket whites’ at the pacy WACA cricket ground in Perth, Australia; life beyond (actually before!) plastics!

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

101

GREEN ALL AROUND

People Demonising Plastics

Overlooking Benefits to Humanity All plastics can be recycled or their latent energy recovered.

Thus, today’s negative perception about plastics is

scientifically inaccurate needs to be changed; resolute

P

industry efforts required.

lastics have become ubiquitous in

taken the first pragmatic step of acknowledging

in terms of volume and is growing.

intertwined with solid waste management. The

our lives. Demand has outpaced steel

Reasons for this impressive growth are their

favourable properties, low cost and convenience in use. Global annual usage of plastics at present is approximately 300 million tonnes.

habits of littering and mismanagement of waste.

Petrochemical and the downstream industry

Along with growth has come challenges of

investment.

Prevailing

narratives

have

the

non-biodegradable

and

has

future investments. The cascading effect of

prevailing

discourse

demonising

are closely linked to the plastics industry like

plastics waste management. The waste being

potential to severely impact both, existing and

attracted global attention. As a consequence,

this would also be felt in other sectors which

plastics, overlooking the benefits it has brought

agriculture, food processing and, in particular, the

public

highly

is

visible,

Growing volume of wastes in cities, towns, villages,

packaging industry. It would impact employment and earnings in all these sectors.

water bodies and even in pristine locations

All plastics can be recycled or their latent

concerns. Graphic depiction of the impact of

management of plastics waste. There are technical

the negative image. Shrill narratives in electronic,

Mixed plastics waste can be co-processed in

image of plastics and the industry. There is very

be used in blast furnaces or incinerated to recover

based on science.

in road construction with bitumen. Alternatively,

In a closely-knit world of instant connectivity

or gaseous hydrocarbons through pyrolysis.

of mountains, lakes and forests are genuine

energy recovered. Recycling is the first choice in

plastics waste on flora and fauna has magnified

solutions to end-of-life mixed plastics waste.

print and social media has further tarnished the

cement kilns supplementing coal. Similarly, it can

little tangible counter narratives from the industry

energy. Co-mingled plastics waste can be used

through internet, this negative perception is now

a global discourse. Depending on geography and culture, the hue may vary, but the general

perception about plastics is the same - it is harmful to human life and environment. Both these are,

102

problem gets aggravated with the faulty social

has made and continue to commit substantial

to humanity.

S. K. Ray Hon. Secretary ICPE, Mumbai

the problem. The plastics waste management is

however, scientifically inaccurate.

Overlooked issues now need to be factored in any future initiatives from the industry. The industry has

plastics wasted can be converted into liquid and Management of plastics waste has gained urgency in India with the recently concluded event WED 2018 - hosted by India on 5th June, 2018.

India took the pledge of eliminating all ‘single

use’ plastics by 2022. The industry has a relatively short window of opportunity to shift the narratives from negative to neutral zone. This is critical to the future well-being of the industry.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

SIVARAM SPEAKS

Macro-porous PE made

by a monoaxial or biaxial stretching process have large interconnected

pores with diameters in

the range of 50 - 1,000 nm and has the ability to

Macro-porous Polyethylene as Heat Dissipating Comfort-fabrics

Fascinating World of Invisible Polymers

transmit over 96% of the human body radiation

compared to only 1.5% for cotton.

E

xcessive consumption of energy

by

humankind

has many consequences.

It is unsustainable since fossil fuels

finite

are

a

non-renewable

resource.

Additionally,

increasing use of hydrocarbon

fuels results in greenhouse gas

emissions causing global warming.

Although economically viable and

sustainable carbon-neutral renewable

energy, such as solar, hydrogen and wind,

A scanning electron micrograph of a knotted Dyneema® fibre.

offer the promise of a ‘greener planet’, the

process of transition to entirely new energy sources is

painfully slow and fraught with many unintended consequences.

Therefore, in the short-term, more efficient use of energy is likely

Dr. S. Sivaram Former Director, CSIR-NCL Honorary Professor and INSA Senior Scientist Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

to bring greater benefits.

Cooling the Smart Way One of the large consumers of energy is the heating and

cooling of residences and commercial buildings. Comfort air

conditioning

in

hot

and

cold

weather

is

now

accepted as standard all over the world. Heating and cooling

103

spaces is believed to account for about 50%

as polyethylene have only C-H bonds and do not

Thermal insulation, building design and smart

However,

of the total energy consumed in our buildings. indoor temperature and lighting control are

being increasingly advocated to reduce the

energy consumption. However, it is recognised that there has to be a smarter way to provide air

conditioning comfort to humans than by cooling

materials which are transparent

to IR (for better

heat dissipation) and opaque to

visible light (for application as

apparel materials).

films

are

transparent,

needed for a textile fabric such as air-exchange or

permeability

wicking capacity.

and

moisture

absorption

or

For the Right Fit with Macro-porous PE

a small portion of the total space. Just imagine

workers

individual space a person occupies, which is but

Yi Cui from Stanford University, USA and co-

the savings in energy, if the fabric you wear can

porous polyethylene (PE), of the type, widely

thermal energy (cooling) efficiently so that heating

to develop textile

polyethylene

and also do not have other desirable properties

the entire space of a building rather than the

retain the thermal energy (heating) or remove the

The challenge is

absorb in the IR region of body heat emission.

or cooling is available only to the small space surrounding your body.

Human body at 34° C emits mid-IR radiation

with a peak emission at 9.5 micron wavelength.

This heat is dissipated by the human body by a

combination

of

convective,

radiative

and

have

recently

shown

that

macro-

employed as separator membranes in lithium ion batteries, can be appropriately tailored for

fabricating a self-cooling textile material1. Macro-

porous PE and their applications in a lithium ion battery have been described in the previous issues

of

POLYMERS

Communiqué

magazine

(October – November 2016 and December 2016 January 2017).

moisture evaporative processes. If there is a way

Macro-porous PE made by a monoaxial or biaxial

process in the summer or inhibit it in the

pores with diameters in the range of 50 - 1,000 nm.

by which we can enhance the heat dissipation winter, we will have an approach to individual thermal management.

Such ‘smart-textiles’ are the subject matter of recent advances in science.

One approach to local cooling is to make the

textile an efficient dissipater of body radiation.

Most commonly used textiles strongly absorb human body radiation since they have functional

groups such as C-O (polyesters, cellulose) and C-N (polyamides) which strongly absorb IR radiation in the region emitted by the human body.

The challenge is, therefore, to develop textile

stretching process have large interconnected These pore sizes are large enough to scatter visible light; hence they appear opaque and white to the

eye (Refer Figure 1). However, these pore sizes are much smaller than the IR wavelength and hence transparent to IR. The pores are interconnected, have slit-like structure and, hence, can offer

unhindered flow of air through the material

(Refer Figure 2). Such macro-porous PE has the ability to transmit over 96% of the human body

radiation compared to only 1.5% for cotton. The cooling effect was measured experimentally using

thermal measurement equipment. It was shown

materials which are transparent to IR (for better

heat dissipation) and opaque to visible light (for application as apparel materials). Polyolefins such

Figure 1: Macro-porous polyethylene used as separator membranes for lithium ion battery. Note that they are opaque.

104

Figure 2: A scanning electron micrograph of the surface of macro-porous polyethylene.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

RIGHT FIT

I

n

2011,

Tanishq

launched

a

contest

‘My Expression’ soliciting ideas for a new brand

(Mia) of jewellery for young, working women.

Conducted online through social media, Tanishq wanted to get design idea inputs from among

the target market groups reflecting what they considered to be the most appealing factors. Ten winners selected by eminent jury were awarded

Rs. 1,00,000 each. Tanishq launched a seventyfive-design product folio of Mia and rest is history.

Tanishq, thus, co-created the product with

its potential customers. This classic example showcases the importance of listening to

customers, understanding their genuine needs and bring an ‘Outside In’ perspective to your business rather than an ‘Inside Out’ one.

So, What Does This ‘Co-creation’ Really Mean?

Co-creation is an act of creating value together

The future will belong to those who walk the extra mile to understand customer’s needs, his application and even go

beyond that to jointly designing him as a

market leader. The process of ‘co-creation’ will then be a ‘win-win’ for both and create a long-term partnership.

My Product v/s Your Application Co-creation

Shailesh Sheth Corporate Strategy Adviser Management & Manufacturing Technology, Mumbai

108

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

COMING UP

INDIAPLAST 2019

Leveraging Digitisation

Being technology savvy

themselves, the organisers are leveraging digitisation to the

hilt and making the exhibiting as seamless as possible. While continuously evolving newer features for convenience,

adaptation of digitisation already is in place for space booking,

visitor registration and business matchmaking and more...to

help both exhibitors and visitors derive maximum benefits from the mega exposition.

P

reparations are in full swing for INDIAPLAST 2019, being organised

by the Plastics Machinery Manufacturers Association of India (PMMAI) and Triune Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. between 28th February,

2019 and 4th March, 2019 at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR.

In the vein of important exhibitions, INDIAPLAST 2019, is all set to give the much-needed fillip to the Indian plastics industry. Technology and

equipment are a lifeline to most industries and plastics is no different; the event will extrude and mould the future of this industry as visitors

will flock to the show to understand how they can continue to stay relevant in today’s competitive times. With 70% of the space already sold; companies (be it raw material manufacturers, technology providers,

manufacturers of machines and axillary products, services providers etc.)

continue to book by the day as none would wish to miss what could

be a very meaningful industry gathering with business being the high focus. For an update; not only big names, but also small and medium

enterprises (SMEs) having already booked space in the machinery and non-machinery segments.

Wanting to decide on your participation or see who else has booked

the space with you, simply visit the official website of the show at www.indiaplast.org which displays prominently the names of exhibitors

participating. If you are not on your computers, there is the INDIAPLAST

mobile application (app) that can be downloaded which provides details

of the exposition, names of exhibitors, visitors’ profile and floor plan, Cyril Pereira Managing Director Triune Exhibitors Pvt. Ltd. Bengaluru

112

among others.

See Before You Book In a first, exhibitors can log onto the website (or download the app) and click on the category under which they want to book their space

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

i.e.

masterbatches,

moulding,

additives,

technology,

blow

machinery,

finished goods etc. Further, what was hitherto an offline preserve is now very

There will be Life at INDIAPLAST 2019 as Machines would be Live...

Quite certainly, seeing in believing and technology has the most crucial role to play

in the growth of the plastics industry; INDIAPLAST promises to be a true showcase in this regard.

much online, and exhibitors can pick

The industry response to INDIAPLAST 2019 is overwhelming...over 70% of the space

book their space; subject, of course, to

equipment companies have booked very large spaces. With quality crowd expected

and choose exactly where they want to

availability. For instance, companies that are into a particular kind of raw material

can opt to be close to similar such firms.

Or, smaller companies specialising in any particular technology, finished good or machinery can book space in the

is sold out! With an intent to showcase their technologies and capabilities live, in numbers, space in the mega-machinery halls was lapped up as it opened.

“We are very excited about the forthcoming INDIAPLAST 2019. It is indeed a good opportunity for us to showcase our latest new generation press - redefining high

productivity with excellent print quality, fast job change-over and lower conversion cost. The press is suitable for small, medium and large run, all well integrated into

one solution; come to witness this innovation,” says Bharat Shah,

neighborhood of bigger firms having

CMD, Pelican Rotoflex Pvt. Ltd., Rajkot.

the same area of expertise. A simple and

Adding to this sentiment further, Nirav

clear approach...isn’t it...and all this online!

Shah, Managing Director, Shubham Extrusion

As mentioned earlier, while nearly 70 per

Technik Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad enthusiastically

cent of the area has already been booked,

highlights,

bookings for the remaining space is in

progress and the online feature aims to

live

2019 platform to highlight our expertise.”

The online payment gateway is an

The industry waits with bated breath for this mega event...

integral part of the seamless experience.

travel and hotels are witnessing an unpresented spurt during

Pay online, get you receipts online,

those days already. The indications are clear, visitors will get to see

online...

what they are looking for – new equipment, new technology,

guess you are all set to participate. The

unprecedented automation; and that too live. INDIAPLAST 2019, living up to

dynamically updated layout, once your

your expectations, literally!

stall booking is complete, the online

layout will continue to help exhibitors

(and visitors) familiarise themselves with the neighbourhood.

Business Matchmaking, Digitally Significantly, digitisation will serve the

purpose of business-matchmaking where not only exhibitors can get information on the kind of visitors they are interested

in, but also visitors can get data on the kind of exhibitors they are interested in

at the click of a mouse. The app (and the website) will facilitate chatting as

well as scheduling and rescheduling

manufacturing challenges etc. Truly, a business enabler!

As with most important exhibitions,

each day to the visitors. This will serve

the

beginning

of

register online till the very end and receive their QR codes for having their badges printed against their respective codes

at

dedicated

kiosks

at

the

exposition without having to stand in snaking queues.

possible, the organisers will continue to

e-invites can be sent out and interaction

can be facilitated between exhibitors

and technocrats to discuss on-floor

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

regular intervals.

the show. Visitors can continue to

before

business

Furthermore,

be sent out to pre-registered visitors at

INDIAPLAST 2019 will have its high

months

The e-Channel

opportunities.

are afoot for full-blown e-bulletins to

stall bookings are scheduled to close

of appointments between exhibitors

and visitors, so as to make the best of

at

film line. We look to use the INDIAPLAST

mark their presence at the exposition.

forms

launch,

5-layer Polyolefin Dedicated (POD) blown

already ensured their participation to

and

will

performance, fully automatic co-extrusion IBC

help all those exhibitors who haven’t

documentation

“Shubham

INDIAPLAST 2019, its state-of-the-art, high-

In a bid to attract as many visitors as leverage the e-channel created to send

out regular updates to pre-registered visitors via email and SMS. Indeed, plans

profile Show Daily that will be distributed as a launch pad for the exhibitors. This communication platform will also be made available on the event website (and the app). To add, the Show Daily

will also be emailed to the exhibitors as well as pre-registered visitors, each day.

With INDIAPLAST 2019 positioned to be India’s flagship event in the field

of plastics, raw materials, processing, machinery

and

finished

goods;

digitisation will surely help expand its reach exponentially, both in India and abroad.

113

CoPolymers

Choose Your Best Answer

Mastermind: Prof. (Dr.) D. D. Kale

A quick check on how updated you are, a few not so difficult questions.

A 3-minute quiz...give it a try!

1.

Copolymers are...

6.

a. Polymers of carbon monoxide (CO)

b. Mixture of two polymers c. Polymers made from more than

d. Polymers made from cobalt (Co)

7.

c. Ethylene and ethyl alcohol

8.

1: c; 2: d; 3: c; 4: d; 5: c; 6: d; 7: c; 8: c; 9: b; 10: c; 11: c; 12: b; 13: b; 14: c; 15: c; 16: a

b. Propylene and chlorinated

9.

10.

propylene

d. Acetone and ethylene

114

diisocyanate

b. Ethyl acrylate, propylene and

diacid such as terephthalic acid

c. Ethylene, propylene and diene

a. Ethylene and pentadiene

d. Ethylene, propylene and maleic

such as butadiene anhydride

15.

d. Stearic acid and maleic acid

SIS is a copolymer of... a. Silicone and styrene b. Silicone and isophthalic acid c. Styrene and isoprene d. Stearic acid and styrene

interpolymers of...

b. Ethylene and silicones

SMA is a copolymer of...

c. Styrene and maleic anhydride

ESI are copolymers or a. Ethyl acrylate and styrene c. Ethylene and styrene d. Ethylene and stearic acid

b. Styrene and methyl methacrylate

11.

EPDM are copolymers of... a. Ethylene, propylene and

a. Styrene and methyl acrylic acid

Polyketones are copolymers of...

c. Carbon monoxide and ethylene or

14.

d. Ethylene and acrylamide

styrene

ketone

styrene

TOPASÂŽ marketed and

c. Propylene and styrene

d. Acrylonitrile, butadiene and

b. Acetone and methyl propyl

d. Maleic acid and brominated

manufactured by Ticona is a

2-norbornene

ABS is a copolymer of...

a. Acetone and methyl ethyl ketone

and styrene

c. Maleic anhydride and butylstyrene

b. Ethylene cyclo olefin such as

b. Acetone, butadiene and stearic

5.

b. Methyl methacrylate, butadiene

copolymer of...

a. Acrylic acid and styrene

MBS is a copolymer of... a. Butyl acrylate and styrene

d. Styrene and sebacic acid

d. Propylene and vinyl chloride

acid

13.

c. Styrene and butadiene rubber

c. Propylene and ethylene

c. Acetone, styrene and butadiene

d. 1-Hexene and methacrylic acid

SBR is a copolymer of... b. Stearic acid and boric acid

ethylene

4.

ASA is a copolymer of...

a. Styrene and bromine

from...

propylene

c. Vinyl chloride and acrylic acid

d. Acrylic acid and stearic acid

PPCP is a copolymer made a. Propylene and chlorinated

b. Ethylene and acrylic acid

c. Acrylate, styrene and acrylonitrile

d. Ethylene and vinyl acetate

3.

c. Styrene and anhydride of maleic

b. Acetone, styrene and acrylonitrile

a. Ethyl alcohol and vinyl alcohol b. Ethyl alcohol and vinyl acetate

as sodium) of copolymers of...

a. Ethylene and acetic acid

a. Acetone, styrene and acrylic acid

EVA is a copolymer made from...

Ionomers are metal salts (such

b. Styrene and nitrile rubber

d. Styrene and acrylonitrile

as a catalyst

2.

12.

acid

one monomers where they are chemically bonded

SAN is a copolymer of... a. Stearic acid and nitrile rubber

16.

Teflon FEP is a copolymer of... a. Fluorinated (ethylene and propylene)

b. Fluorine, ethylene and propylene c. Formaldehyde, ethylene and propylene

d. Formaldehyde, ethyl acrylate and propyl acrylate

POLYMERS CommuniquĂŠ l June - July 2018

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MENTORING

Empowering

Through Mentoring People who can do great

things are wonderful assets.

Mentoring can help in

retention of these high

potential and ambitious employees, significantly

benefitting organisations.

C

ompanies invest considerable amount of money and time

in training, orientation and other activities to improve the performance and efficiency of their human resource. Most of the

training is structured and targeted to achieve certain goals in terms of doing things better. Teamwork exercises are often part of retreats and

short programmes. It is usually difficult to assess the value added by some of these games and interventions.

Why Mentor?

The secret of building truly high performing organisations lies largely on the culture in place and the sense of belongingness and commitment the employees have for the company’s goals. In any

eone, it for som p m la path. ght a r own If you li ten you h g ri b verb o ist Pro will als Buddh n do you ca good t s hare te a just s The gre is not r e him th o veal to for an t to re u b , s e ch your ri aeli n. w o in Disr his Benjam

case, individual high performance of all employees

is naturally the bedrock of the overall performance of the organisation.

While training personnel to perform individual tasks

is largely a matter of procedures, the organisations also have far more complex processes that make them work. People have to learn them and they

extend into many directions, often across functions.

Networks, relationships, communication, decision making, crisis and conflict management and many

other factors create the environment in which

the employees and the managements must operate. In addition, as people begin to move up in their lives to explore greater challenges and shoulder bigger responsibilities in the organisation, they find

themselves in those more complex environments wherein they need

superior interpersonal skills, greater vision, enhanced ability to see Rakesh Shah RS Coaching and Consulting New Delhi

116

beyond the immediate tasks, think laterally and manage resources across functions. In this journey, they need inputs and support that

helps them to expand their intrinsic resource and abilities to effectively deal with these new, often unstructured situations.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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A u g u s t 3 - 6, 2 0 1 8

Identifying Your Mentor Mentoring

Indra Nooyi,

to

Chairman and Chief

help

full

Executive Officer, PepsiCo

people

potential

themselves

says, “If I hadn’t had mentors,

more

I wouldn’t be here today. I’m a

centre

utilise

and

to

effective.

stage

their

develop

become

Typically,

therefore, mentorship is a

product of great mentoring, great

relationship in which a

coaching... Coaches or mentors are

more

very important. They could be

more

anyone - your husband, other

experienced

or

knowledgeable

person helps to guide

family members or your boss.”

takes

One of the pitfalls in these extended relationships

a less experienced or less

knowledgeable

person.

The

mentor may be older or younger

than the person being mentored, but she

of you.” A classic example of mentorship, which

is usually an extended or long-term relationship

is India’s centuries old Guru-Shishya Parampara

(Tutor-Pupil tradition).

Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,

PepsiCo says, “If I hadn’t had mentors, I wouldn’t be here today. I’m a product of great mentoring, great

coaching... Coaches or mentors are very important.

support that

They could be anyone - your husband, other family

expand their

The peer and boss-associate relationships are often

helps them to intrinsic resource and abilities

to effectively

deal with these new, often

unstructured situations.

outside professional he holds in high esteem. The

mentor needs to let the personality of the mentee bloom and help him take full control over himself.

He needs to build the mentee’s self-confidence

and make him see and open up his full potential.

I love the statement of the legendary film maker Steven Spielberg that says, “The delicate balance

of mentoring someone is not creating them in your image, but giving them the oportunity to create themselves.”

assess the mentee and offer the mentee the

you, than you see in yourself and helps bring it out

need inputs and

may be his boss or another person, including an

someone with vast experience and someone who

is someone who sees more talent and ability in

their lives, they

feel enamoured enough to ape his mentor who

A good mentor is also an advocate for his mentee.

wants to learn. As Bob Proctor aptly says, “A mentor

to move up in

a mentee like his own clone. The mentee also may

or he must have a certain area of expertise. It is

a learning and development partnership between

As people begin

undoubtedly can be that the mentor tends to see

members or your boss.”

informal and need not be very structured. However, depending upon the needs of target groups, there

can be organised or formal mentoring programmes that are somewhat structured.

The Role of a Mentor A good mentor must also be a good listener. He should be open-minded and be willing to listen to the mentee’s views and support him with inputs that would improve the mentee’s perspective. On

the other hand, the mentee should be motivated

and willing to work on himself in a serious way and must have clear objectives set for his career

growth. The mentor needs to be sensitive to the

mentee’s learning style and the mentee should feel

He needs to be sensitive and able to dispassionately appropriate rewards and incentives.

Lucia Ballas Traynor says, “The mediocre mentor tells.

The good mentor explains. The superior mentor demonstrates. The greatest mentors inspire.” It is important that a mentor inspires the mentee. The

essence of building confidence and empowerment of the mentee is in inspiring him to move forward

and work relentlessly for his own development.

Indeed, a mentor may need to be tough at times

and a mentee may well even expect that. One

needs to challenge the mentee in various ways and help him to work on more complex and difficult targets progressively. A good mentee would then stand the chance to build a great career.

The Role of a Mentee

From the viewpoint of the employee, it is of critical

importance that he finds a good mentor for himself early in his career, for it is then that he needs to

understand who he is and what his potential is.

It is then that he needs the learnings and finer

understandings and imbibe values that will shape up his career in the long run. It is often said that the first boss is the most important one for a worker.

The behaviour and methods of the first boss can impact the personality and, thus, the career of an

employee in far reaching ways. Good bosses are usually good mentors too and actually believe that they are normal people themselves. They enjoy

encouraged to understand and take advantage of

the mentor’s style of mentoring. Trust can play an important role here.

118

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

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Weekend Delights Friday night to Monday morning, a time to unwind, rejuvenate and be geared to face another grueling week. Each one of us use this ‘my time’ is different ways. And why not, weekend is a time for expressing ourselves. We all have known the personalities featured here as astute business stalwarts; as life is more than just business, we at POLYMERS Communiqué, have started this section called ‘WEEKEND DELIGHTS’. Live life...

Geeta Goradia

Managing Director

Jewel Consumer Care Pvt. Ltd.

My weekend is all about spending quality time with near and dear ones, giving green energy a boost through gardening and listening to music.

What I love the most is singing ‘Bhajans’ for an hour or more, ushering me into extraordinary spirits, soothing the tackles of week days, a great stress buster that gets me charged for the coming week.

Brajesh Kumar

Country Manager - Performance Plastics

Radici Plastics India Pvt. Ltd.

I work few hours on Saturday and rest of the weekend is family time. I dedicate Sunday to switching off from work and connecting with family and friends. It’s off from routine walk & exercise, but extended sports time gets added with the kids and have fun.

Weekend breakfast are leisurely and sometimes I with my wife make special breakfast. Mid-day nap on Sunday is a most pleasing and deserving thing for me. It usually ends with dinner out with family.

I take weekend as an opportunity to relax and recharge again for another working week.

122

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Malini Hariharan

Head of South Asia Markets ICIS

The weekend is when I take time to experience the transformative power of yoga. Regular practice has helped improve my agility, flexibility and made me stronger and more balanced. Yoga helps me relax and increase my awareness of the mind-body connection.

I eagerly look forward to my weekend sessions to rejuvenate myself after a hectic week of work and travel. The journey on this path of well-being is long and I am just a beginner.

Vinu Chavda

Managing Director

ECON Machinery Pvt. Ltd.

Weekend comes with many pending plans from family like social visits, sports activities, kids shopping, one day family outing and many more.

But, for me, the most important part of my weekend is sitting together with the entire family and discuss about exciting moments of the week. Playing tennis or badminton with friends is another activity I cherish.

Vivek Kale

Head - Marketing and Business Development

Imerys Minerals India Pvt. Ltd.

Trekking is my weekend delight. I cannot say that I make it every weekend. But I make sure that I explore atleast one of the nearest forts (‘Killa’ in Marathi). This is an independent adventure sport and once it starts, it becomes addictive.

I started this from my college days and now we have a group of 8 - 10 guys who join me in this short expedition almost once in a month during weekends. In life, we come across so many things that appear improbable, just like the insurmountable peaks; there are goals that we feel are impossible to achieve.

However, nothing is impossible. If you really have the desire and determination to do something, no one can stop you - and trekking helps me find that drive within myself. I am so happy that now my 11-year old son has started enjoying it. Hope I can pass on this good habit to the next generation.

POLYMERS CommuniquĂŠ l June - July 2018

123

LITTLE ACTIONS BIG RESULTS

Be Empowered

for Tomorrow If anyone wants to achieve excellence, all that is needed is to ‘Live that Dream’!

I

n recent years, we have seen India

While some great organisations are

manufacturing sector, but we still

many

as a great potential base for the

need to strive hard to be on the top

when it comes to global markets.

And it is possible! Visiting our own Indian companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra

&

Mahindra

and

many

others, we can see if anyone wants to achieve excellence, all that is needed is to ‘Live that Dream’! We can see

many islands of excellence all around us, even in small and medium scale

industries. Looking in to the little details while walking through the factories and talking to the people,

we see an intense sense of passion to attain this excellence. We can learn so much from these passionate people,

not just the owners or CEOs, but also at the shop floor and office level. We

feel a sense of pride when they make Shirish V. Divgi Managing Director Plastics Machinery Asia Ahmedabad

124

a name for their organisation, and for

progressing very well internationally, small

and

medium

scale

companies are struggling to build

excellence within. In today’s digital

world, I do not think there is any dearth of knowledge or guidance available.

We simply need to have the willingness

and passion to learn. Getting better by collaborating and learning from the

people involved - both owners and the employees, will take all of us to a ‘world-class’ status.

Thus, training becomes a very important

strategy for any organisation. We find many organisations focus on getting

more productivity and output from the machines and employees but spend

very little amount of money and time

for training. Any organisation giving importance to training at all levels, on a continuous basis, are bound to

the country.

They are proud to say - “We Export to Many Countries!”

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

Business Listing n Additives and Masterbatches Blend Colours Pvt. Ltd.

Shailesh Lahoti, Director

T: +91-40-24361499 / 24360887 M: +91-98850 11883 E: shailesh@blendcolours.com W: www.blendcolours.com

Plot #35/A, IDA Kattendan, Kattedan, Hyderabad-500077, Telangana.

Deep Plast Industries

Ramesh Patel, Partner

T: +91-2764-286032/ 286450 M: +91-98250 35472 E: rameshpatel@deepplast.com W: www.deepplast.com

n Injection Moulding Machines Nu-Vu Conair Pvt. Ltd.

Pradeep Chudasama, Assistant Manager

Plot No.147 & 148, Devraj Industrial Park, Piplaj-Pirana Road, Piplaj, Ahmedabad-382405, Gujarat.

T: +91-79-29708147 M: +91-97129 28201 E: marketingindia@conairgroup.com W: www.conairgroup.com

n Extruders & Extrusion Lines

Toshiba Machine (Chennai) Pvt. Ltd.

V. Padmanaba Bhat, Joint General Manager

No.65(P.O.Box No.5) Chennai-Bengaluru Highway, Chembarambakkam, Poonamallee, Thiruvallur, Chennai-600123, Tamil Nadu.

T: +91-44-26812075 / 26812000 M: +91-98412 90539 E: bhat.vp@toshiba-machine.co.in W: www.toshiba-machine.co.jp/india

n Mixers

Block No.553, Rakanpur (Santej), Kalol, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad-382721, Gujarat.

Econ Machinery Pvt. Ltd.

Vinu Chavda, Managing Director

181, Por Industrial Park, Adjoining Por G.I.D.C. Behind Hotel Sahyog, NH 8A, Por, Vadodara-391243, Gujarat.

T: +91-7046263000 M: +91-96240 91901 E: v.chavda@econ-in.com W: www.econ-in.com

Luk Plastcon Ltd.

Varun Bajaj, Director

T: +91-712-2728046 / 2728047 M: +91-99606 56000 E: varunbajaj@bajajngp.com W: www.bajajngp.com/luk

G-99, Butibori Industrial Estate, Nagpur-441122, Maharashtra.

n Ancillary Equipment

Nordson Corporation Polymer Processing Systems

Mrunal Sanghvi, General Sales Manager (India)

306-A, Pinnacle, Corporate Road, Prahalad Nagar, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad-380051, Gujarat.

T: +91-79-40327380 M: +91-98795 23605 E: mrunal.sanghvi@nordsonxaloy.com W: www.nordsonpolymerprocessing.com

Seven Stars Engineers – Fabricators – Contractors Jitendra Bhatia, Managing Director C1/704-705, Phase IV, GIDC Vatva, Ahmedabad – 382445.

T: +91-79-25831456 / 25895699 M: +91-98980 00221 E: jitendrabhatia@sevenstarmixer.com W: www.sevenstarmixer.com

n Polymer Processing Machinery Kabra Extrusiontechnik Ltd. M. A. Khan, Vice President

Fountune Terraces, 10th Floor, B Wing, Link Road, Opp. Citi Mall, Andheri (West), Mumbai-400053, Maharashtra.

T: +91-22-26734822 M: +91-9731266221 E: sale@kolsitegroup.com W: www.kolsite.com

Be a part of the exclusive Golden Pages for as low as Rs. 2500

Windsor Machines Ltd.

Injection Moulding I Pipe Extrusion I Blown Film Lines Jitesh R. Patel, Sr. General Manager

Plot No. 5402 - 5403, Phase-IV, GIDC, Vatva, Ahmedabad - 382445, Gujarat.

T: +91-79-25841111 / 25841591 M: +91-98250 48939 E: jitesh.patel@windsormachines.com W: www.windsormachines.com

Call Bhavesh at +91-96640 61103 to book your slot.

POLYMERS Communiqué l April - May 2018

THE BIG GAP

Moving Higher Up the

Skill Scale Finding skilled labour is the biggest

challenge confronting the growth of

this sector; thereby, creating a huge skill gap. Here are few thoughts on the way

forward for skilling the workforce in the plastics industry.

I

am writing this article in context of skill development

landscape in India and in particular to the plastics industry, the challenges faced in skilling at a macro

level as well as the way ahead. I hope this article will help raise more questions and thoughts that will channelise deliberations for skill development.

Need for Skills Skill and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. Countries

with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities. As India

moves progressively towards becoming a ‘knowledge economy’, it becomes increasingly important that the

country should focus on advancement of skills and these skills have to be relevant to the emerging economic environment. In order to achieve the twin targets of

economic growth and inclusive development, India’s Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) has to grow consistently at 8% to

9% per annum. This requires significant progress in several Dr. Naveen Malhotra Group Head HR & CC Sintex Industries Ltd., Kalol

128

areas, including infrastructure development, agricultural

growth coupled with productivity improvement, financial sector growth and a healthy business environment, ably supported by a skilled workforce.

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

In today’s age of globalisation and

create additional capacity in existing

the

is an important weapon to boost the

need to create adequate infrastructure

the mid-level skills requiring some

technically mutated world, skill building

efficiency and the quality of services for advanced productivity and economic

institutes, at the same time there is a even in small towns and villages.

Awareness, Mindset and Perception Issues

unemployment. Managed well, a larger

Skill development in India is way

growth and development. For India, our

awareness on the type of courses as well

economy

and

lead

to

higher

talent pool can contribute towards bet is on the latter.

India

has

a

successful

entrepreneurship.

culture

Foreign

of

Direct

Investment (FDI) has surged in the last few years, which implies that investors share optimism. India’s young workforce only adds to the attraction.

However, sustained success is by no means guaranteed because the skills and employability of the people joining

the workforce over the next decade will be crucial.

Skill Development Challenges The

daunting

challenge

of

skilling

millions of youth entering workforce, we face a huge task of evolving a skill

development system that can equip

the workforce adequately to meet

the requirements of the industry. The workforce needs to be trained across all

levels, from the high-end specialised skills for ‘White Collar’ jobs to the low-level skills of the ‘Rust Collar’ jobs. Moreover,

these skills have to be adequately linked to

the

available

job

opportunities.

Several factors have inhibited the skill

development eco-system in India to scale up to the desired levels. The

skill development system in India is plagued with multiple issues related to awareness, perception, cost, quality and scale. I talk of these challenges from the ground zero perspective.

is

grossly

limited acceptance of skill development

courses as a viable alternative to formal education. Skilling is often viewed as the last resort meant for those who

have not been able to progress in the

formal academic system. This is partly

to do with the lack of integration between the two options and also due to rising aspirations for white-collar jobs

which necessitate higher qualifications.

Moreover, skill development is often

associated with blue-collar jobs, which is largely perceived to be of low dignity

and provides low wages / salaries. ‘stigma’

associated

inadequate

skilled labour. While there is a need to

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018

expertise on handling of machinery.

is needed. The issue relates to the

quality of infrastructure, trainers, as well

as curricula and pedagogy. In terms of infrastructure, the institutes often lack

appropriate machinery to give students hands-on training. Even the course

curricula often are outdated, redundant and

non-standardised.

Additionally,

lack of industry-faculty interaction on course curricula leads to irrelevant

training modules. Availability of good quality trainers is also a key concern.

The quality of trainers is affected due to

limited efforts towards re-training and skill improvement of trainers. There is

lack of focus on development of trainers with a clear career path which can make

this an aspirational career choice and can ensure regular and adequate supply of good-quality trainers in every sector.

Mobility Concerns

education courses.

education and vocational training in

low

enrollments

in

vocational

Skill development initiatives in India continue

to

be

largely

dependent

upon the government funds or publicprivate ventures. Owing to high capital requirements

and

low

return

on

investments, skill development is often

looked at as a non-scalable model and remains under invested. Additionally, a

fee-based model also faces challenges as

prospective

There is limited mobility between formal our education system, due to lack of

Cost Concerns

students

are

often

unwilling or unable to pay high fees for training. Even the bank’s willingness to

as high-risk products due to uncertainty

considering the projected demand for

educational

with skill development has resulted in

low as educational loans are perceived

The existing infrastructure, both physical human,

prospects. More importantly, there is

lend for skill development activities is

Inadequate Scale, Limited Capacity and

as information on the ensuing career

perceived

in

improvement on the quality of training

below the requirements due to lack of

The

imparted

To tackle this problem, considerable

growth. Managed poorly, it can strain an

skills

and training institutes, especially for

with respect to future employment.

equivalent recognition for the latter. A

student enrolled in vocational training often cannot migrate to institutes of

higher education due to eligibility restrictions.

Skill Gap in the Plastics Industry and Way Forward The plastics industry has been making significant contribution in the economic

development and growth of various key sectors in the country such as automotive, construction, electronics, healthcare, textiles and FMCG.

We must understand that plastics is one

of the fastest growing industries in India

Quality Concerns There is a serious mismatch between the

industry’s

requirements

and

129

Events IPLEX 2018 3rd – 6th August, 2018 Hitex Exhibition Centre, Hyderabad, India

The 12th IRANPLAST 24th - 27th September, 2018 Tehran International Permanent Fairground, Tehran, Iran

Indplas’18

Indiaplast 2019

30th November – 3rd December, 2018 Eco Park Exhibition Ground, Kolkata, India

28th February – 4th March, 2019 India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, NCR Delhi, India

ARABPLAST 2019

CHINAPLAS 2019

5th – 8th January, 2019 Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE

21st – 24th May, 2019 China Import and Export Fair Complex, Pazhou, Guangzhou, China

TAIPEI PLAS 2018

Colombia Plast EXPOEMPAQUE

15th – 19th August, 2018 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei City, Taiwan

24th - 28th September, 2018 Corferias, Bogotá, Colombia

PPPEXPO KENYA 2018

VietnamPlas

IPF Bangladesh 2019

4th - 6th September, 2018 Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

4th - 7th October, 2018 Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

17th - 20th January, 2019 International Convention City Bashundhhara - ICCB, Dhaka, Bangladesh

INDOPLAS

26 Fakuma

Plexpo India

11th PLASTIVISION INDIA 2020

19th – 22nd September, 2018 JI Expo, Jakarta, Indonesia

16th - 20th October, 2018 Friedrichshafen

17th - 20th January, 2019 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India

16th - 20th January, 2020 Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India

132

th

K 2019 16th – 23rd October, 2019 Düsseldorf, Germany

POLYMERS Communiqué l June - July 2018