SUSTAINABLE EPDM by Lanxess
A WORLD FIRST - The Ethylene used in this process is derived from ethanol produced from sugar cane
Keltan® is a registered trademark of LANXESS
No compromise on quality with Keltan® Eco, you get the high EPDM quality you are accustomed to from our Keltan®. Each of your final products can go green. Right away from zero to between 15 and 25 percent, depending on how high the percentage of totally natural ethylene from sugar cane in the EPDM grade is, and on the quantity of Keltan® Eco in the final product. What's more, it can easily be verified and certified by us: the carbon in Keltan® Eco coming from sugar cane can be traced back, as proven by measuring isotope C-14 according to the ASTM D6866 testing standard.
For more info call 0800 006772 or visit www.plastichem.co.za
BY THE WAY ...
Tank generates hot water! Publisher: Martin Wells (martin@summitpub.co.za) Editor: Tessa O’Hara (tessa@summitpub.co.za) Editorial assistant: Heather Peplow (heather@summitpub.co.za) Financial manager: Lisa Mulligan (lisa@summitpub.co.za) Designer: Bronwen Moys Blinc Design (bronwen.clarke@gmail.com) Summit Publishing cc t: +27 (21) 712 1408 f: 086 519 6089 c: +27 (82) 822 8115 e: saplastics@iafrica.com Postnet Suite 42, Private Bag X16, Constantia 7848, Cape Town, South Africa 70 Newton Drive, Meadowridge, Cape Town
www.saplastics.co.za
GAUTENG Lowrie Sharp t: (011) 793 4691 f: (011) 791 0544 c: 082 344 7870 e: lowrieplasticsmedia@absamail.co.za KZN Lynne Askew t: (031) 764 2494 f: (031) 764 0676 e: lynne@leafpublishing.co.za Printed by: Tandym Print, Maitland, Cape Town SA Plastics Composites + Rubber Technology is published six times a year and focuses on these industries in South and southern Africa. We welcome news, articles, technical reports, information in general and photographs about events and developments related to the plastics industry. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Plastics Converters Association, Institute of Materials or Association of Rotational Moulders either. Copyright: All rights reserved. ISSN number: 1684-2855 (ISDS Centre, Paris) Summit Publishing: CK 9863581/23 VAT reg: 4600187902
Plastics Institute
Association of Rotational Moulders of South Africa
of Southern Africa
Plastics Converters Association
PET Plastic Recycling
Plastics Federation
South Africa
of SA
Institute of Materials
The solar water heating tank – 1.2m wide and 2.2m long with a shotweight of 23kg – was roto moulded by Pioneer Plastics in polypropylene. Here we see Nick Swardt, technical manager at Pioneer, with the tank after it won the ARMSA ‘Product of the Year’ competition
THE article about the ARMSA Product of the Year’s winning entry, a solar tank roto moulded in polypropylene by Pioneer Plastics (SA Plastics Vol 10, Nr 5, page 34), has landed us in a bit of hot water! Ludrick Barnard, director of the Product Development Technology Station, Office of Technology & Innovation at the Central University of Technology, Free State, points out that the statement: ‘The mould was developed by researchers at the University of the Free State, but did not function when it arrived at Pioneer. After redevelopment, the Pioneer team succeeded in moulding the complex design,’ is factually incorrect. Barnard says the mould did function. “We can prove that we got products out of the mould that were moulded by Trogtech in Welkom. The only problem was Pioneer suggested that the back of the mould was too bulky and the cycle time would be too long and they didn’t want to run it in their machine because of that.” Barnard adds that the bulky pieces on the outside of the mould were machined off and then 20 samples manufactured with Pioneer’s assistance. • A spokesman for Pioneer confirmed that the mould did work, but the cycle times were far too long, and producing one successful shot in five was not economically feasible. Pioneer’s modifications included removing excess metal sections of the mould, which allowed for faster heating and cooling, and hence faster cycle times.
Not possible to welcome competitors at presentations THE recent tour to South Africa by specialist global materials compounder RTP made some ripples when a number of PISA members who wanted to attend the Johannesburg presentation were advised that they weren’t welcome. Since the event was co-hosted by PISA, which has a history of allowing its members to attend all events, this placed PISA’s policy in the spotlight. A spokesman for the host company, Plastamid, said the seminars were intended to share their insight with potential clients. The two individuals who were refused entry (prior to the event actually, and not on arrival, as is sometimes the case) were seen to be involved in actively formulating and marketing a range of compounds in competition with NG the RTP materials. SOMETHI YOU HAVE … IF TO SAY de: if you e bright si Look at th isdom to gem of w e m so have e to us at ease writ pl rt, pa im .com s@iafrica saplastic
Volume 10 No 6
REGLOPLAS
DECEMBER 2012 – JANUARY 2013
Contents Find out more at www.saplastics.co.za
Temperature control units for water up to 90°C
6
Dispak Industries extrudes own PVC sheet
16
Pioneer Plastics celebrates 30yrs in style
26
Reifenhäuser’s ‘Extrusioneers’ visit SA
30
Global scale compounder RTP shows its wares
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• Controller RT61 PID
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FEATURES 36
AfriMold focuses on growth of TDM sector
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• Cooling capacity 24-90 kW • Pump capacity 60 litres/min, 3.8 bar
Temperature control units for oil up to 150°C
70
ASSOCIATION NEWS IOM : French letters, at tyres and fuel
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PETCO: AGM inspires & enlightens
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SAPPMA: welcomes pipe merchants as members
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• Controller RT61 PID • Outlet temperature max 150°C • Heating capacity
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TECHNICAL Polyoak team assesses China’s mould
• Heating capacity 9 kW
Type 150 Smart
rPET is the solution for Lomold
3
‌ for large injection moulds, extruders, rollers, autoclaves and other processing equipment
Type 90 Smart
INDUSTRY NEWS Polyoak moves into paint bucket market
High-performance temperature control units
66
at 400V 6 kW • Cooling capacity 28kW @ 140°C • Pump capacity 60 litres/min, 3.8 bar
making sector
WORLD Octal triples annual production of PET
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90
s #LEAR ARRANGEMENT OF OPERATING AND indicating elements
DIARY Events coming up in 2013
100
SPORTS Daredevil skydiver in stratosphere jump
s 3IMULTANEOUS READOUT OF TEMPERATURE set-point and actual value
104
s 3OLID STATE RELAY 332 INSTEAD OF heating contactor
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s !LL COMPONENTS EXPOSED TO WATER ARE made of non-rusting materials, hence long service-life s !CHIEVES ESTIMATED REDUCTION IN REJECTS AND INCREASE IN PRODUCTIVITY
ON THE COVER WITH a whopping 2 500 products in its inventory, Pioneer Plastics – one of South Africa’s top rotational moulding companies – celebrated its 30th year in operation in style in 2012. pioneer is one of southern Africa’s top manufacturers of road barriers. Once positioned and inter-locked, the containers are ďŹ lled with water and form sturdy barriers to direct and control trafďŹ c ow. See page 26 for more information
JENOWILL SERVICES #ONTACT n 7ILLY 4SCHOPP 4EL &AX # ,ILLY 0ARK 2AILWAY 2D -ONTAGUE 'ARDENS #APE 4OWN JENOWILL IAFRICA COM WWW REGLOPLAS COM
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1. The design competition staged by PISA/POLYCO/Plastics|SA at Afrimold in October attracted enthusiastic interest from design students at the Johannesburg, Tshwane and Wits universities – in fact, high 5’s were flying after the winners were announced
2. Lomold group won the SAPRO award for products made from 100% recyclate for its rPET pallet manufactured on its long fibre technology
Industry achieved numerous
major plusses over course of 2012 Making acceptable margins has been the main challenge ANY OF YOU will by now be dreaming of the beach, the bush or the berg … certainly a holiday. Let’s face it, 2012 has been a challenging year for most of us ... and YOU deserve a break!
COMMENT
M
It’s a big relief that the industry has largely escaped serious industrial action over the past 12 months. It’s no surprise that the challenging economic conditions over the last few years have upped pressure in the manufacturing sector, leading in some cases to increasingly different expectations on the employer and employee sides. Let’s not suffer any illusions: a toyi-toying impi at the gates of your factory can put you off work, sometimes on a long-term basis. Several businesses were hit by strike action in 2011 and it’s a credit to the industry that most employers and employees alike appear to have learned from the experience. For most manufacturers and suppliers, making acceptable margins has been the main challenge. But we have also noticed that some companies have been thriving on today’s challenges. From our perspective, businesses that are well run are picking up the orders of manufacturers who fail to supply effectively. A lot of business deals and contracts in southern Africa have historically been based on friendly relations between businesses, but those relationships go out the window when supply deteriorates. At the national, big contract level, tenders are sometimes terminated on fractional price differences – in some cases despite many years of good service by convertors. Setting your selling prices is 6. Coca Cola’s Valpré PlantBottle™ plant near Heidelberg is the most outstanding ‘greenfield’ project yet in the SA plastics industry
6
a difficult challenge and overall the focus shifts to internal matters, specifically that a business’s financial structures Martin Wells , Publisher are effective and, probably the biggest challenge in our region at present, the need to achieve higher productivity performance within our companies. Many of the manufacturers in our industry are achieving these objectives and those are now the benchmarks for all of us. However, even in these challenging times there have been major plusses for the industry over the course of 2012. Below, and not in any particular order of importance, are what we see as the main successes of the year. Emergence of POLYCO The emergence of POLYCO (the Polyolefin Plastic Recycling Company) has been one of the main achievements of the year, notably because the momentum to start the group came from convertors. Convertors are mostly under pressure and finding time to look at the wider picture and plan ahead is not always possible, so the fact that some of SA’s top converting operations were prepared to allow staff to participate in the formation of POLYCO was a big plus. The aim of POLYCO to take responsibility for the extended producer responsibility of the many thousands – more likely millions – of products which the industry puts out in the market daily is a good step towards achieving long-term sustainability for the industry itself. www.polyco.co.za
7. TUT’s dept of industrial design is producing real talent, an example is this coffee maker with a modern twist
7
8. Bottlemakers of Port Elizabeth unearthed a new application when it began to manufacture surfboard ‘fins’ and plugs from rPET
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3. Lasher Tools won the SAPRO Best Recycled Product of the Year competition for its ‘Ecobarrow’, a wheelbarrow manufactured partly out of recycled polymers
5
4. The Bottleworx Building System, which uses specially designed PET bottles with a void cavity, won a SAPRO award
Design initiatives 2012 has seen a good increase in interest by students in design competitions organised by the industry’s trade associations, an important step forward for the industry as we certainly need new and enthusiastic designers as well as to encourage young people to enter the industry in general. At the ARMSA Rotation 2012 conference in the Waterberg in September, the rotational moulding body’s Sasol Student Design competition was conducted for the 12th year in succession, and again received an enthusiastic response from students. At Afrimold in October, the PISA/POLYCO/Plastic│SA competition to design a vehicular device for use by scrap collectors attracted considerable interest from the universities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Wits. But it wasn’t simply the fact that so many of the students put effort into the process: there was a lot of teamwork among students at the various faculties as well as keen rivalry between the universities. The SAPRO (Plastics Recyclers Organisation) ‘Recycling Design’ Awards programme in mid-year was an outstanding success. The main winners were Lasher Tools for its ‘Ecobarrow’, Lomold group for its LFT (long fibre technology) pallet produced from rPET. There were other winners too where material substitution, specifically with recycled material, was the main achievement. Novel solutions for post-use materials were shown, 10. Student Ricardo Louveiro won a Student Design award at the ARMSA Rotation 2012 conference for his ‘Puma Safe’ floating pool alarm system powered by photovoltaic solar panels
9. Snapp Design of Johannesburg didn’t just think out of the box, it through the box away! The fact that these items are salad servers (and very practical at that) may not be obvious to everyone, at least at first
in several cases by smaller businesses, planning and hoping to pick up businesses with these ironically ‘new’ products. The driving force behind the SAPRO was again Annabé Pretorius. Annabé has, seamlessly, put in a massive effort and handled it all with great humour! Convertors are beginning to realize how important a role individuals in the trade associations are playing as facilitators, and especially how pivotal the role of lecturers and tutors at the training colleges, design centres and universities around the country are in this process. These people Open up career are helping to open up career paths for young paths for young people, which people – the future is the future of the industry. of the industry Now, if you can, give one of the designers a job!
THIS ISSUE – HIGHLIGHTS OF 2012
Rebranding of Plastics|SA What’s in a change of name, you ask? Not much one would think, but in reality it appears to have a pronounced effect. The rebranding of the industry’s ‘umbrella’ association, when the Plastics Federation of SA changed its name and brand identity to Plastics|SA, appears to have had very positive spin-offs. Anton Hanekom and the team have gone up a gear and the whole organisation seems to have had a renewal of spirit.
5. Southgate Recycling of KZN won a SAPRO for its ‘Lavaplastic’ range of ‘latte’ lookalike profiles
And lastly, YOU! Almost all of our approximately 2400+ readers around Southern Africa are involved in ownership or management and occupy positions where responsibility is a daily reality. Opening the doors every morning; keeping the plant running through the night, if you’re 24/7 (which is how many of the companies in the industry operate); maintaining clear and reliable financial systems and much more, are all important tasks that together make up what is a dependable and growing industry. If you’ve participated in the process of helping to steer the course through the morass of challenges faced – congratulations to you! Spare a thought for those who will keep factories running over the festive season (they can take time off when it’s more peaceful). Now enjoy yourself with your friends and family!
11. Extrupet group put a massive effort into setting up its plant to manufacture food grade rPET, and introduced its ‘Phoenix’ rPET materials to the market in mid-year
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JUST BRIEFLY Golden Era group buys EH Walton GOLDEN Era Group has purchased EH Walton, the Port Elizabeth printing and packaging companies which had gone into liquidation earlier in 2012. EH Walton’s PVC thermoforming business was one of the main targets for Golden Era group, which operates the New Era Plastics blow and injection moulding operation in Johannesburg. Golden Era is one of the largest printing and packaging groups in South Africa. EH Walton had made capital investments of over R20-million during the last few years but wasn’t able to stave off the liquidation proceedings brought earlier this year, and in fact closed in mid-year, before the successful Golden Era bid, which apparently involved the payment of its debts. Established way back in 1845, EH Walton employed over 400 people, and a portion of those jobs have apparently been saved. www.golden-era.co.za
Bowler increases turnover by 14% BOWLER Plastics, the nationally active packaging supplier which has its head office in Cape Town, declared an impressive 14% increase in turnover to R382-million for its most recent financial year, a stat that few other businesses in the industry could boast of in the present economic climate. What didn’t go down so well with the financial press, however, was that profit declined by 11%. CEO Friedl Sass said a number of projects with an estimated value of R47-million were already underway to meet the challenges in the market sectors where Bowler operates. Bowler has reported consistently positive figures over the two decades that it has been listed on the JSE and is one of only a few groups in the local plastics industry to be listed on the JSE.
Polyoak moves into paint bucket market Ultimately will benefit all who use buckets and pails as a packaging medium POLYOAK has purchased plastic paint bucket manufacturer Rheem, further extending its already comprehensive range of plastic packaging products. Polyoak, the new owner, has since renamed the company Contan Buckets & Pails. Polyoak’s Blowpack division is currently very active in the agro-chemicals,
solvents, glue and general chemicals market so the new venture will increase Polyoak’s offering to many of these same customers. Based in Jet Park, Johannesburg, metal paint can manufacturer Rheem became involved in plastics following its purchase in 2007 of Kouga Pack, a plas-
More than just a roof overhead Latest technology in modular construction solutions ADVENTURE Shells have opened a factory in Rosslyn, north of Pretoria, providing the latest technology in modular construction solutions ranging from small units to full scale community applications, such as houses, school rooms and clinics to warehousing, agricultural layouts and temporary construction site compounds. Adventure Shells, a joint venture between Dynamic Shells Holdings, Dynamic Shells South Africa and Venture Otto South Africa (Pty) Ltd, was formed in 2011. The key to the success of this unique building system is that structures are based on the ‘igloo’ concept, where the panels themselves are used to provide the rigidity to the entire structure. The building system consists of extruded PVC panels, manufactured by Adventure Shells in Rosslyn, which are then connected to each other using Dynamic Shells Smart ConnectorsTM. Panels have a hollow centre and can be strengthened with vertical metal ribs and can
accommodate plumbing, insulation and electrical services within the walls. Along with the steel frame, sourced locally, and the balance of the polymer profiles, doors and windows, imported from China, construction of the Adventure Shells unit is quick and efficient following a comprehensive building plan. The system is quick to build, waterproof, safe and resilient and offers users an immediate solution. The building process requires no concrete work and apart from optional aesthetic painting, the walls and roof require no plaster, paint or tiles. The Adventure Shells factory in Rosslyn currently operates two extrusion lines manufacturing 95% of the polymer components used in the structures. The company’s expansion plan details the addition of four extruders next year to increase the manufacturing capacity and also allows for additional manufacturing sites in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and potentially the Western Cape in 2014 to adequately service the
Ziplock case shut BOTH the Cape bag-making companies which had faced demands by SARS for supposedly outstanding bag levy payments for importation of ziplock bags have been cleared. The convertors had faced demands in the region of R6-million each.
Haitian opens SA office HAITIAN, the Chinese-international injection moulding machine manufacturer, has opened its own office in South Africa.
6 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Built in 1 ½ hours – Bridgitte Backman, MD of Sasol Chemcity, Barnie van Vollenhofen, Director of Adventure Shells, Joe Tal, Director of Adventure Shells, Gabi Venture, Director of Dynamic Shells South Africa and Louw van Tonder, Director of Adventure Shells in front of a 28m2 demonstration unit which was built in 1 ½ hours whist the guests were looking on
INDUSTRY NEWS
tic bucket manufacturing business set up by Steve Coetzer in Cape St Francis. The Kouga plant was moved to the Highveld, but Coetzer, a veteran of the plastic bucket production as well as the IML process, departed the scene in late 2011. Rheem has since decided to exit the plastics market. “We have high expectations for this investment which ultimately will benefit all who use buckets and pails as a packaging medium,” said Jeremy Mackintosh, Polyoak group managing director. Divisional chief executive at Polyoak, Karl Lambrecht, commented that Contan Buckets & Pails was an exciting addition to the division and that some exciting plans for it are in the pipeline. “We’re planning on moving all the existing manufacturing from the Jet Park premises
southern African markets. “Our intention is to source or manufacture all the required components locally, including the doors and windows which we currently import, in order to generate the business here and maintain the quick turnaround of our supply process,” says Joe Tal, director at Adventure Shells. Adapting to our own environment “Developed initially as a quick response solution to humanitarian and disaster relief housing worldwide, the documented advantages of the Dynamic Shells technology have a significant place in our South African context”, says Louw van Tonder, director at Adventure Shells. “The system offers high quality building materials in the form of PVC which is low cost, virtually maintenance free, easy to transport and above all reliable, combined with a flexible, modular design that is suited to assembly by unskilled or semi-skilled labour. The fact that minimal tools and experience are required and the panels are lightweight makes this an ideal undertaking for women on the workforce.” www.adventureshells.co.za
to our relatively new and state-of-the-art Roodekop factory over the next few months. This factory is ISO and HACCP accredited, so by bringing all these products under this roof, the same quality standards will apply. “We have a refurbishment and upgrade programme underway and are investing further in the business. The first major move will be into IML, something which Rheem have not done up to now. This will enable us to offer the full range of decoration options. In addition, we will be bringing some innovation to the market with a range of new designs,” he added. On an even more positive note, Lambrecht said that all the Rheem Plastics staff had been retained and that Polyoak have in fact re-employed ‘quite a number’ of staff who had been retrenched earlier.
This new venture increases the competition between the Polyoak group and Pail Pac, which last year purchased the Nampak Tubs business, ironically also in Jet Park. “Competition is healthy and we see it as really important that our customers have options, otherwise complacency takes over,” said Mackintosh.
www.polyoakpackaging.co.za
Borouge receives SABS certification 1st issued to a PE100 raw material supplier ameter industrial pipelines. He referred to a number of examples where the benefits provided by plastic systems in terms of installation and long-term durability had convinced relatively conservative design engineers to move away from steel and GRP and try these new solutions. This included the 1600 mm diameter PE100 sea water cooling lines to Borouge’s new polymer plants at Ruwais in Abu Dhabi. These pipelines, which have been in continuous operation for two years, are critical to the operation of the plant and reliability is a major consideration. Welded PE pipe systems have demonstrated that they are better able to absorb the external loads due to ground movement and impact damage than any other pipeline material and are ideal for industrial applications. • PROTEA POLYMERS ARE THE BOROUGE DISTRIBUTORS IN SA www.borouge.com www.proteachemicals.co.za
SABS approved and proud of it! Mohana Murali (Borouge Ltd), Rudi Verwey (Protea Polymers), Philip Morkel (Protea Polymers), Mario Andrade (Borouge Ltd) and Andrew Wedgner (Borouge Ltd) with the SABS Mark Scheme certificate, the first issued to a PE100 raw material supplier
Exterior and interior of a 50m2 classroom erected in a day at a cost of less than a third of conventional building methods
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 7
BOROUGE have been awarded their certificate from the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), the first issued to a PE raw material supplier. The certificate covers the three Borouge PE100 materials BorSafe HE3490-LS, BorSafe HE3490-LS-H and BorSafe HE3490-IM. Certification followed a comprehensive plant audit in May 2012 by the SABS to ensure compliance with SANS (ISO) 4427 – Part 1:2008. The presentation was made at the 6th SAPPMA Conference in September. In one of the parallel sessions, Frank Makamo of the SABS explained their role in the plastic pipes industry and how they can support future progress through the development of standards, laboratory testing and training and certification through the SABS Quality Mark Scheme. He said the scheme could now provide pipeline designers and operators with the confidence that products which carry the SABS Quality Mark are produced to the highest standards. Andy Wedgner of Borouge described a number of plastic solutions for large di-
INDUSTRY NEWS
Recycling survey shows
increased job creation and tonnages recycled Overall recycling rate of 18.9% was achieved in 2011 THE recycling of plastics in South Africa is showing a steady increase, according to Plastics|SA’s third annual survey of the plastics recycling industry. Figures for total tonnages reprocessed have been recorded in the annual survey since 2009. “In 2011 South Africa had 196 plastic recyclers who recycled 245 696 tons of plastics. This is 1,6% more than 2010, whereas the virgin consumption decreased by 1,0% in the same period, from 1 313 to 1 300 thousand tons,” said Plastics|SA executive director Anton Hanekom. A large percentage – 76.7% – of the plastic that was recycled in South Africa came from packaging. Of the 245 696 tons of plastics that were recycled, 188 466 tons were packaging. Another major contributor to plastics being diverted away from the country’s landfills was the 1.3 million PET bottles that were recycled. An overall plastics recycling rate of 18.9% was achieved in 2011. For the first time since the annual survey was introduced three years ago, 1 233 tons of multi-layer materials were also included. The largest growth in plastics recycling for the year 2010-2011 came from post-consumer recyclables. Thanks to improved separation at source initiatives and investments made by recyclers to
Looking ahead, the survey predicts that the industry will be using plastic waste to generate energy. Extended producer responsibility has put pressure on the industry to find ways of recycling traditionally non-recyclable and difficult to recycle materials. Creating energy from these materials offers an ideal solution and exciting prospects for future growth. Job creation Although the market economics will The formal employment figure in the plasprotect the mechanical recycling market tics recycling industry increased by 5.2% to because the fuel market cannot pay the 5 062 jobs in 2011. It is also estimated that same amount of money for recyclable 40 950 informal jobs were created in the waste, the increased demand for plastics collection industry (based on 60kg/ waste may also have person/day). a positive result on Contract workers ‘Almost 70% of all the collection, baling are mainly employed recyclables were sourced and transport costs as sorters at the recyfrom post-consumer of recyclable plastics clers and were only sources versus the waste. 7.2% of the total formal “Recycled plastic jobs in 2011. 46,8% in 2010’ is fast gaining a However, the study reputation for being strong, durable and has also revealed that rising electricity and labour costs are hindering the growth of the versatile. With the growth in the market for recycled plastics and the wide variety plastics recycling industry in South Africa. of products manufactured from recycled “Materials are still not sufficiently sorted plastics finding wide public acceptance, we at the waste management companies, are anticipating an overall plastics packagwhich necessitates the need for manual ing recycling rate of 35% by 2015. If the sorting at the recycler operations. In updated statistics for 2011 are anything to addition, 29% of a recycler’s operating go by, we are well underway to reaching costs are made up of water and electricity this goal if the current growth rates are charges and these costs increase during maintained,” said Hanekom. winter months”, Hanekom explained. improve the washing and drying facilities at their plants, more plastics were collected from households and landfills than in previous years. “Almost 70% of all recyclables were sourced from post-consumer sources versus the 46,8% in 2010”, Hanekom said.
2009
2010
2011
Toll & Inhouse
Post Industrial
Pre-consumer
Post consumer & Landfill
0%
Packaging products recycled in 2010 and 2011 8 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Source of recyclable waste in South Africa in 2009, 2010 and 2011
cool houses love energy bills BASF’s construction solutions and energyefficient materials are more cost-effective than conventional insulating systems and materials, and have a much higher insulation capacity. So, thanks to products like Neopor® and Elastopor®, houses stay cooler in the summer and waste less energy. Saving on emissions means saving on bills? At BASF, we create chemistry.
www.basf.com/chemistry www.basf.co.za
Operating ‘under the radar’ for the past three years, the Engen polymer team has reported steady volumes growth in an extremely competitive environment
Engen enters plastics industry
INDUSTRY NEWS
Launches new chemicals business ENGEN Petroleum has announced its entry into the plastics industry by launching a new business within its Chemicals and Special Products portfolio. “Launching the polymer business forms part of Engen’s growth strategy. Polymers make up by far the biggest portion of the local chemicals market,” says Colleen Jacobs, Engen Chemicals & Special Products business manager, who is at the forefront of ensuring continuous business growth for Engen in the chemicals sector. Operating ‘under the radar’ for the past three years, the polymer team has reported steady volumes growth in an extremely competitive environment. Polymer business manager Isaac Solomon David said the unit’s volume throughput from
January to December 2011 increased significantly compared to the same period in 2010. This rapid growth was driven by industry expertise and Engen’s reputable brand, which makes entry into competitive market conditions a bit easier, said Solomon. Commodity polymers are a specific focus area. These include PVC, HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE. Supply chain and partnerships The major thrust came from polymers, manufactured by Engen’s parent company Petronas Chemicals Group (PCG), which is a global player in the industry renowned for uncompromising product quality. Additional speciality polymers are
supplied to Engen by multinational petrochemical giant ExxonMobil Chemical. “The strategy is to diversify our product range through partnerships with leading petrochemical companies and make effective use of Engen’s extensive distribution infrastructure,” said David. “Engen plans to inject life into the local chemicals industry and to become a preferred alternative with our strategy of customer centricity and a sectorial focus. We are well positioned to meet market demand effectively as a high-volume distributor with the major brand to attract best-of-breed supplier relationships,” added Jacobs. www.engen.co.za
AfriTrade partner with Gür-iş Makina AFRITRADE have entered into a partnership with Gür-iş Makina as their sole sales representative in Southern Africa for their high quality bag making machinery. Established in 1998 and based in Istanbul, Turkey, Gür-iş Makina have expanded their operation globally over the past few years within the packaging industry. Their manufacturing facility combines up-to-date manufacturing techniques with modern engineering equipment. Gür-iş Makina and AfriTrade will now
10 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
offer the South African bag making manufacturers high quality bag makers, from simple bottom and side seal, to draw string refuse bags and bag-on-a-roll systems. Gür-iş Makina have supplied several machines to South African manufacturers over the past five years and come very highly recommended. Their machines are efficient, reliable and easy to maintain. Many of the components used in the manufacture of the machinery are available locally within South Africa and all other parts not readily available in South
Africa will be carried in stock by AfriTrade. AfriTrade has been supplying quality, plastic processing machinery in Southern Africa for over 20 years. They import technologically advanced machinery from a number of leading manufacturers in Europe, USA, Canada and India, all of whom are global leaders in the manufacture of superior quality and costefficient machines. www.gur-is.eu www.afritradesa.co.za
ASB-50MB
More than one step ahead
ASB-70DPH / ASB-70DPW
Medium sized machines for small narrow-necked bottles up to wide-mouthed jars ASB-70DPH / ASB-70DPW Moderate investment costs & mould changeover times, with huge production versatility. Targeted at the medium to large bottle and jar market, while the double row preform configuration is suited for high scale production of bottles under 700ml capacity.
PM-70/65NII / PM-70/111N
Entry level machine ideal for small bottle production with exceptional capabilities ASB-50MB An all-time favourite which is continually upgraded for improved versatility and productivity. Over 1,500 units delivered in the first 9 years of production. PF6-2B / PF8-4B
Leader in PET Technology The histories of Nissei ASB and PET containers have been tied together, as will their future be. Back in the early days of injection stretch blow moulding (ISBM), Nissei ASB was a pioneer in the field and PET was just becoming established as the material of choice for beverage and foodstuff containers. Today, both Nissei ASB and PET remain firmly at the forefront of the injection stretch blow moulding industry. As for the future, no one can predict which direction the industry will take, but there is one thing you can be sure of – wherever it goes, Nissei ASB will be right there at the front continually innovating for tomorrow‌
NISSEI ASB SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD 97 Sovereign Drive, Route 21 Corporate Park Nelmapius Drive, Irene Ext 30 0062 P.O. Box 11785, Centurion 0046, South Africa Tel: +27 12 345 4924 Fax: +27 12 345 5667 E-mail: sales@nisseiasb.co.za
Small and medium bottle production PF6-2B / PF8-4B Capable of moulding containers up to 1.5L (PF84B) and 3L (PF6-2B). Optional neck orientation or preferential heating systems expands the capabilities for extreme oval designs. The PF8-4B is ideally suited to 500ml water or sports drinks containers, while the PF6-2B is ideal for containers in the 1.5L to 3L range. Preform production for small and medium bottle PM-70/65NII / PM-70/111N Ideally matched to the CM and HSB machines for production of hot fillable PET bottles. Also suited to any general moulding operation for a range of performs from 0.3L up to 5L, neck sizes up to 48mm (thread diameter) and from 8 to 24 cavities.
NISSEI ASB PTE. LTD. 85 Science Drive # 01-03 The Cavendish Singapore Science Park 1 Singapore 118259 Tel: (+65) 6778 4633 Fax: (+65) 6778 9440 E-mail: asbsin@signet.com.sg www.nisseiasb.co.jp
JUST BRIEFLY
Cape workshop for disabled welcomes assembly, packing jobs
David Portman from ADDIS handed a cheque for R280 000 to Dylan Tommy, president of Lifesaving South Africa
ADDIS donates R280 000 to Lifesaving SA ADDIS South Africa recently confirmed its support for beach safety and community development with the donation of R280 000 to Lifesaving South Africa at the group’s AGM in Durban in October. ADDIS also pledged to renew its two-year partnership with the organisation by continuing to donate a portion of the selling price of all ADDIS cooler boxes sold to LSA.
Summit for African marine debris postponed THE Scientific & Technical Advisory Panel on Marine Debris has after consultations decided to postpone the planned African Marine Debris Summit to June 2013. The summit will now take place during World Environmental Week 2013 from 6-8 June 2013 in Cape Town. This will support World Ocean Day on 8 June 2013. The event was to have been held in November. The organisers decided to postpone the event to accommodate key role players from the African continent and Indian Ocean Islands who needed more time to plan and budget to attend.
REDISA plan approved for regazetting THE Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa’s (REDISA) Integrated Waste Tyre Management plan was signed by the Honorable Minister of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Edna Molewa and was gazetted for public comment. The REDISA plan is substantially the same as the version that was approved in November 2011 with some clarifications and procedural amendments, which have been added following input from the tyre manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) importers. The full plan can be viewed on the REDISA website at www.redisa.org.za/images/PDFS/ redisaplan2012submitted.pdf. 12 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
A CAPE TOWN charitable organisation which specialises in employing disabled individuals is achieving success in the assembly area and is offering this service to the wider plastics industry. Chris Steytler Industries, a Section 21 non-profit organisation, employs over 160 physically or mentally disabled people. The centre was started in 1983 by orthopedic surgeon Dr Chris Steytler, who in his career dealt with numerous patients who were disabled by illness or accident and could not enter the open labour market. He felt these individuals should be given the opportunity to improve their situation, and Chris Steytler Industries is the result of the process started then.
Initially just 10 persons with disabilities were employed, assembling hospital bracelets, cassette holders and irrigation jets in a small room at the back of a factory. From inception this sheltered workshop was run on sound business principles, which eventually resulted – in 1996 – in ‘CSI’ obtaining a loan to build its own factory. The building was erected with the specific needs of persons with disabilities in mind: it has extra wide doors throughout and no steps to ensure easy access for wheelchair users. Traditionally sheltered workshops consisted of a homogeneous group of people with the same or similar disabilities, but here the workforce consists of people
Flo-Tek at Kenyan pipes conference WHEN the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) organized its first Plastic Piping Systems Conference in 2009, little did they expect it to be an annual event attracting international and regional participation, as witnessed at the 4th conference held over two days during September in Nairobi, Kenya. A parallel exhibition by manufacturers and convertors was held at the same venue. Speakers included Mike Osry of Flo-tek South Africa and international experts Andrew Wedgener of Borouge and Wim Elzink Clement Miheso, manager for engineering standards at KEBS, with Mike Osry of Floof Wavin Overseas BV who addressed the Tek. Miheso is also organising the ISO TC 138 issue of “What are we doing to sustain the Standards Committee meetings to be held in future of plastic pipes?” October 2014 A wide range of interesting topics were heavily in water projects in its efforts to bring presented at the conference, ranging water to all homes by 2030. from trends and future developments in “Some major challenges are the substandards and the construction of water standard products in the East Africa market networks in PE as a sustainable alternative and this is due to to steel, to the joint“ The conference the plastic piping ing and installation industries’ lack of provided an ideal forum of PE pressure pipe qualified personnel lines and managing for manufacturers, raw-material in the industry, wrong storm water. Decisuppliers, contractors, interpretation of stansive factors on the water companies and engineers dard specifications, environmental impact to share ideas.” lack of accredited of the production, testing laboratories usage and disposal and slow harmonization of local, regional of plastics were also discussed. and international standards. This leads to The conference provided an ideal forum unfair trade practices and competition,” said for manufacturers, raw-material suppliers, contractors, water companies and engineers Clement Miheso, manager for engineering standards at KEBS and a driving force to share ideas. behind the conference. Attendance at the conference and exhibition has increased significantly over the past • KENYA AND KEBS WILL HOST THE ANNUAL four years. The growth in manufacturing is INTERNATIONAL EVENT, THE ISO/TC 138 very encouraging, from 5 to over 30 manuSTANDARDS COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND facturers of plastic pipes, fittings and valves. PLENARY IN OCTOBER, 2014 IN NAIROBI. The Kenyan government has invested
INDUSTRY NEWS
from all race groups, disabilities and gender. The workers perform various tasks such as assembly, packing, manufacturing and recycling for over 20 different contractors. According to Marlise Esterhuizen, manager of the centre, they don’t turn anyone away. About 5% of the employees have succeeded in finding permanent employment, which has been one of the workshop’s main goals from the start and which it welcomes, added Marlise. If you have basic assembly work, particularly if you need to bring in part-time workers (if the work is seasonal, for example), consider contacting Chris Steytler Industries: phone 021 945 4988.
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2. Workers receive ongoing training that assists them to acquire habits and attitudes that will improve their functioning in the workplace as well as interpersonal relationships with friends and family 3. Marlise Esterhuizen has been managing the workshop since 1995
www.chrissteytlerindustries.org.za
Covenant Tool & Die keeps it calm and simple
PHOTO: LOWRIE
• COVENANT TOOL & DIE, PHONE 011 955 5808
Promotional Foil & Print has new owner ZBIGNIEW Plonka is the new owner of specialised printing business Promotional Foil & Print in Cape Town. From Poland originally, Polonka is a mechanical engineer who first worked at Sasol after arriving in South Africa. But more recently he decided to go it alone and bought the company from previous owner Andre de Villiers. Promotional Foil & Print specialises in printing on to plastic and glass bottles and containers and can handle virtually any print challenge on these substrates. It operates SK and Dubuit semi-automatic silkscreen printers for cylindrical, flat and oval products (the Dubuit machines can also print on large objects such as buckets); pad printing and hot foiling machines as well as UV and heat element curing tunnels, the latter obviously to speed up turnaround times.
PFP is currently getting more involved in the printing of cosmetics containers, including jars and bottles, where it is able to achieve a high quality print result. It can print on any plastic product, including promotional articles such as pens and golf balls, swizzle sticks and square ice buckets – you name it! – and is geared up to do long runs too, said Zbigniew. It also runs a ceramic kiln for curing of glass print jobs. PROMOTIONAL FOIL & PRINT: PHONE 021 949 2233; FOILPRINT@TELKOMSA.NET
www.promofoil.co.za
Zbigniew Plonka examines a print job at Promotional Foil & Print in Triangle Farm, Cape Town
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 13
STEVE Brunsden and his son Mark, cofounders and partners at Covenant Tool & Die in Krugersdorp, have carved out a nice business niche for themselves, manufacturing injection moulds, doing a bit of injection moulding (mainly of electrical components) and also making a range of metal stamping tools. Steve was previously production manager at Kopp Plastics in Chamdor in the 1980s and early ‘90s, where he gained a massive amount of experience from the late Siegfried Kopp, who was one of the best toolmakers in the country in his time. A toolmaker qualified in Germany, the diminutive Kopp was also a forceful businessman, and Kopp Plastics became one of the biggest injection moulding companies on the Highveld. Steve & Mark started Covenant in 1994, but elected rather to take the ‘smaller and calmer’ route. Here we see the Brunsdens with one of the more complicated moulds they’ve built recently, for the manufacture of irrigation components. The mould uses interchangeable inserts for the various sizes in the irrigation component range, which include threaded sections; manufacturing separate moulds for each size in the range would have been prohibitively expensive.
1. Chris Steytler Industries operates from Uranium Street, Triangle Farm, Bellville
INDUSTRY NEWS
Limax bag-making technology at Maritime show 1. Maritime magic – The ‘bag man’, Robbie Butschi (right), returned to these shores recently when he was co-host of an in-house show at Maritime Marketing in Kyalami at which Limax’s bag-making technology was premiered. Robbie was involved in the development of the ‘Gapa’ bag-making machine at Adron in the 1990s and continued with the process when Technimac of Johannesburg took over the production of the Gapa in 2008. More recently he joined Limax and relocated to Malaysia, where he has continued with the bag-making technology development process. Here we see Robbie with Jeff Cawcutt of Maritime and Dr K S Teo of Limax.
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www.limax.com.my 2. Piet Botha and J P Venter of East Rand Plastics in discussion with Robbie 3. Deon and Gert Oliver of G O Plastics, Boksburg with Robert Butschi and Trevor Kraney
www.marimark.co.za
Bigger Karen and Karl Seidel at SES’s new, more expansive premises in Davidson Place, Wadeville
premises for SES SES – Seidel Electronic Systems cc – has come quite a distance since it opened for business in 2003. At that point the company involved just two partners and was geared to commission and service machines as well as install enhanced control systems. Later they started doing machine rebuilds (often using only the sturdy frames of older Ferromatik machines). But the fever truly bit MD Karl Seidel, a man who’s become virtually obsessed with achieving better machine performance yet by using less power, and the next step was when SES started assembling its own range of ‘Gotty’ injection machines in 2008.
It was inevitable from that point that it would outgrow the premises it occupied previously. That stage was reached earlier this year and, fortuitously, larger premises nearby in Wadeville became available. Reconfiguring the layout of the factory (previously occupied by a German delicatessen) to suit their machine building activities took
a few months, but SES is happy to be back in full production again at its bigger and better premises. • SES: PHONE 011 824 3103
www.sescc.co.za
Tough task for new Astra CEO ROBIN Moore is taking up arguably the toughest job in the plastics industry in southern Africa at CEO Astrapak w present. He joined ne e, Rob Moor Astrapak as CEO on 5 November, Guys Fawkes Day, coincidentally perhaps, but it’s unlikely we’ll see fireworks from the man just yet – the job is complex and challenging. Moore has one of the best management records in the SA plastics industry. He’d been with Nampak group since 1980, first with Nampak Liquid Packaging and later its Tufbag business in Isithebe (manufacturer of woven bags) before, in 1995, moving to Britain to run the Nampak Blow-Mocan business. He was later appointed MD of 14 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Nampak Plastics Europe. He returned to SA in 2004, since when he’s been running Nampak’s flexibles cluster, based in Durban. The position was vacated earlier in 2012 when Marco Baglione stepped down. Moore actually takes over from Manley Diedloff, the former group chief financial officer who had been acting as CEO. Diedloff has now been appointed MD. Astra has rejigged several of its businesses around the country over the past few years in order to boost margins, but the pressure has hardly let up. One of the toughest aspects of the Astra position is that former Astrapak CEO Ray Crewe-Brown is now chairman of one of its main rivals, Mpact Plastics group. Mpact has steadily been upping its ability to compete in mar-
kets dominated by Astrapak companies, most recently in the thermoforming business. Mpact entered this sector in an understated manner earlier this year through its purchase of RA Plastics of Blackheath, Western Cape, and capital investments in this plant are already underway. It’s also unlikely that Mpact management will pursue a strategy similar to that embarked on by Astra in its formative phase, of identifying high performing, solidly run companies to acquire. That had two main shortcomings: borrowing escalated and, more importantly, the ownermanagers of the purchased businesses departed after serving out relatively shortterm contracts, almost without exception, and Astrapak group has struggled to fill the gaps created.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Dispak Industries
extrudes own PVC sheet Opportunity to go ‘up stream’ gives thermoforming company new options CONTRACT thermoformer Dispak Industries is now extruding its own PVC sheet under Dispak Sheet Extrusions, giving it access to one of its main source materials – for PVC blister packaging – as well as an additional product option. Dispak – which stands for ‘Display Packaging’ – has formed the new business, Dispak Sheet Extrusions, through which it is handling both the thermoforming work and sales of PVC rigid sheet for the wider PVC thermoforming market. Dispak has been in operation since 2007, handling the thermoformed packaging of a wide variety of goods such as sim card starter packs, cellular phone kits, tools, cosmetic and numerous other goods. The Johannesburg-based business has longer origins however, in that founder Surie Patel had been involved in jewelry packaging from 1982. The opportunity to purchase the PVC
extrusion plant came about when Transpaco Sheet Extrusion exited the market sector and decided to sell off the equipment. Previously known as Terbo Plastics, and run by the since-retired Harry Botha, the Transpaco group company’s PET sheet extrusion equipment had been sold earlier and the remainder of the equipment at the plant in Chamdor, Krugersdorp, was put up for auction. Dispak duly bid for the PVC equipment, earlier this year, and purchased the two Amut extruders as well as compounders, granulators, unwinding and other related machinery – in short, the complete plant to manufacture PVC sheet. New advantage for Dispak Now Surie Patel’s sons – Ashir and Shainal – are running the plant from the same premises. They have moved their thermoforming machinery from Dispak’s
previous base at Amalgam (close to Crown Mines) to Chamdor on the West Rand and have spent the first few months refurbishing the extruders and getting the systems in shipshape condition. The two rugged Italian-built extruders have been restored to optimal running condition. The ability to manufacture sheet to their own specs (it has capacity to extrude sheet up to 1.2m wide and from180μ up to 1mm thick) as well as to add colour tints as required is a major new advantage for Dispak. Ashir Patel said their focus on PVC specifically was proving to be an advantage: “Our PVC sheet is of a high standard. Our goal is to keep the quality of sheet produced as close to world standards as possible.” The ability to recycle on site is a further plus, meaning that production scrap is being kept at very low levels. Ashir Patel, general manager of Dispak, said they had also hired several of the staff previously employed by Transpaco Sheet Extrusion, which is a further advantage as the skills remain on site. Main services offered include: • Sim and phone card kitting; • Heat sealing for blister and sandwich packs; • High-frequency welding for 2-part blisters; • Product labelling, including barcodes; • Shrink wrapping. Dispak builds most of its moulds inhouse, but still contracts out some moulds for big-run, complex products, which are generally manufactured in aluminum. DISPAK: PHONE 011 769 1347
Dispak team – Shainal, Ashir and Chirag Patel with Simon Molefe
www.dispakindustries.co.za
Recycled ocean plastic 2-in-1 dish + hand soap moves us closer to sustainable consumption NOT only does the naturally derived, biodegradable formula in American company Method’s odour-eliminating 2-in-1 dish & hand soap pull double duty getting your digits and dishes clean, it’s also packaged in the world’s first bottles made with a blend of recovered ocean plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic. It’s packaged in the world’s first bottles made with a blend of recovered ocean plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic. The ocean plastic was collected on Hawaii beaches by volunteer groups and Method employees. For now, the product is available exclusively at methodhome.com. www.methodhome.com 16 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
the art of colour At the intersection of art and science, you’ll find MBSA C
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Masterbatch SA creates, manufactures and supplies masterbatch, pigments and performance enhancing additives to the plastics industry.
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MBSA’s products stem from a deep appreciation for art and a passion for creating colour in a responsible manner. That’s why MBSA is the only South African masterbatch manufacturer to hold all ISO accreditations for food safety, health & safety, environmental and quality management systems.
Johannesburg 011 975 0222 Cape Town 021 552 0627 KwaZulu Natal 031 700 2464 Port Elizabeth 083 974 2074 East London 083 282 8850
MBSA takes pride in investing in local talent, promoting some of South Africa’s most promising artists and their projects.
info@masterbatch.co.za www.masterbatch.co.za
Contact MBSA for your colouring needs. We guarantee to match your expectations.
6C
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541C
100C
3288C
2757C
7619C
ISO 9001: 2008 ISO 14001: 2004 OHSAS 18001: 2007 ISO 22000: 2005
‘Goldfish’ 2012 by Neil Pauw of The Parlotones
INDUSTRY NEWS
STICKING with what you know best is a tried and tested strategy in the production environment, and an excellent example of this is Paolo Terzi of Groplast of Randfontein. Paolo was until fairly recently a partner with his brother-in-law Harry Botha at Terbo Plastics in Chamdor, Krugersdorp, where they extruded PET and PVC sheet and also produced a wide range of thermoformed containers. Terbo subsequently became part of Transpaco group and, a few years later, Harry decided to hang up his boots, in 2006, and retired to Zimbali on the North Coast. But Paolo wasn’t about to move into the slow lane: he started Groplast at that point and applied good sense by electing to go into polystyrene sheet extrusion (i.e. not in competition with his former business). The story goes back even further: Paolo had got into extrusion almost by mistake: he’d arrived in South Africa in 1968 from a small village in the Italian Alps and, as a qualified toolmaker, first worked in the automotive industry, servicing vehicles. Most of us know by now how competent an experienced auto electrician can be, so when Harry’s invitation to co-found Terbo
came along, Paolo wasn’t daunted by the challenge of running extrusion machinery. Terbo was a success story, and Paolo has post-2006 continued in the same style at Groplast. Extruding PS presented different challenges, but Paolo and his team got it right and have since been going from strength to strength, manufacturing a nifty range of agricultural and consumer packaging items. They first manufactured seedling/germinating trays and flower pots, and later branched into food packaging, supplying a range of punnets for veggies, lids for paper coffee cups, muffin trays and a variety of related products. Groplast’s main market is Gauteng; however, its products are supplied all over Africa – even up to the Sudan. Groplast employ 40 people plus 10 casual workers when necessary. It has its own tool room and manufactures its own thermoforming tools as well as, believe it or not, injection moulds. Paolo’s wife and son are also in the business. • GROPLAST: PHONE 011 412 4411
PHOTO: LOWRIE SHARP
Groplast extends range of agricultural, consumer products
Paolo Terzi with some of the range of thermoformed polystyrene products – including a number of ‘deep draw’ items – made by Groplast in Randfontein; the company also extrudes its own PS sheet
PhoenixPET in award-winning Unilever bottle Bottle contains up to 25% PhoenixPET food- grade recycled rPET EXTRUPET bottle-to-bottle (B2B) customer, Unilever SA, received the Silver award in the ‘percentage recycled content’ category at the 3rd annual Best Recycled Plastic Product of the Year Competition Gala Dinner, hosted by SAPRO in September. Unilever received the award for its Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid bottle. The bottle contains up to 25% PhoenixPET - the ‘food-grade’ recycled rPET resin manufactured at Extrupet’s B2B plant. The ability to recycle used water bottles as well as soft drink bottles back into ‘food grade’ packaging resin of the highest quality (this is backed up by the British Retail Consortium [BRC] accreditation granted to Extrupet), is an accomplishment which Extrupet holds in the highest regard. “Extrupet wishes to congratulate Unilever on this outstanding achievement. We can think of no more worthy a recipient of this prestigious award. We extend our warmest congratulations to Unilever”, said joint managing director of Extrupet, Chandru Wadhwani. Unilever’s ambition is to double the size of their business, while reducing their overall environmen18 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
tal impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). They are also committed to doing what they can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people in taking action to improve their health and well-being. They also aim to source all their agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Through its membership of PETCO and in collaboration with Extrupet, Unilever uses PhoenixPET in its Sunlight Dishwashing Liquid bottle and aims to increase inclusion rates from 25% to 50% by the end of 2012. Following the BRC annual audit in October this year, the PhoenixPET team was heartened by the news of its re-accreditation and news that the facility had graduated from a Grade B status to a Grade A. According to Extrupet’s B2B plant manager, Krishna Doraisamy: “Grade A is the highest grade that any rPET used in the ‘food packaging of high hygiene’ category can achieve.” Silver Award-winning Unilever bottle
www.phoenixpet.co.za
Extraordinary Colours
153 Haring Road Wadeville Ext 2 21 YEARS Established 1990
For all your colouring requirements of masterbatch and pigments. We have the latest computerised colour matching facilities and 21 years expertise.
Impossible just won’t do!
DEKRA EN ISO 9001:2000 CERTIFIED
Johannesburg: Tel: (011) 824 0350/1/2 • Fax: (011) 824 0353 • email: aussie@mercuryplastics.co.za Durban: Conrad Pillay 082 358 4727 • Cape Town 021 552 4433 •
INDUSTRY NEWS
The site at Kathu near Upington where 1743 homes are being built in the first phase of the project
Incledon appointed pipe solutions supplier to multi-billion project
Share Africa Housing is a joint venture initiative between various role players in the property industry with the primary focus of creating a sustainable housing delivery model for the mining industry in SA. www.sahouse.co.za
Project aims to build sustainable housing delivery model for mining industry INCLEDON is supplying more than R10million worth of piping products and fittings to phase 1 of Bestwood Estate, a development project by Share Africa Housing in the Northern Cape with an estimated sell-out value of more than R2.5-billion. Share Africa Housing is a joint venture initiative between various role players in the property industry, with a primary focus to create a sustainable housing delivery model for the mining industry in South Africa. MD Marius Vivier said work on the groundbreaking project comprised a total of seven phases of development by appointed contractor Esorfranki Civils, and involves the development of 200ha of private farmland purchased by the company into a fully integrated township that is designed to accommodate the sharp rise in population Incledon’s Dewald Hattingh and Burt Nieuwenhuis, MD of the company’s Northern Cape operation, are focussed on supplying the group’s range of pipes and fittings for the project in the Northern Cape. The iron ore industry is creating a high need for housing in the region
in Kathu, as a direct result of the iron ore and manganese mining boom in the region. “Work on the first phase of the project began in February 2012 and involves the construction of 1743 homes ranging from 42 to 250m² in size, a total of nine sectional title apartment block sites and related civil works, in addition to various commercial and institutional opportunities such as a municipal office, police station, clinic, community centre, a petrol station and a motor dealership. This first of its kind project in South Africa with unique features such as pre-paid gas reticulation, has set new trends for local project developments moving forward,” said Vivier. Incledon Northern Cape sales representative Dewald Hattingh said it had to date supplied the project with 30kms of uPVC water pipes and 20km of uPVC sewerage pipes, manufactured by its sister company DPI Plastics, a leading manufacturer of water reticulation, drainage and pipe fitting systems in South Africa. Incledon is also supplying the project with a vast range of AVK valves, fabricated PVC fittings, Tekflo cast iron fittings and HDPE home connection water pipes,” said Hattingh. Incledon will also be supplying Bestwood Estate with 20km of Aquaflow HDPE pipes, varying between 40 and 90mm in diameter, for the project’s gas supply network. “HDPE is the ideal material for the gas supply line, as it is lightweight and has excellent resistance to the corrosion and abrasion that is typically caused by gas,” he added. The gas network supply pipes have been proposed and offered to be connected with Plasson electrofusion fittings, exclusively 20 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Incledon is supplying more than R10-million worth of piping products and fittings to Phase 1 of the Bestwood Estate
available in the local market through Incledon. Electrofusion is a method of joining HDPE pipes with special fittings that have built-in copper wires, which are used to weld the joint together. During the process, the pipe outer ends are scraped clean and inserted into the Plasson electrofusion fitting, before voltage is applied. “The Plasson ‘Smart System Controller’ determines the correct welding time, and melts the inside of the fitting and the outside of the pipe wall together, to produce a strong homogeneous joint that is stronger than the pipe wall. This method completely eliminates the need for additional costly and bulky equipment to be taken onsite, and ensures that the fittings are watertight, frostproof, impact-resistant and are suitable for use in direct sunlight,” added Hattingh. www.incledon.co.za
INDUSTRY NEWS
M-Tech speeds up film production Ultimate goal is to reduce lead times M-TECH Plastics of Johannesburg is on track towards achieving its long-term service and supply goals with news of investments in top-class converting equipment to meet a stringent service strategy and enhance its fast-growing flexible packaging operations. “We’ve embarked on equipment purchases in line with our expansion plans,” explained Barry le Roux, MD of North Riding-based M-Tech. “This includes a recently installed Titan ER610 compact slitter-rewinder, supplied in collaboration with Beswick Machinery, the local agent for Atlas Converting Equipment of the UK. We also plan to place orders for a Nordmeccanica Super-Combi coater/lami-
nator and a Rotomec ELS 10-colour gravure press, both scheduled for delivery in 2013.” Up till now, slitting and rewinding at MTech Plastics has been completed on two machines. “Our existing equipment carried us through our early growth stages, but it’s now time to push ourselves into the next level. We’ve always appreciated Titan’s worldclass technology and the new Titan ER610 has hit the perfect balance between price and performance. Also Beswick Machinery has an excellent team providing top-class technical and maintenance support, so I’m very happy,” said Le Roux. The Titan ER610 is an affordable, highperformance slitter-rewinder designed to run
at a production speed of 450m/min and can handle a minimum 35mm slit width with a rewind diameter of 610mm. The 1650mm web width machine also features an integral edge-trim extraction system and an integral shaftless unwind for a maximum 1000mm diameter roll. The pneumatically-controlled braking system provides accurate web tension control and a digital edge guide system controls lateral movement of the unwind reel. Also included is a high-speed HMI control system with a 10” touchscreen terminal, non-language symbols, compact flash memory and fault diagnostics. “The control system simplifies operation. Anyone who can use a cell phone can oper-
Dyna-Purge training with Keniplas Dyna-Purge engineered purging compounds reduce scrap, minimize machine downtime, cut purging costs THE Dyna-Purge® Division of Shuman Plastics, Inc., Depew (Buffalo), NY, USA recently worked with Keniplas (Pty) Ltd. of Johannesburg during a day-long training programme on Dyna-Purge® engineered purging compounds. Using Skype® technology, Dyna-Purge International Business Manager, Kelli Ropach, conducted the training and introduced Keniplas to the full line of DynaPurge products. Keniplas is a distributor of plastic additives, polymers and pigments to companies in the plastics industry in South Africa and is intending to carry the DynaPurge line. According to Kelli Ropach, the training showed Keniplas the advantages of Dyna-Purge purging compounds, while detailing the business model that ensures a successful Dyna-Purge distributorship. “Dyna-Purge products are increasingly recognized in South African plastics markets for their high performance in purging, resulting in minimal machine downtime and reduced scrap,” explained Kelli Ropach. “The training was an innovative way to show Keniplas how our products work and how we work to build strong relationships with our international distributors.” Keniplas will also be conducting machine trials on the full range of products to gain practical experience on the benefits of using Dyna-Purge. Keniplas is committed to ensuring that customers will receive all the
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Team on training – The Dyna-Purge® Division of Shuman Plastics, Inc., Depew (Buffalo), NY, USA recently worked with Keniplas (Pty) Ltd. of Johannesburg during a day-long training programme on Dyna-Purge® engineered purging compounds. Taking part were (back row): Chad and Hans Leisegang, Grant Brooklyn and Ian Clark. Front row: Glynis Ede, Maureen Neil, Karin Clark and Cindy Brooklyn
National Sales Manager at Keniplas. Grant major benefits in the use of Dyna-Purge as is a welcome addition to the team and is a purging compound. excited to take Keniplas intends “Dyna-Purge products are up the challenge. to distribute DynaKeniplas uses Purge countrywide, increasingly recognized in South Heneways (Pty) Ltd managed by African plastics markets for their with warehousing their team in high performance in purging, countrywide to Johannesburg and resulting in minimal machine enable national supported by Hans downtime and reduced scrap.” distribution of Dynaand Chad Leisegang Purge to all major in the coastal regions. regions in South Africa. The company is pleased to announce Dyna-Purge was first introduced into the appointment of Grant Brooklyn as
ate the machine,’ commented Riaan Hopley of Beswick Machinery. “Installation and operator training was carried out by our qualified technicians and the ER610 is already having a very positive impact on quality and service to M-Tech’s customers.” The ER610 system is available in two standard widths – 1350 & 1650mm – with slitting systems available as shear knives, rotary razor (burst) or razor slitting in air or groove. Optional features include laser (line) core positioning, laser safety scanners and also a shaftless unwind roll pick-up from the floor. It is a more environmentally friendly solution with reduced power consumption, no hydraulics for oil-free, hygienic operation, un-lubricated compressed air for zero oil/air emissions and less steel through its compact design. Its ‘one-piece’ construction also enables rapid installation, commissioning and simplified logistics. Le Roux’s ultimate goal is to reduce lead times drastically and produce consistent, high-quality goods for all customers.
the marketplace over 30 years ago, and is the most widely used commercial purging compound in the plastics industry worldwide. During the training, representatives from Keniplas learned about nearly a dozen different formulations of Dyna-Purge, as alternatives to in-house plastic resins, regrinds or other commercial purging products. Kelli Ropach also outlined how Dyna-Purge works with its international distributors, offering technical support and other services. Dyna-Purge products, the original non-chemical, non-abrasive purging compounds, are safe and effective in cleaning of injection moulding, extrusion, blow moulding, compounding, and blown film production equipment. Dyna-Purge compounds improve purging efficiency and performance while lowering purging costs for resin, colour and formulation changes, routine and preventive maintenance, and prior to machine shutdown and start-up. “By working with companies such as Keniplas, we aim to introduce more customers to the advantages of our engineered purging compounds and help the Dyna-Purge® brand to grow in South Africa’s thermoplastic markets,” concluded Kelli Ropach. “At the same time we are growing our worldwide network of distributing partners.” Dyna-Purge® is sold through stocking distributors internationally. Contact DynaPurge or Keniplas for more information. www.keniplas.co.za www.dynapurge.com
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 23
The 1650mm web width Titan ER610 slitter-rewinder is designed to run at a production speed of 450m/min and can handle a minimum 35mm slit width with a rewind diameter of 610mm M-Tech Plastics was established in 1990 and has evolved in to one of South Africa’s leading converters of flexible plastic packaging materials. It produces high quality gravure printed BOPP, PET, PVC, PE films and paper as well as duplex and triplex laminations. These include 5 layer co-extruded nylon, EVOH, Nucrel and Surlyn barrier films which are all produced in line with ISO22000/HACCP quality and food safety management systems.
www.mtech.co.za
barry@mtech.co.za
Stirling shifts to plastics Keeping abreast of the times STIRLING Accessories, which has manufactured automotive components locally for over 60 years, has kept abreast with the global trend to shift from the use of metals to plastics in the fabrication of automotive accessories. “With the improvement in the quality of plastics, the KwaZulu-Natal factory is replacing the use of metals in the manufacture on some automotive components, like rear view mirror components and attachments, as well as lamps and general accessories,” says Keith Russon, CEO of Stirling Accessories, which is based in Westmead, Durban. The company’s extensive range of automotive components, which complies with stringent specifications, including SABS, provincial road ordinance and European regulations, includes mirror and mirror arms, lamps and beacons, as well as electrical and general components. Reflectors, chevrons and warning triangles, as well as carrier roofs and fishing rod racks are also available. Quality certification gives users the assurance that all Stirling products meet stringent standards in terms of materials, specifications and quality controls during manufacture. The Stirling Accessories manufacturing plant – with the latest equipment, technology and tooling technicians – has the capability to design and manufacture automotive components to a customer’s exact
specifications. Its R+D specialists continually improve efficiencies to keep abreast with world-class standards and trends. Computerized CNC machines are used for the tooling and design of the plastic auto accessories and the various components injection moulded. Stirling Accessories has always offered prospective as well as current customers the opportunity of having products manufactured to exact specifications and requirements. Their design team works in conjunction with customers to help eliminate deficiencies, create a product that is of the highest quality and design the required tooling that will not only reduce the production costs of the items manufactured, but also increase the service life of the tooling. www.stirlingaccessories.co.za Stirling Accessories, which has manufactured automotive components locally for over 60 years, has kept abreast with the global trend to shift from the use of metals to plastic materials in the fabrication of automotive accessories, an example being this M401C mirror
INDUSTRY NEWS
GREAT PROGRESS FOR
Evonik Acrylics Africa IN THE six months since Evonik Industries of Germany established a joint venture with Ampaglas Plastics Group in South Africa to boost production of its Plexiglas® PMMA extruded sheet products for the African market, some exciting developments have been initiated and are progressing well. The new entity, Evonik Acrylics Africa (EAA), is based at the Ampaglas group head office in Elandsfontein, Johannesburg. The joint venture came into being on 1 May. The goal of the joint venture, in which Evonik holds a 51% stake, is the production of high-quality Plexiglas PMMA sheeting and its marketing, particularly in the growth markets of the African continent. Evonik Acrylics Africa has been marketing its high-end extruded acrylic products into the building and architecture market segments, as well as the design-oriented lighting technologies, furniture, shop-fitting and exhibition booth construction segments. Evonik ensures a continuous supply of raw materials from its moulding compounds production sites in Germany, China and the USA. We asked Evonik General Manager Holger Morhart, about the progress of the new African venture: What new initiatives have been started by Evonik Holger Morhart Acrylics Africa? The Board of Evonik in Germany has approved the substantial capital expenditure for the new large extruder to produce PLEXIGLAS® in South Africa. We are extremely excited about this development and will, through this, be able to start production latest in June 2013. The investment decision underlines Evonik’s confidence in the region and its potential for sustainable growth. The new machine with a high output will enable us to have product available in a very short space of time, this to service our customers even better than before. What plans are in the pipeline for the near future of Evonik Acrylics Africa? While the extruder is being set up we are 24 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
also introducing a whole variety of new products which we are importing from our plant in Germany. For example, we are offering the market our range of glues for acrylics which we produce ourselves. Being a large chemical company allows us not only to produce our own raw material which makes us independent from potential global shortages, it also gives us the possibility to develop new and innovative products all the time and to adapt to market requirements. Another new and innovative product is our Hard Coat (HC) range. The product has a non-scratch coating which dramatically reduces damage to the surface of the sheet. This opens up completely new markets which were not available for any plastics due to the regular scratching that could occur. We have also seen potential demand in the building industry for ‘greener’ products. PLEXIGLAS®, with its very long life span and recyclability in combination with energy saving features is the ideal product for many architectural applications. We have developed the new PLEXIGLAS HEATSTOP® roof sheets which insulate and at the same time reduce heat built up in the areas under the sheet by up to 75%. This translates to dramatic saving potentials when it comes to air conditioning costs in large buildings. Is the acrylic sheet market in Africa attractive at present, and which applications do you expect to grow? The acrylic market is currently fairly saturated overseas so there is a huge potential for growth in the African market. The goal of the joint venture is the production of high-quality PLEXIGLAS® sheeting, particularly in the growth markets of the African continent. We see the Sub-Saharan region as one of our strategic growth markets for the PLEXIGLAS® brand. Our extensive research has shown that there is a substantial demand for higher quality products, which were not available up to now.
This, in combination with the strong growth in infrastructure developments in the various countries, we are already busy setting up sales channels and distribution hubs within Africa which will be fed from the new operation in South Africa. Do you expect to achieve improved production skills and outputs? The joint venture with Evonik and the cooperation from Germany will set the benchmark for new research, product and skills development. Evonik Acrylics Africa will significantly raise the bar for extruded acrylic products in South Africa. The result will be high-quality end products in our target markets. With EAA, we want to be able to speedily and comprehensively meet increasing demand in market segments that are important to us. How do you see this venture progressing over the next 5 years? We aim be to be the leading manufacturer of acrylics in sub-Saharan Africa and with the cooperation of Evonik we are very confident that this will be achievable. Since we actively launched our PLEXIGLAS® product range in South Africa in 2003 we have seen substantial growth. The combination of an already strong local presence with established channels to market by Ampaglas and our global knowhow with regards to innovative products and leading production technology was an ideal match. With Ampaglas as the main player in the market we found the perfect partner for this venture. Do you operate other similar joint ventures with sheet manufacturers in other areas, and how successful have these projects been? We operate several joint ventures such as this, for example in Russia and China. This has enabled us to gain substantial market share.
Evonik Acrylics Africa has been marketing its high-end extruded acrylic products into the building and architecture market segments, as well as the design-oriented lighting technologies, furniture, shopfitting and exhibition booth construction segments.
INDUSTRY NEWS
PIONEER PLASTICS celebrates 30yrs in style
… with an amazing 2500 products WITH A WHOPPING 2500 products in its inventory, Pioneer Plastics – one of South Africa’s top rotational moulding companies – celebrated its 30th year in operation in style in 2012. Yes – and don’t choke on your coffee – that’s correct: two-thousand-five-hundred products! Shew, such a stat would induce an extreme bout of fear for most convertors. But it all started with just two products, back in 1982, when founder Jack Wiid decided it was time to go on his own with what was then considered a fairly new process in South Africa, roto moulding. Pioneer’s first products included a trailer mud guard and a sanitary towel bin. Jack had arrived in the plastics roto sector via a circuitous route: he was born in SA but grew up in Zimbabwe and then returned to the country and gained a lot of technical experience as an aircraft maintenance engineer with the SA Air Force in Pretoria. After changing into civvies, Jack’s pursuits led him into some interesting business ventures, but the heat was truly on once Pioneer opened for business. The company’s first premises was literally a shed with a home-made roto system. The production of large, hollow containers is the preserve of the roto process, but for Pioneer (as well as for all roto moulders around the world) the main focus was on developing products that could be manufactured profitably. As you can deduct, the search over the last three decades has been fairly relentless – Pioneer has on average developed over 80 products a year. The evolution has been constant. Pioneer’s products include bins, tanks, huts, jetties, road barriers, truck accessories (including long-distance fuel tanks) and then the very broad ‘special products’ category, which includes everything else. Quite a number of this vast range of products are short-run items: in fact, part of the recipe for Pioneer’s success has been its willingness to manufacture anything which can be roto moulded. Contracts or arrangements entered into with clients vary: in some cases clients are happy to fund the cost of design and mould construction, in others Pioneer has met the cost. Chartering a course through this territory can be complicated, but 26 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Jack Wiid (right) with the Pioneer Plastics’ management team, including sons Gary and Wayne Wiid and technical manager Nick Swardt. Here we see them with one of the Rosslyn-based company’s automated Reinhardt roto systems, in this case a four-arm unit; with three cooling/de-moulding stations and bi-directional turret movement, the machine has allowed Pioneer to improve production rates
Roto moulding of large components such as trailer bodies and the assembly of all associated items is one of Pioneer’s strengths
The truck mud guard which was Pioneer’s first product in 1982
Magic hey? Jack Wiid scans the bar code on a justmoulded item. Pioneer is able to monitor production runs real-time, from post-design ap- On safari! – Pioneer has established an proval to the point of material important market niche for itself with its range of safari products order to and finally dispatch
possibly still more important is the essential need to produce items cost effectively. With the spiraling product inventory list, the need for a very efficient production control system became essential. Pioneer has succeeded in this endeavour over the past few years and its unique proprietary system has made effective control feasible. All products are bar-coded with the ‘journey’ after design approval starting with material requisition and machine time orders going out and then tying in post-moulding with automated control to warehouse and dispatch. The system also factors in reject shots, with operators only able to complete a production run once rejects have been re-run. With roto moulding, a lot of the production runs are relatively short … but shot weights (hence costs) can be high, so the effectiveness of the control system is vital. The development of the production control system has revolutionised production control for the Pretoria roto company. Automation Pioneer’s decision to go boldly forward, in 2005, when it commissioned its first fully automated roto machine, from Reinhardt Roto-Machines of India, has been fully vindicated. The Reinhardt fixed-arm turret machine overcame the main problem of manual operation (the amount of time
required for part cooling, with the operator having to wait before starting the next shot) by having three stations – for heating, cooling and demoulding/charging. It uses a gas-heated oven that operates with a high-pressure/high-volume blower which achieves reduced heating times. The oven – a solid self-supporting steel construction with improved insulation – moves back and forth and the heating phase involves the oven closing over the turret arm carrying the mould (or moulds). It has since commissioned a second Reinhardt machine, in this case a 4-arm system. Pioneer’s more recent achievements include achieving ISO 9001:2008 certification and has been BBBEE compliant since 2007. Two of Jack’s sons have also joined the business: the ‘youngsters’ worked for pocket money during their school holidays and, in spite of qualifying with international companies, have since taken on various rolls in the manufacturing, marketing and management of the company. Pioneer has been successful in preparing a recognized training programme in conjunction with Plastics|SA and is in the forefront with specialists in plastic technology and development, which partnerships have benefited all the employees of Pioneer Plastics.
Wayne Wiid with some of the wide range of safari products made at Pioneer, including jerry cans and long-range fuel tanks
Pioneer is one of southern Africa’s top manufacturers of road barriers. Once positioned and inter-locked, the containers are filled with water and form sturdy barriers to direct and control traffic flow
www.pioneerplastics.co.za DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 27
R
Thank You
to all our loyal customers supported us over the past
Road Barriers
Bins, Drums & Containers
Custom Moulding
and suppliers who have
30 years.
Litter Bins
Toilet Huts
www.pioneerplastics.co.za sales@pioneerplastics.co.za Tel: +27 (0)12 541 6000 Fax: +27 (0)12 541 1738
PIONEER PLASTICS Anythings Possible
INDUSTRY NEWS
Advanced Polymers
celebrates Finding material solutions for complex moulding problems is the name of the game SPECIALIST material supplier Advanced Polymers celebrates the completion of 20 years in operation this year, a twodecade-long roller-coaster ride which has seen it constantly coming up with solutions for complex moulding challenges. Market conditions have changed substantially since 1992, but Advanced Polymers has managed to change with the times. Pressure on margins, the need to offer on-going and effective technical back-up and reliable supply and service are challenges for suppliers in all industries – and to do that you need the right people, which is something Advanced has proven good at since the outset. The three founding partners had as their common objective, in 1992, to supply … well, an advanced service. The main goal then was not just to sell material, but to motivate that with a high level of technical know-how in terms of advice for material selection, product and mould design and supervised machine trials and analysis. This process resulted in the recommendation of the most suitable material and grade for each specific application. That undertaking was itself bolstered by the quality international principals Advanced represented. The company gained the agencies for some top-flight international material suppliers, including acetal from Korea Engineering Plastics (Kepital®); acrylic from Altuglas of Germany; ABS from Toray of Japan (Toyolac®); polyamide from Radici of Italy; polycarbonate (Trirex®) from Samyang of Korea; PTFE (Teflon®) from DuPont; silicones from Momentive Performance materials; and thermoplastic elastomers (Monprene/ Uniprene®) from Teknor Apex of the USA; as well as a range of polyolefins and pigments. One of the advantages for Advanced has been that it has been able to maintain and build on these supplier relationships consistently, enabling the company to deliver an enhanced service to plastic convertors in South Africa. In most cases, the international manufacturers also offer services such as testing and mould flow analysis, a valuable advantage for local component manufacturers. 28 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
A logistics company too The challenges for material suppliers in recent years have centred specifically on margins, which have become extremely tight. That’s mainly the result of increased competition in the market, but the tightening of margins has also meant that the margin of error for suppliers has increased too. The dangers of mishaps such as supply being delayed or damaged or an incorrect grade being supplied have thus grown, and the way Advanced has combated this is by improving its supply systems, and giving this constant attention. The decision to warehouse materials in the regions and increase the warehousing space at its head office in Jet Park, Johannesburg, as well as run its own delivery fleet has been challenging, but enabled it to improve efficiencies. “We have effectively become a logistics company. If we have to make a delivery twice, we lose money on the contract, that’s how tight the margins are now. Keeping stock in the warehouse for too long also results in losses,” said MD Les Whittal. Growth from zero start At the outset in 1992 the operation was national. The Cape and KZN operations were run as independent operations with the head office in Johannesburg. Brad Jay bought the business in 2003 and, believing that the business had huge potential to grow and be one of the major suppliers in the plastic industry, set about putting a professional team together. Les Whittal and Clinton McIllroy joined Rod Lowe, one of the founding members of Advanced Polymers, in the sales team to look after the three main regions in Western Cape, KZN and Gauteng. As the business has grown, additional sales people in Darius Agenbach, Guy Moore and Zaheer Ernest, as well as operations and finance have been strengthened with the most recent appointments of Damian Judge as financial director and Bianca Connor as operational director. Jay was able to transfer business management strategies developed in the travel and fuel supply sectors and create the core structure which has seen Advanced Polymers achieve steady growth. He and Whittal have overseen the creation of the
Korea Engineering Plastics Company (KEPCO) president Douglas Choi, supplier of Kepital® acetal, handed an engraved plate to Advanced Polymers MD Brad Jay in 2007 to mark 15 years of successful partnership between the companies
Advanced Polymers was appointed as the SA agent for Momentive Performance Materials’ range of silicone materials in 2009, here Les and Ryan Harrington of Momentive shake on the deal
strategy that has seen Advanced consistently improving its service to convertors. “Even though the company has got bigger, we have focused on providing a personal type of service – from our sales and telesales teams to our drivers, everyone here is involved,” said Jay. By personal, he also means knowledgeable: the company’s systems allow them to advise if they have the material sought “within 10 seconds of inquiry,” said Jay. The ability to react rapidly has also resulted in the build up of a ‘memory bank’ for possible alternative material solutions. The upside is that, by eliminating such problems and reducing the risks involved, it is able to render a better service to its customers – and the Advanced team has become very good at this.
www.advancedpolymers.co.za
liam.chegwidden@polysaf.com, kelly.dewet@polysaf.com and alan.wassung@polysaf.com (Cape Town)
INDUSTRY NEWS
Reifenhäuser’s
‘Extrusioneers’ visit SA Developer of plastic extrusion system interacts with SA film manufacturers THE ‘EXTRUSIONEERS,’ the world-leading film extrusion equipment supplier Reifenhäuser of Germany, recently visited South Africa for a series of conferences at which they introduced their comprehensive technologies to film manufacturers.
Reifenhäuser group, which celebrated its centenary in 2011, had in 2009 purchased Kiefel group, a rival film extruder manufacturer in Germany which ironically had sold its equipment successfully in South Africa. Reifenhäuser had originally sold well locally, but had tapered off over the past two decades. Local convertors were somewhat puzzled, but Ulrich Reifenhäuser, CEO of the group, was quick to outline the strategy: Kiefel had been strong in global markets, including SE Asia and South America, where Reifenhäuser had not to date had much market penetration, and the decision to purchase the erstwhile rival and merge their strengths was thus geared to creating a more effective global entity. The Kiefel business unit, however, forms just one part of the Reifenhäuser group today, which includes: Polyrema, which handles upgrades of blown film lines; Reicofil, a manufacturer of spunbonding, melt blown and Ultra Cool – Reifenhäuser Kiefel Extrusion has added a new high-performance cooling system to the its new ‘Evolution’ blown film line generation. The new cooling design evenly cools from within and without, employing the same concept as the successful Enhanced Cooling Package (ECP), which has been used for years now in the production of heavy duty sacks. Evolution Ultra Cool comes with a height-adjustable cooling ring and an aircooled inner cooling system that optimise the air conduction inside the bubble, keeping the bubble stable even at high throughput. Its high cooling capacity permits a die factor well above two, making it possible for film manufacturers to significantly increase output capacity
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1. The Extrusioneers – Ulrich Reifenhäuser (right), the CEO of the group, with international sales director Kurt Freye and senior sales manager Sascha Skora hosted the ReifenhäuserKiefel Extrusion Group’s recent conferences in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town
• FERROSTAAL IS THE SA AGENT FOR REIFENHÄUSER.
www.reifenhauser-group.com
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2. Control & temperature are what matter – Thomas Eikenbusch of Plast Control of Germany, which develops and supplies a lot of the control systems used by the Reifenhäuser-Kiefel extrusion group, and Alessandro Grassi of Frigosystem of Italy, supplier of temperature control systems, were also speakers at the conferences. Enhanced temperature control is reputed to be one of the most effective means of reducing energy costs
30 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
composite lines; Reimotec, which manufactures strapping tape lines; Reifenhäuser cast sheet coating lines; Reifenhäuser Extrusion Technology, which makes single and twin-screw extruders, ‘REItruders’, WPC lines and a complete range of components; and Reiloy, the maker of armouring technologies for wear-resistant screws and barrels. During the financial crisis of 2008/9 (and which is still being felt in many parts of the global economy), Reifenhäuser adopted an inter-group strategy in which the various business contracted work among each other wherever possible. Besides the fact that this built up resilience within the group, it also retained skills and momentum which enabled the group companies to retain all of its 1200 staff members, without laying any off. Reifenhäuser group, which was established as a metal forge in 1911 and which introduced its first plastic extruder in 1948, was also the developer of the plastic pipe extrusion system in 1961. These breakthroughs have given the group global fame, but according to Ulrich Reifenhäuser – who runs the group with his two brothers – they are proud of their 100-year history but more excited about the future.
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3. Andrew Pienaar of Polysaf with speakers Magdy Garas ExxonMobil Chemical, who gave a presentation about his group’s range of metallocene polyethylene products; and Manfred Kurscheid of Polyrema, a Reifenhäuser group company specialising in the upgrading of systems
4. Martin Hollinger and Floors Coetzee of Ferrostaal with Ulrich Reifenhäuser; Ferrostaal is the SA agent
BOOK EARLY BEFORE THE DECEMBER SHUTDOWN
dean@relloy.co.za
INDUSTRY NEWS
Global scale compounder RTP shows its wares Builds international network on ability to assure plant-to-plant consistency THE compounding business implies a good understanding – exceptionally good understanding in fact – of the unique interactions which occur when polymers are used in their specific applications. The potential for failure of plastic products – whether it’s due to heat or UV or impact or any of a wide variety of other dangers – is obviously high. Now try and build a global business in that market? Well, that’s the situation in which American compounder RTP group has traded in since its establishment three decades ago in 1982. RTP’s chosen market is that of the compounding of custom engineered thermoplastics. With six plants in the USA, one in Mexico, two in Europe (France, Germany), two in China and one in Singapore, RTP is one of the top international engineering compounding groups, if not the market leader. A delegation of RTP engineers recently visited South Africa and gave presentations at gatherings in Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape hosted by its SA principal Plastamid. RTP supplies over 600 commercial products including over 60 engineering resins and 100-plus modifiers. Its strength lies in its ability to achieve plant-to-plant consistency. In the ‘electronic age’ over the past
Also at the evening function were Bernard Reeksting of CPT (Centre for Polymer Technology in Pretoria), Otto Winter (Techno Plastics), Renee Brennan (Plastamid), Jacques Fourie (Diemaster) and Reinhard Fechter and Ian Chapman (both Multotec)
RTP ‘glow-in-the-dark’ masterbatch is used in medical appliances to assist rescue personnel working at night
Reinforced nylons are used in fan blades
32 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Global engineering materials specialism – The RTP speakers included Chris Rooney, Joel Bell and Eric Lee; their visit was hosted by Plastamid, the RTP agent in South Africa
two decades, communication between its widely spread plants has obviously become easier, but achieving genuine consistency with complicated formulations for very specific applications such as conductivity, needs extremely specific attention. The group services numerous niche application clients and its ability to readily supply such customers has helped it grow its business. Often clients are uncertain
what type or grade of material to supply: for example, using a long-fibre reinforced polyprop can substitute and even out-perform a PA6 or 66 solution. Such expertise can assist in cases where there is a need to reduce weight and/or cost … and possibly even improve performance! www.rtpcompany.com
Team Multotec – Carolyn Kellock of Plastamid surrounded by Carsten Dietz, Markus Bernatzeder, Wolfgang Langenstein and Ian Delport (all of Multotec)
Asthma inhaler producer from a permanently anti-static ABS compound
Reinforced PP used to clamp hot or cold water pipes
Dr Joseph Hato and Vincent Khumalo of the CSIR and Amos Mkhonto Plastics│SA were at the presentation in Midrand
Post-industrial carbon-fibre reinforced resin material from Boeing in the USA used to manufacture a consumer product
THE POLYMER SOLUTIONS COMPANY Plastamid, a member of the Chemical Services Group, has brought premier polymer solutions, extensive application development and technical service to the local and international polymer markets for over 35 years. Plastamid plays a leading role in the manufacture and supply of thermoplastic compounds to a diverse range of industries.
Automotive
Electrical
Industrial
Packaging
Consumer
Compounding Service
Experience PR E MI E R P OL YM ER SOL UTION S w ith exten siv e A PPL I C A TION DEVEL OP M EN T and expert T E C H N IC A L SER VIC ES Visit www.plastamid.co.za for further information. CPT 021 MEH MNHF I JHB 011 922 1600 I DBN 031 701 9546 I PE 08000 75 278
INDUSTRY NEWS
Student Gold Pack Awards NAMPAK, Africa’s largest packaging company, was a proud sponsor of the Food Science category at this year’s Student Gold Pack Awards, which were presented at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg on 18 October. In line with the competition brief, Food Science and Technology students were required to develop a new food product, including the packaging. In choosing the
winner, the judges considered the pack’s functional attributes, particularly in terms of its preservation and distribution capability. Other factors that influenced the decisionmaking process were the user-friendliness of the packaging, as well as its ability to communicate the brand message and engage consumers at the point-of-purchase. The competition winner was Sarah Erasmus from Stellenbosch University,
who developed a powdered yoghurt drink, called Cup of Yo. The powdered yoghurt is packed in a sachet and comes with a branded plastic cup. Convenient and lightweight, especially for people who enjoy being outdoors, like campers and hikers, Cup of Yo is a healthy, on-the-go snack, requiring some water only. The plastic cup is also collapsible and reusable. The competition runners-up were all from Stellenbosch University: Stephanie Bosman for a range of dips in compostable cups, Kirsten Giddey for a freeze-dried yoghurt drink in a refillable pouch with a drinking spout, and Pamela Masters for Mexican-style tortilla chips in a uniquely shaped carton. www.nampak.com
Competition winner Sarah Erasmus with Johan Visser, head of Nampak’s R&D and Kirsten Tyler, Nampak’s Marketing Manager.
Competition runner-up Stephanie Bosman with Johan Visser, head of Nampak’s R&D
Sarah Erasmus’s winning Cup of Yo, powdered yoghurt drink
Stephanie Bosman’s runner-up Dippos compostable cups
Mattman moves into machine manufacturing MATTMANN has a new 400m2 home in Midrand, with full 3D design software, electrical design software and in-house machining facilities. For the past six years or so, Mattman built a reputation as machine software upgrade specialists. The company can now offer full mechanical, electrical, software and machine improvement options. Mattman recently completed a Bekum BA52 upgrade, PLC control and hydraulic improvements for Megapack, as well as a full machine, head overhaul, new electrical panel and mechanical upgrades on a Automa 30l machine for Venture. The company’s latest build was a 5-head indexing carousel for a dairy bottle manufacture able to test in excess of 6000 1l bottles an hour. The company’s latest design offering is a combined QC station where bottles are tested for leaks and then weighed, inspected and packed using 4-axis robots built in-house. Pictured here in front of the 5-head carousel are Jeffrey Weakley, Charles Glieman, Michael Farrell and Jerry Matshika. • MATTMAN TEL : 011 315 8486
34 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
INDUSTRY NEWS
rPET is the solution for
Lomold 8.5 kg shotweight items produced at 75sec cycle times nozzle is that the glassfibre is not sheared during the injection phase and results in fibre lengths in excess of 10mm on average in the final part. The design of the pallet and various versions of its mould have evolved through a number of stages, including some major changes, and the process reached culmination when the first ‘Lomolder’ machine was introduced to the SA market in Cape Lomold first came on the scene in 1998, Town in December 2011, when it went into introducing a new technology for the proproduction locally for the first time. A second duction of pallets using long-strand glassfimachine was also commissioned in China, bre reinforced plastics. It was later set up to where it has started production. manufacture pallets for the global market; it The Lomolder™ also sells the patented Lomachines are built under Commingled plastic mold™ technology for the licence by Chuan Lih Fa production of its patented scrap can be used in Taiwan. pallets and other structural in the long fibre The main advantages products under license. technology process of the Lomold process Long fibre technology include: (LFT) had been utilized complex designs are possible while before and although some pundits felt the keeping long fibre integrity, allowing injection moulding of long rovings would not metal-replacement and lightweighting succeed, the Lomold team has overcome of structural parts the technical problems. The Lomold LFT moisture-sensitive polymers such as process involves melting of the base nylon and PET can be processed polymer (various polymers and, particularly, without problem; and recycled material can be used) along with commingled plastic scrap can be continuous glass fibre rovings in a separate used directly without the need for barrel and injection into the mould via a intermediate steps. separate chamber and significantly wider After last year’s unveiling, however, gate. The advantage of the 65mm gate further challenges remained, specifically regarding the economic feasibility of the process and the use of recycled material. Given that the 8.5kg shotweight items from recycled plastic are now being produced at cycle times of 85 seconds and with the required mechanical properties, this process appears to have been successful. In order to bring pallet unit cost down,
PIETER du Toit, of Western Cape-based Lomold, has been driving the development of the Lomold process for over a decade and, in pursuit of that dream, has created a robust business group to build the momentum to commercialise it.
The rPET pallet weighs just 16kg and achieves unprecedented strength-toweight performance 36 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
cheaper polymer was necessary. To this end, Lomold’s association with the Proplas recycling business since 2004 has begun to reap results. At the time Proplas was processing about 130 tons a month, but that figure has escalated steadily since the company’s move to the Lomold site in Bellville, Cape Town. Proplas is now processing over 600 tons of recycled plastics monthly, including about 100 tons/month of recycled PET (rPET). rPET Earlier this year Lomold won a ‘recycling design’ award from SAPRO (Southern African Plastics Recyclers Organisation) for a Lomold pallet produced in reinforced rPET. An important advantage of the Lomold system is that unprocessed rPET flake can be used, obviating the prior reprocessing stage and hence cutting costs. The award-winning pallet uses continuous glassfibre rovings, the key being the ability of the machine’s twin-screw barrel to fully ‘wet out’ the fibre in the melt. “One of the main goals is to keep the
Pieter du Toit, of Western Cape-based Lomold, has been driving the development of the Lomold process for over a decade
The commissioning of the ‘Lomolder’ machine in late-2011 and its entry to production in 2012 is the culmination of a dream for the Lomold group. Glassfibre strands are fed into a counter-rotating twin-screw extruder (foreground) where they blend with the melt (in this case from recycled chip); the mingled melt material is transferred into a holding chamber before injection into the mould via the 65mm gate
John Nield of Proplas, which operates from adjacent premises, views the PET separation, washing and chipping process
fibre long in order to achieve high impact strength and retain modulus,” said Du Toit. rPET is attractive due to its high mechanical properties when combined with long glassfibre and its quick cycle times. A further attraction is the fact that large quantities of the material are available and that the consistency of the material allows it to be engineered into a high-performance compound – making it ideal for pallet production. Lomold group The various components of the Lomold group have combined to drive the development of the technology. The group consists of Lomotek Polymers, a supplier of milled and compounded LDPE and LLDPE materials to the roto and other sectors; the recycling business Proplas (which runs a PET recycling line for the granulating and washing of post-consumer PET bottles, as
Co-mingled recycled material can be used with the Lomolder machine; Lomold group believes rPET is currently the most suitable material for the production of pallets, in terms of cost and performance
The design of the mould has been one of the main challenges leading up the successful launch of the Lomold technology process
well as the granulation and extrusion of all commodity polymers including PP, HD, LLDPE, LDPE, HIPS AND ABS); and the Lomold Compounding business which supplies the ‘Lomocomp’ polyamide and polypropylene engineering materials (in total the group supplies in excess of 1 400 tons of polymer a month across Southern Africa). At the pinnacle of this structure is the Lomold pallet production business: the current plant can produce up to 350,000 pallets a year. The pallets are the European 1200x800mm size, up to 1665 can fit into a container. Lomold plans to start production of a 1200x1000mm pallet (the general South African size) in Cape Town early next year.
www.lomold.co.za
Design engineer Barry Crawford has been closely involved with the development of the Lomolder machine
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 37
Bob Bond, chairman of PISA’s Northern branch, was again instrumental in putting together the conference programme that runs alongside the Afrimold exhibition. Here we see him with Henk Snyman CEO of the Gauteng Tooling Initiative
Demaplastech-Objet – The joint stand presented by DemaPlasTech and its principal Objet of Israel – with Gilad Bet-Halevi and Zehavit Reisin of Objet, Jacques Kleynhans and Carmen Grobblaar in attendance – was a hive of activity
Team Flextech – Renata Bovo, Chantelle du Toit, Anouchka van der Walt, Stephan Smit and Peter Phillips of Flextech. Situated in Silverton, Pretoria, Flextech designs and manufactures a range medium-size tools, including plastic injection moulds, high-pressure aluminium die cast moulds, progression tooling, product development, jigs and fixtures. It also provides a prototyping service. Flextech also showcased its plastic injection moulding capabilities – with machinery ranging from 50 to 450 tons
AFRIMOLD 2012
www.ametex.co.za
Team Mouldplas – Chris Oberem, Keith Reading, Bryan Webb and Shaun Lappin of Mouldplas put on an impressive show, with their Wittmann Battenfeld representation being a main theme
Andrew McFarlane and Erik Zimmermann on the Ametex stand. Ametex is the sole distributor for Magmasoft® and Sigmasoft® design programmes for Sub-Saharan Africa. The programmes cover the complete injection moulding and metal casting processes. Ametex showed off some of the products achieved with these design solutions at Afrimold
After 39 years in the industry, Bruce Sargent is starting on his own. His company, CB Plastics is now operational – Well done Sarg!
Umberto Favini has gone on his own again. After a period with Maritime, Umberto is now with Tederic Plastic Machinery SA
Mould Base lucky draw – Charmaine Studer, seen here with Mould Base SA’s Dave Moore, conducted the lucky draw for the mould base at left, the winner being Johan Herbst of AMPCO
Team Hestico – Shaun Faria, Wally Tyler, Richard Woods (Durban), Victor Stiehler, Jose Dantes (visitor from Yudo), Juanita StiehlerBrits, Kelvin Mills, Monika Wolber, Johan Blignaut (Cape Town), Carlos Saboga (visitor from DME) and Ernest Green
38 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Knives are out! – Richard Modry on the JSR Engineering stand, precision manufacturers of Mould bases, plates, die sets, industrial Knives and blades, shredders and granulator knives for the recycling industry
Team Bowler – Riedwaan Roberts, Chris Boshoff and Dirk Lumpp of Bowler Plastics prowled the corridors at Afrimold in search of new technologies
www.creativefactory.co.za
Creative Factory – Louis and Debbie Avenant on the Creative Factory stand. Creative supplies the Cimatron® design package which allows for complete component design as well as control of the tool cutting process. The company’s main activity, however, involves product design, with jobs for some of the country’s top brand owners have been completed
AfriMold focusses on growth of TDM sector Margie and Russell Oosterlaak of 3D Solids Additive Manufacturing in attendance on their stand at Afrimold standing next to a highly detailed 1/12th scale model of the SA Air Force BAE Hawk fighter jet. The model was ‘built’ by the 3D Solids team on a Fortus 250 MC printer, showing the detail and scale achievable by these prototype forming systems www.3dsolids.co.za
‘Enabling for Tomorrow’ SOUTH AFRICA’S tooling, precision engineering, mould making, design and application development industry (TDM) is making a concerted effort to revitalise itself, and nowhere was this more evident than at the third annual AfriMold trade fair at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand in October. Over the course of its three-day conference and expo, AfriMold asserted its role as the driving force behind the future growth and development of the TDM industry. Led by the theme of ‘Enabling for Tomorrow,’ conference speakers and exhibitors, engaged a quality audience of key decision-makers with the strategies and tools necessary to achieve this desired revitalisation. “It was abundantly clear at AfriMold that our TDM industry is fired up and committed to doing whatever is necessary to not only stake its claim to the billions of dollars of tooling that is currently being shipped out of South Africa, but also to attract foreign business to our shores as it becomes more globally competitive,” said Ron MacLarty, managing director and organizer of AfriMold and chairman of the Tooling Association of South Africa (TASA). “Feedback from exhibitors, delegates and visitors as well as from industry and government bodies who endorsed AfriMold has been affirming. The dti was particularly impressed with this year’s show and has expressed interest in stepping up its involvement to support AfriMold,” added MacLarty. “The international community is also demonstrating its eagerness to engage with our local industry, on the back of the recent show. We’ve received a lot of interest from this segment in the weeks following the show and have also heard that there were some very successful deals and ventures initiated between local and international businesses at AfriMold 2012.” • Due to overwhelming industry demand, to move AfriMold earlier in the year to allow for adequate time to follow up on leads before year end, the 2013 show is scheduled for 4-6 June 2013. The AfriMold Conference is hosted by the Tooling Association of South Africa (TASA), and the trade fair is aligned with EuroMold and sponsored by TASA, a show that is established on all five continents and represented in China, Japan, Russia, Europe, India, the United Arab Emirates, North America, South America and South Africa. www.afrimold.co.za DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 39
INDUSTRY NEWS
Ashley Henry of Husky entertained colleague Pavel Kuzmin (right), who is Husky’s business manager for thin-wall packaging Middle East/Africa, based in Turkey. Here we see them with Martin Wells of ‘SA Plastics’ magazine and Vic Beaumont, of CAE design college in Edenvale
Tony Varrie and Annemarie Van Der Merwe on the Plasquip stand. One of SA’s leading equipment suppliers to the plastic converting industry over close to 40 years, Tony has a wealth of experience of moulding challenges, so it was worthwhile to drop by for a chat
PHOTOS: LOWRIE SHARP
www.bowler.co.za
www.topsolid.com
New player – Dave Moore of Mould Base celebrated the formation of his new company on his stand at this year’s Afrimold. Dave has decided to switch from injection moulding to the mould component supply, an area in which his experience to date will stand him in good stead
TruSolid – Jean-Luc Lagarde and Anne Cole of Trusolid, the SA representative of TopSolid of France. Here we see Jean-Luc operating the TopSolid CAM and design software products
AFRIMOLD 2012
Engen polymers! – Following its recent entry to the polymers supply market, Engen Chemicals & Special Products had a more focussed presentation at Afrimold 2012 than at previous editions of the show. Here we see Goodman Morapane, Nazlie Karodia and Isaac Solomon David on the petrochemical giant’s stand. Engen is part of Petronas group.
PHOTOS: LOWRIE SHARP
www.solarchallenge.org.za
Pin-ups, or what? – Equipment suppliers Bryan Hodson (formerly of Engel SA, now retired and spending much time diving on reefs on the North Coast and further afield), Roger Cockram of Plastic & Chemical Trading, Tony Varrie of Plasquip, George Ferreira snr and jnr of GF Machinery services suggested this photo appear on the cover (reluctantly, we had to disagree)
Solar power – Bob Bond with the solar-powered vehicle entered by the Tshwane University of Technology in the Sasol Solar Challenge earlier in the year. The 2012 challenge was a formidable undertaking: the vehicles raced for 5400kms. Not surprisingly, driving after dark was not an option. Tokai University of Japan achieved the highest daily mileage of 569kms! Bob and his team recorded a highest daily distance of 223kms – also a SA record for the Olympia Class
Wesley Williams, Nicky Smit and Tim Gilbert on the Edwin Roth Stand. Roth is the SA agent for Stratasys 3D Printers
Celebrating the end of the exhibition, Bart Schurink, Marc Gerasimo, Lowrie Sharp and John Craw, had time for a quick, quiet beer
www.ifw.at
40
International exhibitor – Dirk de Haan of IFW of Austria showed off a number of its specialised pipe mould solutions. The manhole component here was manufactured on an IFW mould, with its patented collapsible core systems. IFW supplies moulds for complete manhole systems for plain-ended, corrugated or composite pipe systems up to and over 1000mm diameter. IFW’s modular technology enables users to build complete systems using only a few moulds. By replacing components or changing injection moulding cores, you can produce various different options in terms of geometry, diameter and angle
BE PART OF THE FUTURE. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
INDUSTRY NEWS
Designs for recyclable collection solution Students show lot of enthusiasm for design challenge
PHOTOS: LOWRIE SHARP
ONE of the undoubted highlights of the AfriMold show in October was the student design competition in which contestants were invited to design a vehicular system for the collection of recyclable materials. Sponsored by the Plastics Institute of South Africa (PISA), POLYCO (the association promoting extended producer responsibility for the polyolefins sector) and Plastics|SA, the competition involved students at Wits University, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Addressing the 21 finalists and winners at the prize giving ceremony at the AfriMold Expo at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Plastics|SA sustainability director Douw Steyn explained that the objective of the competition was to design the most innovative and practical trolley that could be pulled behind a bicycle for the collection of recyclables. “The collection of post-consumer recyclables from households has become a daily occurrence in our streets and neighbourhoods. Our latest plastics recycling survey has shown that 40 950 informal jobs were created during 2010-2011 in the collection industry, with an average of 60kgs collected per person per day.” Sam Matsemela, a collector himself and chairperson of the Trolley Brigade, an informal organization formed to represent collectors in negotiations with municipalities and other organisations, addressed the First prize winners were Balungile Mahlangu, Reando Potgieter and Anthony Wilcox of Tshwane University of Technology, who submitted a group entry
42 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Group photograph of the students who entered the PISA Design Competition 2012, with a recycling trailer entered by the TUT students
organisers and students and was visibly moved by their efforts to make the lives of these workers that much easier. “When Douw spoke about this competition six months ago, I thought it was just talk, but here I stand before you, a judge at the competition and my heart overflowing with pride and joy! Fellow citizens will now become more aware of our contribution to their daily lives and at the same time we will be able to lead meaningful lives and earn a living,” said Matsemela. Steyn explained that the role players in the plastics industry were very supportive of the competition and had not hesitated to donate products ranging from plastic pipes to polystyrene for the students to use in their designs. “We wanted the students to think ‘outside This rural recycling trailer was the winning entry from University of Johannesburg, entered by Wayde van Heerden
the box’ and incorporate as much recycled or recyclable material into their designs as possible. At the same time, the entries needed to be practical, cost effective, easy to build and operate and aesthetically pleasing,” he said. Judging The judges, who were tasked with the difficult job of assessing and adjudicating the entries, were selected from the plastics and recycling industries and chosen because of their first-hand knowledge of the daily challenges faced by the collectors. Included in this group of aficionados were: Annabe Pretorius (GM of the SA Plastics Recycling Organisation) Kirtida Bhana (Plastics|SA training executive) Tiitseko Murray of Wits University, one of the winners, with the poster describing his design, showing the high level of visualisation involved use close to each other
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Claire Warner (education manager at WESSA) Gugu Mkhize (City of Johannesburg, waste minimisation and recycling manager) Simthiwe Memena (City of Johannesburg, waste minimisation and recycling) Sam Matsela (Trolley Brigade) Alfred Mofokeng (Trolley Brigade) Simon Mbatha (Waste Pickers Association) Andrew Marthinusen (PACSA) Douw Steyn (Plastics|SA) The judges made it clear that they were very impressed with the standard of the entries. “It was very difficult to choose a winner, as each and every design was a winner
in its own right,” said Marthinusen, CEO of the Packaging Council of South Africa (PACSA). Winning entries First prize winners were Reando Potgieter, Anthony Wilcox and Balungile Mahlangu of Tshwane University of Technology, who submitted a group entry; and Wayde van Heerden of UJ and Tiisetso Murray of Wits, who both entered as individuals. Concludes Steyn: “I believe this competition has proved that there is a workable solution for waste collection in our country and we hope to see industry and local municipalities working together in the near future to make one of these designs become a reality for Sam and the other collectors”.
Sheryl Ozinsky of POLYCO – one of the main sponsors of the student design competition with a contribution of R50,000 – with Douw Steyn of Plastics|SA
• MORE INFORMATION ON THE WINNING DESIGNS IS AVAILABLE ON THE PLASTICS|SA WEBSITE: www.plasticsinfo.co.za
AFRIMOLD 2012
Linda and Richard Carter of Mould & Die Solutions with Carlos Saboga of DME on the MDS stand; MDS showed off a variety of solutions to make the mould build process quicker, smarter and more cost effective … saving you time, saving you money 44
Toughest steels used at UTP UTP Mould & Die showed some of the steel solutions it offers – including mould bases, press tool die sets and related components for the tool and die industry – which are enabling mould makers and convertors to achieve improved mould performances. UTP’s moulds are manufactured using a local mild steel 300WA as well as Swedish tool steel, Toolox 33 or 44. Toolox 33 is a pre-hardened tool steel, delivered quenched and tempered with high-impact toughness and very low residual stresses for good dimensional stability. Toolox can be nitrided to achieve surface hardness of 58-65 HRC. Toolox 33 is suitable for moulds for the processing of plastic and rubber, pressure die casting, sheet metal forming, ceramic moulds and machine components. UTP also offers additional machining to UTP moulds, including deep hole drilling of water channels up to 1.2m, milling of pockets and bores, inserts, cavity and cores. www.utp.co.za
PHOTOS: LOWRIE SHARP
The Plastic & Chemical Trading team, including Benjamin, Roger and Matthew Cockram and Craig Lolliot, with the Lasher plastic wheel barrow which recently won a SAPRO design award; P&CT were instrumental in supplying the water injection moulding process used to manufacture the barrow’s frame, allowing for a considerable weight saving
Kim Eliot-Funk and sister Tracy Eliot on the UTP Mould & Die stand. The mould was one of 10 manufactured by UTP in three months and then supplied to its customer, a toolmaker, who then completed the mould and in turn supplied it to his customer, a South African injection moulding business. The tool was made up of Toolox 33 and mild steel 300WA
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INDUSTRY NEWS
AFRIMOLD 2012
Ron McLarty speaks out AfriMold 2012 had good support from the German, Austrian and Taiwanese injection moulding machine companies
Ron McL
ar ty
We managed to speak to Ron McLarty, MD of AfriMold, shortly after this year’s AfriMold ended. Here’s what he had to say …
Mouldmakers in South Africa use ‘word of mouth’ as their main route for customer references, but it’s now hoped they will market their services more actively across the board and also at the AfriMold shows. Is this feasible and is it happening? Successes are being noted from those that have raised their tooling capability profile. It’s good to report at this early stage after the expo that we already have a great success story. FlexTech Manufacturing, who had the biggest toolmaking show stand, has been inundated with enquiries which have resulted in a large proportion being converted into orders for tooling from a number of industries. They have experienced an 80% increase in orders. But generally, toolmakers have been slow to realise that they need to market to their strengths. Is AfriMold gaining sufficient local support and interest? AfriMold 2012 had good support from the German, Austrian and Taiwanese injection moulding machine companies, together with material supply from various PP, PE and thermoplastic elastomer suppliers. If we compare AfriMold with similar shows around the world, such as EuroMold, how does our show rate? AfriMold is of the same standard as any small regional technology fair held in Germany. It was focused, well supported by the local industry and we are pleased
46 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
to say that our exhibitors commented on the professional management of the event. What do you see as the main differences between AfriMold and the other events? Focus, focus, focus and true to the primary manufacturing theme of ‘Tooling, Precision Machining, Mould-making, Design & Product Development’. Where else would you have the opportunity to meet and talk to top, specialist competencies along a process chain of experienced, expert suppliers, manufactures and service providers of this calibre under one roof, in Africa?
companies still fall prey to these deficiencies today. Product design reviews do not fully explore the detail, prototypes are not completed; or are used for visual effect and not working models. Materials are not fully researched and often changed halfway through the project because of basic raw material cost increases, without considering the knock-on effect and often reduced manufacturing productivity and reduced output – when we should be saving on cost every time the machine ejects a part 30% quicker and more reliably. We need more designers, material supply experts, tool designers, toolmakers and plastics injection moulders to sit in the same meetings at the start of an application, to work together as the simultaneous engineering aspects are reviewed throughout the part design and manufacture.
What worked well at this year’s AfriMold? The TASA conference was a tremendous success. The papers presented at AfriMold are helping to provide the industry with direction and guidance in What plans are afoot for terms of what needs to be achieved if we AfriMold 2013? are to have an internationally competitive Due to industry demand, AfriMold 2013 manufacturing industry. We have to pull will take place earlier in the year, from 4-6 the tool rooms June in JohanIt was focused, from around the nesburg. We country into the plan to modify well supported by the local 21st century the overall scope industry and we are pleased to and use modern of the exhibition. say that our exhibitors thinking, software, We have the SKA commented on the professional tooling and proproject which will management of the event. cesses. require precision Another widgets of all resounding success was the Plastics|SA shapes and sizes, and we need to tool Student design competition. It gave the up for that. The auto industry needs to universities and students a great platform expand, and we need to train and tool to showcase their designs. up for that too. The aerospace industry is showing some success, and with that Is there sufficient interaction between we can expect expansion and developdevelopers, such as product designment. The local infrastructure projects are ers and prototype system suppliers, on the cards, and we need to showcase and mould makers? tooling used in those industries. Design, My plastics career was built on just that tooling and precision engineering will be deficiency in the engineering process. It shown to be used in all industries. Withis necessary to get all disciplines around out tooling we cannot have a manufacturthe table. The large local packaging ing industry of any sort or form.
SOUTH AFRICA Polymers Division
O U R W I N N I N G F O R M U L A S E T S U S A PA RT Carst & Walker has developed sustainable partnerships with leading international suppliers and valued customers for more than 70
Rubber and Plastic industries. Within the Polymers Division, the following business units provide the customer with the ultimate polymers solution:
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Energy saving savvy! Victor Fortune’s V-alpha series servo-electric technology gives three times efficiency of conventional plastic injection moulding machines INJECTION moulders are constantly under pressure to reduce costs. The recent energy crisis has helped to bring into focus the painful reality that energy is one of the top three to four cost components of a moulded part. Gary Grainger, head of Victor Fortune’s plastics business says that hydraulically powered injection moulding machines consume about three times more energy than the Victor Fortune all-electric injection machines. “Our more efficient all-electric machines can put the operating cost difference right back onto the injection moulders’ bottom line. All this has been proven by independent tests, but very few moulders have taken the time to assess and consider the large scale impact these cost savings will have for their own business. “Large companies realise that there is a lot of money being left on the table, not just on moulding but throughout their enterprise. Many companies have mandated energy reductions across the board in their operations because they realise that energy cost savings go straight to the bottom line,” he adds. At three times the efficiency of conventional plastic injection moulding machines, the new generation Victor Fortune
all-electric injection moulding technology will feature prominently in all cost saving programmes. Grainger says that Victor Fortune’s allelectric injection moulding machines were once considered ‘special purpose’, but they have established themselves as the new standard in cost-effectiveness for any application. “While our all-electric machines continue to increase market share in precision moulding, they are often used for ordinary products such as automotive parts, cutlery, food dishes for pets, food containers and closures,” he explains. The v-Alpha series employs Victor original DSP servo-technology to enhance control performance of the machine servodrives. Victor Fortune’s high speed 20 mhz ADSP processing chip achieves an outstanding injection scanning time of 125 micro-seconds for its controller to achieve high-precision, stable
Craig McMurray (Victor Fortune), Marc Mahl (FANUC) and Gary Grainger (Victor Fortune) demonstrating the use of a Fanuc robot for in-mould labelling on the Victor Vs-180f energysaving machine at this year’s AfriMold exhibition by moulding a frisbee using polypropylene 48 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
moulding. Quick-response and improved repeatability for process and v-p changeover control ensure excellent, high-speed moulding. The four independently powered and controlled axes of the Victor all-electric moulding machines overlap the functions of clamping, injection, plasticisation and ejection, which allows a moulder more opportunities to shave cycle time, with shot size accuracy to within two decimal places. 3-second cycle times The direct, mechanical connections between motor and machine components mean drift-free, precision positioning for clamping, the ejector, the screw and the injection unit. The Victor all-electric injection moulding machines outperform hydraulic and hybrid machines in a number of key areas, even high speed packaging applications. “It is a real eyeopener for a packaging toolmaker to see an all-electric injection moulding machine run a stack mould at ± (3) three-second cycle times,” says Grainger. It is not uncommon for an all-electric machine to ‘outrun’ a mould that was already taxing the limits of a high-performance, accumulator-boosted hydraulic machine, thus shifting the focus of the design process quite substantially. The mould design can be made simpler and less expensive, because the independent operation of clamping and injection, allows parting-line venting during clamping/ tonnage build up. This reduces cost and time for excessive or difficult mould vents. Venting during pre-injection means there’s less resistance in the mould thus fill times are shorter and hot gas that can overheat the mould or melt is relieved. Mould maintenance is reduced because plasticising does not build up as quickly in the vents. www.victor.co.za
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With high performance and huge energy saving, the V-series achieves the highest level of productivity and reliability.
This unique advantage gives Victor-Taichung the ability to create a range of all electric injection moulding machines that are not only of the highest quality but also competitively priced as we were able to call on the CNC R&D division for there technical prowess.
Accuracy, repeatability and consistency are inherent to servo-electric machine. They are digitally controlled, mechanically driven, just like our famous precision CNC lathe machines and machining centers.
From the day the machine starts up, your cost per part will decrease and part quality will increase. All electric machines use less energy than hydraulic machines, they are more reliable, cycle times are faster because all the servo drivers can move independent, and part quality is higher because of a closed-loop system which is controlled by advanced servo-mechanism and a load cell which continually feed back information.
By utilising the advantages of servo-electric technology, Victor-Taichung has created a modular drive design to its V-series of all-electric machines. By incorporating the servo-electric drivers conception each moving axis of the machine is equipped with an optimally suited electrical drives, which featuring the latest state of the art technology with economic superiority.
Victor Embraces The Servo Drive Age Of Injection Moulding Technology
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Victor Fortune (Pty) Ltd Victor House, 41 Loper Avenue Aeroport, Spartan, 1619 Tel: 011 392 3800 Fax: 011 392 3899 E-Mail: gary@victor.co.za and craig@victor.co.za www.victor.co.za
High performance-operator friendly concepts. The Victor-PC2000 industrial PC based process control for the Vα -series.
Simple Friendly Operation
The interplay of time-proven mechanical units combined with new innovative components. Results in a robust structural design and intelligent drive concepts that makes the Vα all-electric a solution for high precision applications that anticipates tomorrow's need.
Reliable, Durable Mechanical Units
The Vα -series employs Victor original DSP servotechnology to enhance control performance of the machine servo drivers.
Core Technology
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ASSOCIATION NEWS
French letters, flat tyres and fuel BY DAVE HUNT
31st Foundation Lecture of the Southern African Section of the IOM3 THE 31st Foundation Lecture of the Southern African Section of the IOM3 was presented by Dr Chris Woolard who heads up the Advanced Fuels Laboratory at the University of Cape Town and is the principal scientist for Sasol Technology. ‘French Letters, Flat Tyres and Fuel’ – the title of Dr Woolard’s lecture - left a lot to the imagination. Barrier materials was the general theme driving the lecture; how they are made, how they perform and what happens if things go wrong. The purpose of any barrier material is to either keep something out or to keep something in. This is especially true for the products named in Dr Woolard’s lecture
Dr Chris Woolard receives the William Sage Medal from Andre Cornelius, NEC Chairman
title! He explained that the general rule is that for a non-polar material a polar polymer should be selected, and for polar materials, choose a non-polar polymer. In May 2001 there were complaints about the size and quality of condoms imported from China but this was denied by a director of the Gauteng Aids programme who claimed that “you can get a condom over your head if you want to”. I do not think this was the origin of the expression “pin head”. However, much later in 2011, a decision to award a tender for Chinese made condoms was rescinded on the basis of size and quality. Moving on to tyres, Dr Woolard spoke
Guests at the 31st Foundation Lecture included Barry Hunt, Bright Rwodzi, Wendy Knott-Craig and Dave Hunt, author of this article
about a project in which he and Kathy Garde had been involved in involving the use of nitrogen in tyres. The research claimed that nitrogen reduced the rate of pressure loss and resulted in a cooler running temperature. It also claimed that it could take six months for a nitrogen tyre to lose 0.14 kpa in pressure, compared to just one month if compressed air is used. Nitrogen is also supposed to increase tread life by up to 20%. The absence of moisture in nitrogen also reduces the possibility of the wheel corrosion. Dr Woolard said a number of these claims were exaggerated because in fact the heat capacity of air is very similar to that
Having fun were Vinod Chandra (Dunlop), Chantelle Olivier and Samir Ray, both of TEGA Industries
REDISA plan for post-use tyres outlined BY KATHY GARDE PIET Swart presented a very positive and informative lecture to members of the IOM³ Eastern Cape branch in October. Piet, who has been heavily involved in the tyre and industrial rubber industry in SA for many years, gave updated info regarding REDISA (the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa) and explained the implications it will have on tyre producers and importers. REDISA is a non-profit organization run by a board of tyre industry experts with a simple objective: to solve our country’s waste tyre problem. In July this year, government approved REDISA’s plan, which introduces the ‘cradle-to-grave’ concept we’ve all heard about overseas. In their own words, ‘companies that currently profit from putting new tyres on the road will need to pay up front for taking old tyres off it’. With the funds derived, REDISA will manage the collection, sorting, storage and transportation of waste tyres to recycling 50 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
plants, where they will be recycled under controlled conditions into re-usable materials. In doing so, they hope to create around 10 000 new jobs over the next five years, educate and facilitate in recycling development & research, and ultimately create a sustainable solution to our growing problem. Currently, approximately 11 million tyres are sold in South Africa annually, generating a total mass of 275,000 tons.
The evening, which saw a capacity audience, was kindly sponsored by S&N Rubber. For more information on REDISA’s mission and to learn about the costs, implications and legislation, visit their website: www.redisa.org.za
Dave Thurlow (ex-Bridgestone), John Lithgow (Karbochem), Fourene Smith (Continental Tyre), Coen Burger (IOM³ branch chairman) and Kathy Garde (Carst & Walker) attended the REDISA presentation by Piet Swart
of nitrogen, as is the thermal conductivity of the two gases. However, tests have shown there to be advantages with regard to loss of pressure if nitrogen is used, and that oxidation of tyre materials is also reduced. Dr Woolard ended off by discussing the use of rubber products in contact with jet fuel. In 1998 the approved fuel was a blend of crude-oil derived jet fuel and synthesised kerosene. Since then a fully synthetic jet fuel has been developed and the world’s first commercial flight using this fuel was in 2010. One of the key factors is the level of aromatics in the fuel. This must be a minimum of 8%, although some fuels in China and California have less than 5% aromatics. Dr Woolard detailed the research work that has been carried out to determine which aromatic compounds are the best to use. This will depend on, among other properties, the molecular weight, polarity and the
hydrogen bonding. • Spike Taylor, chairman of the Northern Branch thanked Dr Woolards and André Cornelius presented him with the 2012 William Sage Medal.
A good time for all – Robbie Mc Nab, Kerry-Lea Kirkman, Gareth Jefferson and Spike Taylor
Shipshape! BY DES S ROYAP PPE EN The IOM3 event in October at the Westville Country Club in Durban hosted Lawrie Bateman, director of Mediterranean Shipping Company Logistics (Pty) Ltd, who presented a talk about MSC’s history, current status and operations and the challenges of transporting containers around the world. MSC is a privately owned company founded in 1970 and is one of the leading shipping lines in the world. The MSC has 438 container vessels with an intake capacity of 2 160 000 TEU’s. It is the leading provider of direct port calls, serving the six continents and calling at 355 ports through 200 direct and combined weekly liner services. • THANKS TO ORCHEM TRADING FOR SPONSORING THE EVENING. Lawrie Bateman (centre) with Jaco Smith (IOM KZN chairman) and Tapiwa Muchemwa from Grindrod
Dr Chris Woolard, proud recipient of the IOM3 William Sage Medal (centre), flanked by previous William Sage Medal winners, Dr A J Brink, Stuart Browning, John Lithgow and Ron Dunwoodie
Horst Seute, Pieter and Jacomiena Beukes and Fernando Monteiro, MD TEGA Industries were also at the 31st Foundation Lecture
The Foundation Lecture and William Sage Medal The 1st Foundation Lecture in 1981 was organised by the Plastics & Rubber Institute (now the IOM3) and was presented by Tony Hesp, who spent many years at Sarmcol, rising to the position of MD before leaving in 1982. The lecture commemorates the start of the institute’s activities in South Africa. Every year the person who presents the Foundation Lecture is awarded the William Sage Medal. William Sage was born in the UK in 1898 and after service in World War 1 joined the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Company. Leyland and Birmingham took over Sarmcol Rubber in Howick in 1928. Sage transferred to Howick in 1935 and within two years had risen to the position of works manager. He later became general manager and then chairman of Sarmcol, retiring after 35 years. He passed away in1980. The three branches of the Institute of Materials: IOM3 Southern Southern Africa Region African Region, National Chairman Secretary André Cornelius Wendy Knott-Craig p. 071 682 9885 p. 073 201 8699 Northern Branch, andrec@orchemtrading.co.za wknottcraig@vodamail.co.za KwaZulu Natal Vice-chair/KwaZulu-Natal Northern Jaco Smith Spike Taylor and Eastern c. 082 808 4703 p. 011 928 4172 jaco.smith@carst.co.za c. 082 456 5734 spiket@multotec.co.za Cape host the Eastern Cape Coen Burger www.iom3.org Foundation c. 082 456 6656 coenburger@axxess.co.za lecture on a www.iom3.co.za rotational basis. DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 51
ASSOCIATION NEWS
PETCO AGM inspires & enlightens SINCE 2005 PETCO have grown the PET recycling industry in SA, seeing 4 million bottles being recycled every day in 2011. Their AGM in November surpassed all expectations, with a great speaker line up over and above the usual networking and review of PETCO’s activities. PETCO also presented its PET awards at the AGM, celebrating the best people, companies and organisations involved in post-consumer PET recycling in South Africa. Guests were motivated and inspired by the speakers William ‘Bill’ Egbe, Group Director, Sustainability, Strategy & Business Planning for the Coca-Cola Company’s Eurasia & Africa Group, who posed the question “Does a sustainable approach to business add value?” while also relating the CCSA experience. Renowned political analyst, Daniel Silke, enlightening the audience with his presentation titled ‘Tracking the Future’.
Post-consumer PET recycling awards Co-operative of the Year Award Shirley Bahula-Ermias, President and founder of Tshwane YaMamelodi Secondary Cooperatives received the award for the cooperative that has most proactively and effectively grown the volumes of PET recycled, created employment opportunities and promoted collection, maintained quality environmental standards, adhered to fair labour practice and in general, furthered the aims of PETCO. Tshwane YaMamelodi Secondary Cooperatives, founded earlier this year, services 250 000 homes in Mamelodi. Each co-op has 35 staff in each of its five zones and has created sustainable employment opportunities for at least 175 locals.
a 24-hour operation, working three shifts, has two trucks, employs 18 staff and deals with over 1 000 people daily on three dump sites from which he purchases PET from the pickers.
PET-repreneur of the Year Langa Mkhwanazi of Green Dot Recycling runs a collection company active in the Pretoria area. Langa moves approximately 120-150 tons of PET per month. He runs
Corporate Social Investment Champion of the Year Award Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI) believes the health and prosperity of the communities in which they operate is
Douw Steyn (Plastics│SA), Tagesse Kaficho Ermias and Shirley Bahula-Ermias, President and founder of Tshwane YaMamelodi Secondary Cooperatives, who won the PETCO Co-Op of the Year Award, Andrew Marthinusen (Packaging Council of SA), John Kieser (Plastics│SA) and Sheryl Ozinsky (PETCO)
PET Recycling Innovator of the Year Award Fanus Beytell of Antiwaste has developed a business model that involves the franchising of special cages for separation and storage of material in the different waste streams, a specially designed pickup truck with a patented loading mechanism to deliver empty cages on site and take the full cages back to the Materials Recovery Facility, working capital; signage; marketing support and safety clothing.
A thorn among the roses – SA Plastics mag’s Lowrie Sharp with Helga Barkhuizen (Miss SA International 2012), Karen Stretch (Packaging & Print Media) and Belinda Booker (PETCO)
52 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
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essential to their proďŹ tability and growth. ABI hopes to recover at least 50% of the bottles and cans they produce annually by 2015. In KZN they have supported the International Coastal Clean-up Campaign for the last nine years and launched a schools recycling programme this year to support efforts in township community recycling.
PET Recycled Product of the Year Fibertex â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Betatex were amongst many candidates, but emerged winners with their extensive range of nonwoven geotextiles. They offer the Betatex range of nonwovens, made from rPET sourced locally, used for non-chemical applications in the building industry. Their product range also includes the Skudo Surface Protection range, which is a temporary covering that protects ďŹ nished surfaces from construction site damage and spills. This is currently exported to the USA and is an interesting end-use for the brown gingerbeer PET bottles. Best end-use PET Market Development of the Year Award This honours a company that has de-
Lisa Parkes of PETCO ďŹ&#x201A;anked by guest speakers Daniel Silke, political analyst, and poet Mbali Vilakazi
veloped a new end-use market for recycled post-consumer PET and has successfully commercialised the product in the marketplace. Extrupet walked away from the podium, award in hand for their Phoenix PET offering. Although initially produced in 2009, at the behest of Woolworths, this recycled polyethylene terephthalate resin was ofďŹ cially branded PhoenixPET in April. www.petco.co.za
PHOTOS: LOWRIE SHARP
PET Recycling Educator of the Year PlasticsISAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s John Kieser and Douw Steyn were joint recipients of this award. Between them these two individuals are active members of the Plastics Global Action Group on Marine Debris, the Electronic Waste Association of SA and the National Recycling Forum of SA. They are founder members and initiators of the Marine and Coastal Educators Forum, the International Coastal Clean-up SA, Clean-up SA Week and Recycling Day SA. They also initiated the Fantastic Plastic Schools Competition that has involved 20 000 learners in plastic awareness and recycling over the past six years. They have coordinated numerous exhibitions and workshops about plastics recycling involving close on 80 000 people
a year. They have both worked for PlasticslSA for over 15 years and continue to motivate and empower people, young and old, across the country to take action.
Joint Managing Directors of Extrupet, Chandru Wadhwani and Vijay Naidu, received the Best End-Use PET Market Development of the Year Award
Douw Steyn and John Kieser of Plasticsâ&#x201D;&#x201A;SA received the PETCO Educators of the Year award
Cheri Scholtz (PETCO) thanks Bill Egbe (Group Director, Sustainability, Strategy & Business Planning for the Coca-Cola Companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eurasia & Africa Group) for his presentation
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 53
%80%2)%.#% s &,%8)"),)49 s 30%%$ s !UTOMOTIVE MOULDS s -EDICAL COMPONENT MOULDS s YEARS EXPERIENCE s )3/ CERTIl ED TOOL ROOM s (OUSEWARE MOULDS s 0 % 4 PREFORM MOULDS BLOW MOULDS s )3/ CERTIl ED INJECTION MOULDING AND TESTING FACILITY s /PTIMISED FAST CYCLING MOULDS s #OST EFFECTIVE s 2APID PROTOTYPING AND #.# PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURE s &INITE ELEMENT STUDIES UNDERTAKEN
350%2 15!,) )/2 49
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Isegen update on plasticisers for PVC PISA members and guests in KZN were treated to an informative and interesting presentation in October when Isegen’s product manager Sarah Laybourne laid out the facts about plasticisers in PVC. Sarah has been involved in plasticiser manufacture for over two decades. She first completed a BSc at the University of KZN and then taught for 15 years, initially at a mission school in Ixopo in KZN and ending as a lecturer at the pharmaceutical faculty at the Wits University Medical School. In 2003 Isegen was formed and she again crossed the Vaal to work at the group’s HQ at the refinery at Isipingo Beach. The first plasticiser used by primitive man was the addition of water to clay to produce containers for food and water. Today, plasticisers are used mainly in the plasticised PVC industry, although small quantities are used in adhesives, paints, inks, cement, stone cladding, incense and insecticides. The global demand for PVC is currently around 37 million tons of which 24 million tons are for the rigid industry and 13 million tons for flexible PVC. Of the commercially available plasticisers available, phthalates make up 80% of the market. General purpose plasticisers are
defined by the following: Compatible with PVC resin Cost effective Widely available in sufficient quantities Meet the performance requirements in the final articles Easily processed in all the industrial techniques Safe to use, both during the manufacturing process and the life cycle of the end product. The most commonly used phthalates are: Di 2 ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP) incorrectly known as DOP or Di octyl phthalate which has been the workhorse of the plasticiser industry Di 2 ethyl hexyl phthalate (crystal grade) DEHP(CG) or DOP(CG) Di isononyl phthalate DINP Di isodecyl phtalate DIDP In 2000 phthalates were divided into two classes as a result of the risk assessments conducted over many years. Low Molecular Weight Phthalates (carbon chain length of 8 and less) became classified and were considered substances of high concern. The
Sarah received a gift from PISA KZN chairman Garth Taylor following her presentation at the German Club in Westville in October
concerns are related to endocrinology, fertility and reproduction in rats. It has not been found to be so in higher mammals and primates and therefore not considered relevant to humans. However, as a precaution these products are being phased out in the western world. The EUbanned DEHP used in the manufacture of toys and LMW phthalates will both be phased out by February 2015 unless authorised by REACH High Molecular Weight phthalates (carbon chain length of 9 or more) have been cleared as safe in use as plasticisers
54 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
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Successful tee-off for Northern branch for PVC. Secondary plasticisers like chlorinated paraffins, which have a medium chain length i.e. C14 – C17, are chlorinated to different percentages from 30% – 70 %. The most common secondary plasticisers in flexible PVC are 55%, 52%, 48% and are yellowish liquids which get more viscous the higher the chlorine percentage. As well as increasing the flexibility of PVC, they aid waterproofing and fire retardancy and are viscosity modifiers. New generation plasticisers available include phthalates DINCH (an hydrogenated DINP) and DPHP (2 propyl heptyl phthalate). Commercial alternatives to phthalates include citrates ATBC, cyclohexanoate diesters (DC9CH), modified vegetable oils (ESBO, glycerol esters), polymerics (polyester), terephthalate DOTP, di and mono benzoates (DPGDB,MB10), trimellitates (TOTM), aromatic sulfonates (phenol esters) and dibasic acid esters (DINA, DOA, DOZ, DOS). They are at present considered speciality plasticisers because of high cost, limited availability and specific performance properties. Many have not undergone the rigorous testing for safety.
THE PISA Northern golf day at the Blue Valley Golf and Country Estate on 21 September turned out to be a big success, despite the fact that the Monday was a public holiday. Twenty-two 4-balls took full advantage of the beautiful course and perfect weather. Thanks to Hestico who sponsored and provided refreshments for the golfers. Thanks too to Sun Ace who donated R5000 towards prizes, MBT, Banbury Chemicals, Keniplas, Protea Polymers, Plastichem, Trioplastics, Blinex, Nampak and Sasol Polymers who also sponsored golf prizes. The Northern branch is planning another golf day early in 2013. Members will be advised of the date and venue as soon as possible. In 1st place were Thys du Plessis (Plastichem) and Gavin Homan, congratulated by Lowrie Sharp of the PISA committee, Northern branch
In 3rd place were Simon Morgan (Quadro Plastics) and Jahiel Lawrence (Protea Polymers)
Second place went to Rod Dewing and Sam Anthill
Greg Higgs (Plasticolors), auctioneer for the day, had Chad Francis (Performance Color Systems) fast off the draw to win the successful bid for the Deluxe travel cover with wheels donated by Sasol Polymers
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 55
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Sharks soldier around water-logged course, but it’s still a triumph BY GARTH TAYLOR
IT HAD RAINED for virtually the entire previous three weeks prior to the PISA KZN golf day. On calling Royal Durban GC two days before the event, we were told it could be cancelled. Due to prayer and a bit of sunshine the day before, we were given the green light – but could not use golf carts. This was a problem for the overweight chairman, but he gallantly made it around. The turnout was affected due to the wet course (i.e. prior knowledge that carts could not be used), but we still had 92 players in the field. These KZN golf days usually attract 132-144 players. The Banbury Chemicals fourball – including Dean Sinclair, Gareth Elcox, Robin Rigney and Craig Scheffler – was
the winner on the day, with 108 points. We play alliance with two scores to count on the par 4s and 5s and all scores counting on the par 3s. Second was the Pacpro team, including Dhiren Singh, Sagie Naidoo, Kuben Govender and Sydney Reddy. Third was GPS Plastics (sponsor the previous KZN golf day), represented by Kevin Govender and Donald Govender (both GPS) and Gerard Mamotte (Tedelex) and Siga Govender (Rainbow). Prizes, as always, were given to every player, including a top-of-the-range Barron golf shirt and a cap sponsored by GPS Plastics. The shirts and caps were all in the Sharks colours as the rugby Currie Cup Final was the next day. Why oh why did Western Province spoil it for
The hosts of the golf day, the committee of the PISA KZN branch, all attended the event, either to play or for the reception following the game – well done to all concerned.
Plastics Institute of Southern Africa National Chairman Martin Wells p. 021 712 1408 c. 082 822 8115 e. martin@summitpub.co.za
National Secretary David Rule p. 011 452 6940 c. 082 552 0726 e. david@plasticolors.co.za
Vice-chairman Clement Makhoro p. 031 702 7222 e. Clement.Makhoro@plasticssa.co.za
National Vice-Chairman Alain Berichon p. 031 461 2990 c. 082 888 2429 e. alain@neupack.co.za
KwaZulu-Natal Garth Taylor c. 084 924 4551 e. garth@pcasa.co.za
Northern Bob Bond p. 012 799 9260 c. 083 227 0797 e. BondRJ@tut.ac.za
www.pisa.org.za
Western Cape TBA
56 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Contact: Derick Labuschagne Tel: 011 979 2766 Fax: 011 979 2424 Email: annecatsales@mweb.co.za www.annecat.co.za
the Sharks? The day ended with a sumptuous buffet supper, followed by the prize giving. As there was no major sponsor for the event, Bobby Pillay of BNR Agencies handed out the prizes. Bobby organises 8-10 teams for each golf day and really is a star of the industry in KZN. The following companies entered teams in the event: Afrique Fibres, Banbury Chemicals, BNR Agencies, Boxmore Plastics, Continental Compounders, Designa Plastics, Eagle Ink, Fullimput, GPS Plastics, Hosaf, Manuchar, MJH Machinery, PlastiColors, Pacpro, President Plastics, Sealchem, Skyland and Twintech Industries.
The winners – Dean Sinclair (left) of Banbury Chemicals and Robin Rigney (right) of Consupaq were part of the winning team at the recent PISA KZN golf day, played at the Royal Durban course. Their fourball was completed by the big-hitting Craig Scheffler of JJ Precision and Gareth Elcox, Astrapak’s KZN regional chief executive, who were back on the practise green at the time of the prize-giving … err, we’re not sure where they were? The prizes were presented by Bobby Pillay of BNR Agencies (centre)
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ASSOCIATION NEWS
Farewell to Joe Fitzell The Plastics|SA team bade farewell to Joe Fitzell, manager of its Cape Town office, at a small function on 31 October. Joe has been running Plastics|SA’s activities in the Western Cape for the past four years, a period which has been characterised by improved service delivery to the industry as well as the development of a happier atmosphere – the office at Olympic Park in Maitland has really become a ‘second home’ for people in the industry during Joe’s time. He made some well-judged appointments and also injected enthusiasm into Plastics|SA’s
training programmes. Prior to his Cape appointment, Joe was involved in industry training in North West province, following which he took up the appointment at
Fishing line bin project rolled out FOLLOWING the successful implementation of a pilot project which uses PVC pipe as bins for discarded fishing line along the Overberg Gansbaai shoreline, beaches on the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape coast will soon have their own bins where fishermen can throw away their broken or used lines.
According to John Kieser, Sustainability Manager for Plastics|SA, more than 150 pipes were recently donated by DPI Plastics for the roll out of the next phase of the project. “The Dyer Island Conservation Trust, in association with Overstrand Municipality, established the Fishing Line Recovery and Recycling Programme in 2010 as a best practice with which to manage the bins. We have received tremendous support from the public and the fishermen also welcomed this initiative,” Kieser said. The project coordinators are calling on committed volunteers to remove the fishing line and hooks from the bins on a regular basis. Volunteers wishing to get involved can email John.Kieser@plasticssa.co.za
www.sappma.co.za www.plasticsinfo.co.za 58 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Plastics|SA with gusto and made the move to WP country with ease. Joe is retiring due to ill health, and we all hope his recovery will gather momentum.
The future for growth Plastics industry conference to address issues affecting its future PLASTICS|SA will host the first industry conference of its kind on 13 March and as one of the highlights of Pro-Plas Conference that will be taking place at the Nasrec Exhibition Centre in Johannesburg. Plastics: The Future for Growth’ will bring together international experts, local industry role players in the plastics manufacturing and recycling industries, government, the media and other interested parties to discuss the issues relating to and affecting the future of the local plastics industry. According to Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics|SA,
Clean-up & recycle competition winners visit Cape Town PLASTICS|SA’s 6th annual Clean-Up & Recycle Competition winners enjoyed a weekend of fun and education in Cape Town in November. According to Douw Steyn, Director Sustainability, Plastics|SA, this year’s competition again attracted entries from across South Africa. “The aim of this competition was to create awareness of and educate learners on the positive attributes of plastics and the responsible use and disposal few industries in South Africa, and indeed around the world, have seen such rapid growth, technological advancement, innovation and a changing business environment as the local plastics industry had faced in recent few years. “On the one hand, the plastics industry has been classified as a priority sector with all the opportunities and expectations that come with this new label. One the other, our industry had to deal with the growing threat of cheap imports, changing demands and expectations from the retailers, the growing importance of environmental and sustainability issues, recycling, health and safety to name but a few. We hope to address all these and many other topics that lie close to our industry’s heart during the conference”, Hanekom said. Dr Wilfried Haensel, executive director of Plastics Europe, will be delivering the key note address, after which the audience will be asked to switch gears as various related, yet contentious issues are addressed and
The national winning learners, their teachers and representatives of Plastics|SA during the fun-filled weekend in Cape Town
thereof. As future custodians of the earth, they have the chance to make a difference in their homes, schools and environment”, he said. As one of the prizes of the competition, the winning entrant and a teacher were treated to the best the Mother City has to offer, enjoying a trip to Robben Island and Seal Island, Cape Point, the Two Oceans Aquarium, V&A Waterfront and Monkey Valley Resort. The
learners also visited the City of Cape Town’s Integrated Waste Management Facility in Kraaifontein and experienced the recycling process at Atlantic Plastics Recycling. The winners in the four categories in this year’s competition were from KZN, Knysna and the Free State. Thanks to sponsors: Plastics|SA’s Polymer Groups, SASOL, Pick n Pay and Eco-bin.
discussed with panellists representing various spectrums of the industry in three lively debate sessions – ‘Growing the South African Plastics Industry’; ‘What impacts on Plastic Packaging?’ and ‘Are Plastics Sustainable?’ Four panellists, each representing a different aspect or point of view on these topics, will share the stage with celebrity investigative journalists who will direct the discussions and ask critical questions. Because industry participation and feedback is such a vital component, the audience members will be given the opportunity to act as the 5th panellist on the topic by sending their opinions or questions through the moderator via an sms line. • FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONFERENCE, CONTACT MONIQUE HOLTZHAUSEN ON 071 083 5319 OR (021) 531-0313 OR MONIQUE@AIMMARKETING.CO.ZA
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 59
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Fact-finding in Brazil
SOURCE: RECYCLINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
THE Polystyrene Packaging Council of South Africa recently undertook a factfinding trip to Sao Paulo in Brazil where PSPC Director, Adri Spangenberg, was able to share best practice models about polystyrene recycling, compare end-user markets for recycled polystyrene and investigate possible areas of cooperation and exchange. “South Africa and Brazil face very similar recycling challenges and need to share creative ideas and solutions in order to effectively overcome these obstacles”, Adri said. Because both countries are in the southern hemisphere and relatively far removed from other continents, exporting recycled material is not a viable financial option and markets need to be developed
PSPC Director, Adri Spangenberg (left) during one of her presentations to the board of Plastivida, the plastics council of Brazil
Breakthrough in polystyrene recycling process IT SEEMS that chemists in the United States have discovered a way to convert unwanted polystyrene back to styrene monomer. The results were published by Prof Lanny Schmidt from the University of Minnesota in the sustainable chemistry journal ChemSusChem. The process has the potential to render polystyrene recycling more economical by
creating high-quality new materials instead of merely melting and remoulding contaminated plastics into low-value goods. The aim of Schmidt’s team was to re-establish the original monomer to allow it to be reprocessed into either virgin plastic or other products. The process relies on a platinum or rhodium catalyst combined with cerium and supported on alumina spheres.
As a result of the heat given off by the reaction of the particles as they pyrolyse into styrene, running costs are significantly reduced because no other heat input is necessary. “To our surprise, we got up to 80% styrene monomer,” Schmidt said, adding that the labscale reactor using 1g of catalyst is capable of processing up to 1 kg of polystyrene daily.
60 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
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for recycled products. Brazil is not a major user or manufacturer of the traditional, expanded polystyrene (EPS) used commonly in South Africa’s fast food industries as take away food packaging. Instead, the majority of this country’s EPS is used for packaging and protecting high value and fragile appliances. One of the highlights of the trip included a site visit to Termotecnica which has been producing polystyrene products for 51 years. Termotecnica is also the largest polystyrene producer in Brazil – with an output of 23 000 tons per year. They are the market leaders and produce their own raw material. They also collect and recycle polystyrene from all their customers. Adri said she was also in the privileged position of meeting the members of Brazil’s Plastics Board, Plastivida, and was granted the opportunity to educate them about the success of the PSPC’s various projects.
Baling solution for bulky polystyrene transport problem UNTIL recently, polystyrene was difficult to dispose of and the PSPC found it challenging to convince waste collectors to gather the material. “The difficulty arose when businesses or households wanted to dispose of unwanted polystyrene packaging. Although there is a value to recycled polystyrene, the lightweight yet bulky product takes up significant space in a waste skip. This means the skip needs to be emptied more often – therefore incurring more cost,” Spangenberg explains. Thanks to recycling partner WastePlan, which has recently invested in a brand new Akura X30 Bramidan baling machine, this problem has now found a solution. The once bulky ‘white stuff’ is now compacted into bales of styrene weighing about 70kg each, which is easily transported to the converters. “The process of compacting used packaging and waste has a major impact on operating costs and saves a lot of time, space and manpower,” said Bertie Lourens of WastePlan. “Cost-effective and reliable compression reduces the volume of bulky waste materials by as much as 90%. By no longer moving lots of ‘empty space’ around in unwieldy bundles, we are able to reduce transport and disposal costs.” During the first month of baling at its plant in Pretoria alone, WastePlan was able to recycle an impressive three tons of post-consumer polystyrene in Pretoria. PSPC recycling partner WastePlan recently invested in a brand new Akura X30 Bramidan baling machine. The once bulky ‘white stuff’ is now compacted into bales of styrene weighing about 70kg each, which is easily transported to the converters
www.polystyrenepackaging.co.za
www.bramidan.com
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 61
MOULD BASE SA
Dave Moore: 083 675 8325 Email: mouldbasesa@gmail.com
WE SUPPLY THE FOLLOWING: LKM Wide range of mould bases and mould components, comprehensive range of products Yoke Industrial Specialised lifting points for the moulding industry Suresee Photonics for mould inspection and protection Forwell Tech QMCS: Quick Mould Change System
Forwell Features: • Reduced mould change time • Reduced stock inventory • Diverse products in small batches • Improved productivity and quality • Reduced labour cost • Improved operation safety • Shortened delivery time • Better working environment
Dave Moore: 083 675 8325 | Fax: 086 540 0908 | Email: mouldbasesa@gmail.com | Physical address: 10 North Park, North Street, Pietermaritzburg Official South African Representative for the LUNG KEE GROUP
ASSOCIATION NEWS
SAPPMA at Barcelona pipe conference Southern African association participates with other world bodies SAPPMA held the country’s name high at the world’s biggest international event focused on the plastic pipe industry - the Pipes XVI conference in Barcelona, Spain, in September. This year’s event attracted a record number of almost 500 participants and 33 exhibitors attending from 47 countries. A total of 117 individual presentations were delivered, covering a wide variety of topics ranging from market issues and pipeline solutions to application areas and pipe system developments. “Environmental concerns such as lowering our carbon footprint, energy use and sustainability were amongst the major topics,” said SAPPMA chairman Jan Venter, who attended the conference. Other areas of focus at the Barcelona show were improving skills levels through training, product testing, and other more varied topics ranging from large-diameter
coiling, jointing/welding, installation, structured wall PP, oil and gas, irrigation, water treatment, mining, geothermal, standardization, total cost of ownership (TCO), water mains failure and PVC stabilization. “The quality of the presentations was very high, albeit quite technical, and included primary research data covering uPVC, oPVC, HDPE, PP, PB, cPVC, PERT,” said Venter. Significant industry developments As a result of the ongoing research into plastic polymers, the pipe industry is regularly confronted with and introduced to new raw materials that have enhanced properties with reduced wall thicknesses. “Bigger plastic pipes than was ever envisaged, 10 or 20 years ago, are now being manufactured. Solid-wall pipe is already made up to 2,5m diameter and structured wall pipes up to 4m. Extruder
The bulk of the delegates at the Plastic Pipes conference in Spain were from Europe (58%), with the USA and Asia each supplying 15% of the delegates … giving the result that, although Jan Venter was outnumbered, he learned a lot in a fairly short time
62 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
SAPPMA welcomes pipe merchants as members THE Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) now includes pipe dealers as a new category of affiliated membership. According to Chairman Jan Venter, SAPPMA is an association that is open to pipe manufacturers and suppliers into the plastic pipe industry who comply with the conditions of membership. “We are an association made up of leading companies in the plastics piping business who are dedicated to the purpose of facilitating high standards of ethics, product quality and technical information in our industry. By now including leading pipe dealers such as Water Africa, Sizabantu Piping Systems and Astore Africa as members, allows us to take an important step towards covering and including the whole value chain in plastic pipe manufacturing and installation”, Venter said. Don Coleman (Sizabantu), Wayne Grace (Water Africa), Jacques van Eck (Astore) and Jan Venter (Chairman of SAPPMA)
output is up to 2,5 tons per hour in PVC with serious talks of 4 tons per hour soon. Polyethylene pipe is produced at up to 2,2 tons per hour,” said Venter, adding that other significant developments include the direct ploughing in of pipes up to 450mm diameter #. SA plastic pipe industry vs international trends Although the plastics pipe industry in South Africa is much smaller than that of Europe, North America, Asia and even Australia, Venter’s view is that local industry is well developed. “Local pipe volume is of the order of 140 000 tons per year, compared to 3 million tons in Europe. World production is of the order of 18 million tons,” said Venter. The relatively small size of our market implies a number of significant differences, such as profitability, investment potential and hence modernization of equipment. “Because our production runs are shorter in South Africa, we have lower efficiencies and higher scrap rates. This economic impact limits our R+D compared to our international counterparts. These are areas that need to be improved if we are to be considered a serious international player,” he added. The next Pipes Conference will take place in Chicago, USA, from 23-24 September 2014. # Notes: Direct ploughing in: A great deal of cost saving is possible if the usual process of installing pipe can be shortened. This is achieved by using long lengths (coiled) of pipe, fitted on a special rig attached to a tractor. The tractor ploughs a furrow and at the same time the pipe is uncoiled and fed into the furrow. A saving is achieved by eliminating special trenches as well as pipe joints and much handling. Up till now, this has only been possible with small diameter pipes, but systems have now been developed to handle big pipe up to 450mm diameter.
www.sappma.co.za Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA) Director Jan Venter p. 012 548 0149 c. 079 506 0484 e. janventer@3gi.co.za
Secretary Louise Muller p. 012 548 0149 c. 082 417 2977 e. admin@sappma.co.za
www.sappma.co.za
ASSOCIATION NEWS
SAVA attends Global Vinyl Council meeting in Florida, USA THIS YEARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S second sitting of the Global Vinyl Council (GVC) held in Florida, USA was attended by the Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA). An active member since 2011 sees SAVA continue with its creation of a positive environment for a vibrant and sustainable vinyl industry in the country. SAVA CEO Delanie Bezuidenhout convened with representatives from Brazil, Japan, Australia, Canada, US, Columbia, Argentina, Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This council meeting was enlightening and inspirational in terms of where vinyl is headed across the world,â&#x20AC;? said Bezuiden-
hout. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For me the most exciting occurrence was the launch of PVCMedAlliance where SAVA and other GVC associates were invited to become members. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The overall mission of PVCMedAlliance is to raise the international awareness of vinyl use and value in healthcare applications by promoting dialogue with all involved stakeholders, innovative environmentally friendly practices, informed public debate and decisions about the use of vinyl in healthcare,â&#x20AC;? explained Bezuidenhout. The PVCMedAlliancealso undertakes the following:
to produce and promote relevant, trusted and scientiďŹ cally-based information on appropriate health and environmental issues linked to vinyl use in healthcare; establish a focal point for communication and dialogue with regulators, the medical community and healthcare authorities/ managers; develop targeted messages and tailored communication materials to support and empower PVCMed members in external communications; promote partnerships with third parties (eg: public authorities, medical commu-
Green Building event perfect showcase for SAVA THE South African Vinyl Association (SAVA) was once again present and accountable at the Green Building Council of South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (GBCSA) 5th annual Convention and Exhibition at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in October. The event provides access to the latest local
and international opinions, interventions and decisions around sustainability and the built environment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For SAVA to be involved in South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading green building conference and exhibition is an absolute necessity,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said Delanie Bezuidenhout, CEO of SAVA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The value of
interaction with role players in the construction industry including architects, engineers and speciďŹ ers is essential. The GBCSA annual event provides us with an opportunity to tell the good news story about yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PVC and todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vinyl that it is truly the material of the imagination!
64 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
& & & & &
SOLUTION
MACHINERY (PTY) LTD
& & & & & & !$ " "# %
PVC sustainability speaker at SAVA AGM on 27 February
Dr Brigitte Dero of VinylPlus of Europe handles a question at the GVC meeting in Florida, USA; with her on the stage were Sophi MacMillan (Australian Vinyls Council), Shigetaka Seki (Vinyl Environmental Council of Japan), Miguel Bahiense (Instituto do PVC, Brazil), Delanie Bezuidenhout of SAVA and Allen Blakey (Vinyl Institute North America)
nity) to promote innovative, environmentally responsible practices with regards to vinyl use and management in healthcare applications. “With the actions of the GVC primarily being to offer international support for all vinyl related local industries, it was fabulous to be present when PVCMedAlliance was launched,” adds Bezuidenhout.
For further information visit www.pvcmed.org The 3rd SAVA AGM will be taking place on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 from 11h00 at Plastics|SA Auditorium, 18 Gazelle Avenue, Corporate Park South, Midrand. Public results from the first SAVA Product Stewardship Programme survey will be released.
“It was a year ago that the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) of the GBCSA announced its withdrawal of the Mat-7 PVC Minimisation credit from the Green Star SA rating system. It was fantastic to see at this year’s conference the huge excitement about vinyl use amongst architects and specifiers,” she added. In a letter addressed to SAVA in October 2011, the GBCSA acknowledged that the
South African vinyl industry has and continues to address the historical environmental concerns with this material, and is transforming to improved environmental performance. The transition to date is deemed to be of a similar degree to that of the Australian vinyl industry.
A PRESENTATION from INEOS ChlorVinyls, Europe’s largest PVC producer, is the drawcard for SAVA’s AGM on 27 February. Jason Leadbitter, sustainability and compliance manager at INEOS, has 23 years experience in the PVC industry. He is currently chairman of the ControlledLoop Recycling Committee of VinylPlus, the European PVC industry voluntary commitment body. Jason is active in a number of European trade associations, especially on environmental and waste management issues, and is the author of a number of books and publications especially on issues relating to sustainability. The SAVA AGM (the PVC group’s third annual meeting) is to take place at Plastics|SA in Midrand on 27 February. • Public results from the first SAVA Product Stewardship Programme survey will be released at the event.
Greenish – Gary van Eyk (left) and Delanie Bezuidenhout of SAVA at the GBCSA exhibition in Cape Town with (second from left) Peter Strater of DPI and Martin Wells of ‘SA Plastics’ magazine
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 65
TECHNICAL HINTS
POLYOAK TEAM ASSESSES CHINA’S MOULD MAKING SECTOR Labour is Chinese mould makers biggest cost saver
POLYOAK sent a deputation to China earlier this year to study the quality of the Chinese mould making sector which drew the conclusion that South Africa’s mould makers can compete with their Oriental competitors … but not in all categories. One of Southern Africa’s top plastic packaging manufacturers, Polyoak Packaging Group possesses of one of the top tool rooms in the industry in South Africa, but it also out-contracts the production of some of its tools, including to China.
Paul de Villiers, national executive for mould services at Polyoak who was a member of the deputation, said the aims of the trip included: check the status of Chinese mould making with regard to quality, cost and lead times; evaluate the perception that moulds built in China were cheap and low quality; evaluate the ‘Chinese threat’ to the SA mould making industry; and investigate the possibility of using Chinese mould makers to give his company a competitive edge. The travellers also visited the ChinaPlas show. Many of China’s mouldmakers
The Polyoak team visited three mould shops, where some impressive multicavity moulds were being built
66 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
exhibited at ChinaPlas in May 2012, so it presented a good opportunity for the team to make an initial assessment. The same specialities that exist in South Africa occur in China too, namely that their mould makers have specific specialisations: some concentrated on moulds for closures, packaging and medical products (this was a common grouping); some specialised in automotive moulds and still others in household goods. The African delegation also had opportunity to visit three factories, two in the Shenzen area in the south of the country and one outside Shanghai. Conclusions The quality of moulds built in China is definitely improving, said de Villiers. Machines in the factories visited were often quality systems such as DMG, Charmilles and Mazak (in other words, the choice of steel cutting machines was similar to those preferred by mould makers in the West). The increased European influence in China appears to have contributed to improved quality levels there. This is probably at least partly due to the greater involvement of European and American mould making businesses through partnerships set up with Chinese mould suppliers to manufacture in China. On the software side, AutoCAD and SolidWorks are extensively used, as they are in South Africa, and process controls in place are similar to those practised here. As far as prices go, the devil is in the detail, said De Villiers. “They always seem to start with very low prices – seemingly impossible to match. These prices are based on Chinese steels, components and hot runner systems. However, once you start specifying detail – steel type (including Chinese or European version of the same grade), hot runner type, mould life expectancy (short or long guarantee) – and comparing eggs with eggs, then the price differential between our prices and their’s is not that big. “For example, a fully detailed quote which we requested for an eight-cavity
TECHNICAL
High-rise accommodation is standard in the very industrialised parts of China where mould making businesses are centred. The fact that worker productivity in China is high (they work long hours and 6-day weeks and often live in on-site dormitories) remains one of the advantages of the Chinese mould making sector
Chinese mould makers used some fairly flash methods to attract visitors to their stands at ChinaPlas … and you are not likely to see a similar strategy by mould makers here soon
equipment which they (the better ones) mould came in at 10% lower than what we seem to have. could make it for. Lead time to first sampling “This is why we believe it’s so important was quoted at 10 weeks. This example was that our government follows through on from a high quality Chinese manufacturer. their offer on funding to the toolmaking “Labour is their biggest cost saver. The industry. Their problem of course is that workers – including CNC operators and they can’t just hand out money willy nilly to toolmakers – work a six-day week and live any comers. in dormitories on the site of the factory. “Mould makers in South Africa need to They work 12-hour shifts, for which they utilize our advantage of being close to the are paid around 5000 RMB (Chinese dolcustomer. Besides the production of new lar, which is only slightly stronger than our moulds, SA mould Rand) per month! ‘Once you start specifying makers need to Their meals and provide a complete accommodation are detail – such as steel type, service, including the free, albeit extremely hot runner type and mould servicing, maintebasic. We had the oplife expectancy – then the nance and repair of portunity to look inside differential between our prices moulds. a dormitory – threeand their’s is not that big’ “For the manufacby-three metre rooms turer, purchasing the with double-bunk bed mould or tool is only a first step. Keeping and a television. No other furniture. the thing producing effectively for the dura“Unfortunately there are many horror tion of its life expectancy is the challenge stories of South African manufacturers who and having back-up support at hand (as have fallen to the lure of cheap Chinese opposed to halfway around the world) is moulds.” essential,” added De Villiers. How can we compete De Villiers’ observations led him to outline www.polyoak.co.za a strategy for mould makers and their customers (the convertors) to compete: build on the advantage of our experience, knowledge and attention to quality; strive to continuously improve; maximize our efficiency potential by utilizing unmanned hours, and finding improved methods of doing things. Good equipment is essential, he added: “You can’t compete in Formula One driving a Tata. Unfortunately good equipment comes with a higher price tag. We are pretty certain that the Chinese government sponsors their tool shops, judging by the DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 67
Polymer plant, Jubail
GLOBAL DYNAMICS OF THE
MIDDLE EAST POLYMER INDUSTRY Apparent immunity of region’s polymer industry to global economic slowdown does not guarantee future health of the industry
FEATURE
BY DR NIALL MARSHALL
The Middle East, with its vast oil and gas reserves and mega petrochemical complexes, is in many ways the centre of the polymer producing world. Why then, in the midst of a global economic crisis that shows no signs of ending, does the region seem immune to the downturn and continue to regularly announce new projects? It is interesting to note that this feedstock advantage enjoyed by producers of polyethylene is not true for other polymers – the feedstock cash cost of polypropylene produced in the Middle East is similar to that produced in Western Europe, although there is still an advantage based on economies of scale. The second reason why Middle East capacity is so important is because 85% of the polymer produced is exported. The majority is exported to Asia-Pacific markets but volumes are also exported to Europe, Africa and the Americas. There is no other region that exports significant quantities of polymer and so all converting industries rely to some extent on Middle East-produced resin. When the USA and European economies experience a slowdown there was still strong and growing demand for polymer in
Petrochemical project, Saudi Arabia
68 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Asia and so all the polymer produced can be sold. The third reason is because, in an effort to reduce the reliance of the Middle East economies on oil, investments are being made in the petrochemical industry to produce higher value chemicals using the oil and gas. Producing more polymers is an important part of this strategy. The lead time for new petrochemical complexes is measured in years and the global slowdown has made the cost of building such plants cheaper than it was a few years ago. Therefore if you have the money, as do petrochemical companies, now is a good time to invest in new plants. This apparent immunity of the region’s polymer industry to the global economic slowdown does not guarantee the future health of the industry. The Middle East polymer industry faces a number of threats in the next years and will not be able to rely solely on being cost-effective and export focussed. The feedstock cost advantages of the region will be reduced by developments in shale gas production in North America which are expected to reduce the cost of US ethylene to $600 per ton. This will, in turn, make investments in new plants in America more attractive. At the same time in the Middle East most of the associated gas is already allocated and new polyethylene plants will not have such a large
feedstock costs advantage. The export markets will also change as new plants are commissioned in traditional Middle East markets such as Asia-Pacific. In China alone there are 10 million tons of polyethylene and 12 million tons of polypropylene planned to come on-line by 2016, which will reduce their reliance on imported polymer. To extend the current economic immunity to future economic health and to remain the centre of the polymer industry the Middle East will need to adapt. It will need to diversify its product offering in terms of polymers and grades, it will need to improve its efficiency and it will need to develop new markets. Already Middle East polymer producers are changing their approach to markets and this can be expected to accelerate as the global economies start to recover. NIALL CAN BE REACHED AT: NIALL.MARSHALL@EVERSPRINGME.COM
Dr Niall Marshall was formerly based in Johannesburg where he worked with Sasol and Ciba. He subsequently moved to Bahrain in the Middle East and joined Everspring Middle East, one of the largest manufacturers of polymer stabilisers, and X-ponent Three, which supplies a complementary range of additives and pigments and provides technical and business consulting services.
The UNICOR UC 130 during the test runs in the UNICOR Technical Centre (above)
UNICOR, German manufacturer of corrugated pipe extrusion lines, has recently supplied new machines to Iraq and accomplished the start-up of the two lines via Internet interface. The production of PVC drainage pipes was started in Iraq by order of the government using UNICOR Corrugators who supplied the UC 130 series machines for the job. UNICOR Corrugators produce drainage pipes up to 130mm diameter which are subsequently lined with a filter fleece. The fleece facilitates water absorption and prevents the ingress of dirt particles that often collect in the drainage holes and clog them. Because of the ongoing risk in Iraq, UNICOR could not deploy technicians for the start-up of the Iraqi production facility. Three Iraqi staff members were trained at the UNICOR Technical Centre in Hassfurt in the operation and installation of the UC 130 Corrugators, as well as expertise in PVC processing and in the handling of the UNICOR Remote Maintenance Unit (RMU). The start-up of the complete production lines was accomplished on site by the Iraqi staff members supported via web interface by the German UNICOR technicians who were able to closely follow the state and correct functioning of the installation via the Remote Maintenance Unit (RMU). Handling errors or unexpected technical problems could thus be remedied within a few minutes. The quick start-up was also enabled by
the versatile communication channels of the UNICOR RMU. A camera application permits the direct view on all relevant elements of the UNICOR machines via a remote maintenance system. The technicians in Iraq and the UNICOR experts could exchange information via language interface. Operating commands could also be activated from Germany and adjusted where necessary. www.unicor.com
Die head and entry of the UC 130
View on the first drainage pipes produced by the UC 130 in the storehouse of the Iraqi customer DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 69
EQUIPMENT
Unicor corrugators commissioned in Iraq via remote control
EQUIPMENT
Light-weight construction technology AT THIS year’s Fakuma, held from 16-20 October in Friedrichshafen/Germany, Wittmann Battenfeld presented the latest injection moulding technology combined with high-tech processes - the main focus being Cellmould®, the light-weight construction technology developed by Wittmann Battenfeld. Last year, the company succeeded in further developing its proven PowerSeries and now offers its large machine model MacroPower with clamping forces ranging from 400 to 1,100 t. Wittmann Battenfeld have also developed and implemented innovative processes which open up new
opportunities for excellence and high quality standards in plastic parts and materials to be processed. Cellmould light-weight construction technology and optimal surface quality through BFMOLD™ were demonstrated at Fakuma. • WITTMANN BATTENFELD ARE REPRESENTED IN SA BY MOULDPLAS MARKETING www.mouldplas.co.za www.wittmann-group.com
Light-weight technology: The MacroPower XL 550 was presented for the first time at Fakuma 2012. This 550 t machine model features extra-wide platens with a distance of 1120 mm x 970 mm between tie-bars. Its modular concept makes it suitable for a great variety of applications. Cellmould is a process for manufacturing structured foam parts, in which nitrogen is added directly in the barrel during plastification. This process enables the production of extremely light and rigid components without sink marks. A W843 WITTMANN robot removes the parts and deposits them on a conveyor belt. The functions of the entire production line are fully integrated in the machine’s B6 control system
EcoPower with IML process: The EcoPower is an extremely energy-efficient, all-electric machine from Wittmann Battenfeld’s PowerSeries. The EcoPower’s high energy efficiency is achieved by using the deceleration energy from its drives within the machine (which would normally be returned to the power supply network by an elaborate process) to provide the necessary voltage for the control system, and for barrel heating Cellmould® plus BFMOLD™ technology: Lightweight combined with high-gloss surface – On a hydraulic HM 110/525 machine model, a combination of the BFMOLD and Cellmould processes were demonstrated by producing a desk telephone cover within a cycle time of 34 seconds in a single-cavity mould supplied by KIMW. In the BFMOLD process, the entire mould space underneath the cavity is used for heating and cooling. This enables extremely even and, above all, fast heating and cooling of the mould areas. With the help of BFMOLD technology it is possible to produce parts with premium surface quality without any visible flow lines or sink marks. In this way, a perfect ‘piano-black surface’ can be achieved for foamed parts manufactured by the Cellmould process Multi-component technology – thermoplastic resin plus LSR: On an HM 180/350H/350V ServoPower, the LIM process was demonstrated in a 2 C application by manufacturing a spectacle case in a mould supplied by Rico. This spectacle case is a 2-component case made of a combination of thermoplastic material (PBT 20% GF) and LSR. The dosing and mixing pumps for the LSR were supplied by Reinhardt Technik. TEMPRO plus D temperature controllers were used to generate the high mould temperature required for vulcanizing the LSR. The machine comes with a silicone processing equipment package (special injection unit, vacuum package, etc.). The servo-driven rotary unit is integrated in the machine. The parts are manufactured in a 1+ 1-cavity mould within a cycle time of about 50 seconds 70 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
MATERIALS
Tellap pallet-free packaging system THE environmentally-friendly Tellap pallet free packaging system has been well received by exporters and importers of *vermiculite in Europe. Samrec Vermiculite Zimbabwe normally exports vermiculite packed in flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBC’s) – 1000kg vermiculite per bag. Customers in Europe have insisted that the filled bulk bags be on wooden pallets for ease of handling. Because of the various laws regarding the disposal of packaging in Europe and the costs involved in the fumigation of wooden pallets, Samrec investigated a superior storage and transport system. After extensive research, the company selected the lightweight, recyclable Tellap pallet free packaging system. This innovative single operator system – which can be described as a pallet within a bag - integrates two strong lightweight, plastic sleeves into a polypropylene bulk bag, replacing the conventional heavy wooden pallet with a totally recyclable hygienic design. A regular pallet can weigh over 30kg while two Tellap bags, including sleeves weigh only 3 kg. The Tellap pallet-less bulk bag system was supplied to Samrec Vermiculite Zimbabwe in Harare by Tufbag, and is supplied in South Africa by:
'Megabags in Vereeniging, www.megabags.co.za, and Multi Tarp & Bag in Pinetown, www.mtbag.co.za *vermiculite = is a hydrous, silicate mineral that is classified as a phyllosilicate that expands greatly when heated. Large commercial vermiculite mines currently exist in Russia, South Africa, China, and Brazil.
www.tellap.com.au
Samrec Vermiculite Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd now uses the environmentally-friendly Tellap pallet free packaging system, which requires no fumigation, for the export of Vermiculite to customers in Europe
Conductive compound safe for mining pump WHEN American company All-Flo, a leading manufacturer of air-operated diaphragm (AOD) pumps, was challenged to construct an entire pump with conductive, but non-metallic materials, it worked in partnership with custom compounder RTP Company who recommended a material that enabled the successful production of a specialized version of the company’s 25 mm polypropylene AOD pump. All-Flo’s 25 mm pumps are the equipment of choice in mining operations because of their complete non-metallic construction. Using RTP Company’s glass fibre reinforced polypropylene compounds enables considerable weight savings, while providing a stronger degree of resistance to atmospheric corrosion. Working in partnership with All-Flo and its injection moulder, Royal Plastics
of Mentor, a number of materials were trialled and a variation of the proven RTP 100 Series glass fibre reinforced PP compound that All-Flo already used was chosen after passing evaluation testing. www.rtpcompany.com
The specialised version of a 25 mm polypropylene AOD pump DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 71
EREMA highlights at Propak 2013 The future of plastic recycling technology PLASTIC is becoming an increasing economic factor as a valuable secondary raw material. The reasons are clear to see. Whereas plastic waste has increased by 8% per year over the last decade, the decline of primary raw material resources is increasing on a drastic scale. It is a fact that raw material prices are continuing to soar. Furthermore, we can assume that the landfill ban for plastics – currently in place in only seven countries – will be extended throughout Europe. Some ten million tons of plastic are put into landfill every year. Should this come to an end, there will be even larger amounts of valuable secondary raw materials available for worthwhile processing. This means that more and more importance is being attached to highquality secondary raw materials.
Closing the loop Turning waste plastic into high-quality and recognised secondary raw material calls for intensive communication in the entire plastics industry – between raw material suppliers, plastic processors and recyclers. This would result in the development of packaging materials which would take into account their later recyclability at the time they are produced. The way forward is to organise material flows better and optimise the production of plastics in such a way that new, high-quality products with a high recycling content can be achieved. This is how sustainability works in a closed loop. • EREMA IS REPRESENTED IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA BY RELLOY S.A. (PTY) LTD www.erema.at
www.relloy.co.za
EQUIPMENT
Global trends In the plastic recycling industry there is one trend in particular which is emerging: the sharp focus on the quality of the end prod-
uct. The increasing functionality of flexible (film) packaging in particular poses new challenges all the time to plant manufacturers such as Erema in the development and advancement of recycling technologies. Waste plastics such as packaging materials are becoming increasingly colourful and chemically more sophisticated. Films are very often fully printed and in some cases, have multiple layers. Additionally, packaging films are produced with ever thinner walls to reduce the weight of the end products and thus protect resources. Previous recycling technology is often stretched to the limit when processing these waste plastics. Binding agents and other additives that are always found in the inks, for example, are a problem as they break down in parts at the processing temperatures of the plastic matrix. If notable amounts still remain in the recycled pellets when reprocessing, they may no longer be suitable for use in high-quality end products.
Erema VACUREMA®: The new system concept for VACUREMA Prime technology is a compact and space-saving all-in-one solution and Erema’s answer to the strongly fluctuating rPET market. Thanks to this new concept, decontaminated, pre-dried and crystallised rPET flakes and high-quality, meltfiltered rPET pellets can be produced. Both products are suitable for direct food contact and surpass all minimum requirements in terms of purity and quality Erema TVEplus®: With TVEplus technology Erema has developed a system which now enables you to turn even materials which are difficult to process into high-quality pellets – in a single step and through efficient filtration, melt homogenisation and high-performance degassing.
72 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Erema COREMA®: Erema offers another step forward with the new product COREMA. This recycling system combines the benefits of recycling and compounding for the first time in one system and makes it possible to produce customised plastic compounds from inexpensive recycling raw material in a single processing step. On the one hand this means forward integration for the recycler in the direction of material production and, on the other, reverse integration for the compounder towards material procurement
AT VISIT US K A P O R P 2013 STAND 5 B23
VISIT US AT PROPAK 2013 STAND 5 B23
Simple handling of whole extrusion line
EQUIPMENT
Combines simple handling, efficient control system in unique way THE High Tech Extrusion group has launched its latest line – the new TEC 4s. High Tech Extrusion, consisting of companies Theysohn, Technoplast, Topf and Extruder-Komponenten Salzgitter, is an all-in-one provider which has developed a unique series of extrusion lines, tools and pipe heads. Following its development of the new OMNIA series and the new RK Streamliner pipe head, High Tech Extrusion can now present the new TEC 4s as retrofit kit. The new Extruder Control System TEC 4s, developed in cooperation with Siemens, combines simple handling and an efficient control system in a unique
way. An operating terminal optimized for heavy industrial conditions enables a comfortable control of the whole extrusion line in combination with the modern HMI-Software. The 19” touch screen guarantees easy operation with large soft-keys and intuitive colour and graphic design. The core of the new Theysohn Extruder Control System is a powerful, fanless and maintenancefree industrial-PC. The major advantage is that in 99% of all cases the customer can maintain or exchange parts of the system. Following a check for compatibility of main drive and dosing unit, space requirement for the new control cabinet is
Austrian National Railway’s ‘Panther Fire’, designed by Spirit Design who also designed High Tech Extrusion’s new Omnia extrusion line
assessed and the existing control cabinet is replaced together with the installation of the 19” touch screen. This solution provides an upgrade to a state-of-the-art management of the entire extrusion line with its existing components whilst the overall investment remains manageable in comparison with the acquisition of a new extruder. www.ht-extrusion.com
Digital Flexo™ technology Press automatically runs the printing process, substituting the operator NUOVA GIDUE of Italy has introduced a visionary concept for the flexographic printing, Digital Flexo™ technology, which allows for automated adjustment of the printing process. Everything started in 2005 when Gidue first industrialised the Print Tutor™ model, applied first to the mid-web and offset multi-process machines, and then (in March 2010) to the flexographic ones. From that starting point, the evolution went on with the Digital Flexo technology, introduced for the first time in September 2011 at the Label Expo Brussels show. On that occasion, Gidue proposed a new vision for the labels and packaging industry, made of flexographic presses with fully automated print pressure and lateral 74 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
and cross register. For the first time, in the narrow-web flexo industry, the press automatically runs the printing process, substituting the operator: HD digital cameras (Print Tutor) set on each printing unit ‘read’ and manage the print pressure, the colour density and image register, servo-adjusting them in order to achieve superior printing outcomes. With the introduction of the Digital Flexo™, the machine ensures higher printing quality and significant waste reduction (less than 20 metres for the 8 colours set up), since everything is digitalized; this allows the press operator to better focus on achieving the best outcomes, also during operational production phases (such as speed and roll changes).
Thus, a Digital Flexo press is also able to avoid mistakes in file management. • NUOVA GIDUE IS REPRESENTED BY IPEX MACHINERY OF JOHANNESBURG.
www.gidue.com The Digital Flexo™ programme achieves good pressure and register
Gentle giant!
EVA sheet for the growth market of photovoltaic modules can be produced gently and cost-efďŹ ciently with machine concepts from battenfeld-cincinnati
Alternative machine concept for growth market of photovoltaic panels ENORMOUS outputs of up to 2 tons an hour can be achieved in the production of EVA sheet for solar panels with the PWE 250 planetary roller extruder from battenfeld-cincinnati, Bad Oeynhausen/ Vienna. In addition to high performance, this machine concept stands out because of its extremely gentle treatment of the materials processed. Some 15 extrusion lines are already in operation worldwide in this growth market. Today, solar cells for photovoltaic modules are regularly embedded in EVA sheet. This sheet protects the sensitive silicon cells, which transform sunlight into electrical energy, from environmental damage such as corrosion or impact. For this purpose, the sheet must be electrically
insulating, very tough and simultaneously highly transparent and UV-resistant. Each m2 of panel requires 500 g of EVA per layer, i.e. a total of 1 kg. Thanks to its excellent processing and long-term stability properties, EVA has a market share of about 90% in the steadily growing solar energy market. For the production of EVA sheet, the plastic granulate must be plasticized gently at no more than 150° C and mixed with several additives. A planetary roller extruder is the ideal machine for this purpose since it already achieves a highly effective dispersion and homogenization performance at low processing temperatures due to its special process technology design. A planetary roller extruder consists of a conventional single screw as feed
section and a planetary gear section. The latter consists of a ďŹ xed roller cylinder with internal gear teeth, a teethed main spindle driven by a motor and the revolving planetary spindles. All components of the planetary roller extruder are ďŹ tted with helical gears cut at an angle of 45°, with the teething of the planetary spindles arranged at a counter-pitch to the other components. While single screw extruders of comparable size reach up to 800 kg/h and twin screw extruders up to 1,200 kg/h in output, the planetary roller extruder achieves a performance of up to 2,000 kg/h. www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 75
Welltec Plastics has the injection moulding machines to meet your requirements.
Excellent prices on existing stock / %-/ / *!& ' (+# !/ # / / / / / - / / / % !# / / // / (/ %') ' $ !# /(& '" $, % . (!) /,,, $( %& % .
EQUIPMENT
BSG completes ‘ONE’ control system BSG of Germany, a specialist in automation and process control technique for plastic extrusion systems, recently introduced its complete ‘ONE’ product portfolio to the industry in Dortmund. Products in the integrated system include the ‘ONEoperate’ operating and automation system to control and operate a complete extrusion line with pelletizer, film and platen systems, including the conveying and dosing of raw materials; ‘ONEview’ visualization and control system, to provide overview and control of one or several lines; ‘ONEexchange’ software for order and
recipe management; • and ‘ONEdatagate’ PC-based software system for archiving and analyzing of process data. Now in its fifth version, the ONE programme’s special strength lies in the flexible configurability via the user and the reporting of this software. BSG A member of the Kreyenborg Group, was founded in 1995 and specializes in automation of equipment lines for the polymer industry. Automation and process control systems are developed and built for this type of installation. The basis for
‘ONE’ system – The components of the ‘ONE’ system allow direct interaction with all aspects of the extrusion process; here we see a custom-designed operating panel
such projects is the specially developed ONE-System family. The product portfolio ranges from control of the equipment lines and process visualization to MDE and MES software. • BSG IS REPRESENTED BY PLASTIC & CHEMICAL TRADING. WWW.PLASTRADING.COM www.bsg.de
Husky launches next-generation HyCAP system New mould design improves productivity of overall operation HUSKY Injection Moulding has launched the next generation of its HyCAP™ system for high-output beverage closure manufacturing, complementing its existing suite of beverage closures products. The HyCAP system is the first product to take advantage of the addition of closure mould maker KTW into the Husky business group. The relationship has made Husky the industry’s only provider of complete injection moulding solutions for beverage closure manufacturing, including machine, mould, hot runner, temperature controller, as well as process and productivity monitoring software. Husky is able to take responsibility for the entire system to provide complete melt stream control and reduce variability in the injection process, resulting in increased productivity, reduced waste and improved 76 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
part quality. Changes have also been made to the HyCAP hot runner, including modified insulation technology and heating requirements, to reduce energy consumption. The HyCAP system has benefitted significantly from the combined capabilities of Husky and KTW by featuring a new mould design that improves the productivity of the overall operation. The mould also
incorporates specific features to provide easy set-up and mould longevity while eliminating the need for sensors to monitor specific components. www.husky.ca The HyCAP™ system takes advantage of the expertise gained by the addition of closure mould maker KTW into the Husky business group
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EQUIPMENT
Surface finishing tools, techniques & tips Finishing of moulds a highly specialised procedure SURFACE finishing is a process that requires a variety of tools, materials, and highly specialised skills. One of the most technically advanced types of surface finishing is mould making, where the surface of the mould has a direct impact on the surface of the product being moulded. Proper finishing is essential. While this takes years to perfect, there are some basic principles and techniques that provide a good start. Grinding After the metal is machined, its surface condition is usually rough with ridges and cutter marks. Finishers must use a hand grinder to get the surface smooth enough to eventually finish with hand stones. Hand grinders can be used with a variety of grinding wheels and stones, in various shapes, sizes and grits. Start with coarse grit as starting too fine will waste time and stones. Select a stone or wheel to use that approximates the shape of the work area, mount it in the grinder while inserting the shank as deeply as possible to avoid whipping. Light ‘dressing’ (shaping the stone to the contour of the finished surface with a dressing stone) may be required. This ensures concentricity of the abrasive surface. Slowly decrease the size of the grit, cleaning surfaces well before changing to the new grit. Tips: Brace your hands and forearms to provide maximum control over the grinder
tool to prevent it from following the contours of the rough surface Direct grinding strokes at a 45-90 degree angle relative to the grooves developed by the machining process. Surface speed of the cutting tool against the metal is paramount: adjust speed accordingly. Break the job down into small manageable portions and ensure each area is covered completely. Criss-cross the grinding strokes to ensure a uniform surface. Dress the grinder with a dressing stone if it becomes loaded with metal chips. Hand Stoning Once you have arrived at the point where all the metal has been ground to satisfaction, hand stoning may begin. Depending on the condition of the surface being polished, preliminary stoning may be done with a 240 grit stone, or if defects are not too great, 320 grit can be used. Tips: Dress the polishing stone to provide maximum contact with the surface. Soak the stones in clean lapping oil before use. The stone should be moved back and forth, with enough pressure applied to make the stone cut. Work in a direction which is at 45 to 90 degrees to the previous workings. Make sure the stone marks from the
High lustre of a final metal finish can only be achieved through patience and skill. To make the process easier, there are a number of polishing machines, tools and consumables available
previous grit size are removed. Frequently clean the stone in the oilbased lubricant to prevent it from becoming clogged with metal filings. Make sure the metal surface is completely cleaned of all residue before introducing a finer stone. Each stone needs its own container of lubricant for cleaning. You do not want to pick up coarser metal filings from the last polishing procedure. Exercise utmost care when stoning at an edge. (eg. a parting line) Diamond Polishing This is the last step of the polishing process – dependent on how smooth a lustre must be achieved. A variety of diamond compounds are available. The same principles of beginning with a rough grade and then going finer, as well as the methodology of working in a crisscross direction apply. Various tools (brass, steel and bristle brushes, felt bobs, etc.) are also available to apply the diamond paste. Tips: Apply a small amount of diamond compound first, adding more as required. Do not mix grades of diamond compound. If the compound gets dry, add some diamond thinner. Keep the brush or felt flat on the area. Clean surfaces thoroughly before changing to a finer grit. Do not use more than one grade of compound on the same brush of felt. High lustre of a final metal finish will be achieved through patience and skill. There are no short cuts when polishing. Since a high degree of technique is required, it often takes years for metalworkers to become proficient polishers. However, to make the process easier, there are numerous polishing machines, tools and consumables available. • FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT MOULD AND DIE SOLUTIONS, ON 021 555 2701, OR EMAIL INFO@M-D-S.CO.ZA www.m-d-s.co.za 78 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Surface Finishing Tools and consumables to improve efficiency • • • • •
polishing machines ultrasonic finishing tools and accessories polishing stones diamond pastes
moulds & components ompone runnerless solutions die sets Contact: Mould & Die Solutions surface finishing P.O. Box 669, Edgemead 7407, Cape Town, South Africa customized solutions Tel: 021 555 2701 | Fax: 021 555 2707 | info@m-d-s.co.za www.dmeeu.com
www.m-d-s.co.za
PRODUCTS
1st-in-market thermoplastic lift-gate solution Weight reduction of 10%, easily recyclable STYRON, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, has unveiled the first full-thermoplastic, mono-material lift-gate ever produced in series on a commercial vehicle featured in the New Renault Clio. Styron has been working closely together with Renault for many years. When the French OEM approached Styron to collaborate on producing a new lift-gate for the New Renault Clio that would not only
target a weight reduction of 10% but would also be easily recyclable, the Styron sales and engineering teams had an exciting, new development project on their hands. After a two-year development project with Styron, Renault is now launching the New Renault Clio with a thermoplastic liftgate made with Styron’s material solutions. The lift-gate is manufactured in thermoplastic from three separate parts. To help improve impact resistance, expansion and durability of the structural part of the lift-gate, Styron’s engineers introduced INSPIRE™ long glass fibre polypropylene resin (LGF-PP) to meet
such requirements. By increasing the glass content of the moulding material, the part is able to gain improved stiffness and toughness. In addition, Styron also supported Renault in optimizing the tool-design for their machine and specifically supported them with selecting the appropriate plasticizing screw to maintain the required fibre length after moulding the lift-gate. Choosing a material composition and manufacturing process that achieves the desired glass fibre length distribution is critical to meeting the specific performance requirements of Renault’s lift-gate.
Safety at work! BAYER MaterialScience is working intensively to develop new plastic products that help in a variety of applications to reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace, while participating in sports and leisure activities, and in the home. The latest example of this are new, grey-tinted modifications of the polycarbonate Makrolon® LQ3187, which was developed in collaboration with UVEX Arbeitschutz GmbH. UVEX uses the material to manufacture a new generation of welding goggles that ensure welders can clearly recognize signal colours such as yellow, red or blue despite the grey tinting of the lenses.
www.bayer.com
Achieving design & function
in a single moulding cycle Integrates surface decoration, PolyTC® touch functionality into injection moulding process GERMAN coating specialist Kurz has developed an integration technology that allows both functional films for touch sensors and decorative coatings to be applied concurrently to a component while it is being injection moulded. This integration of functionality and decoration occurs in a process that combines Inmould Labelling (IML) with Inmould Decoration (IMD). First individual inmould labels of the printed films with touch functionality are produced and then inserted into one half of the mould and bonded to the rear of the plastic part through back injection.
Concurrently, using IMD technology, a carrier foil with a decorative coating is fed through the second half of the mould and the coating is released from the carrier and bonds to the front side of the component as it is injection moulded. To implement both these film application processes within a single injection moulding cycle, it was necessary to develop a specialized mould technology. A special-purpose functional film that is suitable for use in an IML process was also required. These IML-capable functional films have the trade name PolyTC® and were developed by PolyIC, a Kurz subsidiary. PolyTC® When used to manufacture touch control panels for electrical or electronic appliances, this process allows a uniform and elegant surface design to be achieved, while at the same time offering unlimited scope for varying the appearance and quality level of the product depending on the particular IMD foil selected 80 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
is transparent film with a high sensor sampling rate, signal quality and electromagnetic immunity thanks to its metallic conductivity. These films enable the production of very thin, flexible and transparent touch sensors that can be easily integrated into many applications and can be controlled using conventional electronic components. PolyTC films are produced in a roll-to-roll manufacturing process that enables a high production capacity. The combined IML and IMD process delivers not only design, but also cost advantages because it provides an especially efficient method for achieving both part decoration, and integration of the touch functionality, within a single injection moulding operation.
www.kurz.de www.polyic.com
The first full-thermoplastic, monomaterial lift-gate ever produced in series on a commercial vehicle featured in the New Renault Clio The final lift-gate of the New Renault Clio - bottom right
copolymer resin through dry-blend directly. • The outer skin is made with Styron’s INSPIRE™ At-Press talc masterbatch concept, which injection moulds through blending of the different components (polypropylene impact copolymer, specifically designed 70% talc masterbatch and the required colour concentrate), allowing for a tailored mechanical performance to meet the OEM specific application requirements.
PHOTOS: STYRON
Production phase: fine-tuning materials to Renault’s production process In the selection of the materials, Styron was confronted with several challenges due to the complexity of the part. The selected materials were tested and fine-tuned to Renault’s specific production process including injection moulding, painting, bonding and welding. The final lift-gate design consists of three parts: • The inner skin is injection moulded using a talc filled polypropylene compound from Styron and connects to the structural part. • The structural part is produced with long glass fibre polypropylene resin (LGFPP) concentrate developed by Styron. This concentrate is diluted directly on the moulding machine with appropriate PP
www.styronautomotive.com
Barrier PET bottle for popular cocktail Delivers convenience, portability BEAM Inc., one of the USA’s leading premium spirits companies, has launched Skinnyminis, a four-pack offering of the Skinnygirl Margarita ready-to-serve cocktail in sleek-looking premium 200ml barrier PET bottles from Amcor Rigid Plastics, producer of PET packaging. The custom container also represents one of the first 200ml barrier PET bottles for the spirits industry, according to Amcor. A unique barrier PET resin with an oxygen scavenger offers protection from oxygen ingress and provides extended shelf life,
resulting in bottle inventory benefits. A UV additive is used for the bottle to protect the product from ultraviolet light and preserve the product color. The 200ml PET bottles preserve the brand image and premium look of the 750ml glass containers, according to Myles Graybill, project engineer for Amcor Rigid Plastics. The slender, long neck container is also designed to withstand high top load impact. A roll on, pilfer-proof (ROPP) premium aluminum screw top closure from Amcor Flexible Capsules, which requires top load strength of up to 200 lb of force, makes the entire package supplied by Amcor.
A four-pack offering of the Skinnygirl Margarita readyto-serve cocktail in a sleeklooking premium 200ml barrier PET bottles
www.beamglobal.com
Innovative corrosion
protection debuts Specially embossed inner film, high permeability to air THE Nor®Shield product family from Nordenia Deutschland Gronau has added a further innovative form of corrosion protection on the basis of a volatile corrosion inhibitor (VCI). The highlight of the new Nor®Shield packaging is the specially embossed inner film with its high permeability to air. Last year, the Nor®Shield AC (AntiCorrosion) was introduced to the packaging market to great success. The laminated composite, which is characterized by the extremely fast speed at which the corrosion protection atmosphere builds up, is particularly well suited for the secure
packaging of products from the automotive and steel industries and machine and tool construction. The distinctive feature of the newly-developed Nor®Shield product is its make-up: The adhesive and the VCI mixture are enclosed by an outer and an inner film. “Our previous Nor®Shield solutions have been composites made from film, adhesive/VCI mixture, and non-woven fabric,” explained Product Manager Sonja Reinke. “Now, for the first time, we are presenting Nor®Shield with an especially embossed inner film that has an extremely high permeability to air and releases the active
Nordenia’s new Nor®Shield product is characterised by the fast build-up of the longlasting, perfect VCI corrosion inhibitor
substance just as quickly as the trusted products.” The composite is also characterized by its outstanding resistance to stretching and tearing. www.nordenia.com DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 81
DESIGN
composites at JEC Americas 9 Composites companies recognised for industry-leading advances Innovation Awards Programme NINE companies and their partners were honoured at the inaugural JEC Americas Composites Show and Conferences at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Centre in
November. JEC launched the Innovation Awards Programme in 1998 with the goal of both celebrating and promoting the very best new innovations in composites.
Aeronautics 1 Hexcel (USA) for HexMC®: A technology based on a new form of discontinuous carbon fibre prepreg to produce structural parts by compression moulding. Hexcel’s HexMC product combines a new material form with a string of innovative technologies that make structural and complex-shaped parts that would be otherwise be difficult to produce economically with existing high-performance materials and processes. The aerospace version of HexMC starts with a very well characterized (AS4/8552) aerospace-grade unidirectional (UD) prepreg that is slit and cut into 50 x 8-mm wide ‘chips’. The chips are then used to form a transverse isotropic mat, which has the same properties in any direction within the plane of the material. The created mat is easily preformed and is equivalent in thickness to a quasi-isotropic laminate made of eight UD plies, and therefore greatly reduces labour. The HexMC material form and associated processing techniques preserve the fibre orientation (and fibre volume) while moulding the parts by ‘flowing’ (moving) the chips slightly under pressure and temperature. The low flow of the HexMC chips also allows the preforms to fill the mould boundaries producing ‘net-shape’ parts and eliminating expensive trimming required with other moulding processes. Parts are in the press for about 20 minutes, much less than traditional aerospace composite materials and processes.
Automotive
2
Edison2 LLC (USA) for a new structural architecture for automobiles starting with the Edison2 In wheel suspension. The ‘in wheel suspension’ reduces the automobile to four main structural points. They drive from two bulkheads which can be stamped metal or cast. Castings in particular can be intricate and include many of the redundant smaller cavities and brackets. Because composite structures are most challenged in the hard connection points where materials mix and in more intricate shapes by reducing the main structural points to these simple cast members a new architecture opens up that leaves the centre of the car as a very simple larger surface single material affair.
Construction
3
MVC Soluções em Plasticos (Brazil) for schools built with plastic reinforced sandwich panels to reduce the construction period. The panels’ technological manufacturing process uses the sandwich structure concept. Panels are built out of composite blades reinforced with fiberglass, manufactured through the continuous lamination process and coupled to several options of structural nuclei in low pressure presses. It can be widely applied to the construction of schools as a replacement for the masonry buildings because it is equal in terms of cost and offers an additional advantage of reduced work time and a better thermal-acoustic performance in relation to masonry.
82 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Energy
Sports & Leisure 4 Cervélo Cycles (Canada) for the new Cervelo Rca road racing bicycle which enhances racing bicycle performance. In December, Cervélo launched its eagerly anticipated replacement – the Rca - an evolution of the R5ca in that it is lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic. The new Squoval tube shapes reduce aerodynamic drag by a significant amount compared to the R5ca, putting it in the range of many aero road bikes for aerodynamics, yet well out of their league for stiffness and weight. Furthermore, the Rca maintains the R5ca’s Grand Tour winning levels of handling and comfort without any sacrifices in strength and durability. The advanced layup on the new Rca uses a combination of different materials to achieve these performance levels. Low areal weight carbon epoxy prepregs are used for the bulk of the frame, with 30, 40 and 60 ton fibres placed strategically to optimize performance. High modulus pitch fibres are employed for stiffness in specific locations. In addition, Boron fibres are used selectively for increased compression strength where needed. This frame also marks the first use of the new 3M AHS1471 resin system. This resin, used as a prepreg with MR60 fibres, provides improved strength properties and is located in strength critical areas. Use of these materials was key in meeting the aggressive weight, stiffness and strength targets of this frame.
5
MPD Designs (Italy) for a solar floating resort, the unique building integrated a photovoltaic hospitality concept. The invention is based on a new self-supporting structural element that is composed of a 20mm outside skin and a 20mm inside skin in composite PVC reinforced fiberglass. Thin photovoltaic films are integrated into the two skins to absorb sunlight energy from the outside and artificial lighting energy from the inside. The electricity is stored into lithiumion batteries. Between the two skins there is a 30cm vacuum insulation to protect the habitation from outside heat, keeping the use of air conditioning to a minimum. Solar Floating Resort (SFR) is a unique building integrated photovoltaic hospitality concept, part habitation, part yacht and part submarine, a totally self-sufficient energy generator, non-polluting and in unison with its natural surroundings.
Recycling 6 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 83
Connora Technologies (USA) for RecyclamineT™ epoxy hardener technology which allows for the design and production of fully recyclable epoxy-based composite products. Until now, thermosetting plastics have been classified as non-recyclable. Connora Technologies’ RecyclamineTM epoxy hardener technology allows manufacturers, for the first time, to design and produce fully recyclable epoxy-based composite products. Connora Technologies, a cleantech chemistry and materials provider based in Hayward, California, is developing an entire line of Recyclamine hardeners that will serve to replace conventional hardeners for standard composite manufacturing processes. Recyclamine hardeners are specially engineered, ultimately enabling a mechanism that converts thermosetting epoxies into thermoplastics through a low energy and environmentally friendly recycling process.
DESIGN
9 Composites companies recognised for industry-leading advances Innovation Awards Programme
Process 7 Swift Engineering (USA) for a high-speed press cure for a high-speed race car. Swift has taken a complex load-bearing, aerodynamic composite structure that traditionally required autoclave manufacturing and developed an out-ofautoclave press mould process that co-cures the external skins and internal spar structure in one cure cycle. This shortened process produces structures with excellent outer mould line repeatability, reduces production time by half and thereby reduces manufacturing costs by 30% compared to conventional three-piece autoclave processes.
Carbon
8
Chomarat (France) for thin ply fabric with bi-angle reinforcement to replace traditional black aluminium structures. Chomarat’s thin ply with bi-angle reinforcement design extends its range of carbon multi-axial fabrics. The fabric weight averages 75 g/m² per ply, with fabric angles between 20 and 30 degrees now possible. The three-step manufacturing process includes: 1. Spreading: Achieving an individual ply weight of 75 g/m² requires a defined proprietary spreading process that consists in laying yarns flat and straight with uniform tension before spreading them to form a ply that is uniform in fibre dispersion, weight, width and thickness. 2. Ply forming: This is performed on a multi-axial machine. However, instead of laying down yarns in the standard technique, unidirectional (UD) plies are placed on top of one another in the desired directions - obtaining reduced shallow angles (20 to 30 degrees) that require design of new machine kinematics. 3. Combining: This final step ties the plies together and consolidates the fabric laminate. It is based on a very fine stitch designed to reduce the impact of foreign materials and the creation of voids as much as possible. American Artisan Bicycles takes advantage of this completely new design and have incorporated Chomarat’s unique C-PLY™ Bi-Angle into road racing frames to build the world’s lightest and strongest road racing bicycles.
Software
9
CGTech (USA) for VERICUT composite paths for engineering (VCPe) improves automated fibre placement. VERICUT Composite Paths for Engineering (VCPe) gives a composite part designer, mechanical engineer or process engineer access to the same software tools numerical control (NC) programmers use to create AFP NC programme paths that are subsequently used in the workshop to lay-up a composite part. Using these tools the part designer or engineer can easily create and experiment with various AFP path options and evaluate the effects AFP manufacturing has on a composite part’s design intent. By producing actual AFP tape courses that could be used to programme AFP fabrication equipment in the workshop, the user can measure and evaluate the effects of AFP path trajectory, material steering, surface curvature, course convergence and other process constraints as they would be applied in manufacturing. Tape course geometry can be written to various CAD formats for further evaluation by the user’s existing analysis methods and tools.
www.jeccomposites.com
84 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
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M A S T E R B AT C H
P I G M E N T S
L I Q U I D S
A D D I T I V E S
COMPOSITES
AVK Innovation Awards 2012 THE German AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. – presented its coveted Innovation Awards this year in three newly designed categories. All the award winners were recognised for their outstanding developments in the area of reinforced plastics.
Innovative Products & Applications Gummiwerk KRAIBURG GmbH & Co. KG with its partners Medi GmbH & Co. KG and C-Matrixx Carbontechnik GmbH
Medi Panthera CF I – The new generation of prosthetic feet Gummiwerk KRAIBURG, together with its partners Medi and C-Matrixx Carbontechnik, have developed the medi panthera CF I carbon spring foot, which combines the properties of carbon and rubber. The elastomer ensures that the prosthetic foot is comfortable with a pleasant gait cycle and dynamic forward movement. The innovative technology, creating a chemical bond between the fibre reinforced plastics and elastomers within the same hardness conditions, was the key to development of the medi panthera CF I. The materials are not joined using adhesives but through a direct, chemical bonding process during the curing of the carbon. The result is an unbreakable connection between the materials that offers perfect transfer of forces.
The innovative technology, creating a chemical bond between the fibre reinforced plastics and elastomers within the same hardness conditions, was the key to development.
Research & Science Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden with partner NANOCYL SA
Online in-situ structural monitoring in glass fibre reinforced plastics To exploit the exceptional potential of fibre reinforced plastic composites (FRP) in lightweight construction, it is essential to be able to make precise statements about the complex loads at any given moment. The concept developed by the Leibnitz Institute is based on an electrically conductive fibre/ matrix boundary layer that is produced using a network of percolated carbon nanotubes (CNT). This is done by impregnating the glass fibres with CNT during the spinning process and then integrating them into the composite. The fibres now not only take on the familiar role of reinforcing the composite but also that of a sensor (in-situ approach). The slightest deformations within the conductive boundary layer – such as those produced by mechanical loads – immediately result in a change in electrical resistance. This can be recorded in real-time (online) and used to provide a qualitative assessment of the structure. One of the great advantages of this new system for structural monitoring and early identification of defects is that the principle of the boundary layer sensor is universally applicable and the coating formulation can be adapted for use with different polymer matrices and reinforcing fibres. 86 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
COMPOSITES
Successful implementation of FRP procedures in small companies polyGLAS Weirather GmbH with its partner Lange + Ritter
Production of large components using the RTM Light process to reduce emissions The first components in RTM Light form were produced at the end of 2011 using 80 kg of resin and 40 kg of glass, further components using 100-200 kg of resin have now been converted to the process. Six different volume tanks are already being produced with one set of tools. 80% of series production has now been converted to RTM Light. A variety of tank sizes can therefore be built using one tool, which dramatically reduces costs. The important advantages are that emissions are much lower than for hand lay-up and the costs of heating and vacuum extraction are also significantly reduced. The process produces less waste and laminate quality is higher. Walls can be manufactured to a thinner specification, which in turn saves raw materials. It permits a high degree of automation and improved laminate quality as well as a reduction in styrene odours.
Research & Science Chair for Polymer Materials, University of Bayreuth
Characterisation of failure mechanisms in continuous fibre reinforced thermoset composites Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have identified important and new relationships in the area of continuous fibre reinforced plastics. The process is a novel combination of the familiar process of acoustic emission analysis with the mechanical testing of composites. This has created a deep understanding of the complex failure mechanisms in these materials, previously impossible using classical mechanical testing techniques. During the material testing procedure the acoustic signals emitted were analysed using pattern recognition algorithms and classified according to their frequency spectra. This made it possible to observe the failure mechanisms occurring (fibre breakage, matrix cracking and interphase failure) as well as their load dependent behaviour independently of each other before the complete failure of the FRP. One of the major breakthroughs of the Bayreuth researchers lay in the innovative approach of adapting this method, initially developed for quasi-statistical testing, for a dynamic testing procedure in order to map the longterm loads as realistically as possible. This is essential for understanding the microscopic failure mechanisms that contribute to long-term material fatigue, especially for components subject to highly dynamic loads. This is critical for exploiting the potential of FRP in lightweight construction more effectively based on materials and loads. The insights gained into the failure mechanisms of the various FRPs studied here will allow lightweight structures to be designed and proportioned with even greater lightness and safety in future. 88 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Innovative Processes & Methods Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM
Manufacturing release agent free FRP parts Researchers from PLATO (Plasma Technology and Surfaces) and experts from the Fraunhofer project group Joining and Assembling from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials have developed the deep-drawable FlexPLAS® release film. This makes it possible to manufacture large components made of fibre The film is an reinforced plastics, e.g. for use elastic polymer with in the construction of aircraft or wind turbines, which are free of a flexible plasma release agents. polymer release The film is an elastic polymer layer. This allows with a flexible plasma polymer easy removal of release layer. This allows easy components from removal of components from moulds even when moulds even when stretched by stretched by 300%. 300%. The film can be applied using a special deep-drawing process without alteration of the tool design and is suitable for both female and male moulds. FlexPLAS® release film has already been used to manufacture large carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CRP) components on a 1:1 scale, without using release agents, via a prepreg process at 180°C in an autoclave. The resulting large components can then be coated without further pretreatment because the release film allows clean removal from the mould without any transfer of residues.
www.avk-tv.de/
where quality is action
A-PET
Extremely flat, yet very stiff Lanxess’ Durethan with 60% glassfibre used in Audi R8 TRANSMISSION oil pans can also be made of polyamide 6 rather than steel sheet or die cast aluminum. One example is the S tronic® transmission in the Audi R8. Its oil pan is made of Durethan DP BKV 60 H2.0 EF from Lanxess, which is highly reinforced with 60 percent glassfibre. “Our high-tech material is the material of choice because its extremely high stiffness ensures that the flanges are tight despite the very flat design of the oil pan. Furthermore, it is very well suited for welding to a polyamide 66, from which the oil filter cover is made,” said Frank Krause, a specialist for oil-bearing polyamide engine compartment components at Lanxess. The system supplier for the completely assembled transmission oil pan is IBSFiltran GmbH of Morsbach, Germany. Low tendency to creep and warp The oil pan is less than 20 millimetres thick, enabling the entire engine to be mounted in a lower position. This lowers the vehicle’s centre of gravity, which contributes to the outstanding grip and road handling of the Audi R8. Another consequence of the flat oil pan is a low flange height. If a ‘normal’ PA6 were used for the injection moulding of the oil pan, the flanges would creep and deform on exposure to sealing force and thus leak. “On the other hand, our highly-filled polyamide hardly creeps at all. Even at 150°C, it is twice as stiff as a standard PA6 reinforced with 30 percent glassfibres, such as Durethan BKV 30 H2.0, for example. In addition, it also exhibits hardly any tendency to warp, which also has a positive effect on the tightness of the flanges,” added Krause. Integrated oil filter In addition to an oil displacer and a socket for the oil drain plug, the oil filter has also been injection moulded directly into the oil pan using a patented technology from IBS-Filtran. If the component were made of metal, the oil filter would have to be fabricated separately from multiple components. According to Krause, “Not only would the costs be higher, the oil pan would also be significantly taller and thus noncompliant with the specifications for the installation space.” Another argument against steel sheet is that the oil displacer could not be deep-drawn because the draw ratios are too high.
90 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Polyamide 6 welded to polyamide 66 The oil filter cover is made of Durethan AKV 30 H2.0, a polyamide 66 filled with 30 percent by weight of glassfibre. It is welded to the oil filter housing. The resulting weld seam exhibits sufficiently high strength and satisfies all tightness requirements. “This example underscores that contrary to a common preconception, polyamide 6 and 66 can be welded together effectively. The condition is that the melt stabilities of the materials do not differ very much,” explained Krause. HiAnt – customer service with component design and testing Lanxess provided IBS-Filtran with comprehensive support in the development
of the transmission oil pan. For example, the creep behaviour of the highlyreinforced PA6 and the tightness of the flanges when exposed to sealing force were computed. In addition, long-term storage at 150°C during component testing demonstrated the high resistance of the oil pan to transmission oil. All of these services are part of Lanxess’ ‘HiAnt’ brand. The High Performance Materials business unit has bundled all its expertise relating to polyamide and PBT materials, design, computer simulation and process engineering into this brand to provide customers with tailored services. • PLASTICHEM IS THE SA AGENT FOR LANXESS: WWW.PLASTICHEM.CO.ZA
www.lanxess.com www.ibs-filtran.com
Allows engine to be mounted in lower position – The highly reinforced PA 6 was the material of choice for the Audi R8 due to its extremely high stiffness, ensuring that the flanges are tight despite the very flat design of the oil pan; the design of the pan, which is less than 20mm thick, also allowed for the integration of the oil filter (using a patented technology from IBS-Filtran of Germany), which would have been difficult to achieve in metal, which in turn allowed for the entire engine to be mounted in a lower position
The oil pan is less than 20 mm thick, enabling the entire engine to be mounted in a lower position. This lowers the vehicle’s centre of gravity, which contributes to the outstanding grip and road handling of the Audi R8
MATERIALS
The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;science of thinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; improves ďŹ lm performance New S7000 adhesive enables ďŹ lm portfolio to outperform on press and shelf
Avery Dennison Prime Film Portfolio, including Global MDO, delivers increased productivity, clarity and sustainability beneďŹ ts
converting and dispensing, even as AVERY Dennison Corporation has materials become thinner. The S7000 introduced a Prime Film Portfolio of adhesive delivers 50% less ooze and BOPP and machine direction oriented best-in-class wet-out performance across (MDO) ďŹ lms, anchored with the new, the entire portfolio. proprietary S7000 adhesive that delivers â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thin is not simple,â&#x20AC;? said Tina excellent clarity, conformability for Hannan, ďŹ lm product container squeeze, and line director, Avery dispensing stiffness for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thinner constructions Dennison Label and high-speed converting typically have trade-offs Packaging Materialsand dispensing. in ooze, dispensing and North America. The portfolio consists wet-out.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thinner constructions of clear, white and typically have trademetalized facestocks offs in ooze, dispensing and wet-out. on PET liners. In particular, the new semiHowever, with our focus on the Science conformable Global MDO constructions of Thin, we have created a portfolio that enhance product shelf appeal and reduces the environmental impact while perform without wrinkles or peeling improving performance.â&#x20AC;? on many squeezable containers while The Prime Film Portfolio provides producing 40% less solid waste and signiďŹ cant improvements in sustainable requiring 37% less energy. impact compared to similar ďŹ lms. For more rigid containers, new BOPP products have been designed with S7000 www.averydennison.com to offer excellent performance in both DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 91
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TECHNICAL
Power Factor Correction:
PART
3
Reduce your electricity costs and free up capacity Power factor correction can save electrical energy costs and free up electricity supply capacity BY ERIC SOLOT ALPHA POWER SOLUTIONS CC JOHANNESBURG
In Part II of this article in our October/November issue, Eric Solot discussed power factor correction and harmonics, examples of power factor correction, benefits, and factors influencing investment payback periods for power factor correction equipment.
9
Examples of savings and investment payback periods for power factor correction equipment
Example 1 Load profile (under peak load conditions) of an installation with a very poor power factor and a customer being charged fairly costly maximum demand rates:
Figure 7: total savings customer 1
Example 2 Load profile (under peak load conditions) of an installation with a reasonable power factor and a customer being charged fairly cheap maximum demand rates:
Current (A) Voltage (V)
645.0 393.4
Power Factor Active Power (kW)
0.50 219.5
Current (A)
1407.5
Voltage (V)
392.0
Apparent Power (kVA)
439.0
Reactive Power (kvar) Target Power Factor
380.2 0.97
Power Factor Active Power (kW)
0.80 763.6
Required pf correction (kvar)
325.2
Apparent Power (kVA) Reactive Power (kvar)
954.5 572.7
Table 2: Load profile of customer 1
This customer required making an investment of R88.000 in power factor correction equipment (on a turnkey basis) in order to elevate the power factor of the installation to 0.97, under peak load conditions. The investment resulted in an associated reduction in maximum demand of 213kVA, which represents a monthly saving in electrical costs of R24,990 at the current maximum demand rate being charged, being R117.49/kVA. Active power (kW)
219.5
Uncorrected power factor
0.50
Uncorrected apparent power (kVA) Corrected power factor
439.0 0.97
Corrected apparent power (kVA) Savings (kVA)/month
226.3 212.7
Cost per kVA (maximum demand)
R 117.49
Saving (R/month)
R 24,990
Table 3: Monthly savings customer 1
The savings achieved in the first year of installation resulted in an investment payback period of 3.5 months! Power factor correction equipment has a life expectancy of at least 10 years with minimal maintenance. Estimated total savings over ten years, taking into consideration tariff increases of 25% in 2011 and 2012, and further annual tariff increases of 10% thereafter are approximately R6,000,000. 92 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Target Power Factor
1.00
Required pf correction (kvar)
572.7
Table 4: Load profile of customer 2
This customer required making an investment of R202.000 in power factor correction equipment (on a turnkey basis) in order to elevate the power factor of the installation to unity, under peak load conditions. The investment resulted in an associated reduction in maximum demand of 190kVA, but due to the very low maximum demand rated being charged to this particular customer, the associated monthly saving in electrical costs was only approximately R3,000! Active power (kW)
763.6
Uncorrected power factor Uncorrected apparent power (kVA) Corrected power factor Corrected apparent power (kVA) Savings (kVA)/month Cost per kVA (maximum demand) Saving (R/month)
0.80 954.5 1.00 763.6 190.9 R 15.60 R 2,978
Table 5: Monthly savings customer 2
The savings achieved will result in an investment payback period of 48.8 months! Estimated total savings over ten years, taking into consideration tariff increases of 25% in 2011 and 2012, and further annual tariff increases of 10% thereafter are estimated at R500.000.
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,1&5($6( 352),7 :( +$9( 7+( 62/87,216 72 $&+,(9( 0$;,080 '(0$1' ()),&,(1&<
Figure 8: total savings customer 2
Even though the return on investment was very poor, this customer decided to purchase the power factor correction equipment in order to be able to install additional machinery in the factory without overloading his 1000 kVA supply transformer.
10
Power factor correction equipment
Capacitors are the key component in any power factor correction equipment and they determine their life expectancy. The life expectancy of the capacitors is mostly determined by the following factors: Quality of the polypropylene carrier ďŹ lm Heat dissipation properties of the housing (aluminium vs. plastic) Average and maximum operating temperature Network pollution: harmonics and voltage surges Rated voltage Capacitors need to be well ventilated and easily replaceable. Good quality PFC controllers keep track of the number of cycles each step has been subjected to as well as the total duration each step has been in operation. The controller uses this information to determine which step to add or remove when a load change occurs and this results in the even wear of complete power factor correction installation. It is also possible to manually add or remove a step from the controller front panel keypad. The controller will not allow the manual addition of a particular step before a pre-set internal timer has lapsed, ensure that the capacitors are sufďŹ ciently discharged before being reenergized. This feature increases the life expectancy of the capacitors Conclusion Industrial and commercial organisations can no longer ignore the beneďŹ ts of power factor correction and/or harmonic ďŹ ltration. Failure to do so will not only result in signiďŹ cant and unnecessary costs being incurred by these organisations but will also affect their opportunities for growth. Indeed, Eskom and municipalities have started to cap the maximum apparent power organisations can draw from the power distribution network. In order to add additional electrical equipment on their premises, organizations are now forced to improve their power factor and use more energy efďŹ cient electrical equipment. Eric Solot, author of this report, holds a Master of Applied Engineering (Electrotechnology) from the University College in Ghent (Belgium). At present he is the managing director of Alpha Power Solutions, which specialises in power factor correction and harmonic ďŹ ltration, based in Johannesburg
References: [1] Wayne, S., â&#x20AC;?Power Factor Correction: a guide for the pant Engineerâ&#x20AC;?, Eaton Corporation, June 2006, pp 3-18; [2] Lex Electrix, www.lexelectrix.com Bibliography: Wakileh, G.J., Power system harmonics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2001
www.alphapowersolutions.co.za DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 93
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Receivables management – watch debtors carefully
PART
3
BY PAUL JOOSTE, COFACE SOUTH AFRICA THERE is no ideal world when it comes to receivables management, in other words, collecting money from debtors. Every organisation would prefer a cash-based business where receivables collections were not an issue. Poor receivables management can result in a damaged buyer relationship and permanently taint any future business. Setting standards and processes at the beginning of a business relationship is a good way of ensuring that when receivables need to be collected the business relationship is maintained. It does not take long for a business to get caught up in a spiralling trend of increasingly late receivables. Most companies lack the expertise and manpower to handle a spike in delinquent accounts. Soon their employees are doing more work chasing late receivables and they end up neglecting the easier-to-collect, more current accounts. Eventually a higher and higher percentage of accounts become delinquent and more and more accounts become
uncollectible, forcing companies to proceed legally to recover at least some of their money, or they write off the debt completely. The end result is a loss in profitability and a serious strain on cash flow. There are some obvious, commonsense practices that companies can employ to maintain a healthy accounts receivable portfolio. Some examples include:
cash flow a boost. A 2% discount for paying within 10 days is a common scenario. Encourage prompt payment by clearly stating payment due dates on invoices and sending overdue notices.
Deposit policy Depending on the goods or services provided, specifically project work, implement a policy whereby Setting standards and a deposit is Invoicing processes at the beginning paid when the promptly of a business relationship work begins. Consider Alternatively, preparing invoices is a good way of ensuring break the bill immediately upon that when receivables need into thirds, delivery of your to be collected the business asking for a goods or services to relationship is maintained third before the customer. If you work starts, a wait to prepare your third during the project and a third on invoices at the end of the month, you may be adding as many as 30 extra days completion. This will help cover the initial cost of the project. More and for payment. more companies use this funding method to reduce the risks of nonDiscount for early payment payment. Offer clients a discount if they pay within a certain time frame, which will give your Actively pursue collections The longer you wait for a debtor to pay, the harder it becomes to collect. While pursuing collections should be timeous and rigorous, one should be aware of and fully adhere to the “Code of Conduct for debt collectors” promulgated in terms of section 14 of the Debt Collectors Act, 1998. Instituting a policy of cash on delivery is an alternative to refusing to do business with slow-paying customers. It is also important to monitor your customers’ use of credit and adjust their credit limits accordingly. Overdue Accounts Make it a regular practice to review your receivables and identify accounts that are late paying or overdue. Accounts that go past a
94 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
90 day term should be taken to the next level of collections with a pre-determined process. When payment is still not made despite reminders, you may need to invest in additional personnel or outside services with expertise in delinquent debt collection. Consider outsourcing the receivables collection section of your company, particularly accounts over 90 days. A professional receivables collection company will assist in gaining payment while maintaining a professional relationship with the client. Alternatively, if your debtors book is insured, the credit insurer would provide the service of assessment and monitoring of your buyers, and with some insurers collection of overdue insured amounts forms part of the service offered, which allows you to focus on your core business.
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ABOUT COFACE The Coface Group, a worldwide leader in credit insurance, offers companies around the globe solutions to protect them against the risk of ďŹ nancial default of their clients, both on the domestic market and for export. In 2011, the Group posted a consolidated turnover of â&#x201A;Ź 1.6 billion. 4,600 staff in 66 countries provide a local service worldwide. Each quarter, Coface publishes its assessments of country risk for 157 countries, based on its unique knowledge of companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; payment behaviour and on the expertise of its 250 underwriters. In France, Coface manages export public guarantees on behalf of the French state. Coface is a subsidiary of Natixis whose share capital (Tier 1) was â&#x201A;Ź16.4 billion end December 2011. In South Africa, Coface provides credit protection to clients. Coface South Africa is rated AA+ by Global ratings.
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BOOKS
Biodamage addressed SMITHERS RAPRA PUBLISHING HAS RELEASED ‘BIODAMAGE AND BIODEGRADATION OF POLYMERIC MATERIALS’. THE issue of biodamage comprises a wide range of scientific and practical tasks associated with protection of raw materials and products against damage by bacteria, fungi, insects and rodents during long-term storage, production, transportation and operation.
Biodegradation refers to the degradation and utilization of worn-out materials and articles. The book provides detailed information on three interrelated issues: bacteria and fungi (the source of biodamages); insects and rodents (materials and products depredators); and materials and products damaged by living organisms. The most modern data on the morphology and physiology of biodegrading microorganisms is presented. The book also provides the reader with a systematisation of biological degradation on both natural and synthetic materi-
als and products (plastics, textile, fibres, leather and fur, wood and so on). Problems of utilisation of polymeric wastes using microorganisms are discussed and the main protection methods and technology for raw materials and semi-products against biodamages are shown. The book is intended to be a practical guide on biodamage and biodegradation of polymeric materials and a quick reference to students and researchers from academia and industry. www.polymer-books.com
Global growth market of biocides analysed BIOCIDES are used to prevent damages caused by microbes or other organisms. They protect industrial products and consumer goods as well as animals and human beings. In contrast to the closely related crop protection products that are used in the agricultural sector only, biocides may be used in a wide array
of application areas. Among these are disinfectants, water treatment, wood preservation, paper, paints, plastics, and numerous other sectors. Market research institute Ceresana has published a book which concisely summarizes the most important facts regarding biocides and provides information concerning application areas, types of biocides, effects on the environment, and the legal situation. The book also provides a presentation and analysis of the biocides market including forecasts up to 2019: demand
and revenues are explained for each region. Other areas of analysis covered by the book include application areas of biocides; demand and revenues for individual types of biocides based on halogens, metals, sulfur and nitrogen compounds, phenols and others; as well as profiles of the largest biocides manufacturers. www.ceresana.com/ en/market-studies/ additives/biocides
Update on polymer-based nanomedicine
IISRP publishes 18th edition of Synthetic Rubber Manual
SMITHERS Rapra Publishing have released the ‘Update on Polymerbased Nanomedicine”. Polymers are one of the most applicable and clinically relevant materials for constructing nanomedical systems. Nanomedical constructs will have wide implications for how we treat and diagnose society’s most complex diseases, such as cancer, inflammation and genetic disorders. This update focuses on describing the fundamentals of controlled polymerisation techniques and methods for constructing advanced polymer architectures to be used in polymer based nanomedicine. This growing field is reviewed, which uses recent advances in polymer chemistry and conjugation techniques to construct advanced nanoparticles.
THE International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers (IISRP) has published the 18th edition of The Synthetic Rubber Manual, the world’s leading source for synthetic rubber product grade information worldwide. The Manual also includes detailed contact information of global synthetic rubber producers and summaries of the major elastomers. The book, widely used by the elastomer downstream customers and marketing planners, has been reformatted to include product applications. It is recognized internationally as the standard reference in the synthetic rubber industry.
www.polymer-books.com 96 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
www.iisrp.com
Cape Town Office 4 College House Village Walk Parklands Tel: 27-21-556 7787
AROUND THE WORLD Dow to close 20 plants, shed 2400 staff DOW Chemical is to shut about 20 of its worldwide manufacturing sites and shed 2 400 jobs as part of a restructuring programme. Pointing the finger at sluggish markets, notably Europe, the US materials group said the restructuring programme was “designed to accelerate cost reduction actions and advance the next stage of the company’s transformation in the midst of persistently slow macroeconomic growth”. The job losses amount to 5% of its total workforce and the site closures would see annual operating cost savings of around $500m by 2014, Dow said. The group added that it would cut capital spending and investment plans in non-core areas amounting to a further $500m.
Bayer builds ‘Apec’ plant in east Germany THE sharply rising global demand for the high-tech plastic Apec® from Bayer MaterialScience is spawning major investment in eastern Germany. Another plant for the production of a key precursor for Apec is currently under construction in the chemical industry centre of Bitterfeld of a cost of approximately €50-million. The operator is Hi-Bis GmbH. The joint venture, in which Bayer MaterialScience also holds an interest, is doubling its production capacity there. The plant is scheduled to come on stream in mid-2014. Apec, which is particularly heat resistant, is used in automotive lighting, lighting technology, the electrical and electronics industry and in household appliances. The transparent Bayer plastic is particularly well suited for articles with demanding optical requirements that must withstand high temperatures. Examples include the lenses of automotive headlights, housings for light fittings or hot air nozzles in hair dryers. www.bayermaterialscience.de
CLARIANT OPENS NEW PRODUCTION UNIT New reactive flame retardant products for use in plastics for electronics CLARIANT has opened a second production unit for the successful flame retardant (FR) Exolit® OP at the HürthKnapsack plant near Cologne. The established non-halogenated additive is used primarily in the electronics and electrical engineering (E&EE) sector. The new facility doubles the capacity for DEPAL (diethyl phosphinic acid aluminum salt)-based FRs. Clariant has established itself as a world leader in non-halogenated flame retardants. By doubling the DEPAL capacity in Hürth, the company is
Playmobil favours
Wittmann Battenfeld GEOBRA BRANDSTÄTTER GmbH of Germany ordered 14 three-component injection moulding machines from Wittmann Battenfeld at the recent Fakuma show in Germany. Brandstätter is a leading supplier of Playmobil™ toys, second only to Lego. The Playmobil figures are produced exclusively in Malta; Playmobil has other production plants in Spain and the Czech Republic. The Brandstätter group currently employs 3520 associates, 1860 of who work in Germany. “The way the exacting customer demands were met in terms of quick mould change, compact design and user-friendliness of the machines tipped the balance in favour of Wittmann Battenfeld”, said Robert Benker, technical MD at geobra Brandstätter. Johann Stürzenhofecker, Department Head of Injection Moulding at geobra, Gottfried Hausladen, Sales Wittmann Battenfeld, Georg Tinschert, Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld, Dr Werner Wittmann, Managing Director and owner of the Wittmann group, Robert Benker, Technical Managing Director at geobra, Enrico Dommer, Department Head of Injection Moulding Lechuza
Barnes Group acquires Synventive BARNES Group Inc., an international aerospace and industrial manufacturing and service provider, has completed its $335 million acquisition of privately held Synventive Moulding Solutions. Synventive is one of the world’s largest hot runner systems manufacturers, serving a global customer base of more than 3 000 moulders, mould makers and original equipment manufacturers across 50 countries. Synventive operates out of three manufacturing locations in the United States, Germany and China. www.BGInc.com 98 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
www.playmobil.de
www.clariant.com
New GHS works opened in Venezuela THE Venezuelan company Petrocasa gave the production green light for two new plastic extrusion factories for window production. The two factories in Guacara and Maracaibo will produce over one million plastic windows a year. The windows will be used in the construction of composite housing in GHS technology. Around 3.7 million applications for new homes have been submitted by Venezuelan families to date. It will be possible to deal with this enormous demand on a phased basis thanks to the GHS technology. “Through the erection of composite housing
the government is creating important and sustainable jobs, while at the same time providing people with high quality homes. The raw materials used are also entirely domestic Venezuelan products and it’s a win-win-situation for everyone involved,” GHS CEO Harald Rath explained. Further GHS plant for installation in existing works in Venezuela is already in the planning phase. www.ghs-housing.com
Venezuela‘s President Hugo Chávez at the opening of the new window production works. GHS provides the know-how and the extrusion plant for these production lines (PHOTO: GHS HOUSING)
Plastic components in contact with conductive metal parts must comply with the strictest fire protection regulations. Clariant’s nonhalogenated flame retardant Exolit ensures optimal flame retardance. Typical applications include housing for smartphones and laptops as well as fans, switches and plugs, printed circuit boards, cable sheaths, and insulation
Octal triples annual production of PET OCTAL, a global leader in the packaging industry, has tripled its annual production capacity of PET resin with the commissioning of two of the world’s largest vertical reactors at the company’s leadingedge PET complex in Salalah, Sultanate of Oman. With a total system output of over 1 million metric tons of PET bottle grade resin, Octal has firmly secured its stature in the industry as the world’s largest single site PET producer. The company is now halfway through its investment plan with additional capacity scheduled for 2015 and 2016. When complete, the site will manufacture a total of 2.5 million tons per year of both PET resin and its primary raw material, PTA. www.octal.com
DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013 99
WORLD NEWS
Clariant has doubled the capacity for its environmentally compatible, non-halogenated flame retardant Exolit® OP in Hürth-Knapsack
responding to the growing demand for safe and environmentally friendly FRs for plastics in the global E&EE market. Exolit OP (based on organophosphorous compounds) has been manufactured at the Hürth-Knapsack plant since the product line was launched in 2004. Exolit OP has proven successful as a halogen-free flame retardant, particularly for engineering thermoplastics such as polyamides and polyesters, and is used in switches, plugs, PC fans, and structural and housing components. Smartphones, washing machines, and airplane parts, among others, contain the product. Other applications include thermosetting resins as well as cable sheaths and insulation made from thermoplastic elastomers. Exolit can give these plastics flame retardant properties that are otherwise only achievable with expensive high-performance plastics which are less easy to work with.
THIN WALL PACKAGING: 3-5 December Maritim Hotel, Cologne, Germany: www.amiplastics.com WATERPROOF MEMBRANES 2012: 11-13 December Hotel Nikko, Düsseldorf, Germany: www.amiplastics.com/Events 2013 ARABPLAST: 7-10 January Dubai Int’l Convention Centre, UAE: www.arabplast.info INTERPLASTICA 2013: 29 Jan – 01 February Expocentre, Krasnaya Presnya, Russia: www.interplastica.de PIPELINE COATING 2013: 18-20 February Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen, Vienna: www.amiplastics.com/events WOOD-PLASTIC COMPOSITE CONFERENCE: 26-27 February Vienna, Austria: www.amiplastics.com/events DESIGN INDABA: 1-3 March Cape Town Int’l Convention Centre: www.designindaba.com AFRICA ECONOMIC SUMMIT: 6 March Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg: www.petro21.com 8TH ‘ADDITIVES & COLORS’ CONFERENCE: 6-7 March Königswinter (Bonn), Germany: www.speeurope.org 19TH MEDICAL FAIR INDIA: 8-10 March Pragati Maidan, New Delhi: www.medicalfair-india.com
‘K’ success story started 60 years ago! SIXTY years ago, on 11 October 1952, the first K show opened its gates in Düsseldorf. The German plastics industry was deep in postwar reconstruction and the age of mass plastics production had only just dawned. Image building in the positive sense was the goal to which the young industry and its various branches had committed themselves. K was to demonstrate the potential and versatility of polymer materials. At its premiere in 1952, with the theme ‘Wonder of Plastics,’ the event attracted 270 exhibiting com-
panies, all of them from Germany’s fledgling Federal Republic. They occupied about 14,000m2 of exhibition space and 165,000 visitors marvelled, even in those days, at the products from industry’s chemical labs and at the varied and practical examples of their applications. Today, K is the flagship of its industry and is still building on its reputation as the ‘international marketplace for plastics and rubber’. Some 3 000 exhibiting companies from over 50 countries are expected to attend K 2013, which is taking place in Düsseldorf from 16-23 October 2013. They will be exhibiting raw
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PVC FORMULATION 2013: 12-14 March Hilton Hotel, Düsseldorf, Germany: www.amiplastics.com PROPAK AFRICA: 12-15 March: Nasrec, Johannesburg: www.propakafrica.co.za PLASTICS | SA CONFERENCE: 13-14 March Nasrec, Johannesburg: www.plasticssa.co.za GREEN POLYMER CHEMISTRY 2013: 19-21 March Maritim Hotel, Cologne, Germany: www.amiplastics.com/events TYREEXPO ASIA 2013: 19-21 March Singapore Expo Centre, Singapore: www.eci-international.com INT’L RUBBER CONFERENCE: 20-22 March: Paris, France: www.irc2013.com TIPREX 2013: 3-6 April: BITEC, Bangkok: www.tiprex.com ANTEC 2013: 22-24 April: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA: www.antec.ws AUTOMECHANIKA JOHANNESBURG: 8-11 May Nasrec (Johannesburg Expo Centre): www.automechanikasa.co.za RAPID TECH 2013: 14-15 May: Erfurt, Germany: www.rapidtech.de AFRIPLAST EXPO: 14-16 May Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand: www.exhibitionsafrica.com CHINAPLAS 2013: 20-23 May Pazhou, Guangzhou, PR China: www.ChinaplasOnline.com KZN INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SHOW: 23-26 July Durban Exhibition Centre: www.kznindustrial.co.za DRINKTEC: 16-20 September: Munich, Germany: www.drinktec.com TUBOTECH 2013: 01-03 October: Sao Paulo, Brazil: wynhoffU@messe-duesseldorf.de K2013: 16-23 October: Düsseldorf, Germany: www.konline.de
The Future Zone kick-off ceremony for ChinaPlas 2012 unveiled the long-awaited champion of the ‘future car’ – the Batshark 100 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
Chinaplas 2013 reveals vitality of plastics industry in Asia AS ASIA’S top plastics and rubber trade fair, ChinaPlas 2013 will return to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China and take place at China Import & Export Fair Complex from 20-23 May 2013. The exhibition area is expected to hit a new record of over 220 000m2 and covers a total 25 exhibition halls, an increase of 22% over the last edition held at Guangzhou in 2011. More than 2 800 exhibitors from 36 countries and regions, together with 11 pavilions from Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Taiwan, Turkey, U.K. and U.S.A will land on this extensive platform to meet the buyers. They will showcase diversified chemicals and raw materials and over 3 200 units of plastics and rubber machineries, bringing advanced technologies and revolutionary solutions for the automotive, building & construction, E&E, IT & telecommunications, food and beverage, packaging, daily chemicals and pharmaceuticals and other industries. According to the organizer, many prestigious enterprises have already
confirmed their participation in ChinaPlas 2013. The organizer also expects to attract over 115 000 professional buyers from 150 countries and regions, in which 25% will be overseas visitors. In consideration of the large exhibition scale and the diversified variety of exhibits, the organizer has set up 11 theme zones, including: injection moulding machinery, extrusion machinery, plastic packaging & blow moulding, film technology, rubber machinery & equipment, auxiliary & testing equipment, die & mould, chemicals & raw materials, semifinished products, bioplastics and chinese export machinery & materials hall. Catering to the rapid development of the plastic films industry and the growing market demand for film products, the Film Technology Zone is a newly-established theme zone to display exhibits like extrusion line for blown films, extrusion line for flat film and sheets, stretching lines for films, filament, slitter rewinders and winding equipment.
www.ChinaplasOnline.com
At its premiere in 1952, the event attracted 270 exhibiting companies, all of them from Germany’s fledgling Federal Republic. They occupied about 14 000m2 of net exhibition space and 165 000 visitors marvelled at the products from industry’s chemical labs and at the varied and practical examples of their applications
materials and auxiliaries, semi-finished products, technical parts and reinforced plastics, and machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industry. Plastics move the world Plastics inspire. Plastics facilitate personal mobility. These attributes of the materials will be the focus of a special show at K 2013. ‘Plastics move the world’ will showcase the numerous aspects of mobility – from lightweight materials to built motor vehicles, aircraft and ships, electro-mobility and individual mobility to
COMING UP WPC CONFERENCE IN FEBRUARY
modern leisure behaviour. The spotlight will be on climate-compatible energy and transport concepts as well as on the changes in the worlds of work and leisure thanks to mobile communication devices. Using multimedia, with the aid of selected exhibits and in daily rounds of discussions involving experts from science and industry, the event will highlight the contributions made by plastics and rubber to life on the move. www.k-online.de
THE 9th Wood-Plastic Composite Conference from 26-27 February will again be supported substantially by battenfeld-cincinnati Austria as the headline sponsor. In addition to various expert presentations, the Viennese WPC market leader is inviting all guests to witness the live demonstration of the new fiberEX 114 parallel twinscrew extruder in its technical lab. www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com
ANTEC IN APRIL ANTEC, the world’s largest annual plastics technical conference, takes place at the Duke Energy Convention Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, from 22-24 April. The event comprises entirely of original, peer-reviewed presentations on a variety of topics relevant to today’s global plastics industry. In 2012, there were 623 technical papers. Co-located with these events will be the ‘Business of Plastics Conference,’ produced by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, focusing on current issues affecting business strategy. www.antec.ws
AUTOMECHANIKA JOHANNESBURG IN MAY
Driving comfort Jounce bumpers of DuPont Hytrel bring higher comfort, steering feedback, compared to PU parts DUPONT Performance Polymers featured an innovative automotive jounce bumper component, showing how design, materials and processing can converge to deliver added performance and lower cost, at Fakuma 2012 in October. The featured jounce bumper is part of a vehicle’s shock-absorber system designed to absorb impact and dampen noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). DuPont, working with a team from Ossberger, capitalized on the flexibility attributes of its Hytrel® thermoplastic elastomer and a unique Ossberger blow moulding technology to simplify the component from four pieces that require sub-assembly to a single piece. This alone significantly reduced cost, size and improved performance. According to an independent vehicle testing institute: “Jounce bumpers of Hytrel bring higher comfort and steering feedback, together with better road handling compared to PU parts.” • OSSBERGER, OF GERMANY, IS A WORLD LEADER IN TECHNOLOGY FOR THE INJECTION BLOW MOULDING OF ‘BELLOWS’ SHAPED ITEMS, SUCH AS CV JOINT BOOTS.
FOLLOWING their recent visit to the Frankfurt flagship event, the Automechanika South Africa team is firmly focussed on implementing new ideas for the Johannesburg event from 8-11 May. Automechanika SA was held previously in 2009 and 2011. For the 2013 event, expect implementation of a number of the Frankfurt initiatives such as focus on truck competence; green mobility; Innovation Awards; Electro-mobility; and Mobile ‘infotainment’ for retrofitting. The show will be staged at Nasrec. www.automechanikasa.co.za
RAPID TECH IN MAY RAPID Tech, in Erfurt, Germany, on 14-15 May, is aimed at the additive manufacturing sector. This will be the 10th edition of the event, which is focused on new developments in materials, techniques and machinery. The emphasis is finished products. Shorter product life cycles, increasing cost pressure, rising environmental demands and dwindling resources require rethinking the way of manufacturing in many industries. Effective and creative use of additives is obviously one means of counteracting these issues. www.rapidtech.de
15TH EDITION OF KZN INDUSTRIAL SHOW IN JULY
The featured jounce bumper is part of a vehicle’s shock-absorber system designed to absorb impact and dampen noise, vibration and harshness (NVH)
www.ossberger.de www.automotive.dupont.com
NOW IN its 15th year, the biennial KwaZulu Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE) – from 23-26 July – has established itself as one of the most exciting and influential events in the industrial technology sector for the KZN area. Since its inception in 1984, the event has provided an active marketplace and forum for business networking, and has acted as a powerful catalyst for much trade and business by showcasing a variety of products, services and solutions for a large and captive audience. www.kznindustrial.co.za
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EXHIBIT AT
Industry gears up for popular trade show PROPAK Africa 2013, together with colocated shows Food Pro, Pro-Plas Africa, Print Expo and Pro-Label trade exhibitions, will take place at the Expo Centre, NASREC, Johannesburg from 12-15 March. Exhibitor ďŹ&#x201A;oor space is sold out at this popular packaging, food processing, labelling, printing and plastics trade exhibition. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had an overwhelming response to the shows and ďŹ&#x201A;oor space is selling fast with over 85% of available space already sold,â&#x20AC;? said Gary Corin, MD at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery. Thousands of inďŹ&#x201A;uential local and international decision makers are expected to visit Propak Africa and co-locating shows next year. In 2009, visitor numbers totalled over 12 000 who cited the beneďŹ ts of visiting as â&#x20AC;&#x153;seeing cutting edge technol-
THE PLASTIC MACHINERY AND MATERIALS EXHIBITION
12 - 15 March 2013 Expo Centre Nasrec, Johannesburg South Africa
ogy and trends on display; an ability to source new suppliers; able to obtain latest industry information and knowledge; the availability of a wide variety of exhibitors; good networking opportunity; meeting new suppliers and comparing products under one roof.â&#x20AC;? Propak Africa covers the full spectrum of the packaging industry including containers and components, end-of-line equipment, materials handling products, packaging and ancillary machinery, as well as packaging materials. Pro-Plas will be showcasing plastics processing machinery, blow moulding and injection moulding machinery, chillers, converting equipment, extrusion equipment, feeders, processing aids, recycling equipment and materials. www.propakafrica.co.za
BASF debuts at Composites Europe BASF showcased its novelties for composites based on continuous ďŹ bre reinforced thermoplastics, focusing on the automotive industry, at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Composites Europe in October. The new multi-material Lightweight Composite Team is simultaneously investigating the potential that three plastic matrix systems, epoxy resin, polyurethane and polyamide, hold for continuous-ďŹ bre reinforcement in resin injection processes suitable for mass production, in particular for resin transfer moulding (RTM). A ďŹ rst demonstrator component for RTM processing is the conceptual study of a multi-segmented convertible roof module in which a PU foam core is sandwiched
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PRO-LABEL AFRICA 2013
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102 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
between carbon-ďŹ bre reinforced cover layers. The closed-cell structural PUR foam branded ElastolitÂŽ D which forms the core layer of the sandwich acts as a low bulk density spacer between the cover layers of the laminate, ensuring extremely high component stiffness and providing good insulating properties. At a total weight of 2.9 kg, the roof segment based on a ďŹ bre-reinforced composite sandwich concept reduces weight by more than 35% compared to aluminium, and by more than 65% compared to a steel structure. www.basf.com
#,!33)&)%$ !$6%243
THERMOFORMING, SHEET EXTRUSION, AND MATERIALS
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SUBSCRIBE TO SA PLASTICS, COMPOSITES & RUBBER SA Plastics, Composites & Rubber is published six times a year and is available to people involved in the plastics and polymer industry in South Africa on a subscription basis at a cost of R200 a year. It is available in other countries in Southern Africa at a subscription cost of ZAR400 per year. International subscription, supplied by airmail, is ZAR600. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to subscribe, email your details to saplastics@iafrica.com or visit our website at www.saplastics.co.za
FOR SALE Polypropylene Film Extruder â&#x20AC;˘ 50mm Screw â&#x20AC;˘ Oven â&#x20AC;˘ Stretching units â&#x20AC;˘ Fabrilator â&#x20AC;˘ Winder â&#x20AC;˘ Price: R250 000 â&#x20AC;˘ Machine can be viewed Contact: Karin / Claudia (011) 616 4144
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DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
103
SPORTS
Daredevil skydiver succeeds in stratosphere jump
Felix Baumgartner‘s capsule floats to the ground during Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on October 14, 2012
Technology used could contribute significantly to rest of science world AUSTRIAN Felix Baumgartner on 25 July to top this riveting leap from the stratosurvived his record-high parachute jump sphere. It took courage and skill, to be from 36 km over the surface of earth and sure. But the technology required to get landed safely just east of his launch site in Felix well on his way to outer space, New Mexico. At nearly 850m3, the balloon then allow him to plummet safely back to Earth, deserves that took Baumgartsome credit, too. ner to his recordThe 850m3 plastic balloon From the onebreaking jump was about one-tenth the of-a-kind Red Bull altitude of 39 045m thickness of a Ziploc bag, Stratos capsule was three times or roughly as thin as a to a pressurized larger than the bigdry cleaner bag space suit engigest balloon ever neered specifito have ascended cally for the jump to a ‘smart’ parachute with a human aboard. Cheers broke out designed to deploy if Baumgartner had as Baumgartner, 43, jumped from a tiny spiraled out of control, the jump debuted shelf outside the 3.3-by-2.4 metre fibretech that organizers say could contribute glass and acrylic capsule which took five to the science world in other areas. years to develop. At 1 315kg, the Stratos weighs in at The 850m3 plastic balloon was about slightly more than a modern Volkswagen one-tenth the thickness of a Ziploc bag, or Beetle. It’s made of a fiberglass and roughly as thin as a dry cleaner bag. epoxy ‘pressure sphere’, the same kind of As high-tech reality goes, it’s hard
PHOTOS: RED BULL
Felix Baumgartner hurtles towards Earth before safely deploying his parachute
104 DECEMBER 2012 / JANUARY 2013
steel alloy (chromium-molybdenum) cage used in racecars, a foam-insulated fibreglass shield that protected Baumgartner from temperatures as low as -56 ºC and a base covered in ‘crush pads’ designed to handle 8 Gs of impact pressure. Baumgartner’s helmet was a 3.6kg composite mould attached to a pair of oxygen cylinders during his descent. Its visor was equipped with an integrated heating unit to prevent fogging and icing. The parachute itself was a tech marvel five years in the making. The first personal parachute ever used for a supersonic-speed fall, it weighed 27kg, or three times as much as a normal parachute. By comparison, a typical skydiving rig weighs about 9kg and a BASE jumping rig weighs 4 to 5kg. www.redbullstratos.com
â&#x20AC;&#x153;more than just a chemical supplierâ&#x20AC;?