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BY THE WAY ...

Siess!

Country’s worst beach 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)

T’S been found that the quantity of plastics litter on South Africa’s beaches has increased hugely over the past two decades (see pages 36-40), but Eastern beach in East London tops all that and has been identified as the dirtiest beach in South Africa … make that southern Africa. There’s so much litter lying around, much of which ends up on the beaches (and then the sea) that citizens seem to no longer notice.

But the tragic irony of this pathetic scenario is that municipal employees are being paid to clean the place up. Yep, I was surprised to find that my trustworthy contact in the city had been phoning the local council over months to ask them to clean up the area around his place of work … and was told that the area in concern was cleaned three times a day!

I

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 Eastern Beach - 12,5m of cleaned beach contained all this!

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 of Southern Africa

Association of Rotational Moulders of South Africa

Plastics Converters Association

PET Plastic Recycling South Africa

Plastics Federation of SA

Institute of Materials

Not sand, stones arrived!

IN the last ‘By the Way’ column we reported about convertors who had been misled by hoods posing as material suppliers and ended up paying for container loads of sand. Now we hear the situation is not as isolated as previously thought, the only variation in further incidences being that a container of stones arrived. All legit as far as Customs & Excise were concerned one imagines? We also hear of one character that ostensibly bought a container off Alibaba.com, prepaid, and was then surprised when it didn’t arrive!

Such problems can burn a big hole in your pocket, so it may be wiser to deal with established and experienced material suppliers, several of who are active in the market and readily available.

Some of those who have desisted going the conventional route appear to believe the established importers and distributors make an unreasonable mark-up (comments such as ‘instead of forking out an additional 30% to local merchants’, have been made), whereas we understand the margins for the material suppliers are in the 6% range. For most, that would constitute a tightrope walk. So don’t allow yourself to be conned.

Tyre troubles over levy IT’S no surprise that South Africa’s tyre manufacturers are not enamoured with the government’s REDISA tyre recycling levy plan. The levy is set at R2.30 per kg of tyres sold, which – given that approximately 275,000 tons of tyres are either produced locally or imported a year – would yield a whopping R632,5-million a year from the levies. Some of the tyre makers involved may have looked at the plastic bag recycling levy situation, where the industry’s recycling plan failed … and the levy funds simply disappeared into the Treasury. No, the smart spokesman at SARS, confirmed, the funds weren’t ‘ringfenced’ and he didn’t know METHING where they are, or were …

HAVE SO … IF YOU and neither do we, actually. : if you TO SAY de e bright si to Look at th of wisdom m ge e m at have so rite to us w se ea impart, pl com s@iafrica. saplastic

Volume 11 No 3

JUNE – JULY 2013

Contents Find out more at www.saplastics.co.za

REGLOPLAS High-performance temperature control units ‌ for large injection moulds, extruders, rollers, autoclaves and other processing equipment

INDUSTRY NEWS 6

Type 90 Smart

Astrapak is back and on new course, with new team

10

Temperature control units for water up to 90°C

Forma enters big drum market

14

‘Reshoring’ production from China to the US will beneďŹ t plastics industry

20

Proplas celebrates 30yrs of success

32

SPI makes big move ‌ and cuts power costs

35

Massive new IBC machine at Nampak’s Megapak KZN unit

18

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UĂŠ i>ĂŒÂˆÂ˜}ĂŠV>ÂŤ>VÂˆĂŒĂžĂŠÂ™ĂŠÂŽ7 UĂŠ œœÂ?ˆ˜}ĂŠV>ÂŤ>VÂˆĂŒĂžĂŠĂ“{‡™äʎ7 UĂŠ*ՓÊV>ÂŤ>VÂˆĂŒĂžĂŠĂˆĂ¤ĂŠÂ?ÂˆĂŒĂ€iĂƒĂ‰Â“ÂˆÂ˜]ÊΰnĂŠL>Ă€

32

Type 150 Smart Temperature control units for oil up to 150°C

AFRICAN MARINE DEBRIS SUMMIT First-ever African summit on marine debris highlights need for collective action

36

44

COMPOSITES Aerontec wins DIAB agency

61

WORLD Recovery, strong sales growth at Gloucester Engineering

78

53

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DIARY Events coming up in 2013

84

SPORTS Orange River Project challenges, amazes and appalls

92

s 3IMULTANEOUS READOUT OF TEMPERATURE set-point and actual value

66

s #LEAR ARRANGEMENT OF OPERATING AND indicating elements s 3OLID STATE RELAY 332 INSTEAD OF heating contactor

ON THE COVER AT K2013 in Dßsseldorf from 16-23 October, Borealis will showcase clear advantages in sustainability and fresh-look aesthetics to the rigid packaging market with the launch of its new superior ow random copolymer polypropylene (PP) RJ901MO. Borealis will usher in the next generation advance for thin wall packaging and houseware applications, such as storage boxes, CD and DVD cases, delivering an overall step-change in performance, less energy consumption and a reduced carbon footprint plus strong visual appeal. RJ901MO’s high melt ow rate (MFR) of 110 in combination with nucleation enables lower processing temperatures.

For packaging converters, this creates the potential for higher productivity through optimised cycle times and energy savings. Compared to MFR 70 materials, it is possible to obtain a 20°C reduction in melt temperatures resulting in a 20% cycle time reduction.

www.borealis.com

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

JENOWILL SERVICES #ONTACT n 7ILLY 4SCHOPP

4EL &AX # ,ILLY 0ARK 2AILWAY 2D

-ONTAGUE 'ARDENS #APE 4OWN JENOWILL IAFRICA COM WWW REGLOPLAS COM

THIS ISSUE Martin Wells

Network of African Countries on Marine Debris , Publisher

a noteworthy achievement for Plastics|SA Positive news for plastics materials and the industry overall HE ground-breaking establishment of a Network for African Countries on Marine Debris at the recent African Marine Debris Summit hosted in this country is a noteworthy achievement for the local industry, and specifically for Plastics│SA.

COMMENT

T

South Africa was the only African signatory at the recent global industry forum on marine litter in Dubai in 2011, and the Plastics│SA environment team – including John Kieser and Douw Steyn – set about encouraging involvement by other African nations. They succeeded in encouraging delegates from Kenya, Nigeria, Seychelles, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Namibia to attend the 3-day event in Cape Town (the last day was a beach clean-up) and the result was the agreement to form this network and to cooperate in finding solutions on marine litter (read about this on pages 36-40).

The summit featured numerous presentations by learned authorities and it was surprising to see how many people are interested and committed to finding solutions for the problem of plastics litter in the marine environment, as well as the extent of their research. It was also gratifying to note that most of these researchers and environmentalists are pragmatic, looking for positive outcomes rather than confrontation.

Moving ahead IN this issue we again look at a number of positive developments by local companies. The Nampak group is a case in point here: they have just commissioned two major pieces of equipment, a 7-layer film line (the first in Africa) and a massive IBC (intermediate bulk container) blow moulding machine, both incidentally in KZN. The ability to make investments such as these, and more importantly the confidence and determination to do are impressive. This involves good teamwork and commit-

JUNE / JULY 2013

ment, and we are proud to be able to report about these projects (see pages 6-9) Top people depart Cape scene THE industry in the Western Cape has lost two individuals who were most involved in its development, Horst Sass of Bowler Plastics and Albi Painczyk of Exactocraft, who passed away recently. Ironically, both grew up in Namibia.

Both started businesses in Cape Town and created lasting legacies among the people they employed, many of who are now involved in the industry around the country. We report about these fine gentlemen on page 48.

‘Reshoring’ production from China to US WE take a look at an interesting trend starting to emerge – that of ‘reshoring’ or moving manufacturing back to North America from China (see pages 20-23), a phenomenon that could start happening here too!

The great migration of manufacturing from North America ‘These to China began 20 years ago researchers and when companies, believing they environmentalists could reduce production costs, are pragmatic, began establishing facilities and looking for positive working with third parties there outcomes rather to benefit from special economic than confrontation’ zones, new industrial infrastructure, favourable tariffs, low currency exchange rates and, importantly, cheap labour.

In fact, greater productivity, cost reductions and reshoring are expected to increase export activity and add 2.5 million to 5 million US jobs by the end of the decade, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Excellence

in COLOUR

consistency

“The quality of expectations determines the quality of our action.”

- Andre Godin

Our 4 divisions: ❉ Masterbatch ❉ Pigments ❉ Pastes - PUR & PVC ❉ Liquids - PO & PET

Contact us: www.performance.co.za GAUTENG:Tel: + 27 11 961 2700 | Fax: + 27 11 961 2799 | Cnr. Koornhof & Essex Roads, Meadowdale Ext. 1, 1401 CAPE TOWN:Tel: + 27 21 928 2800 | Fax: + 27 21 931 9088 | 5 Linus Road, Beaconvale Industria, Parrow 7500 DURBAN:Tel: + 27 31 701 1202 | Fax: + 27 31 701 2296 | Reed Place Maxmead Ind. Park Unit 22, Pinetown 3620 EAST LONDON:Tel: + 27 43 736 2076 | Fax: + 27 43 736 2036 7 | Reitz Avenue, Greenfields, East London

Should you wish to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, please contact Lurika: lurika.joubert@coloursystems.co.za

INDUSTRY NEWS

Massive new IBC machine at Nampak’s Megapak KZN unit Multi-million Rand investment in stateof-the-art engineering, manufacturing technology NAMPAK’S Megapak business in Durban has just commissioned one of the biggest blow moulding machines ever installed in South Africa.

The 1000-litre IBC (intermediate bulk container) machine from Taiwan joins an elite group of IBC manufacturing operations around the world. The IBC sector, as well as that of the next largest sector, that of the 210-250-litre drum, is led by Mauser group of Germany, which holds patents for these products and is also a supplier of machines for the large plastic containers.

Nampak Megapak, which has many years of experience in the field of industrial packaging, including the making of L-ring drums since 1998, made a multi-million Rand investment in the requisite state-ofthe-art engineering and manufacturing technology. Made under license from Mauser, each IBC involves three component parts, Each IBC involves three component parts, namely a container, a cage and a pallet

namely a container, a cage and a pallet.

Money was also spent on leak testing, closure application units, drop tests, internal hydraulic pressure tests, as well as freezer chamber tests.

According to Joel Sibanda, divisional managing director of Nampak Megapak, IBCs are the way of the future, particularly in terms of their ability to unlock improved supply chain efficiencies and sustainability outcomes.

“One IBC substitutes five drums with a footprint of four drums,” explains Sibanda.

“This means more volume and less packaging in the same space!”

IBC construction The IBC bottles are blow-moulded from UV-stabilised HDPE and can be used for a wide variety of liquids, such as chemicals, foods, oils and pharmaceuticals. They’re translucent for better visibility and easier inspecting.

Nampak Megapak sources zinc-coated tubes from Mauser for the steel cages housing the HDPE bottles. The engineering and welding are done at the packaging company’s ISO 9001: 2008 accredited facility in Pinetown, and provide maximum 6 JUNE / JULY 2013

stability for all types of supply chain challenges and dynamics.

Every IBC comes with an integrated pallet offering. Mauser-approved designs and materials can be selected, such as all-wood (heat treated), plastic/steel composites and a runner and frame for automatic filling lines and storage racks.

Finally, a comprehensive range of fully imported valves and closures is available.

Some optional features include additional top openings for dispensing systems, special gaskets and venting. The discharge valves are easily replaceable, as they aren’t welded in.

Nampak Megapak offers two steel plates for labelling, as well as technical support in terms of filling, closing, warehousing, transporting, storing, shipping, load-securing and much more.

Project management The project is being managed by John Lindsay-Smith of Megapak at Olifantsfontein, who designed the plant and assembled the various components.

With dimensions of approximately 1m x 1m, wall thickness is obviously a key requirement for IBC manufacture. The

The massive blow moulding machine at the Megapak plant in Pinetown, Durban, which produces the 1000-litre intermediate bulk containers

mould, supplied by Mauser, is able to achieve this difficult demand. Wall thickness needs to be between 2-4mm throughout the container, with the corners of the containers posing a particular challenge. A special HD grade is used, necessitated by the need to reduce the risk of environmental stress cracking. The final weight ranges between 16.5kg and 21kg, depending on wall thickness requirements.

The production of such large containers almost invariably involves a significant percentage of ‘tops and tails’ scrap, all of which is reprocessed and mingled in with the virgin material and recycled.

To give real meaning and effect to the promise and possibility of reusability, Nampak Megapak has partnered with Mauser’s reconditioning subsidiary, National Container Group (NCG). The service includes picking up empty and used IBCs from a customer’s premises, cleaning them thoroughly with the latest environmentally friendly processes and products, before removing any dents, inspecting them, testing them for leaks and returning them to the customer’s place of business for further filling and shipping. IBCs that can’t be

The IBCs are then conveyed to a checking station where tests are carried out, following which they are placed in a metal cage to ensure load stability

reconditioned are recycled as pellets to manufacture other products.

At the same time, NCG operates a comprehensive collection and reconditioning programme for IBCs of South African origin anywhere in the world. “In this way, Nampak Megapak is able to provide the convenience and functionality of a worldclass packaging system, while delivering a service to customer that benefits the environment,” says Sibanda. www.nampak.com

What is an IBC? IBCs effectively bridge the gap between large bulk transit containers and unitized consumer packaging. With average dimensions and weights ranging between approx. 70cm and 1.3m and 90kg and 1,200kg, IBCs present an attractive alternative to shipping containers for the transport and storage of bulk dry and wet goods.

The advantages of using IBC containers include low transit costs, efficient space utilization during transit or storage, and good compatibility with a range of filling and discharge systems.

They are usually mounted on base units or placed within steel frame cages, which are sized to make them easy to move with standard material handling equipment such as pallet jacks and fork lifts. The containers themselves are usually made of various grades of plastic, composites, steel, and stainless steel. Many types of intermediate bulk container are also collapsible, allowing them to be folded up for easy storage.

The IBC is used to store and transport a broad range of dry and fluid materials, including hazardous or dangerous goods where approved container types are used. Common intermediate bulk container-stored goods include chemicals and adhesives, liquid soaps, and loose components, as well as sugar and rice.

As a matter of fact, IBC containers are suitable for most free-flowing materials.

Fluid cargos, particularly hazardous materials, are typically stored and transported in double-walled containers designed to contain spills.

The use of intermediate bulk containers holds several unique advantages over conventional, largecapacity, cylindrical containers. These include efficient space utilization as the containers can be hold more material for any given floor area than cylinder-type containers.

They are also a particularly cost effective way to transport bulk goods, as they are smaller than shipping containers yet allow suppliers to transport their goods in larger single volumes than the eventual consumer packaging units. This also allows buyers to package imported goods in country-specific volumes and in packages printed in local languages.

IBC containers are also designed to make use of standardized filling and discharge systems, further enhancing their convenience.

According to Joel Sibanda, divisional managing director of Nampak Megapak, IBCs are the way of the future, particularly in terms of their ability to unlock improved supply chain efficiencies and sustainability outcomes

JUNE / JULY 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS

JUST BRIEFLY Austria’s Alpla may manufacture for Unilever in SA ALPLA of Austria may be taking over all of Unilever group’s packaging production in South Africa, a development which is likely to come as an extreme shock to SA’s top plastic and glass packaging manufacturers.

We hear that Alpla has taken up a site close to Unilever’s massive new production zone in Anderbolt, Boksburg, and is preparing to set up to go into production.

This may be the result of a major tender analysis process conducted by Unilever recently. In the ‘Operation Waterfall’ process, it analysed the prices offered by all the South African packaging groups which had been supplying it, and found that Alpla compared favourably – namely, that its prices were lower.

Unilever’s range of beverage, condiment, cosmetic, detergent and other products are supplied in an estimated 350 million plastic containers annually, making the group probably the preeminent brand company in Southern Africa, and also the one which has issued the largest tenders to SA’s main packaging groups.

Alpla (Alpenplastiek) has been in operation since 1955 and operates 148 production plants in 39 countries … prior to its rumored entry to the SA market.

It handles production of all related packaging components internally, namely containers, closures and labelling. www.alpla.com; www.unilever.co.za

Nampak Flexible’s new

7-layer technology gives competitive edge Group is first to produce 7-layer films in SA SPEED to market gives Nampak Flexible, Africa’s leading flexible packaging company, the competitive edge.

To enhance this advantage and ensure its customers get more, the group recently made two strategic investments: a 7-layer film line and a laser scoring machine.

With global markets demanding specialty films that offer increased shelf-life for packaged goods, there has been a trend towards film manufacturers converting to 3-layer extruders to produce stronger, more functional films with the right polymers in the right place. While world trends are towards high barrier films and superior moisture vapour performance, 5-layer machines can’t do laminates and high barrier films at the same time.

However, the new 7-layer co-ex line, the

first in sub-Saharan Africa and the most advanced machine of its kind in Africa, allows Nampak Flexible to manufacture high barrier films to world-class standards.

While wanting to drive pouch and liquid bag developments in Africa, the initial investment in the Windmöller & Hölscher line was motivated by Nampak Flexible reaching capacity in its production of traditional 3-layer films and having to contract work out. A further consideration behind acquiring the line for the NP Flexible plant in Pinetown is that it produces at a rate of 550kgs per hour with an exceptionally high precision gauge control.

The Pinetown plant was modified to accommodate the towering 18-metre tall machine. The machine, supplied by W&H agent Ipex Machinery, started production on time and within budget in the first week of December 2012.

Various meat and cheese products are currently packaged in 7-layer packaging, but these films have up until now been

New premises for Euro Moulders Dream realised for De Abreu brothers

Offer to buy MCG injection division MCG’s Plastic Injection Moulding Division has received an offer to purchase from Marlow Advisors and Sasfin Private Equity.

The offer to buy 100% of the business has been accepted and the sale is now subject to regulatory approvals. It includes the names MCG, MCG Industries and MCG Injection Moulding Division, so the business will continue to trade under these names, if the process is approved, which is expected to happen in August.

MCG operates plants in Malvern, Johannesburg, and Montague Gardens in Cape Town; its closures business in Samrand was purchased last year by Boxmore International.

8 JUNE / JULY 2013

EURO Moulders has recently moved to larger and more practical premises, enabling the De Abreu brothers Joao and José to realize one of their key objectives.

A highly regarded manufacturer of injection, blow and PET moulds for a wide spectrum of applications, Euro Moulders is also involved in the injection moulding of its own range of proprietary ‘Eurotainer’ containers and components.

For the brothers who bought the original Euro Moulders business in 2004, as a small entity in rented premises of some 300m², the move to their new self-owned home at 44 Pine Avenue, Primrose, is a significant milestone.

“It’s what we have dreamed about ever since the early days when the business comprised five tool machines and employed just two people,” said Joao. “We had no production facilities at that time

either. Now the company has 25 machines in the toolroom and eight injection moulders on the production side, ranging from 160 to 470 tons. We manufacture new and maintain and repair existing moulds produced by other manufacturers.”

Joao and José bring to the industry over 30 years’ experience in the field of mould design and manufacture and use CAD software to design and develop tooling for components and end products used in a comprehensive range of business sectors.

To provide their clients with a more holistic service, they network with and use the facilities of experts in their respective fields, who assist in the creation of 3D printed prototypes, hardening, cylindrical and profile grinding and wire cutting. They also work in close contact with the technical staff and laboratories of their various suppliers.

First in the country – The new line, installed at the Nampak Flexibles plant in Pinetown, is the first 7-layer film system installed in sub-Saharan Africa

countries where refrigeration is an issue.

The gauge of the film and the individual layers can be optimized consistently to provide more even, high quality packaging.

The line runs at up to 550kgs/hr and achieves exceptionally high precision gauge control

imported. Nampak Flexible is hence the first to produce 7-layer films in South Africa. The films include EVOH and/or nylon layers that prevent ingress of moisture and oxygen, which can increase the shelf life of the product from 2-3 days to up to six weeks, depending on several variables.

This can be hugely beneficial in African

Both have an in-depth knowledge of the properties and applications in use of the various materials required for the different processes. These include polypropylene, ABS, acetyl, nylon (filled and unfilled), polyurethane and HIPS. The first thing one notices on entering the premises is the high standard of housekeeping: a true reflection of the work ethic that has been instilled in the people who make up Euro Moulders. The company employs 25 fulltime staff. All training is undertaken in-house with Joao and José working side by side with entry level operators.

As participants in the National Tooling

Laser perforation The second recent strategic investment by Nampak Flexible, in a micro laser perforation system, allows it to make films for easy opening of pouches, stick-packs and sachets. Easy opening goes to the root of packaging functionality and is an enhanced product feature that allows for the opening of packaging without tools.

Flexible packaging film structures vary, depending on the product requirements, and the complexity of these structures often makes ease of opening a challenge. The introduction of laser perforation and scribing helps address this problem.

This patented micro laser perforation system can puncture up to 1.000.000 holes/ second with truly minute hole sizes, from 50μm down to as little as 300μm diameter.

The laser technology ensures a non-contact processing tool with minimum thermal influence on the film. There is also constant depth of laser on the scribing/scoring line and ‘scoring’ may be set to however many layers are required: for example, for two layers of a 4-layer laminate, without damaging the barrier of the packaging structure.

• The agent for Windmöller & Hölscher is Ipex Machinery. www.ipex.co.za

www.nampak.co.za

Initiative Programme (NITP), Euro Moulders provides students with training during their practical courses. The owners of the company are fully committed to talent seeking and elevating the individual’s skills. They pride themselves on staff retention with employees enjoying long years of service.

In production at any one time are contracts for the manufacture of HDPE couplings and utility boxes used in the telecommunications industry, PU components used in the mining industry, soap dispensers made from ABS as well as the company’s ‘Eurotainer’ house brand range of PP food tubs in 250, 300 and 500ml sizes. The Joao and José de Abreu of Euro Moulders in their toolroom in Primrose

Recycling The high level barrier performance achieved by these multi-layer films may result in films which are currently difficult or even impossible to recycle, according to Annabé Pretorius of SAPRO. EVOH and nylon are definitely not recycling friendly, said Pretorius, who noted that ‘other’ materials may also be used.

Multi-material structures are not mechanically recyclable, which is what we do in SA. It may be different in Europe where they ‘recycle’ in a number of other ways, she added.

moulds for the Eurotainers are made in the company’s toolroom.

Fully automated In the fully automated tool room new moulds are being designed and developed and existing moulds maintained and repaired for the manufacturing processes of plastic products ranging from industrial masks and helmets to bottles and fluorescent lighting systems.

“Our extensive client base includes several companies that have been with us from the beginning,” said José. “As a preferred supplier, we service most sectors of commerce and industry including major players in packaging, irrigation, automation, mine safety, mining equipment, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, hygiene and home décor as well as numerous independent tool rooms that outsource to Euro Moulders. Clients are situated across South Africa and in neighbouring states.”

• EURO MOULDERS, P. 011 974 9675 admin@euromoulders.co.za JUNE / JULY 2013 9

INDUSTRY NEWS

Astrapak is back! … on new course, with new team Extensive business review completed, two-year recovery programme underway ASTRAPAK’S turnaround plan – a process which is expected to take two years – was sketched out at shareholder meetings addressed recently by new CEO, Robin Moore.

Moore joined Astrapak in November and has been very busy since, undertaking an extensive review of the business restructuring the group’s management team. The results of this were presented at meetings in Johannesburg and Cape Town in May … at which shareholders were outnumbered by press delegates.

There’s far more interest now in Astrapak’s performance within the industry: the group operates about 22 operating businesses (the figure is diminishing due to various rationalization options) and employs over 4000 people around the country. Many in the industry believe that the success of the turnaround process at Astrapak is vital for the overall health of the industry, and a reverse is not worth pondering.

Besides several challenges during 2012, this year started on a bad note for the group with the fire at East Rand Plastics – its biggest manufacturing unit – causing significant damage to its Flexibles business. Fixed assets destroyed in the fire totalled R56.3 million.

But momentum has been gathering

since. An extensive business review has been completed and a two-year recovery programme is under way, said Moore.

Asset utilization studies had identified inefficient assets, resulting in significant write-downs.

“The review also highlighted that the group has inherent strengths. We are the largest and best diversified plastic packaging company in South Africa, supported with generally modern, well equipped operations, leading market positions and a strong and loyal customer-base. Our information systems are world class,” he added.

The group in fact spent R1.3-billion on capex projects between 2008 and 2012, creating capacity which gives it the ability to lead in several sectors.

Revenue from continuing operations of R2.615 billion (2012: R 2.518 billion) was up 3.9% against the comparative period.

Higher turnover was driven principally by a 4.2% increase in volumes. But a fall in the gross profit percentage from 20.5% to 17.4% indicated the difficulty of recovering added costs in a highly competitive market.

Losses from discontinued operations related to City Pack in Johannesburg and Ultrapak in East London, which were classified as discontinued operations during 2012.

Time for turnaround – Astrapak CEO Robin Moore (centre) with Renee Kirkham and group MD Manley Diedloff, the group’s key financial managers, at the shareholder meeting in Cape Town

2014 would be about implementing the business review completed in 2012 and the start of a journey of improvement, Moore said. “Operational disciplines, proper human capital deployment, market awareness and good communication are, we believe, fundamental recovery components. We are confident financial performance will begin to positively reflect our strategic and operational initiatives in terms of both the quality and value of earnings in the year ahead,” he added. www.astrapak.co.za

JUNE / JULY 2013

Organisational redesign nears completion WITH OVER 700 applications received for the 22 management positions at Astrapak offered earlier this year, the group was able to pick selectively … and, not surprisingly, chose to stick with what it new best and promote internally.

The 22 positions on offer were reduced by four to 18 after the four Flexible appointments were put on hold as a result of the East Rand Plastics fire. Fourteen of the 18 positions had been filled at the time of writing, including 11 internal promotions and three ‘external’ appointments.

The organisational redesign began in January led by CEO Rob Moore (ex-Nampak), who had joined Astra in November last year, and group MD Man-

ley Diedloff. Five focussed divisions have been created, each given critical mass by the merging of previously independently run operations: Moulding (comprising Cinqplast Denver, JJ Precision, Pak2000, Plastech, Plastop Bronkhorstspruit, Plastop KZN and Plastop Weener) PET (Cinqpet Denver and Hilfort) Thermoforming (Plastform and Thermopac) Flexible (Barrier, East Rand Plastics, Packaging Consultants and Peninsula Packaging) Development (Alex White, Knilam, Consupaq, Geotex Plusnet and Marcom) The management appointments in-

clude Gareth Elcox as MD of the Moulding Division (previously KZN regional chief executive); Henk de Klerk as MD of the Forming Division (previously Cape regional chief executive); Grant Mathews as MD of the PET Division (previously GM of Cinqpet.); Brent Grant as best practice and operational excellence executive (previously regional manufacturing executive: Cape); and Raymond Moussa as group sales executive (previously business development manager).

Nawaaz Kalick, who was formerly with Nampak (where he was divisional supply chain and procurement manager for Nampak’s Flexible Division), has been appointed group procurement and inbound supply executive.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Marley completes massive Angola pipe project More than 4800 tons of Safripol’s ®iMPACT PE 100 used in one of Marley’s largest single pipe projects MORE than 400 truckloads of pipe weighing about 4800 tons manufactured by Marley Infrastructure has been delivered by road to Angola and installed for a major project to supply water for people who up until now have not enjoyed access to tap water.

Johannesburg-based Marley was awarded the contract, with an estimated value US$15-million, by Spanish company UTE Befesa-Riogersa to supply safe drinking water to underprivileged communities in Cunene province in the south of Angola.

The project involves the extraction of water from the Cunene River (the AngolaNamibia border), construction of a water treatment plant at Xangongo and then the construction of a 100km-long pipeline to supply the water to a number of communities. Marley supplied the pipe for the entire

line, including over 98km of 630mm diameter pressure class 6 (PN6) pipe and about 2km of 630mm pressure class 10 (PN10) pipe in one of its largest contributions to a single project to date.

All the pipe was manufactured in ® iMPACT 100 HDPE from Safripol, South Africa’s premier pipe resin.

The contract forms part of Angola’s master ‘transfrontier’ plan with Namibia to supply safe drinking water. Only a relatively small percentage of the rural

population in Angola, estimated at as low as 15-20%, has the advantage of dedicated water supply, while the rest of the population generally rely on walking often long distances daily to retrieve water.

As a consequence, water-borne diseases result in numerous health issues in these communities.

The contract, commissioned by the Angolan Ministry of Energy & Water, will benefit about 250 000 people with fresh drinking water daily.

The 630mm diameter pipe was laid alongside a road – over about 100kms – in southern Angola, a situation which presents the advantage that the joining operation (welding the 15m lengths of pipe together) was conducted on relatively level ground

12 JUNE / JULY 2013

Logistically, moving the over 400 truckloads of pipe – which was supplied in 15m lengths – from the Reef to southern Angola was no easy feat: Marley partnered with WP Transport to ensure the cargo’s safe passage

iMPACT 100 THE high-density polyethylene material used in the Angola contract, iMPACT 100, was introduced by Safripol in 2011, after a lengthy development process.

Only a relatively small group of world polyolefin manufacturers can produce pipe resins with superior slow crack growth (SCG) as well as good rapid crack propagation (RCP) properties, as required by the international standards for water and gas. The PE100 certified resin is a bimodal HDPE which allows the molecular structure of the polyethylene to be tailored to produce an optimum molecular weight distribution in order to produce pipe with excellent processability and mechanical properties.

The Safripol material allows for higher design stresses, allowing operation at higher pressures or even wall thinning compared to previous generation pipe materials.

The new-generation PE100+ pipe material was first produced in Sasolburg in October 2009 and was tested at accredited laboratories for compliance to ISO standards, which showed that it met all the requirements for both highpressure water pipes (ISO 4427:2007) and gas pipes according to ISO 4437:2007.

www.safripol.co.za

Challenges The project was not without its challenges, however. Stringent tests were conducted prior to commencement, according to the exacting requirements of the client, to evaluate the most suitable pipe supplier. Marley’s pipes came out on top in the testing/tender process. Its range of HDPE pipe are SAPPMA-endorsed and manufactured according to sound quality standards, carrying the SABS mark for SANS ISO 4427.

Marley MD Louis Albertyn and his team had to assess the critical factors and risks that the project would present.

Logistically, moving the over 400 truckloads of pipe – which was supplied in 15m lengths – from the Reef to southern Angola was no easy feat: Marley partnered with WP Transport to ensure the cargo’s safe passage, taking into consideration proper crating and stacking methods to ensure

The project involves the construction of a 100km-long pipeline – over 98km of 630mm diameter pressure class 6 (PN6) pipe and about 2km of 630mm pressure class 10 (PN10) pipe in one of Marley’s largest contributions to a single project to date. All the pipe was manufactured in ®iMPACT 100 HDPE from Safripol

minimal roll during transportation.

The biggest challenge, however, occurred once the pipes had actually reached the Angolan border: not only did Marley and Befesa (UTE Befesa-Riogersa is the Spanish company that Marley is working with on the Angola project) have to make sure that all documentation for every truck was 100% in order, but WP Transport also had to appoint a dedicated person to handle the time-consuming and rigorous customs process – the result of which was costly delays and standing time.

Ultimately, however, the project is proving to be a major success for both Marley and material supplier Safripol, which has been able to put its iMPACT PE100 material to the test it was designed for.

“It wasn’t just about business, but an opportunity to uplift a community with the most fundamental resource of life – water!” added Albertyn.

www.safripol.com www.marleypipesystems.co.za

JUNE / JULY 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS

Forma enters

big drum market

Big machine can run at high speed, and use less power FORMA Packaging of Johannesburg has just commissioned its 250-litre drum manufacturing machine.

The installation of the big Kai Mei machine was, happily, a virtual ‘plug and play’ process for Brian Fetting and the Forma team in Wadeville – the line was in production just three days after the container arrived.

Kai Mei, of Taiwan, has been supplying blow moulding machines to South African convertors for over a decade, mainly for the production of small to medium-sized containers as well as some larger machines for the production of technical blow moulded parts such as toys and boxes. The step up, with this far larger system, for the production of drums from 200 to 250 litres capacity – where wall thickness and integrity are vital – appears to have been handled seamlessly.

One of the big plusses of the new machine is that it uses noticeably less power than comparable machines have to date, coming in at about 210 amps.

Another plus is that just one operator is required per shift.

The machine processes up to 400kgs of HD an hour, fed by a Motan gravimetric blender on the platform above. All the regrind is reprocessed on site and fed back into the process immediately.

It can also produce ‘open top’ versions of the drums, where the lids are injection moulded in a separate operation.

Forma is a new venture by Fetting, who has been involved in large container manufacture for nearly 20 years. The project – which includes the installation of chillers, compressors and other ancillary equipment as well as the necessary R+D – involved a substantial investment.

The intention, says Fetting, is to be able to compete in the big drum market in Southern Africa, which is why it needed the machine to get into production quickly.

The drums have been submitted for tough UN standards compliance testing – including leak, 28-day stack and drop tests – and passed, giving Forma official entry to the local big drum market. www.formapackaging.co.za JUNE / JULY 2013

Drum beat! – Brian Fetting with production now going into the market

Brian Fetting of Forma Packaging and Colin Whitaker of machine supplier Plasquip

Big machine – The big Kai Mei machine runs at up to 400kgs/hr and can produce a substantial number of drums – from 200 up to 250 litres – a month

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Afrimold numbers down … but poses question:

Where is technical moulding

IN SA GOING? Experience of ‘mold’ shows has been different in various countries AFRIMOLD 2013, the trade fair aimed at the plastic and metal component manufacturing sector, received a lukewarm response from the industry in early June.

Coming so shortly after Propak Africa in March, which achieved increased delegate and exhibitor numbers, this wasn’t entirely surprising – the guys are busy in their factories and time isn’t on tap. Having said that, Propak and its satellite show Pro-Plas were not necessarily a rival, but rather complimentary for Afrimold.

But perhaps Afrimold had to trim down to find its true identity? That, undoubtedly, looks like it’s the design and toolmaking sector. These sectors lie at the heart of the industry, relating particularly to the blow and injection moulding businesses as well as to the manufacture of extrusion dies. Basically, Afrimold looks at the whole process of product development, from concept to completion.

Design package and solutions suppliers were well represented at the 3-day event at Nasrec in early June, but South Africa’s plastic toolmakers were nowhere to be seen. That also wasn’t surprising, as most

of SA’s toolmakers have for long used ‘word of mouth’ as their chief marketing tool. Now, with the increasing popularity of foreign toolmakers (their places at Afrimold were filled

by Chinese and Portuguese toolmakers, although not many of them), our toolmakers are beginning to look at – well, possibly – being more outward looking.

A further factor which may have bedeviled this year’s edition of Afrimold was its positioning earlier in the year (it was held in October in 2012, and exhibitors then intimated it was too late in the year), so it was moved forward to June, which meant the last event was held just nine months prior.

And it’s positioning at the National Expo Centre didn’t appear to be popular either: the location of such a specialised event at the massive show grounds left the impression that it was small.

But the fact of the matter is that the technical moulding sector in southern Africa has been going slowly for a number of years.

The packaging sector has, relatively, increased its share of SA’s total polymer consumption market from an estimated 51% to as much as 55%. Although packaging containers have shown growth, the biggest increase is almost certainly in packaging

CRPM stand – The Centre for Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing (CRPM) at the Central University of Technology in the Free State has become one of the leaders in the area of product development and prototype generation in South Africa. Here we see Marinus Potgieter, Jenny van Rensburg and Andre Heydenrych of CRPM, which offers its services to the industry nationally www.cut.ac.za/faculty_pages/crpm/

Afrimold organiser Ron McLarty with Roy Miller of Miller Methods. Ron is committed to developing Afrimold into a platform for the product design and toolmaking sector in Southern Africa

film and printing. Technical moulding contracts have frequently been going to the Far East, where manufacturers offer relatively high production and tooling skills as well as better turnaround times – and very competitive prices.

Afrimold is presented as part of Demat of Germany’s global ‘mold’ shows, which include the very popular Euromold, increasingly popular Brasilmold and Asiamold (Shanghai) and related shows in the USA, India, the UAE (Sharjah), Egypt, Japan and Russia. The experience in each country has been different, with the events in Germany and Brazil appearing to be most popular.

Armoloy – Evert Bosman of Armoloy SA showed the company’s specialised TDC coatings abilities. TDC stands for ‘thin dense coatings,’ which are chrome coatings applied through an electro coating process, under licence from Armoloy of the USA. In the plastics and rubber sectors, this refers chiefly to injection and blow moulds. Advantages include reduced wear and friction, higher resistance to corrosion and improved release performance. www.armoloysa.co.za

Ireen Modipa, Patrick Marasi and Olorato Mothibatsela of the Institute for Advanced Tooling on their stand.

Based at Tshwane University of Technology’s Soshanguve campus, the IAT is involved in skills development and technology transfer to accelerate growth in the tooling sector; Patrick is the training coordinator www.tut.ac.za

Steinhobel pulls no punches ‘You’ve got to be 150% into it if you want to be a designer’ BRIAN Steinhobel wasn’t in a mood to hold back in his presentation at the conference that ran in parallel with Afrimold … as a result of which he was also the most popular speaker.

Here’s a man who’s not scared to stick his neck out and challenge conventional wisdom. Many in the audience were aspirant designers and he was quick to disabuse

Although it has similar demographics, Brazil has a far bigger plastics industry than South Africa’s, and appears to have a large group of mould makers who also tender for North American projects.

But South Africa has a proud history and culture of mould making, with several ‘worldfirsts’ and a significant number of high-standard blow and injection moulding companies in operation.

So, although the turnout at Afrimold 2013 was disappointing, there remains hope that the show will find its right place and flourish.

Ideal delegates for such a moulding show would appear to be brand owners, designers and plastic convertors themselves (particularly blow and injection moulding entrepreneurs), and whilst quite a number of such individuals did attend this year, one suspects that hosting the show in Sandton – the business capital of southern Africa – would be more suitable. It’s to be hoped the puzzle will be solved, and that the organisers will find how to empower South Africa’s mould makers to entertain clients at the show in future.

them of notions of a cushy road ahead.

“If you’re not 150% into it, you may as well give up now,” was one of his opening remarks. But design is a serious business, and Brian believes designers need to “observe more and look further and deeper” if they plan to come up with designs that will last.

He’s not that impressed with South Africa’s mould makers either, and suggested that many of SA’s mould makers change their minds the moment a good product comes along and, instead of designing and making moulds, switch to production. This isn’t the case internationally, he said.

Keynote – Brian Steinhobel, one of SA’s best known designers, was keynote speaker at the technical conference at Afrimold … and he certainly didn’t let down, with some challenging and whacky views about design in Africa; here we see him with Alessandra Bosco of HRSflow of Italy, who gave a presentation about her company’s hot runner systems; and conference chairman/convenor Bob Bond.

Designs from the Steinhobel ‘stable’: www.steinhobel.co.za

Getting Creative – Louis Avenant (third from left) of Creative Factory who gave a very interesting presentation, and Roy Miller (centre) of Miller Methods with the CF team www.creativefactory.co.za

www.demat.de www.afrimold.co.za

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Ashwin Perumal of Engen Petroleum discussed the surprising features of these lubricants at Afrimold. www.engenoil.com

Rothco – Tim Gilbert, Diane Busch, Nicky Smit and Wesley Williams of ROTHCO, part of Edwin Roth Company, presented their design and 3D printing solutions. Rothco represents Stratasys, which – following its recent purchase of Objet of Israel, is the leader in this sector. Established in 1952, Edwin Roth is the oldest machine tool company in South Africa. The design and prototype development technology is thus a value-added option for Edwin Roth’s machine tool and plastic or metal processing customers www.edwinroth.co.za

GECO mould – One of the Portuguese mould makers to exhibit at Afrimold, Geco Moldes manufactures thermoplastic, thermo-resin, two-component and gas-assisted injection moulds, including large and complex moulds for automotive components, and has been in operation for over four decades, 42 years. Here are commercial director Jorge Miguel and Ms Sidónia Juma on the stand. Geco produces moulds for interior, exterior and under-the-hood components. It is active particularly in Brazil, Mexico and the UK and, from its base in Telheiro, Portugal, runs offices in Germany, the USA and Russia. www.geco-moldes.pt

INDUSTRY NEWS

FLEXflow electrical cylinder Accurate, stable and easy-to-use HRSflow of Italy showed its FLEXflow electrically driven hot runner system at Afrimold.

The system is designed to accurately adjust valve pins for large surface applications – such as bumpers, instrument panels, door panels – that require sequential cascade moulding. The technology is also suited for optical parts, whatever the size. FLEXflow guarantees a completely independent management of each pin during the opening and closing stages by precisely controlling each valve pin’s position, acceleration, velocity and stroke.

The FLEXflow system is able to ‘fine tune’ where a complex filling pattern balance is required, even for glassfibre material where structural problems could arise.

Moreover it meets the requirements of

Hot runner system for an automotive bumper system equipped with the new FLEXflow electrical cylinder The system allows for optimal adjustment of pin speed and stroke profile to remove possible pressure ‘jump’

moulding applications within a narrow process window and engineered material.

The total absence of oil makes it suitable for clean rooms.

• HRSflow is part of INglass SpA of Italy, a leader in innovative technology for tooling and hot runner systems for, especially, automotive applications.

It was one of the first to develop an integrated system comprising mould, hot runner system and process control unit capable of producing large fault-free polycarbonate mouldings. It was founded as ‘Incos’ (Industria Costruzione Stampi) in 1987 by current chairman Maurizio Bazzo, specializing in moulds for automotive lighting.

www.hrsflow.com

Italian hot runners – Alessandra Bosco (second from left) and Osvaldo Carloni (right) of HRS-INglass of Italy, a manufacturer of hot runner systems, were shown around by Craig Howe (second from right) of RGC Engineering of Johannesburg, the group’s local agent. Also at the show was Mac Guo, who works with the company in China

• THE LOCAL AGENT FOR HRSFLOW IS RGC ENGINEERING OF JOHANNESBURG. WWW. RGCENGINEERING.CO.ZA

Afrimold

TDM Solutions – Jim Plester, Wes Hogan and Adriaan van der Walt on the TDM Solutions stand. TDM supplies the ZW3D CAD/CAM software for 3D modelling, mould design and machining and VERICUT software, has become the industry standard for simulating CNC machining in order to detect errors, potential collisions, or areas of inefficiency. In operation for over 25 years, the Johannesburg company is one of the experienced suppliers in the sector www.tdmsolutions.co.za

Taiwan connection – Dave Moore and Garth Maccallum of Mould Base SA visited the joint stand of SSB and TaiStar of Taiwan. Here we see them with Vanessa Chen of TaiStar, a manufacturer of a complete range of mould accessories, and Lotus Chi of SSB (Steady Stream Business), which manufacturers moulds as well as injection moulding machines and ‘total solutions’ for closures www.sld.com.tw; www.steady-stream.com

Laser weld … and mobile – Clyde Erasmus of the new company Laser Mould & Die, of Port Elizabeth, demonstrated how his welding system can be used to repair moulds or other metal equipment. Clyde operates a mobile unit, and is hence available to repair moulds and dies – as well as other metal processing equipment – across the Eastern Cape region www.laserweld.co.za

JUNE / JULY 2013

Lowrie Sharp joined Margie and Russell Oosterlaak of 3D Solids Additive Manufacturing at the exhibitor party. 3D is one of the agents for Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing technology, including the printers, materials and systems. www.stratasys.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

‘Reshoring’ production from China to the US will benefit plastics industry Plastics will benefit from primary manufacturers bringing work back to North America THE great migration of manufacturing from North America to China began 20 years ago when companies, believing they could reduce production costs, began establishing facilities and working with third parties there to benefit from special economic zones, new industrial infrastructure, favourable tariffs, low currency exchange rates and, importantly, cheap labour. This article looks at how things have developed over the years and the growing trend towards ‘reshoring’ manufacturing to North America.

In reality, the savings, while sizeable, never matched expectations. Now that labour costs, tariffs and related production expenses in China are rising, manufacturing is moving again – this time back to North America in a trend called ‘reshoring.’

Reshoring was identified in 2012 as a growing transfer of select manufacturing operations from China and other low-cost countries back to the US and Canada.

‘Select’ in this case means advanced manufacturing: high-tech or complex parts that require skilled product design and mould and tool development, along with sophisticated moulding, extrusion and other process capabilities.

High costs affect production The factors that sparked reshoring are straightforward.

China is becoming too expensive in labour and other costs to sustain the profit margins North American companies want especially the plastics processors and mould-makers that set up operations there to serve OEM customers, generate regional business or ship products to domestic markets.

Moreover, long-standing expenses are

further diminishing margins. These include: trips to and from China by North American managers to check operations; rising local taxes and tariffs; the time and growing cost of product transit (which is almost always by sea) to North America and elsewhere; and the frequent reengineering of moulds to correct mistakes or poor quality work.

This last item not only adds cost but delays time-to-market schedules, which affects sales and a company’s competitive advantage.

In the early days of offshore manufacturing, when China-made products were touted as yielding a 3040% total cost advantage over North American-made goods largely because of inexpensive labour, quality problems, transit time and travel to and from China by managers were not viewed as prohibitive in the overall cost equation.

As an example of how cheap labour was

Hosaf may increase production to meet growing PET demand Extensive consultations with global producers, potential technology partners to assess best practice

in China, a German machinery executive in 1996 visited a plant his company was renovating in Beijing for production of extrusion equipment. The factory floor was being covered with 1 in2 (6.45 cm2) ceramic tiles. Rather than install the tiles in prefabricated sheet form, as would have been done in the West, he said that dozens of Chinese workers were laying them by hand for less money than it would have cost back in Germany.

Advantage shifts from China However, costs between the US and China now are “heading toward equilibrium,” says David Sievers, principal, strategy and operations practice at The Hackett Group, a consulting firm based in Miami, Florida, that analyses reshoring.

When all expenses are factored, Sievers says it now costs a US manufacturer ¢84 on the dollar to make and ship products

IN light of the growing South African PET industry, and as a leading local producer of PET, Hosaf is pro-actively monitoring its capacity requirements and evaluating alternatives available to address these requirements - one of which to further increase its production capacity by investing in another expansion of the plant.

Steven Bird, Hosaf sales and marketing director, says that Hosaf has over the years invested substantial capital in establishing and upgrading its plant to cater for the increasing demand for PET. In 2009 the plant went through a major upgrade and expansion which enabled Hosaf to implement multiple production efficiencies. This, together with the installation of the SSP86 plant increased the annual production capacity to the The Hosaf plant – over the years Hosaf has invested substantial capital in establishing and upgrading its plant to cater for the increasing demand for PET. In 2009 the plant went through a major upgrade and expansion which enabled Hosaf to implement multiple production efficiencies. This, together with the installation of the SSP86 plant increased the annual production capacity to the current 130 000 tons a year

‘Made in China’ labels have become commonplace in virtually all markets … but now, as the author suggests, a number of top brand-owners have begun to move production back to the West

back to North America from China. At this level “it’s a toss-up” as to whether any economic benefit is realised from manufacturing in China.

Wages in China have been rising at an annual rate of 15-18%, and while workers in processing plants still make much less than their counterparts in North America, the advantage of cheap labour in China is ending.

A key driver here, and arguably the factor that has generated most attention among decision makers, is labour cost. And while workers in mould and tooling shops and processing plants still make much less than their counterparts in North America, the advantage of cheap labour in China is ending.

There are rising costs in other areas. Many tax incentives that China offered to foreign manufacturers are expiring, energy to operate plants is expensive, and shipping costs are increasing.

Sievers refers to all of these expenses as part of ‘total landed cost’ (TLC).

Other expenses include: capital investments in equipment and facilities; production costs; handling and inventory; transit to a port; tariffs and other taxes; insurance and shipping; receiving and distribution in North America; product inspections; correcting quality problems; and, of course; labour.

The 16% differential between TLC and US production expenses, Sievers says, was reached this year. He expects it will result in many companies reshoring production to North America.

Among the industries that benefit from this will be plastics, especially mould makers and processors, the industry’s front line in building business.

The Hackett Group hasn’t looked at plastics

opportunities specifically, says Michel Janssen, chief research officer, but “it’s reasonable to expect that plastics will benefit from primary manufacturers bringing work back to North America.”

Plastics stand to gain Another analyst, Boston Consulting Group of Boston, Massachusetts, identifies seven manufacturing sectors as near a “tipping point” when it comes to reshoring. One of these is plastics and rubber products. But the sectors also include areas where plastics are extensively used – transportation, appliances, electrical equipment, computers and electronics.

In a report released in March, Boston Consulting Group states that 67% of respondents in the plastics and rubber products sector who were interviewed in February “expect that their companies will reshore production from China to the US.” Of the 106 companies from different industries that participated in the report, 37% with sales of more than $1 billion were planning to reshore or “actively considering” such a move. Among companies with more than $10 billion in sales, that response rose to 48%.

This would have a ripple effect on related areas such as employment, capital investment, procurement of equipment and technology, and sales of materials.

Janssen, however, advises caution when it comes to predicting benefits in these areas, especially employment.

“Work is coming back,” he says, “though this won’t include all of the jobs that were

lost.” While affirming that reshoring is “a real trend,” he believes that its impact on employment will be “nuanced.” In other words, jobs are going to be added but the numbers may not be as strong as anticipated.

Reshoring has generated 50,000 US manufacturing jobs across all industries in the past three years – 10% of new jobs in this sector – and could result in 500,000 new manufacturing jobs by 2015.

current level of around 130 000 tons of PET a year.

At the time of planning the 2009 expansion, it was envisaged that the additional capacity created would be sufficient to meet the needs of the growing South African PET industry until 2018. However, despite the global economic contraction, since the previous expansion, the PET industry has shown demand growth in excess of 7% per annum. This growth is expected to continue.

“Such further expansion would include investing in the latest technologies available, optimising the plant size and layout, considering logistical requirements as well as focussing on the environmental impact of such expansion,” says Bird.

He adds that in evaluating all these factors, Hosaf has had extensive consultations with

various global producers and potential technology partners, including visits to a number of global facilities to assess best practices.

“An expansion of this magnitude requires extensive planning and the timing for its implementation is an important part of the planning process. Hosaf is actively investigating the opportunity to increase capacity, whilst constantly monitoring the capacity requirements to identify the most appropriate time to present such proposal for approval,” Bird explains.

Hosaf manufacture four PET grades: The standard Cazeden T86 with IV 0.83 and its variant T96 with IV 0.86. Bird explains that the latter was brought out to assist plastics converters using recycled PET as recycled material resin available

currently in SA has a lower IV of around 0.75.

The third type is Polyclear ™ 1101, a fast reheat made under licence from Invista. This is the principal resin for CSD. The fourth grade is the Cazeden Biopet manufactured for Coca Cola where the MEG portion is derived from plants and not oil.

Hosaf do not manufacture fibre polymers any longer.

“Our market is approximately 68% CSD/ water, 10% edible oil, 10% household and 10% sheeting with cosmetics making up the remaining 2%. The Polyclear ™ 1101 is by far our biggest volume given CSD dominance of PET end use,” adds Bird.

Harry Moser, the Reshoring Initiative Harry Moser, who founded The Reshoring Initiative in Kildeer, Illinois, near Chicago, believes that reshoring has generated 50,000 US manufacturing jobs across all industries in the past three years – 10% of new jobs in this sector – and could result in 500,000 new manufacturing jobs by 2015.

To promote his message that manufacturing in the US is more economical than production in China when all factors are considered, Moser developed cost-analysis software called Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), which is free to registered users at his website. This lets decision-makers evaluate the real price of manufacturing in China by comparing numerous cost factors. Moser says that if more companies analyse their offshore

www.hosaf.co.za

INDUSTRY NEWS rate decision makers analyse business and manufacturing operations with TCO softcost opportunities, along with the paramware, they will see that savings based on eters on which they base manufacturing product price alone evaporate rapidly. strategies. It could, Moser remarks, take Wage and currency changes are overmore time than it should. whelmingly the reasons that manufacturers Or maybe not, since one aspect of consider reshoring, based on data operations in North America Moser collected. Other factors that is also influencing include quality and rework reshoring is the growing issues, delivery delays, ‘Among the productivity of workshipping costs, industries that benefit ers and efforts by multiple trips to and large companies from a Chinese from this will be to reduce costs production plant plastics, especially further. In March, by managmould makers and The Hackett Group ers, inventory re-leased a study disputes, costs processors, the that states US that emerge once industry’s front line manufacturers in all production has in the building sectors are targeting started, and com“an aggressive 1.5% munication problems. business.’ reduction in cost of goods Moser believes that if (COG) sold for 2013 in an all manufacturers use TCO effort to drive margin growth.” software, and if wage trends continue rising in China, as expected, Productivity gains in North America it’s realistic to expect that those 500,000 A major factor behind this, according to US manufacturing jobs will be created by the consultant, is continuing advances in 2015. And this doesn’t account for the equal number of support jobs that would be gener- internal manufacturing productivity, which could account for 50% of cost reductions. ated as a result.

In a statement, The Hackett Group Before this can happen, he concedes, reports that outsourcing was “aggressively there needs to be a change in how corpo-

used” through 2011 by many companies to reduce manufacturing costs. Data show that in 2011, the average COG reduction by companies was 0.3%. The shift away from outsourcing as a cost cutting strategy and toward internal productivity began in 2012, when companies increased total costreduction efforts by a factor of five to 1.5% that year. If successful in their 1.5% total COG reduction goal in 2013, companies will have slashed production costs tenfold in only two years.

Among the reduction targets this year that should contribute to total declines in COG are an anticipated 1.7% drop in internal manufacturing costs and a 0.5% cut in materials costs – both of which follow the downward trend of 2012, when companies cut internal manufacturing costs by 1.8% and materials expenditures by 0.3%.

Meanwhile, “favourable energy prices” and “stable aggregate demand” reduced logistics costs by 1.8% last year and warehousing costs by 1.5%. Hackett expects additional savings of 2% in logistics and 1.7% in warehousing costs this year.

Ironically, sluggish economies in many countries are partly behind these achievements. Hackett Group says that relatively stable GDPs give manufacturers a clear picture of business demand and allow

Processors see advantages Mould makers, processors and equipment suppliers watch reshoring play out daily.

Conery Manufacturing Inc, an Ashland, Ohio-based producer of industrial and other parts, is opening an injection moulding plant after reshoring production from China.

Chris Shafer, vice president, says the plant, called Hedstrom Injection, opens in April. The 2,322 m2 facility starts operations with eight injection moulding machines and has room for eight more. Conery had moulds and parts made in China for 16 years.

“We initially saved money,” Shafer remarks, “but recently began to notice that prices were starting to climb due to freight costs, taxes and labour.”

The company decided to reshore much of its manufacturing to the US, where he expects benefits ranging from lower total product cost to improvements in mould quality and performance.

Unique Tool and Gauge, a Canadian mould maker in Windsor, Ontario, that does 95% of its work for automotive suppliers, is seeing more interest from customers in having moulds built in North America. The reason for this “sizeable shift,” says company president Darcy King, is the expectation that JUNE / JULY 2013

quality is more consistent despite the initial higher price.

“Our customers’ main job is making parts.

If a lot of preventive maintenance is needed for their moulds, they will be more costly to run and that will affect their bottom line,” he says. “This metric is being looked at more closely.”

At equipment supplier Wittmann Battenfeld in Torrington, Connecticut, national sales manager Sonny Morneault says reshoring is increasingly evident among customers, especially custom moulders.

Medical, electronics and automotive seem to be the main markets for reshoring, and moulders are adding business as a result.

“One of my customers lost $10 million of business to China,” he remarks, “but has gotten back $2 million in the past two years.

He thinks he will get all $10 million back, and more.”

“A year ago you didn’t hear much about reshoring,” remarks Steve Petrakis, vice president of US and Canadian sales at auxiliaries supplier Conair of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. Now, based on what one representative in California tells him, 15% of new equipment business is for projects from China.

In discussing reshoring and the persistent quality problems that dogged much – though not all – of the work from China, Petrakis says that for many years cost benefits overrode quality concerns at companies.

“But now that the cost of production there is catching up with North America,” manufacturing in China is becoming problematic, especially with no significant or consistent improvements in quality and other key areas.

For almost 20 years China has been touted as the future of manufacturing and portrayed as Goliath on an unstoppable global juggernaut. Reshoring demonstrates that an ongoing commitment to productivity and cost-cutting, along with core values of product quality and customer service, make a better business model for sustainable growth than a strategy based almost entirely on price.

them to make precise plans when it comes to allocating capacity, inventory and sales – and presumably, to make decisions about the viability of reshoring.

In fact, greater productivity, cost reductions and reshoring are expected to increase export activity and add 2.5 million to 5 million US jobs by the end of the decade, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Cost reductions, coupled with comparatively low prices on a global basis for electricity and natural gas, could by 2015 give the US an “export cost advantage of 5 to 25%” over Germany, Italy, France and the UK, as well as Japan.

Boston Consulting Group In a study released last year, the company stated that cost reductions, coupled with comparatively low prices on a global basis for electricity and natural gas, could by 2015 give the US an “export cost advantage of 5 to 25%” over Germany, Italy, France and the UK, as well as Japan.

The consultant believes that this would result in the US taking an export share of 2-4% from the four European countries and

3-7% from Japan by the end of the decade.

This in turn would increase US export revenue from these countries by $90 billion and globally by $130 billion.

“The US is becoming one of the lowestcost producers in the developed world, and companies in Europe and Japan are taking notice,” comments Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, in a statement about the report.

Reshoring’s role here is evident in the North American companies that are bringing manufacturing back from China. Also in foreign companies that are investing in US plants – current or planned – to achieve cost-efficiencies in export. Among those cited by Boston Consulting Group are Toyota, which is manufacturing Camry sedans in Georgetown, Kentucky, and Sienna minivans in Princeton, Indiana, both for export to South Korea; and Honda and Nissan, which plan to increase vehicle exports from plants in Marysville, Ohio (Honda), and Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi (Nissan).

All of these companies are, of course, major users of plastics in their vehicles.

Incidentally, as regards Toyota, the distance

Reshoring’s role is evident in foreign companies that are investing in US plants to achieve cost-efficiencies in export. Among those cited by Boston Consulting Group are Toyota, which is manufacturing Camry sedans in Georgetown, Kentucky

from Japan to South Korea is 650km, while the distance from Princeton, Indiana, to South Korea is 9,700km. The cost savings from US-based manufacturing is clearly compelling.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ISSUED BY THE PRESS OFFICE OF THE K2013 TRADE FAIR FOR PLASTICS AND RUBBER, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY, ON 16-23 OCTOBER. JUNE / JULY 2013

VIRGIN POLYMERS & RECYCLED MATERIAL • HDPE • LDPE • LLDPE • PP • PVC • EVA • PET • Natural & Synthetic Rubber • • • •

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INDUSTRY NEWS

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Ampacet

Bag levy increase: Govt reluctant to engage with industry

opens SA office Global colour, additive supplier gets involved in Africa

SOUTH Africa’s shopping bag manufacturers must be fuming.

First, the bag levy is increased without consultation, and then SARS refuses to consult with industry representatives. Bag manufacturers, working with the industry body Plastics│SA, prepared a submission in response to the gazetted legislation, but at the time of writing had not been able to get an appointment to meet with the responsible government representatives.

Phillip Abelheim of Transpaco, one of the country’s biggest manufacturers of shopping bags, isn’t impressed.

“In terms of the MOA, the sole purpose of the levy was to fund the Section 21 company, which no longer exists – so there is no basis for the levy to still apply. I have written to the Minister of Finance who has acknowledged receipt of my letter, but still await a response.

“Based on the standard 24-litre VTC, the levy amounts to a tax equal to 33% of the value of raw material, which is outrageous. This is a substantial amount taken out of the value chain which hampers our ability to recover cost increases such as raw material, electricity, labour and petrol.”

AMPACET, a global leading manufacturer of masterbatch, has opened an office in South Africa.

Haley Clark is the sales manager at the office in Johannesburg and is responsible for South Africa as well as the neighbouring countries and East Africa. Warehousing and distribution facilities are established in Durban.

Established in 1937, Ampacet is one of the most experienced colour and additive manufacturers internationally, although it was, obviously, not involved in plastics masterbatch in the early years. It now supplies a complete range of colours including black and white – making it, in fact, one of only a few of the masterbatch suppliers to offer the full range. Most of the main suppliers have tended to steer clear of black and white, which tend to attract dedicated manufacturers.

“Ampacet strives to offer solutions to all your masterbatch requirements. Our masterbatch technology brings plastic alive, giving it the right look and function for almost any end use,” said Haley.

The sectors which Ampacet additives are suited are Food & beverage, household, industrial Cosmetics, hygienics, personal care Agriculture, geo-textiles Consumer goods: toys, garden, leisure, sport

Haley Clark, who has spent almost her entire career to date in the colour supply sector, at the Ampacet office in Boksburg

Construction, E&E and automotive Ampacet operates manufacturing sites and R&D centres in North and South America, Europe and Asia, “We offer exceptional products and service the world over, and back that up with an exceptional service,” said Haley, who has spent most of her career to date in the colour sector, including a number of years in pigment supply. www.ampacet.com

Afriplast swamped at ’10-shows-in-one’ event THE Afriplast show was held as part of the new ‘10-shows-in-one’ Industry and Technology Fair (INDUTEC) at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand in May. Besides the Afriplast Expo, the event hosted Empowertec Africa; Energex Africa; Industrial Greentec Africa; Intermac Africa; Manutec Africa; Petrotex Africa; Thomas Ringheim of Labotek of Denmark, Martin Hollinger of Ferrostaal of Johannesburg and Dieter Müller of Battenfeld-Cincinnati, the world leading extrusion system manufacturer which exhibited at Afriplast

Pumps, Valves & Pipes Africa; Watertec Africa; and Smart Automation Africa.

The reality of this is that plastics components are used by every one of the other sectors involved but the problem was that the plastics exhibitors were fairly swamped by the sheer number of exhibitors who, indeed, are potentially their customers.

A further factor was the large number of Chinese exhibitors at the event, who most of the local suppliers were virtually powerless to compete against, since the Chinese manufacturers seem to be able to offer prices which we cannot compete with. www.exhibitionsafrica.com

SolidWorks – Jonathan Morland, Roenique du Plessis and Dieter Leleu on the Mecad stand. Mecad is the agent for SolidWorks, a package that allows for construction-related simulation of the injection process which allows you to find out how the design of parts will affect manufacturability, before production starts! And then provide the solution www.mecad.co.za

Heidi Boyce, Peter Weir, Alice Louw, Wayne Hockly and Mari McNamara on the Sondor stand www.sondor.co.za

Thermoplastic, eco-efficient roof tiles

MATERIALS

Solar heating solutions blend with historically-inspired rooftops THE Wegalux roof tile is a new innovation in energy efficiency and green living, offering solar heating solutions to blend harmoniously with historically-inspired roof tops. The Wegalux tile marks the collaboration between Italian construction and energy solutions organisation, Wegaplast and engineering plastic moulding resins supplier Styrolution. Together, these two organisations developed a durable, easy to install, thermoplastic roof tile fitted with photovoltaic cells.

Wegalux photovoltaic roof systems offer the ideal solution for historical districts requiring minimal visual impact from solar heating systems. The tiles can be integrated with every type of common Mar-

seille clay tile, allowing the sunniest part of the roof to be powered while preserving unexposed tiles.

The thermoplastic roof tile is manufactured from Styrolution’s AcryonitrileStyrene-Acrylate grade Luran S 797 SE UV, a UV-stabilised ASA grade. ASA is the material of choice due to its unparalleled long-term dimensional stability under varying temperatures and excellent weatherability without loss of mechanical properties. Luran S® also offers versatility both in terms of design and colouration.

The thermoplastic ASA component is recyclable, ensuring green building and sustainable architecture.

Styrolution’s colour matching competencies allowed optimum blending of the thermoplastic tile with existing Terracottacoloured roof tiles and colour consistency is guaranteed through their reputable compounding capabilities.

Styrolution’s South African distribution partner, Plastichem, hopes the Wegalux roof tile will inspire many new applications where exposure to extreme conditions requires the use of Luran S®. Judging by the interest shown in the tile displayed at the recent ProPlas show in Johannesburg, it will be no surprise should many a local The thermoplastic Wegalux roof tile is manufactured from ASA grade Luran S® 797 SE UV, with added UV stabilisation JUNE / JULY 2013

The Wegalux tile marks the collaboration between Italian construction and energy solutions organisation, Wegaplast and engineering plastic moulding resins supplier Styrolution. Together, these two organisations developed a thermoplastic roof tile fitted with photovoltaic cells

rooftop be adorned in Wegalux roof tiles in the near future.

Wegalux roof tiles offer a high-value product to customers who want functional and aesthetic value in the long run. www.wegalux.it www.plastichem.co.za

KPI Plastics group expands in Zambia KGALAGADI Plastic Industries of Botswana has recently established a manufacturing centre in Zambia. KPI is run by Botswanabased Raj Patel, also the owner of the cast film manufacturing business Plastics Industries SA in Germiston, one of SA’s top manufacturers of pallet and stretch wrap.

KPI opened its flexible packaging operation in Gaborone in 1982 supplying customers in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“We felt we needed a presence in the South African market to enhance our market share and in 1986 bought Plastic Industries in Mogwase, manufacturing flexible packaging and zip bags,” said Patel.

“In 1998 we decided to Raj Patel of Kgalagadi Plastics venture into barrier film Industries group, and put up the cast line, which runs plants setting up a new entity, in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Plastic Industries (SA), in South Africa and, Germiston. Later on we now, Zambia added a 5-layer ‘Aqua frost’ line.

“We saw economic changes in southern Africa, with countries opening up for investment, and decided to cross borders in 2006 when we set up a flexible packaging and blow moulding factory in Luanda.

“We had our hurdles here too. However, we managed and are running the Angolan factory – Fabrica De Plasticos Kwanza LDA – successfully.

“At the same time we set up a factory in Walvis Bay, Kalahari Plastic Industries, to service the Namibian market. Later we set up a distribution company in Windhoek, called Kalahari Packaging & Distributing.

Then, in 2010, we decided to close the Walvis plant and moved the equipment to Luanda. We’ve kept the distribution company in Windhoek going.

“We studied the DRC/Congo market and decided to establish a factory in Lusaka, Zambia, which we could use to supply the Congo states as well as Zambia. In 2011 we bought Polythene Products Zambia, an old, established business. It has two separate plants: the one factory manufactures polypropylene woven sacks, thermoforming trays and cups and also runs a number of injection machines; the other plant is a for flexible packaging, making LD/HD/PP/LLDPE films and laminates.

“Since takeover we’ve added new machinery on the woven and thermoforming factory and now we have machines to enhance our flexible and laminates side.

Capacity at both plants will be doubled.

• KGALAGADI PLASTIC INDUSTRIES, PHONE 267 3914182, EMAIL: RAJ@KPIPLASTICS.COM

INDUSTRY NEWS

Trioplastics breaks new ground New world-class manufacturing plant in Chamdor also creates 35 more jobs TRIOPLASTICS has started breaking ground at their brand new world-class manufacturing plant in Chamdor, Krugersdorp, to house two new machines which will be used to establish the new plant, at the same time creating jobs for more than 35 people.

Established in 2007, Trioplastics was and still is, performance driven. They successfully service the packaging industry through the supply of imported rigid plastic films in roll form such as PVC and PET rolls.

To evolve in today’s ever-changing and competitive business world, it is companies that do not simply follow industry trends but constantly reinvent and innovate themselves that survive. The directors of Trioplastics – Derek Moonsammy, Chris Rossouw and Mike Wright - continuously anticipate future competition and monitor industry developments in order to invest in new efficient processes and be progressive in the plastics industry.

The balance of the trade gap is increasing in the plastics industry which is importing more than it exports.

Wanting to close that gap, Trioplastics will manufacture and produce locally, good quality rigid ‘calendered-process’ PVC rolls and PET films up to 1.5m wide. These rigid materials are used in thermo and vacuum forming, pharmaceutical and food grade packaging, as well as in stationery and box folding.

Trioplastics will now be able to match world-class quality standards, previously only found in imported films. Manufacturing

Mike Wright (sales director), Derek Moonsammy (MD) and Chris Rossouw (financial director) in the foundation being built for Trioplastics’ new calendered PVC machine that will be mounted into the floor of the warehouse

28 JUNE / JULY 2013

locally will not only mean that Trioplastics will be able to produce a world-class quality product at competitive prices, but will also significantly decrease the lead-time of the product.

More jobs will be created once the manufacturing plant is up and running.

A new website too Trioplastics have also given their website a facelift with the launch of phase 1 of their newly developed homepage (www. trioplastics.com). Once the manufacturing plant is up and running and production is in place, phase 2 of the website revamp will be implemented, which will be the e-commerce phase.

During this phase, customers will receive a login and password enabling them to go into their account, download statements and invoices, check availability of stock, sizes and price and will be able to purchase or place orders on-line, view the status of an order, and much more. An on-line virtual ‘walk-through’ of the manufacturing plant will also be placed on the website enabling current and potential customers to experience Trioplastics as a whole.

Exciting times lie ahead for Trioplastics who are serious about investing in the South African economy. However, their main objective still remains to service customers and the industry worldwide with quality products at the best price and through excellent service – a sentiment all of us in the industry appreciate! www.trioplastics.co.za

Success through innovation and change SA PLASTICS talked to Mike Wright, national sales director of Trioplastics How did you get started and why the name ‘Trioplastics’?

In January 1998 I was appointed as internal sales manager at the Internatio Muller Group based in Holland. I was the internal support for three different divisions, selling spares for machines used for pesticides, plastic welding and imports of pesticide components such as Piperonyl Butoxide and Pyrethium.

My career in plastics really started when I attended a plastics course presented by Annabé Lombaard (now Pretorius) at the Plastics Federation of South Africa in 1999. Annabe showed me that there was more to plastics than meets the eye. She showed me that each plastic had different properties and applications. I still have my testing pack with the samples I received that day.

Six months later I was appointed as the sales manager for the plastics divi-

sion at Internatio Muller.

In 2009 I joined Trioplastics. I saw a small dynamic company with two passionate partners, just as hungry and driven as I was to make a success of venturing into the plastics industry. Through hard work, innovation and dedication, Trioplastics has grown from an unknown distributor, to one of the most successful PVC and PET distributors in South Africa.

What developments do you see in the plastics industry?

In my opinion there has been a huge move towards so called more ‘bio-degradable’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ plastics over the past 15 years. However, I don’t believe proper scientific and impact studies have backed this up. However, there seems to be a move by some of the players now, to do some proper research around this.

What is your secret to succeeding in the plastics industry?

There is no set formula for success. If I have to look at why I have been able to survive in this industry, I’d say that honesty and trust were the main drivers. Working in sales, you need this to build a relationship with a customer.

I do not see myself as a ‘natural’ salesman,

but I have always tried to find common ground with each customer, whether he buys 200kg or 2000kg of our product. I am a strong believer that you cannot service the same market as your customer. At some point, somewhere, lines will be crossed by one or the other.

Trioplastics’ success can be attributed to the above. We are a dynamic team with diverse skills, complimenting each other. This starts with the partners and goes all the way down to the workforce. We see ourselves as a family.

What does the future hold for Trioplastics?

Trioplastics is entering a new and exciting phase with the arrival of our new calendaring plant for PVC and the widest PET extrusion plant in South Africa.

We know we will be able to produce the absolute best quality material at the best prices and combine it with excellent service.

As soon as the plant is up and running we will be looking at our next avenue for growth that we have identified. Trioplastics has to stay innovative and evolve to survive in an ever-growing and developing business world.

JUNE / JULY 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS

Marley acquires assets of Petzetakis Africa R100-million investment into Africa by international Aliaxis Group MARLEY Pipe Systems – an Aliaxis Group company – has successfully acquired the assets of Petzetakis Africa, the South African based pipe producer, which were placed into liquidation.

Marley’s journey to excellence has recently gained ground, literally, as they reach one of their biggest milestones yet. In a public auction conducted on 15 February this year, Marley Pipe Systems was successful in acquiring the assets of the former Petzetakis Africa for in excess of R100 million.

Following Petzetakis’ somewhat controversial closing in 2010, this welcome development presents a positive public interest outcome which is set to contribute not only to Marley as a brand, but also to the future of the South African economy.

Included in the assets procured by Marley are the land and buildings of the adjacent HDPE and hose sites at Rosslyn, and all productive equipment associated with these sites as well as all the movable assets of the PVC site. The purchase of the land and equipment will strengthen Marley’s position to better service the infrastructure and building markets by extending their product range and capacity.

This includes additional solutions for large diameter storm water and drainage pipe applications with the manufacture of well-known structured-wall pipe, Weholite. The assets further include production equipment to produce the renowned Megaflex Flexible Hose range used in the mining, irrigation and industrial sectors.

Marley will now also have increased capabilities to cater for the production of large bore HDPE pipes in excess of 1m.

Sun Ace plans service centre in Kenya Technical service for additives supplier of East Africa customers TO PROGRESS its business interests in Africa, Sun Ace group is to establish a technical service centre in Kenya. The function of the laboratory in Nairobi is to add value to its east African customers through closer collaboration, similar to the technical service provided by the Sun Ace South Africa plant in Johannesburg.

Such collaboration is not new to the Sun Ace group, said Gary van Eyk, MD of Sun Ace South Africa. Similar facilities and lab services serve the group’s Chinese customers out of Shanghai, for example.

Kenya has the biggest and most advanced economy in east and central Africa with a population of 41 million, and is regarded as one of the best African countries to invest in due to its sound tax system, its growing industry and its investment opportunities.

Sun Ace has been active in these Sub-Saharan African markets for over a decade. The east African market has traditionally been supplied from South Africa. West, central and east African markets are delivering higher growth rates relative to South Africa, albeit from a lower

economic base.

A dinner to launch the technical service centre and thank customers for their loyal support was hosted in Nairobi in May. The event was attended by Sun Ace Group MD Ryo Sasaki, who is based in Tokyo.

Customers from as far afield as Ethiopia, together with quality custodians, Kenya Bureau of Standards, were present. They applauded Sun Ace’s vision to take the PVC value chain forward with this commitment and investment.

Sun Ace SA technical sales manager Alistair Calder will champion the investment and lab equipment has been sourced. Sun Ace has employed the services of Grant Thornton Kenya to carry out all related company administration. www.sunace.co.za Ryo Sasaki (below far left), MD of Sun Ace Kakoh, the holding company of the various international Sun Ace businesses Alistair Calder (below), technical sales manager of Sun Ace South Africa, was ‘MC’ at the Nairobi event

Arburg MD to visit Hestico & customers ARBURG Managing Director, Helmut Heinson, will be visiting Hestico in July as part of Hestico-Arburg 20 year celebrations. While in South Africa, Heinson will see Hestico/Arburg customers in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Hestico became the agent for Arburg in South Africa in 1993 after Hestico’ s Heiner Wolber and Fritz Kettner visited Arburg to discuss future collaboration.

Since then Hestico has sold approximately 500 Arburg’s in South Africa.

Arburg is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-end injection moulding machines for plastics processing. Arburg’s modular product range consists of energy-efficient, electric, hybrid and hydraulic machines, as well as perfectly matched peripherals.

www.marleypipesystems.co.za JUNE / JULY 2013

www.hestico.co.za

A broad perspective is essential: every day, some 3.5 billion high-quality plastic parts are produced on ALLROUNDER machines – so the utmost

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Proplas celebrates of success 0 3rs y

Consistent material quality and guaranteed supply result in customer loyalty

PROPLAS, the Cape Town recycling company, celebrates 30 years in operation this year, making it one of the oldest recycling businesses in the country.

At the time of its establishment in June 1983, Proplas was virtually alone in its field, as plastic recycling was hardly practised at the time. Production scrap was seen as an unnecessary nuisance and no-one even thought about post-consumer material recovery.

But founder John Nield knew a thing or two and developed technologies and systems over the next three decades which have allowed for the full beneficiation of recycled materials, both for manufactur-

ers needing to sell production scrap and convertors who seek consistent quality recycled material within their processes.

Nield had first spent time in the automotive sector and then in injection moulding prior to starting Proplas: he was the cofounder – in 1975 – with his brother Peter of Polyoak, which at the time manufactured replica wood carvings in polyurethane.

But it gathered momentum rapidly after it began to make plastic hair curlers and, later, hangers. The curlers were a hit product at the time. Within a few years the company had 17 injection moulding and five blow moulding machines, which attracted interest, leading up to the sale in 1981. Polyoak has since gone on, as we all know, to become one of the biggest

John Nield has implemented lessons learned from experience in the industry since the 1970s at Proplas, the Lomold group company in Bellville Industria in Cape Town

packaging manufacturers in southern Africa.

Proplas has meanwhile followed an interesting trajectory of its own … it was started in 1983 as a garage operation and now operates from premises of 5500m², with the notable achievement that it’s been able to keep power consumption to below 0.8MW. Proplas’ success has not been in terms of magnitude, however, but rather in the area of systems development. Careful management is – as in all businesses – vital for success in the recycling business, a sector where there are multitudinous variables, including the fact that: incoming material can vary hugely, in terms

Moulded Ideas proves local is lekker!

MOULDED Ideas of Honeydew, Johannesburg, has managed to fill a niche in the local market to manufacture injection moulds that would quite possibly have been imported from China or India before.

Owner Morné Steenkamp started Moulded Ideas as a design business, designing both products and moulds, and sub-contracted the steel cutting work out.

He then assembled the moulds as the various parts came in.

“The parts were contracted to any company that had machine time available.

Then more work started to come in and I couldn’t find enough people to do the work at the prices that I wanted to pay, so it was time to buy a machine,” said Steenkamp.

Moulded Ideas invested in a Haas TM2 cutting machine and employed its first staff ‘Bum Buddy’ – Designed as a refillable container that contains barrier cream and wipes for babies, the Bum Buddy makes nappychanging as simple as wipe, clean and cream

member, Ian Buckly, to help manufacture the moulds.

Soon after the purchase of the Haas unit, Moulded Ideas was offered a fantastic opportunity by Bennetts, a major brand of baby care products, to manufacture moulds for a product they had designed.

“The Chinese mould maker Bennetts first used could not successfully manufacture the mould and so they approached us. It was a challenging design, so we worked with Richard Carter from MDS in Cape Town, who helped us come up with some solutions in the form of hydraulics from Vega and a set of unilifters.”

Moulded Ideas successfully completed the order, using MDM Plastic Technology in Germiston for production.

Moulded Ideas has grown from strength to strength and regularly manufactures moulds for the construction, mining, closures, and agriculture and education sectors.

“To date all but one of our customers has ordered multiple moulds,” said Steenkamp.

“One customer in the rebar and construction industry has taken 13!”

Moulded Ideas designs and manufactures all moulds in-house using a combination

32 JUNE / JULY 2013

Ian Buckly and Morné Steenkamp of Moulded Ideas with a prototype of the award winning ‘Bennetts Bum Buddy’ part in the company’s toolroom in Honeydew, with various cutting tools used in the production of the complex mould

of Solidworks for CAD and ZW3D for CAM, and has 90 and 150 ton injection moulding machines for sampling all moulds in-house.

“We need to teach our customers that buying from the East is not always the best option – face-to-face relationships are sometimes worth more than the ‘saving’ China can offer,” added Steenkamp.

• MOULDED IDEAS, PHONE 011 794 5127

www.mouldedideas.co.za

of material type and quality; which directly creates sorting and then processing challenges (with their own cost implications); and the finally produced pellets have to come in at prices consistently below those of virgin material and at a standard that allows for easy reprocessing.

Proplas’ achievements include being among the first to switch its collectors from cash sales to account payment (which removed casual collectors from the scene, and also reduced the risk of robbery). It has also undertaken training of collectors, particularly as regards sorting, and provided granulators (on loan) for its collectors to shred on site, which has allowed collectors to carry more material per load (a saving in terms of both time and transport costs). Proplas only accepts material loads of over 500kgs from collectors, another factor which has to a large extent eliminated casual operators.

Highlights Among recent highlights for Proplas were its merger into the Lomold group in 2005. This gave it access to far larger premises and allowed Nield and his team to fully implement their sorting and processing systems.

Proplas is one of the only multi-material recyclers in South Africa: it reprocesses HD, PP and PET as well as polystyrene and expanded

One of Proplas’s successes was its development of a system to reprocess BOPP film scrap. It mixes the recycled BOPP into its PP output at an addition level of about 10%. The resulting PP has a low MFI of about 0.5 and is suitable for film extrusion applications.

PS and even acrylic. (It doesn’t run LD, a market which is already quite busy).

But the ‘flow’ it’s achieved has enabled Proplas to consistently turn over in excess of 600 tons of material a month, which is a significant volume in the local recycling sector.

According to Nield, although the recycling game is challenging, things have got easier in recent years.

“The machinery is much more efficient today. For example, our extruders now have double-vented barrels, which makes processing of printed films, with far greater quantities of inks, easier,” said Nield.

www.proplas.co.za

www.lomold.co.za

Nield’s strategy has also been to service fewer but larger customers – and to focus on delivering the best service possible to these businesses. Proplas operates a full lab and each shipment goes out with a data sheet giving MFI and other stats. With a guarantee of supply and quality of material provided, Proplas has developed customer loyalty around the region. It supplies customers across southern Africa, as far as northern Namibia.

Nield has been buoyed by the systems implemented and proud of the fact that he’s “never had to take a bag back”.

JUNE / JULY 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS

adapting pumping capacity Key is to adapt plant’s pumping capacity to that of production output WITH continual rising power costs it makes good sense to implement cost cutting measures in your production plant.

Numerous production facilities have cooling pumps running at full speed while plant capacity is running well below the maximum. By replacing conventional AC motor starter equipment on your cooling pumps with state-of-the-art Senlan SB 200 variable speed drives you will be able to ‘unlock’ significant power saving by adapting your pumping capacity to that of your plant’s production output.

Most production plant cooling and circulating pumps make use of centrifugal pumps. This type of pump consumes power by a factor or 3 to that of the flow rate required by the plant’s cooling network. This is known as the ‘Affinity Law’.

By making use of a pressure or temperature control system controlled by the variable speed drive using a PID (proportional-integral-derivative controller) control loop, it becomes possible to regulate the pump motor’s speed based on the actual pressure or temperature in the system versus that which you require. In other words, more machinery with higher flow demand, results in lower pressure thus requiring higher running speed with the opposite being true as well.

Case study For our case study, we will use an injection moulding plant that has 15 production machines each requiring 2000 litres per hour of cooling water JUNE / JULY 2013

No. of machines

kW/Hr w/o VSD

kW/Hr with VSD

kW/Hr Saving

Hours annually

Total kW/Hr Save

5 machines

3.65

2.45

1.20

1392

1670

10 machines

4.90

3.73

1.73

2880

4982

15 machines

6.00

6.00

0.00

3120

0

7392

6652

Total

Other than power savings, other savings such as lower maintenance costs will also be achieved.

CUT BACK ON RISING COOLING PLANT RUNNING COSTS.

CAN YOU AFFORD NOT TOO? Reduce plant electrical consumption by regulating cooling pump and cooling fan motor speeds in accordance with your plant needs Using the latest Variable Speed Drive technology along with pressure, temperature or flow PID control With more than 8 years experience in VSD pump and fan motor control, our company is perfectly geared to assist and evaluate possible saving in your cooling plant running costs

Pump & Fan Motor Control Specialists Don’t forget to visit us on stand P.... at the “Industrial Showcase Cape” expo between 3 - 5 July 2013 at CTICC

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during normal production.

The cooling system requires a minimum operating pressure of 4 Bar at the source. Production output changes throughout the year, with a minimum of five production machines working and at times up to a maximum of 15 machines being in operation.

For purposes of this exercise, we will provide figures based on: 5 machines operating for 58 days in the year; 10 machines operating for 120 days in the year; 15 machines operating for 130 days in the year From the table it can be noted that an annual saving of 6652 kW/Hr was calculated and based on a cost of R0.65 per kW/hr, this amounts to R4,323.80 annually.

Gator Products Energy Efficiency

AC Motor Control & Automation Products

Gator Products The supplier of the Senlan variable speed drives, Gator Products of Cape Town, has installed several hundred of the units on pumps with varying motor sizes from 0.75kW to 250kW with single as well as many multiple pumping installations running in both parallel and serial pumping formats. Gator has also developed in-house software to determine pump performance at differing speeds and to calculate estimated power savings that can be derived from such speed changes.

It is able to build electrical motor control panels incorporating the range of drives and ‘soft starters’ for practically any application and can custom design these panels according to client needs. www.gator.co.za

SPI makes big move ‌ and cuts power costs Team achieve better â€˜ďŹ‚ow’ at larger premises SPECIALISED Plastics Industries (SPI) of Cape Town has moved to bigger premises Charles Retief (centre) and SPI’s management team – Roy Retief and production manager Danie Maritz – at the company’s new premises in Capricorn Park, Cape Town; the far larger 2600m² ‌ and managed to cut power costs! production area is set on a 4800m² site SPI had effectively out-grown its premises in Retreat and, since it could no longer it has installed a series of variable speed drives that match production deliver the service which its expanding current demand, and only run at optimum when the plant is at full output. clientele required, was virtually obligated to move to the far Fundamentally, the improved plant layout also saves costs, with the larger 4800m² site at nearby Capricorn Business Park. Charles ow being a case of materials being ďŹ rst-in, followed by the successive Retief and his team put all the experience and technical steps of moulding, processing or assembly, printing and packing followed abilities assembled over more than three decades into the by storage or dispatch. operation.

But the SPI team has thrived in the move and now, in place of the Designing the ideal plant layout is the ultimate career cramped conditions they faced daily before, work in a far more spacious achievement for many of the individuals running manufacturing and ‘logical’ environment. businesses (it can literally be the difference between a Congratulations to Charles Retief and the SPI team! happy result and on-going frustration). Charles, one of the most analytical injection moulding specialists in the Western • SPI, PHONE 021 701 3521 Cape and a man who has not shied away from challenging convention or unproďŹ table strategies, has managed to implement a carefully planned strategy. www.specialisedplasticindustries.com SPI operates over 20 injection and blow machines and the JUNE / JULY 2013 ďŹ rst undertaking was to keep machines running during the move, in order to provide uninterrupted supply, so it had to operate both plants during the move. Most of the small and medium size machines were back in operation less than 24hrs after being moved.

SPI also operates Cape Mould Services, one of the top toolrooms in the Cape region, and all CMS’s tool manufacturing and design equipment went with, making the move an even more serious undertaking.

THIS IS WHAT THE ENERGY AND MATERIAL EFFICIENT PRODUCTION OF THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE Then, besides the big challenge of setting up a plant conďŹ guration where the â€˜ďŹ‚ow’ is efďŹ cient, the SPI team also The DESMA S3 generation now also available with the innovation ZeroWaste ITM for an article production without losses and other technical features setting standards: wanted to achieve a reduction in electricity usage and, particularly, better performance from its chillers. To this end, t &BTF PG PQFSBUJPO UISPVHI JOUVJUJWF t 4BGF GFFEJOH PG NBUFSJBM TUSJQT PG

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First-ever African summit on marine debris highlights need for collective action Promotes international co-learning, identifies areas for strengthening continental cooperation THERE is an urgent need for a collective action to be taken against the problem of marine debris around the coast of Africa.

That was the main and undeniable finding of the first African Marine Debris Summit, held from 6-8 June at the SA National Biodiversity Institute at Kirstenbosch.

The summit – entitled ‘African lessons to inspire local actions’ – focused on the issue of marine debris around the African continent. Plastics|SA hosted the event, joining hands with the Department of Environmental Affairs, the South African National Biodiversity Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in organising the conference which brought together marine debris researchers, natural resource managers, policy makers, industry representatives and the non-governmental community.

Plastics|SA, as co-signatory of the Honolulu Commitment with other international plastic associations, coordinated the event, with the support of UNEP, the Department of Environmental Affairs, hosting 120 delegates from various academic institutions, government departments, conservation and animal welfare organisations, media, plastics industry members and concerned citizens formed the Summit. Ten of the delegates were from African countries, (Kenya, Nigeria, Seychelles, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Namibia), and delegates from Europe and Australia attended too.

John Kieser, environmental manager for Plastics│SA and ‘organiser-in-chief’, said the summit was an enormous success: “It has served a platform for a formal network to

be managed by UNEP for African countries on an issue that does not receive the same attention as in the developed countries. The ills associated with a growing population and increasing economic growth will lead to an increase in marine litter from Africa.”

the impacts of marine debris and it also served as basis for the latest research projects, results, and methods. One outcome was adopting the monitoring method used by the CSIRO in Australia.

This will mean that, in due time, countries in Africa will be able to report on marine debris using the same methodology.

The summit also promoted international co-learning and identified possible areas for strengthening continental cooperation.

An area that received a lot of attention and which will serve as basis for future activities with other African countries was recycling initiatives in South Africa that can be ‘rolled out’ elsewhere on the continent.

“However, the ground-breaking outcome is the establishment of a Network for African Countries on Marine Debris which will be administered by UNEP and technologically supported by Plastics│SA and its partners,” said Kieser.

Plans are already afoot to promote and workshop the network at the Second Global Conference on Land-Ocean Connections to be held in Jamaica in October as it meets all the objectives of this conference.

“In short, Africa will start – although in a small way – the long path of the fight against marine debris and stop making plastics the pariah of the packaging industry,” Kieser added.

The goals of the Summit were met by: Lessons were shared on strategies and best practices to reduce and prevent

Marine debris has its origins in poor waste management According to Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy

‘80% of all plastics found in the sea have their origins on land, through littering and poor waste management’

Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics|SA welcomes Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs as keynote speaker

Chief organiser John Kieser, environmental manager for Plastics│SA, flanked by MariLise Franken (SANBI) and Monique Holtzhausen (Aim Marketing & Communications Consultants) – without who the summit would never have run so smoothly!

JUNE / JULY 2013

A rose among the thorns!

PlasticsSA’s Douw Steyn flanked by Marie-May Jeremie, Director of the Seychelles Ministry of Environment & Energy’s Environment Department (on the left) and Gladys Okemwa of Kenya’s Department of Fisheries

Waste-free oceans Luc Mellaerts of Waste-Free Oceans of Belgium outlined its plans to deal with scrap in the oceans. Working with the fishing and shipping/maritime and plastics industries, as well as NGOs and brand owners, it has come up with some potential solutions to capture floating marine debris. Its programme kicked off in June 2012 on the Danube River (since rivers are one of the main sources of marine litter) in Austria. It managed to get a number of sponsors, including Borealis group, and has since been working its way down the Danube, through the 14 countries it meanders en route to the Black Sea. As one can see, quantities of debris have been collected, and the first results of the project are still awaited. www.wastefreeoceans.eu

SA plastics industry signs declaration Hanekom signed the ‘Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter’ on behalf of South Africa’s plastics industry in 2011. This action plan described actions and identifies approximately 120 projects which focus on reducing the impact that the plastics industry has on the marine environment and pollution.

“Plastics│SA was the only African country to sign the Declaration and we made it one of our goals to encourage collective action across the continent,” said Hanekom said. “Hosting this Summit has allowed us to clearly identify the extent of the problem of plastics in the marine environment, and we are now able to work towards a sustainable solution.”

Effect on birds Dr Peter Ryan, an associate professor at UCT’s Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African

Dr Peter Ryan explained that marine litter is responsible for the deaths every year of millions of creatures that include seabirds like albatrosses, prions and petrels

Ornithology, highlighted the devastating impact on marine animals that ingest plastics, particularly birds, and the long-term concern about persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Ryan explained that marine litter is responsible for the deaths every year of millions of creatures that include seabirds like albatrosses, prions and petrels. Ryan studied the impacts of plastic ingestion on seabirds for his Master’s degree in the 1980s, and has started programmes to monitor the amount of marine litter around South Africa, which he continues to this day.

A particular problem is the ingestion of plastic fragments by seabirds either directly or indirectly through their prey: small filterfeeding fish that can’t distinguish plastic from the microscopic animals they normally feed on.

The plastic blocks and damages the birds’ digestive tracts, and accumulates in their stomachs, slowly killing them as they absorb less and less nutrients.

Dr Ryan also spoke about a project he has been involved with since 1994 to date in which specific 500m stretches of Koeberg and Milnerton beaches have been cleaned of marine litter daily. Since 1994 the amount of marine litter cleared from the beaches has tripled, with plastics making up the biggest portion of this, by far.

JUNE / JULY 2013

Table shows the estimated threefold increase in the number of litter items washing up on two Cape Town beaches from 1994 to 2012. Plastic is shown in grey, and is significantly more than other materials. Litter was collected at 500m stretches of the shore at Koeberg and Milnerton beaches. The fact that the incidence of litter was relatively lower at Koeberg, which is further from of Cape Town, suggests that a high percentage of the litter may have originated in the city RSEARCH BY A LAMPRECHT AND D SWANEPOEL, UCT

Micro plastics Prof Henk Bouwman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at North-West University explained that micro-plastics are any plastics broken down to <5-0.33mm. Three major sources of these micro plastics are: synthetic (abrasives, personal care, etc) fibres (synthetic textiles) breakdown (physical and biological).

POPs are chemical substances that are resistant to degradation and may therefore remain in the environment for long periods.

These substances are also capable of long range dispersion, and widely distributed Prof Henk Bouwman of the Department of Environmental Sciences at North-West University addressed the topic of micro plastics and persistent organic pollutants (POPS) – an issue that raised its head more than once during the two-day event. Prof Bouwman also sits on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

INDUSTRY NEWS

Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs in her opening speech, 80% of all plastics found in the sea have their origins on land through littering and poor waste management.

Marine debris is a historical problem that continues to grow. “The world’s oceans and waterways are constantly polluted with a wide variety of marine debris, ranging from cans, glass and plastics to derelict fishing gear and abandoned vessels. Many animals, such as sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals have been known to ingest and get entangled in marine debris, which may lead to loss of nutrition, internal injury, intestinal blockage, starvation and even death,” said Anton Hanekom, executive director of Plastics|SA. The extent of the problem of marine debris and its impact on sea mammals, fish and the environment was addressed from various angles by international experts on the topic. African countries in attendance at the conference included Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and the Seychelles, whilst Australia, Belgium and Germany also delivered presentations.

Artist’s impression of a concept to clean up midocean gyres, where large quantities of plastic scrap is pooled, such as in the Pacific and Atlantic

INDUSTRY NEWS

Persistent Organic Pollutants in May 1995.

This Convention is an international treaty aimed at the reduction and elimination of the 12 most harmful POPs, known as the ‘dirty dozen’.

As a party to the Convention, South Africa is legally obligated to abide by the objectives of the Stockholm Convention.

Dr Martin Engelmann said landfills are a major source of land-based marine litter and that PlasticsEurope has begun a ‘Zero Plastics to Landfill by 2020’ initiative to promote public policy which will “require many game-changing measures”

geographically, even in places where they have never been used or produced.

POPs bio-accumulate in the fatty tissues of organisms, and can ‘bio-magnify’ in food chains. POPs also cause adverse health effects in humans and animals.

These pollutants arouse global concern, and to curb the spreading of POPs, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated the Stockholm Convention on

PlasticsEurope Dr Martin Engelmann of PlasticsEurope provided some invaluable insights into our European colleagues’ initiatives to stem marine debris.

PlasticsEurope has developed close partnerships with sister associations that represent the European plastics manufacturing chain, which includes 50,000 converters and over 1,000 machinery manufacturers as well.

Dr Engelmann explained that building on previous efforts in individual regions, the organisations who signed the ‘Joint Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter’ are partnering with governments and NGOs to encourage recycling and discourage litter.

He said 58 plastics associations from 34 countries have committed to over 140 projects with the focus on:

raising awareness to prevent marine litter supporting research for solutions promoting public policy sharing best practices regarding waste management enhancing recycling and energy recovery of plastics steward plastic pellet containment Landfills are a major source of land-based marine litter and Dr Engelman says PlasticsEurope has begun a ‘Zero Plastics to Landfill by 2020’ initiative to promote public policy which will “require many gamechanging measures”.

“If we are to reach this goal it will mean preventing 80 million tons of plastic waste from going to landfill, the equivalent to over 1 billion barrels of oil or €78 billion,” Engelmann added.

To reach this goal various strategies will be used: EU-wide landfill ban/phase out for recyclable and highly combustable waste accelerating landfill taxes at national level best practice exchange in waste management

Plastic debris reaches Southern Ocean, previously thought to be pristine ‘Arrival’ of thousands of tiny fragments of plastic material suggests oceans are interlinked globally THE first traces of plastic debris have been found in what was thought to be the pristine environment of the Southern Ocean, according to a study released late last year by the French scientific research vessel Tara.

The finding comes following a twoand-a-half-year, 70,000-mile voyage by the schooner across the Atlantic, Pacific, Antarctic and Indian Oceans, to investigate marine ecosystems and biodiversity under climate change.

“We had always assumed that this was a pristine environment, very little touched by human beings,” said Chris Bowler,

scientific co-ordinator of Tara Oceans. “The fact that we found these plastics is a sign that the reach of human beings is truly planetary in scale.”

Samples taken from four different stations at locations in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica revealed traces of plastic at a measure of approximately 50,000 fragments per square kilometre – a rate comparable to the global average. While traces of plastic pollutants are customary in many of the world’s oceans, with the highest levels found in the North Atlantic and North Sea, researchers had anticipated rates in the Southern Ocean to be some 10 times Debris is washing up on remote islands in the Southern Ocean, in this case Inaccessible Island, which is 3000kms from mainland … although in this case the debris appears to include buoys and polystyrene trays, items used by fishing fleets

lower than the global average.

“Discovering plastic at these very high levels was completely unexpected because the Southern Ocean is relatively separated from the world’s other oceans and does not normally mix with them,” Bowler explained.

The microscopic fragments, invisible until accumulated in trawling nets, are the result of waste products such as plastic bags and bottles, degraded over years or decades by UV light and sea water. Tara researchers were also surprised to find that synthetic fibres, largely constituted by clothing from washing-machine residue, made up a significant portion of the plastic fragments.

Identifying the regional source of such general waste, which has made its way to the Southern Ocean over some half a century, remains more problematic. However, it is believed to originate from Africa, South America or Australia. www.guardian.co.uk

JUNE / JULY 2013

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Douglas Greig, SAPRO chairman, addressed the urgent need for the recycling of plastics. He emphasised the importance of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which aims at extending producers’ responsibility for their products to the post-consumer stage of their products’ life cycle. One of the outcomes of an effective EPR programme is to move waste management up the waste hierarchy away from final disposal in favour of recycling, minimisation and avoidance. “A total of 5,7m³ of landfill space is equal to 1 ton of recycled plastics. By recycling plastics, we managed to saved 1,4 million m³ of landfill space in 2011,” said Greig

Cheri Scholtz, CEO of PETCO, said the organisation was currently progressing with an initiative to look at the labelling of PET products which would better enable recycling success – similar to the American ‘How2Recycle’ label campaign Dr Engelmann discussed . She added that post-consumer plastic beverage bottle recycling volumes in South Africa grew by 18% year-on-year in 2012

‘How2Recycle’ label campaign

INDUSTRY NEWS

Engelmann also discussed how to enhance recycling and energy recovery of plastics, using the example of the American ‘How2Recycle’ label campaign (www.how2recycle.info). In 2012 the American Chemistry Council supported the non-profit GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) with the development of a ‘how2recycle’ label for packaging – which most consumers find easy to understand

www.plasticseurope.org

www.marinelittersolutions.com

Entanglement leads to high public emotions People involved in rescues render vital service, aid industry’s image THERE are few things that whip up public emotions more than marine creatures entangled in fishing nets, ropes, packaging strapping, bags or other marine debris … and rightly so: often they undergo extreme suffering and, in the majority of cases, pay the ultimate price.

Whales, seals, fish, dolphins, turtles and the like have been around for millions of years, but are incapable of handling the threat posed by manmade materials over the past few decades. The simple reality is that, with rare exceptions, victims will not get any aid from their fellows in the oceans out there.

Mike Meyer of the Department of Environmental Affairs (Marine & Coastal Mngt) is an expert at the rescue of whales and other marine animals from entanglement.

This is not a business for the faint-hearted.

First of all, whales are large, and secondly,

they don’t necessarily trust humans.

Mike said he and his team were involved in about 15 whale rescuers on the Cape coast on average annually. Estimates show that nearly a third of whales which strand are entangled, said Mike, whose work is vital in improving the image of the industry, the manufacturer of many of the components that cause the problems.

They are presently attempting to design ‘whale safe’ fishing gear, which is a complicated process involving the placement of nets and the use of sonar and mini buoys to alert marine life. Meyer represents the South Africa Whale Disentanglement Network, which is affiliated to the International Whale Commission.

Nick de Souza, director for programmes at the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) in Kenya, is involved in similar work off the coast

The rescuers – Appearances can be deceiving … these apparently mild-mannered gentlemen are in fact heroes who risk life and limb in their work rescuing marine creatures from entanglement, the bulk of which is plastic net, rope or fishing line, strapping or bags: Mike Meyer of Marine & Coastal Management in Cape Town and Nick de Souza of the World Society for the Protection of Animals in Kenya are involved in rescue work on an on-going basis JUNE / JULY 2013

www.iwc.int

The rescue of whales and other marine animals from entanglement is not a business for the faint-hearted. But, as Mike Meyer explained in his presentation at the Marine Debris Summit, the stressed cetaceans often sense the rescuers are trying to assist them. But the rescuers still need to take extreme caution to avoid being injured in the process themselves. Meyer represents the South Africa Whale Disentanglement Network, which is affiliated to the International Whale Commission

of east Africa, where large quantities of abandoned fishing netting and packaging materials likewise pose a problem to marine wildlife.

Real progress was made when the WSPA convened a global symposium in Florida in December last year at which over 60 experts met and began the process of identifying the major problems marine debris presents to animal welfare and finding animal-focussed solutions. www.wspa-international.org

INDUSTRY NEWS

Too much ink, too many different materials impede recycling IT TAKES a lot for Steve Cheetham to get mad, but on this occasion he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just mad â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he was furious. The subject of the Atlantic Plastic Recycling MDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rage, brand managers: he estimates there are over 4 000 of them around the country and they all want different things. And virtually none of their designs are suitable for recycling.

Basically, according to Steve, what brand owners and designers want â&#x20AC;&#x201C; lots of colour and print and features that subtly attract consumers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is often diametrically opposed to what recyclers want, which is less colour and print (less ink) and the use of single materials in products, or materials which can be easily separated.

After addressing the PETCO/PolyCo â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Design for Recyclingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; workshop in Cape Town recently, we asked him what the problems are: Why are the expectations of designers and recyclers clashing?

SC: Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too little knowledge among brand manager and designers of what happens to the packaging after a product has been used. There is basically no communication between the brand companies and recyclers. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also just too easy to say

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;recycleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and include a message to that effect on a pack, when the brand manager has no knowledge of how the recycling of the product will be achieved.

The brand owner and the convertor should consult more with the recycler about the recyclability of the packaging. This is where Polyco could play a big role.

Has the quality of material being received changed?

SC: Hugely! In the 1980s and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s, when plastic recycling started, most of the material processed was industrial scrap, which was relatively clean. The proportion of printed material was also less. Now over 60% of material being received by recyclers is printed - take a bread bag, about 20% of the mass of the bag is ink.

Steve Cheetham at the Atlantic Plastic Recycling plant in Beaconvale, Cape Town

have an organised system in place in which collected material is offered for sale on-line and recyclers can buy the material they can process and the material gets delivered. In SA transport has become a major cost for the recycler and this needs to be addressed.

To what extent is the increase in electricity cost affecting your business?

SC: Recycling uses about three times more electricity than the converting operaIs it feasible to recycle post-consumer tion does normally, because washing and material in South Africa? granulating/shredding use a lot of current.

SC: It is, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s becoming harder to operate Mechanical recycling is becoming less proďŹ tably. Input costs have gone up, and attractive. there is a big gap between the selling price of virgin and recycled pellet. â&#x20AC;˘ PHONE 0 21 933 3412 Would a formalized collection system assist recyclers? SC: Yes! In Austria they

www.atlanticplasticrecycling.co.za

JUNE / JULY 2013

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Student competition showcases

diverse & inspired design A POPULAR highlight of this year’s AfriMold show was the student design competition in which students were invited to design a compactor for the recovery of plastic waste in urban townships – in other words a plastic container crusher. Sponsored by the Plastics Institute of SA (PISA), the competition saw industrial design students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) displaying and presenting their design concepts. The designs were varied and inspired, and judging was a difficult task.

1st prize TUT

1st prize UJ

JUNE / JULY 2013

UJ’s 1st prize winner, Kirsty Keet. Her Snapp Bottle Crusher is about the balance between function and aesthetics. It attempts to fuse the utilitarian nature of a bottle crusher with sensitivity to the user’s visual and physical experience. Kirsty is pictured above with Bob Bond (Rapid Design Technology, TUT) and Belinda Booker (PETCO)

TUT 1st prize winners, Katlego Molete, Kelan Henshaw and Vusi Qwabe. Their ‘Dual Crusher’ improves and lightens the workload for the curb-side collector. The design crushes two bottles at the same time and can also be used to pull and push a trolley

Turkish compounder shows top application portfolio

Rained on, but unbowed

MANUCHAR group hosted a visit by representatives of its Turkish principal Alfa Plastik, a compounding business which specialises in engineering materials, in May. Turkey has become one of the most rapidly developing economies in the European zone, with an industrious polymer sector converting about 4.9 million tonnes a year – approximately three times the size of South Africa’s market.

The higher volumes have also seen an active engineering materials sector emerge.

Alfa general manager Ali Kesin gave presentations to PISA functions in Durban and Cape Town during which he showed examples of development work by Alfa for specialist applications as varied as automotive, E+E and home appliances.

Developing foreign markets, if you have the mindset and structures for that, is obviously a way of growing a business, and Alfa’s determination to do this was evident. Tailored grades are high-value materials and hence feasible for export, and the high development skills shown

by Ali and his colleagues suggests the Alfa materials won’t disappoint.

IT RAINED … and we got wet.

That sums up the 2013 PISA Western Cape mountain bike event. All had been fine in the days leading up to the day, and indeed that was the case in the days immediately following it, but that particular Saturday, and in fact the minutes immediately after the start of the ‘race,’ were characterised by one condition, namely precipitation.

www.alfaplastik.com.tr

Green and mean! – Competitors in the recent PISA Western Cape MTB event at Jonkershoek at Stellenbosch were upbeat … before the ride started

But the gang were unbowed: a fire was started and beverages provided and, heck, what’s a bit of rain anyway?

The event was kindly sponsored

by Idwala Sales & Distribution, whose Nina Dimitru was serene in the quagmire. Now, we hear, a follow up event is to be held in the summer where we may actually ride.

Mud wrestling? – Just exactly where had Colin Meyer of Tuffy gone in the few hours after departing from the race start?

Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA)

ASSOCIATION NEWS

CEO Delanie Bezuidenhout c. 082 444 6866 e. delanie@savinyls.co.za

SAVA joins PVC medical alliance One of only two associations worldwide that belong to the PVCMedAlliance SAVA has joined the PVCMedAlliance, an international PVC industry chain platform that raises awareness and promotes informed decisions about the use of PVC in healthcare delivery.

“More than 40% of all plastic based disposable medical devices used on hospitals are made from PVC”, explains SAVA CEO Delanie Bezuidenhout. “Vinyl is used extensively in the medical industry – ranging from use in blood bags, to tubing and artificial skin. It is also used for items such as flooring, cupboards, plumbing pipes, electrical wiring and bed coverings.

By adding plasticisers to vinyl, the product becomes soft and flexible which dramatically improves both safety and comfort and has been proven to reduce the risk of life-threatening and healthcare acquired infections”, she says.

The PVCMedAlliance is a global network of international manufacturers and players in the PVC industry and was launched in Brussels on 31 October 2012. SAVA was officially welcomed as member to the alliance by PVCMedAlliance spokesperson, Dr Brigitte Dero, this month, making it one of only two associations worldwide that

belong to the PVCMedAlliance.

“This is a significant milestone for vinyl in South Africa”, Delanie says. “Being part of the alliance will allow us to highlight the quality, safety and environmentally responsible uses of vinyl within the healthcare environment as well as to promote the research and development within the industry which will ultimately create even more uses for the material,” she adds.

The PVCMedAlliance has set itself the following objectives: To produce and promote relevant scientifically-based information on vinyl use in healthcare.

To provide a focal point for communication between regulators, the medical and healthcare community.

To empower PVCMed members with targeted and appropriate material and messages.

To promote partnerships with third parties to promote innovative, environmentally responsible practices with regards vinyl usage and management within healthcare industry.”

“Our membership will not only encourage dialogue within the industry, but will

RKM presentation outlines 100yr development of internal mixer GRAEME Rousseau of RKM Process Systems gave a presentation entitled ‘A 100-year Timeline of Developments in Internal Batch Mixers for Rubber’ to an IOM³ gathering in Port Elizabeth on 4 June.

The presentation began with a very brief look at some internal mixers produced during the period 1820-1900, even though most of these were not intended for mixing rubber, and highlighted the ever-increasing problems associated with mill mixing.

Graeme then concentrated on the era beginning with Fernley Banbury’s developments of the batch mixer, which he called the ‘early period’. This highlighted the importance of Banbury’s work and looked at some of his patents during the period 1916-1930.

The presentation then moved on to the ‘Modern period,’ in which he highlighted the major developments in mixer technologies since 1950 to the present date.

JUNE / JULY 2013

The presentation included an animated video of a 3-dimensional mixer model being ‘exploded’ to show its working parts, as well as this model conducting a batch mixing cycle. Graeme hoped that this would help the audience (some of whom are not familiar with these machines) to understand the basics of these mixers.

The evening was also sponsored by RKM. Graeme Rousseau of RKM was thanked for his interesting lecture by Barry Hutchinson the IOM³

Chairman Gary van Eck p. 011 552 6200 c. 082 882 3333 e. gary@sunace.co.za www.savinyls.co.za

also strengthen our voice as we educate the community and medical fraternity about the important role of vinyls in the medical industry. For the first time we are now granted access to a valuable repository of information and ground breaking research which we can share with experts around the world,” Delanie says. www.pvcmed.org www.savinyls.co.za

IOM KZN AGM and lecture evening THE KwaZulu-Natal Section of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining held their Annual General Meeting and Lecture evening on 28 February at the Victoria Country Club in Pietermaritzburg. The speaker for the evening was Grant Rosettenstein from West African Ventures and his topic was entitled ‘Natural Rubber - a Global Perspective’.

Putting natural rubber into perspective in these times is no easy task, but Grant put across an interesting and informative angle on the importance of natural rubber as an industrial raw material and its long-term sustainability and pricing.

New plantings, demand from China, the top producers efforts to stabilize output, the Euro-region uncertainty, the weather, automobile demand and the like were also discussed as factors affecting the pricing of natural rubber.

What we need, as is the case with any commodity is price stability but it seems volatility is unfortunately here to stay and a

Top local & international experts at Pipes VII conference THE South African Plastic Pipe Manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (SAPPMA) Pipes VII Conference will take place on 10 September at the Bytes Conference Centre in Midrand. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conference attracted almost 200 delegates Dr Roelof Botha â&#x20AC;&#x201C; top economist and comwho were keen to learn mentator on macro-ecomore about the local and nomics and recipient of international plastic pipe inFinmediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Economist dustry from the 11 local and of the Year Award â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is one of the keynote 4 international speakersâ&#x20AC;?, speakers at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s said Jan Venter, chairman of Pipe VII conference SAPPMA. The focus on this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conference will once again fall on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry, as well as looking at trends inďŹ&#x201A;uencing the direction the industry is taking on a local and global scale. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dr Roelof Botha â&#x20AC;&#x201C; top economist and commentator on macro-economics and recipient of Finmediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Economist of the Year Award - has been conďŹ rmed as one of the keynote speakersâ&#x20AC;?, Venter said.

As in the past, the 2013 Pipes VII conference will consist of two parallel sessions that run concurrently. â&#x20AC;˘ FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT LOUISE MĂ&#x153;LLER ON EMAIL AT ADMIN@SAPPMA.CO.ZA OR VISIT WWW.SAPPMA.CO.ZA

number of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;price positivesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;price negativesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; were put forward illustrating this clearly. All in all natural rubber remains a critical polymer and with some careful planning the vagaries of price volatility can be managed to have less impact on oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business The following members were elected onto the committee of the KwaZulu-Natal section of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining: â&#x20AC;˘ Jaco Smith (Carst and Walker) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; chairman â&#x20AC;˘ Andre Cornelius (Orchid Trading) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; committee member â&#x20AC;˘ Des Royappen (Aberdare Cables) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; committee member â&#x20AC;˘ Crighton du Preez (Anchor Chemical) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; committee member/IOMÂł national chairman The sponsor for the evening was West Africa Ventures.

Committee Members-Kwa Zulu Natal from L-R Andre, Crighton, Des and Jaco

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PEOPLE

Horst Sass created lasting legacy HORST Sass of Bowler Plastics, who ‘introduced’ many of the individuals who today are in top management positions in the industry around the country by employing them in their early years at companies he ran, passed away recently.

Originally from Namibia and destined to be a cattle farmer, Sass instead moved to the Cape and became involved in plastics manufacturing, and even for a period in machinery sales, in the 1960s. This led to his purchase of Trident Plastics in 1968.

The company at first operated just one blow moulding machine and a hand-operated injection machine, but it became a pioneer in the mass production of PVC containers and in due course a serious contender in the industry, particularly for Xactics group, which at that stage was the leader in the blow moulded container sector.

Sass sold Trident to the Kohler group in 1978 and become part of Kohler’s highly-motivated team. They introduced advanced mould-making technology, together with Nampak, for the dairy sector in 1982. He subsequently left the ‘corporate’ environment in 1984 and bought a major share in Bowler Metcalf (the company was started in 1972).

From then, Sass’s ‘third career’ in plastic packaging started: he became MD of Bowler in 1986 and was able to offer customers the things he considered important – innovation, quality and service delivery.

“I didn’t worry too much about price, because customers always want to pay too little! But I took pride in the fact that, while we were never the cheapest, we retained a rock-solid base of loyal, satisfied customers,” said Sass.

Horst Sass of Bowler Plastics was passionate about plastic packaging, and possibly even more passionate about the people employed at his companies

Bowler now operates plants in Johannesburg and Durban and two plants in Cape Town. Sass’s sons, Friedl and Bernd, are involved in the business, managing the Cape plants.

“I hope that the legacy I leave will act as an inspiration – not only for the people of Bowler Metcalf but also for all who are lucky enough to be involved in South Africa’s packaging industry,” Sass said when he received the Institute of Packaging’s ‘Packaging Achiever of the Year’ award in 2009. www.bowler.co.za

Painczyk set trend for technical product moulding THE industry in the Western Cape bade farewell to one of its doyens, Albi Painczyk, who passed away in June aged 89.

Painczyk was born, one of eight children, in Kolmanskop, the now-deserted diamond boom town on the Namibian coast, in 1924.

His father had arrived in the country in 1892 as part of a German contingent; his mother was from Kimberly. The family later moved to Cape Town where Albi was

involved in the establishment of ExactoCraft in 1948.

His brother Arthur joined him in the establishment of Exactocraft in a small room at the back of the family home, turning parts on a lathe. One of the first devices built was a foot pedal operated cutter of detonator fuse cord to be used by a pyrotechnical industry. They needed a material that was safe – with no risk of sparks – and were offered some plastic rods from Holland which the importer could not get anybody to even look at. They were in fact working with nylon. Many engineering works at the time considered the material to be rubbish, but

“for us it solved problems,” said Albi.

Their journey into technical injection moulding had started, and the basis for their business was mostly to solve customer problems.

With success came growth: ExactoCraft moved to new premises, first in the city and later, in 1959, to Paardeneiland, where the company still operates from.

It significantly expanded its injection moulding fleet. ExactoCraft has become well-known for its Tiltrak® vertical blind system, conveyor bearings for the materials handling and mining sectors as well as a wide variety of technical components.

Principle wins VWSA supplier prize

JUNE / JULY 2013

Uitenhage firm now headed for group awards in Germany PRINCIPLE Plastics of Port Elizabeth was South Africa’s only representative at Volkswagen group’s global supplier awards event in Dresden, Germany, in June.

“The company was established in 2004 and it is great for us to win awards at

this early stage,” said Principle technical director Bob White.

In the VWSA programme, suppliers were rated by the key divisions they interacted with on a number of criteria, including quality, competitiveness, schedule adherence and attitude. The

supplier with the highest overall score was declared the winner.

VWSA managing director Dave Powels said the group and its suppliers had contributed over R1.7-billion in the development of local parts content over the past year.

The Volkswagen Group invited its 21 best suppliers worldwide to Dresden in Germany where they were awarded the ‘Volkswagen Group Award 2013’. Niko White of Principle Plastics is pictured in the middle row, behind the 4th person from the left in the front.

www.principleplastics.co.za

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

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Packaging

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Compounding Service

Experience PR E MI E R P OL YM ER SOL UTION S with 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.

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PEOPLE

Chris Oberem re-joins Demaplastech Chris Oberem has re-joined Demaplastech Machinery in Johannesburg. Chris, pictured here with Demaplastech MD Jacques Kleynhans, started his plastics career as an application engineer with DEMAG Ergotech Germany in the 1990s and has over 15 years’ experience in the plastics industry. At Demaplastech he is heading up sales of Sumitomo Demag injection moulding machines and related equipment. He had left the company six years ago and worked as a sales engineer for a number of other equipment supply companies, but is now glad to be ‘back home’.

Plastomark ‘5th major’ winners The ‘threeball’ of Don Searle of Sagercy group, Martie Becker of Schaldor and Martin Wells of Summit Publishing were the surprising but convincing winners of the Plastomark golf day in May. The event was hosted at the impressive River Club course in Bryanston, where the now semi-retired Don is a member. So that may have been a bit of an advantage, but as the saying goes, you still have to get the ball in the hole. Martie of Boksburg-based blow moulding business Schaldor was in fabulous form on the day and also won the individual prize for lowest score. The publisher was however virtually an observer in the process (mainly from the ‘sukkelveld’) as the in-form Don and Martie scorched around the course. Here we see the trio with Greta Croll and Wolfgang Raffalsky of Plastomark Closest to pin – Just how close is close? Nick Duarte hit the shot of his life to win the closest-to-the-pin prize at the 17th at River Club. And, even more satisfying for the BIC engineering manager, he sunk the put for the birdie. What a shot, well done!

JUNE / JULY 2013

Dave Moore: 083 675 8325 Email: mouldbasesa@gmail.com OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR FOR: LKM Wide range of mould bases and mould components in stock for immediate delivery Yoke Industrial Specialised lifting points for the moulding industry Suresee Vision systems for mould inspection and protection Forwell Tech Hydraulic quick mould change system Maxmagnet Magnetic platens Topstar Ancillaries for the injection moulding industry including robots, loaders, dryers, mould temp controllers, centralised material feed systems and more. Stock arriving in the last week of July.

Dave Moore: 083 675 8325 | Fax: 086 540 0908 | Email: mouldbasesa@gmail.com | Physical address: Unit 12 Oldfield Business Park, Haworth Road, Mkondeni, Pietermaritzburg | KZN, Eastern & Western Cape – Garth Maccallum: 074 589 3357 or sales@mouldbasesa.co.za Official South African Representative for the LUNG KEE GROUP

www.mouldbasesa.co.za

Visit our stand for the latest equipment Hall 15 Stand D22

Objet Eden Family

Objet Desktop Family

Hall 2 Stand G23

Sumitoma Demag will be exhibiting at the K, 16-23 October 2013 in Düsseldorf, Germany, Hall 15 Stand D22, the world’s premier trade fair in plastics and rubbers. Demaplastech’s, Jacques Kleynhans, a veteran in the South African plastic industry will be at their stand to show you what’s new and exciting!

Demaplastech also represents Stratasys in South Africa, an all rounded 3D printing machine supplier, exhibiting in Hall 2 Stand G23. Have a look at this exciting technology.

TEL: +27 (0) 11 462 2990

SOLUTION

FAX: +27 (0) 11 462 8229

MACHINERY (PTY) LTD

e-mail: jacques@demaplastech.co.za

PRODUCTS

LNP compound enhances

durability of rebreather The main advantages of the …

PHOTO: KEN STRICKLAND

RESCUE and HAZMAT workers, fire-fighters and miners depend upon self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) when working in extremely hazardous environments. So when Biomarine, a SCBA manufacturer based in Exton, USA, needed to improve the impact strength and ability to dissipate static electricity for the external housing of its BioPak 240R Revolution rebreather, it turned to SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business.

SABIC recommended replacing the existing polycarbonate-based compound with LNP Faradex™ compound – which leverages proprietary Lexan EXL copolymer technology and features electrically conductive stainless steel fibres. The result is a tougher apparatus housing with excellent electrostatic dissipation (ESD) and enhanced aesthetics.

SABIC’s experts provided a solution in that the base copolymer in the Faradex compound provides 25% higher impact resistance than PC alone, and is compounded in such a way to support superior electrostatic dissipation performance.

Car seat of the future THE best design concept for car seats from the competition titled “sit down. move.” was presented by BASF recently at the Geneva International Motor Show. Renowned industrial and automotive designers Konstantin Grcic, Ken Kiyoyuki Okuyama and Dave Lyon, together with three BASF members of the jury, evaluated more than 170 entries from 33 countries. The global winner was Song Wei Teo of the University of Coventry in the UK with an extraordinary design of a car seat made in just a single piece using lightweight materials. The competition is a joint project of BASF’s global seat competence team together with the designfabrik®, which assists designers in selecting materials, colours and surfaces as well as in constructing innovative products. The assortment of available materials includes not only thermoplastics such as Ultramid® (PA), thermoplastic polyurethanes such as Elastollan®, foams based on expanded polypropylene (Neopolen®) and aromatic polyurethane (Elastoflex® W), but also the transfer coating technology Steron®, binders for natural fibres (Acrodur®) and Catamold®, BASF’s powder injection technology. www.basf.com www.designfabrik.basf.com/sitdownmove JUNE / JULY 2013

ESD capability is important for rebreathers because it provides a grounding path for any static charge that can build up in a plastic resin, causing potentially deadly sparks. Faradex compound incorporates conductive stainless steel fibres throughout its base material to help dissipate static charges.

Because the conductive property permeates the entire part, it helps to provide consistent protection, as the conductivity cannot be disrupted by surface scratches or nicks. As the base material, Lexan EXL copolymer offers superior impact and low temperature ductility, as well as enhanced processability, compared to standard PC grades.

Pre-coloured Another key attribute of LNP Faradex compound is its ability to be pre-coloured, avoiding the need for secondary painting.

This material is also ideal for electromagnetic interference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) shielding applications

The BioPak 240R Revolution ‘rebreather’ in which the existing polycarbonate-based compound was replaced with SABIC’s LNP Faradex™ compound – which leverages proprietary Lexan EXL copolymer technology and features electrically conductive stainless steel fibres

such as consumer and defense electronics, healthcare and industrial equipment and telecommunications hardware.

The Biomarine BioPak240R Revolution is the most highly advanced, easiest-to-use fourhour rebreather ever offered. With six litres of tidal volume, it delivers the lowest resistance breathing of any rebreather available. A revo-

lutionary, Solid Core Scrubber® carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubber design eliminates the need to measure and refill CO2 absorbent and the potential for refilling errors. www.sabic-ip.com www.biopak240r.com

Confectionary innovation

KZPT uses the transparent and highly heat-resistant polycarbonate Apec® FR 1892 from Bayer MaterialScience for the visors of its fire helmets.

For good reason: Thanks to its outstanding properties, the hightech plastic reliably protects firefighters’ faces and eyes against flames, heat and flying debris. Premium helmets, such as the KZPT Calisia Vulcan, are even equipped with two visors made of Apec® FR 1892 and thus provide even greater protection. The outer visor is coated with vaporized metal and reflects the heat more strongly than the simple variant. KZPT uses the injection moulding process at its site in Kalisz, Poland, to produce visors used primarily by firefighters in eastern European countries and the Middle East. www.materialscience.bayer.com www.kzpt.pl

CASALI Coconuts are an alcohol-free option to traditional Rum-Kokos. With this product innovation, the Austrian confectionary manufacturer, Manner, is filling a market niche. An elegant and functional 160g pot made

by Greiner Packaging International provides the packaging for this Caribbean-like snack pleasure on the go. In comparison with the existing plastic bag, the stylish contour-shaped cup performs much better with obvious handling benefits: The material is virtually unbreakable and the lid fits tightly, providing for optimum product protection and reliable reclosability. Greiner Packaging International manufactures the cup from PP with a diameter of 95mm. It is decorated by sleeving. The lid is thermoformed from transparent PET foil, and decorated with a label. The cup holds 160 grams – shaped for precisely 34 Casali Coconuts. www.casali.at

www.greiner-gpi.com

JUNE / JULY 2013

PRODUCTS

firefighter safety

in convenience packaging

(PHOTO: GREINER PACKAGING INTERNATIONAL)

Bayer PC improves

PRODUCTS

STIRLING extends range of automotive accessories Newly designed plastic mirror backs designed for all dimensions

RTP helps with success

PRODUCTS

of catheter project WHEN Plásticos y Materias Primas (PyMPSA), a Mexican manufacturer of medical devices and components, wanted to develop a new catheter for epidural anesthesia, it specified a biocompatible nylon material that was radiopaque so it could be readily observed during x-ray imaging to ensure proper placement. Searching for a new supplier, PyMPSA turned to custom compounder RTP Company who developed a custom material for the application. The PyMPSA team met with representatives of RTP Company and was impressed with the response they received. RTP Company developed a custom material for the application and backed it up with technical support.

RTP Company developed a custom RTP 2900 Series polyether-blockamide thermoplastic elastomer (PEBA) compound for the catheter that included radio pacifiers and passed ISO 10993 biocompatibility testing conducted

by PyMPSA. It solved the air bubble problem, leading to the successful development of the new SET ESPICAT catheter. The success of the catheter project has led to PyMPSA working with RTP Company on producing the catheter in several different colours to help medical and manufacturing personnel quickly identify different diameter versions. www.rtpcompany.com

JUNE / JULY 2013

STIRLING Accessories has extended its range of automotive accessories to include newly designed plastic mirror backs.

The recently launched M3000C Class II external side mirror has been designed and manufactured to allow for mirror glass curvatures ranging from 1 400mm to 2 000mm.

A key factor is the mirror back can be used on mirror arms with diameter from 16mm to 28mm.

“These new backs are designed to accommodate Stirling Accessories has extended its range of automotive all dimensions required by accessories to include newly designed plastic mirror backs vehicle manufacturers and are fully compatible with existing mirror arms,” says Keith Russon, CEO, Stirling Accessories. “We anticipate that curvatures of glass will be reduced to an even smaller radius in future, to accommodate a wider field of vision for enhanced safety.

“Key advantages of these newly designed plastic backs over the previous model design include enhanced aesthetics, extended life, shape and colour retention, as well as impact and corrosion resistance.”

These new components, which are designed and manufactured by Stirling Accessories in KwaZulu-Natal, encompass locally sourced materials. www.stirlingaccessories.co.za

New look for Tuffy’s

100% recycled refuse bags TUFFY Brands, pioneers in 100% recycled refuse bags, has introduced new packaging for its refuse bag range with a refreshed look, striking visual appearance and a consumerfriendly infographic to explain ‘What’s in the bag’. “It is important that our claim of being 100% certified recycled is clearly stated on the packaging, so that consumers can make conscious decisions on their purchase,” says Rory Murray, marketing director at Tuffy Brands.

Tuffy has included an easy to understand infographic for the consumer on the pack. “A lot of confusion exists as to what the difference

between ‘recycled’ and ‘recyclable’ mean,” says Rory. “The inclusion of this infographic ensures that this is explained clearly thereby influencing responsible in-store purchasing decisions and effectively transference of the message that we are the SA manufacturer of 100% certified recycled refuse bag with product also being fully recyclable.” Tuffy’s refuse bag is the first in SA to use the format of a reverse print, BOPP flowrap, according to Murray.

www.tuffy.co.za

MATERIALS

Production of composite parts

in automotive industry Complex geometries that are extremely stable, very light THANKS to its intensive research and development work, Hennecke GmbH has become a leading supplier of PU processing technology, one of which, PUR-CSM technology, is indispensable for an efficient coating process in the production of composite parts.

THE use of fibre composites often starts when the characteristics of other materials no longer meet the customer’s requirements. In the manufacture of car load floors, the specific properties of light composites combined with a polyurethane matrix completely meet the mark: complex geometries that are extremely stable and very light.

The ‘know-how’ in the production process of composite parts is focused on the PU application. For an efficient coating process, PUR-CSM technology is indispensable.

The advantages are the very even and reproducible distribution of the polyurethane and the fibres, which, among

High-quality trunk load floor with minimized warpage and low weight

other things, has a significant effect on the warpage behaviour and contributes to reducing the required amount of material and thus the weight of the component.

CSM spray technology is used to wet the semi-finished fibre products on one or both sides with a thermally activated PU system. This enables the processor to go on spraying for a comparatively long and open amount of time. The focused output in certain areas of the components (edges or areas where force is applied) makes it considerably easier to manufacture very large parts or use moulds with two or three cavities.

The composite is pressed into shape to form the final product. Because one CSM spray unit can serve up to three mould carriers depending on the plant configuration, the use of PUR-CSM enables the manufacture of up to 2,000 parts per day.

• HENNECKE IS REPRESENTED IN SA BY GREENACRES HOLDINGS WWW.GREENCORP.CO.ZA

www.hennecke.com

From films to trays and tubes New variants of the compostable plastic ecovio BASF has added variants to its range of the compostable and partially bio-based plastic ecovio® with ecovio T2308 for thermoforming and ecovio IS1335 for injection moulding.

Thermoformed trays and cups can be made with ecovio T2308. This plastic exhibits similar mechanical properties to those of amorphous PET, but it differs from this conventional thermoforming material by virtue of its compostability and its high content of renewable resources (polylactic acid). The content of ecoflex®, which is BASF’s compostable polyester, accounts for the fact that the material is not too stiff or too brittle. As a result, thermoformed trays and cups are not damaged during transportation and storage. The ecoflex component also ensures a balanced stiffness-to-strength ratio and sufficient low-temperature impact strength.

JUNE / JULY 2013

The processing window for ecovio T, between 80°C and 120°C, is very broad in comparison to other plastics. Processing can be carried out on conventional flat-film installations and at the processing speeds that are typical for thermoforming. Like all ecovio grades, it also complies with the stipulations for products that come into contact with food. The material is translucent and can be adequately sealed with cover films.

The injection-moulding grade ecovio IS1335 also offers good stiffness. It can be processed using single-cavity or multicavity moulds that are equipped with or without hot runners. This material exhibits moderate flowing characteristics and is dimensionally stable under heat up to 55°C. This variant lends itself for thin-walled,

BASF has added two new variants to its range of the compostable and partially bio-based plastic ecovio®. The ecovio T2308 grade is for thermoforming, the ecovio IS1335 grade for injection moulding

complex and high-quality packaging, which should preferably be manufactured by injection moulding and should be compostable.

The product can also be decorated using in-mould labelling. www.ecovio.com

uppe marketing A08645

We create chemistry that makes plastic love colour.

Colourants for plastics.

Welcome to an advanced world of colour.

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MATERIALS

High purity medical elastomers for wire & cable Withstand rigours of clinical use, practical alternative to PVC THREE new thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) wire and cable compounds from Teknor Apex Company combine the rubber-like durability and flexibility valued by hospital and clinical professionals and the high degree of purity required for meeting stringent medical standards.

Medalist® 8421, 8431, and 8451 elastomers can be used for insulation, jacketing, and moulded fittings and connectors. They have Shore A hardness levels of 92, 69, and 82, respectively, a flammability classification of HB (UL-94), and a maximum continuous operating temperature rating of 105 ºC (UL-1581). The three compounds retain high levels of tensile strength, tensile modulus, and elongation after autoclave,

Medalist® 8421, 8431, and 8451 elastomers can be used for insulation, jacketing, and moulded fittings and connectors

gamma irradiation, and EtO sterilization.

They are resistant to the cleaning solutions commonly used in medical facilities.

The new Medalist elastomers for wire and cable provide rubber-like toughness and elasticity and, unlike rubber, are readily recycled. As alternatives to PVC, Medalist compounds exhibit practical handling

advantages in surgical or clinical settings, including superior ‘drapability’ for reduced cable clutter, better elastic memory in coil cords, and a softer, more supple feel. www.teknorapex.com www.advancedpolymers.co.za

First polyamide 6 powder for laser sintering SOLVAY’S Engineering Plastics business unit has launched Sinterline™, the first range of PA6 powders developed specifically for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS*). This additive layer manufacturing technology allows the rapid creation of complex parts.

“Laser sintered parts manufactured using Sinterline display a thermal resistance and stiffness similar to those injection-moulded in polyamide 6,” explains Ralph Rissé, business

development manager for Solvay’s Engineering Plastics business unit. “This innovation extends the limits of rapid manufacturing enabling cost-effective production of functional prototypes and small series components.”

Solution F/E2R, a leading company specializing in engineering and rapid prototyping techniques for recreational vehicles and aerospace applications, has manufactured parts such as air-intake ducts and brake fluid tanks which highlight

the inherent qualities of Sinterline.

Other parts are being developed to equip the cockpit of the Solar Impulse, the pioneering solar powered plane for which Solvay is the first main partner. *Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing process that uses a high power laser to fuse plastic or metal powders to obtain three-dimensional shapes

www.solvay.com

Inlet manifold

Admission pipe

JUNE / JULY 2013

Oil pan

ecoSTAB

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LEAD-FREE STABILISERS Tomorrow’s PVC Solutions Today from Sun Ace

COMPOSITES

Aerontec wins DIAB agency The sandwich composite elements of the new Triangeln station in Malmo, Sweden, were based on Divinycell P, DIAB’s recyclable, thermoplastic foam.

By combining sandwich composites, glass and steel, the architects have created two self-supporting entrances to the station that maximize natural light and create space. To achieve the complexity geometry and the +/- 0.5 mm tolerances that were required, the core was accurately machined to shape using a three axis CNC milling machine. Reinforcements were then applied directly to the core thereby eliminating the need for moulds

AERONTEC, Cape-Town based supplier and distributor of composite materials and related technologies, has taken on two new agencies recently – DIAB/Divinycell foams and bigHead fasteners. DIAB provides a wide range of core materials for use in sandwich composites, all of which Aerontec now stock.

Swedish company DIAB has been at the leading edge of composite core material development for over 50 years, supplying a wide range of markets, including marine, wind energy, transportation, aerospace and industry.

DIAB’s Core Infusion™ brings together all the benefits of sandwich composites with the processing, performance and health and safety advantages of closed moulding.

Compared to open moulding, DIAB Core Infusion can reduce styrene emissions by up to 90%. The process can also cut mould cycle times by up to 50% and labour costs by 30%.

With the DIAB system the specially grooved core not only enhances the structural performance of the composite component, but also acts as the resin transfer medium. By eliminating the need for distribution mats or nets, the cost of consumables and waste is significantly reduced. The grooved DIAB infusion core also offers significantly higher flow rates than other distribution methods. This enables the production of ultra-large com-

ponents in a single shot and minimises the number of resin feeder lines.

Wide range of core materials Divinycell Matrix provides superior strength to weight and is used in multiple industries, including wind and marine. The Matrix series is the latest addition to the Divinycell family and is a structural, all-purpose grade delivering relevant mechanical properties at the lowest possible weight.

Divinycell H and HP display excellent performance over time and are structural, all-purpose grades with good strengthto-weight performance. Divinycell H is compatible with most wet resin systems, while Divinycell HP is a high-temperature resistant and suitable for most pre-pregs.

With its low thermal conductivity, Divinycell H is especially suitable as insulation for low and cryogenic temperatures. Resistance to hydrocarbons makes it the perfect material for LNG storage insulation.

Divinycell P is a recyclable, structural core PET used in the transportation, construction and wind industries. It also has excellent fire, smoke and toxicity performance and is ideal for high-temperature processes.

Divinycell HT is a high temperature resistant core suitable for pre-preg processing as well as wet resin systems and infusion and is commonly used in private aircraft.

Divinycell HCP has been developed for various types of subsea applications from

sea level to 700m depth and has very low buoyancy loss and water absorption under long-term loading conditions.

Syntactic foams provide unique mechanical properties, including high compressive strength, high buoyancy per kilogram and low water absorption, making them ideal for a wide range of subsea application from 700m to 10 000m requiring long-term high performance.

ProBalsa is used in wind and marine applications in combination with foam. It’s an organic core material with exceptional compressive strength and can be used in a wide range of application. It can also be combined with polymer core materials.

Aerontec takes on bigHead fasteners Aerontec have also acquired the agency for UK company bigHead. For over 40 years bigHead has made automotive fasteners, marine fasteners, construction fasteners, panel fasteners, composite fasteners and special fasteners. These fasteners all share the original bigHead design: a flat perforated head which locks the product securely into position and spreads the load, is welded to a wide choice of studs, nuts, collars, pins and other fixings to offer versatility. www.bighead.co.uk www.diabgroup.com JUNE / JULY 2013

Wind farms: Cennergi conducts Africa’s first acoustic simulation tests

COMPOSITES

Cooperation with local communities is key to success of wind energy projects CENNERGI may be considered the new ‘cleaner energy’ kid on the block, but this hasn’t stopped them from striving to do things differently in the energy sector.

In line with its community-centred approach, Cennergi recently did a series of site noise simulation tests at the Wittekleibosch community in the southern Cape to determine the noise impact of its 31 wind turbines that will be installed at the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm Project in the third quarter of this year.

This is the first site acoustic simulation test of its kind to be performed in South Africa and on the African continent.

The wind farm is being developed in partnership with Watt Energy, a local energy development company which initiated the project, and the Tsitsikamma Development Trust, who are the landowners of the farms on which the wind farm is being developed. Cennergi owns 75% of the project, with the other two project partners owning the remaining 25%.

The noise simulation tests, which took place over four nights during December

at the Wittekleibosch community and surrounding areas, simulated the sound of a wind energy facility using speakers and a wind turbine sound clip.

“The test was a very successful simulation of the potential sounds from wind turbines at the levels that the community may experience during certain conditions. The testing assisted in giving the community an idea of the magnitude of expected noise levels,” said Morne de Jager of M2 Environmental Connections, the company that was responsible for doing the acoustic simulation on behalf of Cennergi.

The noise or sound power level experienced by the community is similar to sitting at a desk with a PC approximately one metre from your ear, at night, with no other noises around you.

Wind turbine noise simulation – How speakers placed on the ground can in any way compare to sound generated by elevated wind turbines is anybody’s guess, but at least Cennergi showed that they care about the well-being of people living near to where their wind turbines are to be erected

Through surveys, the community indicated they were happy with the outcomes of the test. A number of community members mentioned that the sounds were similar to traffic on the N2 road, located about 1750m from the community.

The Tsitsikamma Wind Farm Project has been structured to include 9% community ownership, which will see the community earning dividends from the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm profits in the years to come. In addition, the project has a strong localisation focus, meaning that many of the contractors working on the project will be sourced from Wittekleibosch and surrounding communities. www.cennergi.com

EU funding to create

cost-efficient, lightweight and recyclable blades Introduction of thermoplastic composite materials into wind blades SMITHERS Rapra, a subsidiary of the USbased independent testing, consulting and contract research organisation, The Smithers Group, has joined an eleven-strong consortium that has secured €3,964,797 of EU funding to create cost-efficient, lightweight and recyclable blades for the wind energy industry.

The four-year project, called WALiD (Wind Blade Using Cost-Effective Advanced Composite Light-Weight Design), is part-funded by the European Commission and proposes to combine process, material and design innovations in an integrated ap JUNE / JULY 2013

proach. Its key innovation is the introduction of thermoplastic composite materials and processes into wind blade for large offshore wind turbine installations. These materials will replace thermoset-based materials in the root, tip, shell core and shear web which leads to: New designs of blade root, connection concepts and tips leading to substantial weight saving Replacement of the shell core with thermoplastic foams to enable faster processing via automated processes Improved design of the shear web lead-

ing to further weight saving Development of fibre-reinforced thermoplastic coating with enhanced durability It is expected that the technology developed within the WALiD project will lead to the production of highly durable blades that are able to withstand challenging environmental offshore conditions. www.eu-walid.com www.smithersrapra.com

- passionate about the plastic industry.

German engineering making the difference Latest Addition to the F-Series featuring a cube mould!

An ingenious twist top made from two components on a F 270 CUBE

Second generation on the all-electric ELECTRON series!

ELECTRON 50 featuring a new design and all-new control panel making silicone pacifiers Tel: +27 11 824 3103 - Fax: +27 11 824 6018 email: sales@sescc.co.za - www.sescc.co.za Unit 1, 16 Davidson Place, Wadeville, 1428

JEC Europe 2013:

New PET foam for rotor blades Efficient and versatile processing construction sectors.

At the show BASF presented a crosssection of a wind turbine rotor blade that was manufactured using the wide range of BASF products available for rotor blade production: The glass fibres are embedded in a Baxxodur®epoxy resin system, the Kerdyn structural foam provides stability, the paint finish is based on a RELEST®gelcoat system and the semistructural Elastan® polyurethane adhesive also comes from the BASF product line.

www.basf.co.za www.basf.com

Automotive technologies FUTURE Fibres and partner Persico S.p.A. combined their respective expertise in advanced composite fibres and precision tooling to produce prototypes of the carbon composite tub for a new racing roadster, codenamed RP-one. On show at this year’s JEC Europe in Paris, this stunning, road-legal British sports car from RPx Automotive, which will go into production in December 2013, is part of a new generation of performance vehicles based on light weight rather than engine power. The RP-one accentuates the versatility of Future Fibres and its continued success in extending beyond high-end rigging and spars into other major non-marine markets. Future Fibres’

carbon fibre composite technologies are used to create the custom-designed, exposed tub of the RP-one, which not only provides class-leading vehicle stiffness but also is a key styling feature. Thanks to an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, the carbon fibre composite used in the tub weighs only 35kg and makes a major contribution to the light weight of the RP-one – a mere 480kg. The complete tub structure, which integrates the dashboard and tub cards, weighs less than 55kg. The lighter weight and rigidity of automotive structures made from this advanced material mean high performance can co-exist with environmental goals.

www.futurefibres.com, www.persico.com, www.rpxautomotive.com

Cumulative Returns: about €769 million for the exhibitors’ platform THE mark of success of a trade show is its ability to bring markets, products and people together in an efficient and highly professional manner.

Considering the satisfaction of all professionals during JEC Europe 2013, JEC Europe 2013 closed its doors on the evening of Thursday March 14 with a very good return.

And with a new record: a snowstorm in the North of France which is rare in spring!

Based on the collected data, the cumulative returns from the trade show for all exhibitors may be estimated at around €769 million.

JEC Europe 2013 covered the sector’s major topics: mass production, thermoplastics, smart composites with embedded sensors, new applications, the environment, and recycling.

This year, the automotive supply chain was front and centre! There were numerous demonstrations that suppliers are perfectly able to keep up with the output demanded by the automotive industry, and 70% of the parts shown in the exhibit area were related to automotive transportation.

Given the demand and the fact that JEC Europe already entirely fills Hall 1, JEC Group has decided to increase the surface area of the trade show significantly for 2014. So next year, JEC Europe will take place in halls with a total surface area of 54,000m2 – equivalent to eight World Cup soccer fields!

It is estimated that the composites market will grow at an average annual global rate of 6%, to reach a value of about €90 billion and a volume of 10 million tons by 2015 (compared to €80 billion and 9.2 million tons in 2012).

JUNE / JULY 2013

COMPOSITES

BASF showcased a PET-based foam as well as new epoxy and PU systems that can be used to produce composite parts by means of Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) processes at this year’s JEC Composites Show in Paris.

The new structural foam based on PET, called Kerdyn®, is a high-performance foam supplied in panels that is used inside rotor blades, providing additional stability. With its ability to withstand very high temperatures and chemicals, Kerdyn is extremely well-suited for use in composites. As part of the spectrum of lightweighting materials for composites, high-quality PET foam panels are also in demand in the transportation, marine, and building/

High return & spectacular glimpse at innovations

Composites Evolution launch

low cost jute fibre reinforcements Price rivals glass fibre

Composite piano tips the scales

ONE of the more tuneful exhibits striking a chord during this year’s JEC Europe 2013 was a carbon fibre composite construction prototype piano designed and built by a collaboration of five companies that not only tested the boundaries of composite design, but worked together to become a part of the first major piano conceptual design change for well over a century.

The partnership of Simpact Engineering, Creactive Design, Saati and Retrac Composites developed the innovative design concept proposed by Hurstwood Farm Piano Studios. Carbon fibre was used to construct the piano because of the properties of weight, performance and sound quality, and stability.

Split mould tools were manufactured from handcrafted patterns to form the larger sections of the piano’s design, and once delivered, Retrac Composites set about the production of the prototype components.

The aim of the partnership’s research was threefold. Firstly, to explore the possibilities of improved acoustic performance if a piano was constructed of a material of high stiffness to density ratio such as carbon fibre. The second aim was to reduce the mass of the instrument to facilitate transport. Finally, a plan was implemented to study whether a material such as carbon fibre would enable more climate resistant pianos to be built.

The prototype piano concept design required encapsulation of a wooden tuning JUNE / JULY 2013

pin block in a carbon fibre skin, so that the feel of the tuning pins would be acceptable to piano tuners using conventional practice.

Tests were done to determine the effect of curing the carbon fibre skin on the condition of the encapsulated wood block and therefore, the ‘feel’ of the tuning pins, and to determine the most appropriate dimensions for the pin pilot holes to ensure the correct torque on the pins.

In terms of the key differences between a carbon fibre and a traditional handcrafted wooden one, the characteristics of mass, sound power and sound quality, and climate tolerance are said to be greatly improved.

Retrac says virtually all feedback has been positive. The piano produces more sound power from a given finger power input and therefore feels easier to play accurately. This translates into a feeling of enhanced security in the artist. The piano’s action fitting in a precision case is easier to achieve to high standard. www.retrac-composites.com

ARTICLE BY MIKE RICHARDSON, FIRST PUBLISHED 20.02.2013

www.compositesevolution.com

The composite piano by Richard J. Dain, first unveiled at ‘Cremona Mondomusica/Cremona Pianoforte’ in September 2012, was also on show at JEC Europe 2013 as a prototype and part of a special innovation corner showing the most innovative composite parts

COMPOSITES

UK-BASED Composites Evolution launched a range of low cost jute fibre reinforcements at JEC Europe. The range of Biotex Jute fabrics, initially including plain weave and 2x2 twill, offer the benefits of premium natural fibres such as flax – including a favourable stiffness-to-weight ratio - but at a price that rivals glass fibre.

Biotex Jute fabrics can reduce the weight and environmental impact of composite parts, whilst offering desirable thermal and acoustic insulation and vibration damping properties.

Jute fibres are extracted from the bark of jute plants, which are annually renewable and fast-growing, and the processes used to refine the fibres have low environmental impact. Jute can also be recycled at the end of its life.

Being a low cost, lightweight and environmentally friendly alternative to glass fibre, Biotex Jute can be used in a wide range of applications including automotive, mass transport, marine, construction, industrial products and sports goods.

“The composites sector is keen to use natural fibre reinforcements but, until now, have struggled to justify the cost of switching from glass fibre.

We’re really excited to be able to offer a high performance, cost effective natural fibre that is finally able to compete with traditional glass fibre,” said Dr Brendon Weager, MD at Composites Evolution.

N FEVER CONSTRUCTIOUA E HITS THE

industry Presents significant opportunities for a large and dynamic wire and cable

BY DR NIALL MARSHALL

FEATURE

FOR the first time since 2008 the United Arab Emirates is the largest construction market in the Middle East. In 2012 $16.2 billion worth of projects were awarded in the UAE compared to $15.6 billion in Saudi Arabia, $10.4 billion in Qatar and $8 billion in Kuwait – a total of $50.2 billion worth of projects awarded in a single year.

To put this in perspective the Gautrain cost just over $3 billion and the 200km Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (with its notorious e-tolling) cost around $2 billion.

Although the number of projects awarded in 2012 is an increase over the last four years there are a number of large projects underway in the UAE: the 1200 km Etihad rail network (due to be completed in 2018), the Al Maktoum International airport in Dubai (due to open for passenger flights later this year) and the Al Sufouh tram project (due to be finished next year), as well as Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi (to be home to the Guggenheim, Louvre and National Museums) are all under construction.

And a number of big projects are scheduled to be started in the next months, including the Bluewaters Island project in Dubai which will be home to the largest ferris wheel in the world, the 210m Dubai Island Ferris wheel. When completed by 2016 it will be bigger than the 165m Singapore Flyer and 135m London Eye. Dubai hopes to host the 2020 World Expo and, in line with its ‘build and they will come’ philosophy has even more outlandish projects planned – from giant theme parks (five of them) to even larger JUNE / JULY 2013

malls and an ambitious 2.8km elevated canal which will extend the Business Bay Canal over Sheikh Zayad Road and the Dubai Metro, into the Arabian Gulf. Boats will be lifted onto the elevated canal in a boat elevator inspired by the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland.

It is not just the UAE that has such ambitious projects: in Saudi Arabia entire Economic Cities are being built. One of them, King Abdullah Economic City, will include a deep sea port, light industry and residential areas for 500 000 people, and at least another three cities are already under construction. Plans for even taller buildings, over 1000m high, have been announced.

New refineries and petrochemical complexes are planned or are already being built in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. Extensive rail networks are planned to link the various countries. And Qatar alone plans to spend over $150 billion on stadia and other infrastructure leading up to the 2022 Football World Cup. There is definitely construction fever in the region.

All this development will require electricity and the plans for additional capacity is no less ambitious, including four 1.4 GW nuclear power stations in UAE as well as a number of solar power projects. Increased electricity demand and massive construction projects will all require hundreds of thousands of kilometres of wire and cable – fortunately all of which can be supplied by a number of large local wire and cable producers.

In Saudi Arabia there are five large wire and cable manufacturers, each producing a range extending from telecommunication (including optical), control, building and installation wires, to 500kV extra high voltage power transmission and distribution cables.

Most of the large wire and cable producers run in-house PVC compounding facilities – more than 100 000 tons of PVC compounds are produced by wire and

cable companies each year. Similar large producers are situated in Qatar, UAE and Egypt – the seven largest GCC producers make more than 500 000 tons of cables each year, and there are numerous smaller manufacturers in these countries.

Despite all the construction projects in the region over the last decade there is an overcapacity of wire and cable production. But for a region looking to increase the value of exports, wire and cables is an attractive export product.

Cables complying with the various British, French and German norms are produced and supplied to power generation and transmission projects built by European technology companies worldwide – in fact Middle East wire and cables are exported to over 100 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Any increased regional demand for cables will not be met with decreased exports – instead it is likely that the wire and cable industry will grow to continue to serve export companies.

So if you visit the Middle East, whether it is to ride the highest ferris wheel, go up the tallest building in the world or visit the largest indoor theme park, be assured that it has only been made possible by enormous sums of money and a large and dynamic local wire and cable industry.

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

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HDPE LDPE LLDPE PVC PET PS ABS PP

For all your Polymer Raw Material Requirements

MBT South Africa Unit 14, Eastwood Office Park, 11b Riley Road, Bedfordview.

PO Box 751775, Gardenview 2047, South Africa.

Tel: 27-11-455 2889 Fax: 27-11-455 2937 www.mbtsa.co.za Rob Wainright Lance vd Merwe Helga Classen

082 801 7373 082 901 0477 083 769 4543

Cape Town Office 4 College House Village Walk Parklands Tel: 27-21-556 7787

Carlotta Stafford 082 600 7403 Paul Gripper 082 456 6659

FEATURE

SA lagging in

plastic manufacturing

“Local industry can successfully compete against cheaper, lowerquality imports.”

BY SAIJIL SINGH, LEAD ANALYST, COFACE, INTERNATIONAL CREDIT INSURER

More post-consumer recycling needed THE next five-years are expected to be prosperous for the plastic product and packaging manufacturing industry. However, South Africa is not using its full potential as a manufacturer.

The industry is a significant contributor to the national economy with a turnover of over R35-billion per year, contributing 5% to GDP. It employs around 65 000 people and there are in excess of 2 000 companies through the plastics supply chain.

South Africa’s plastics fabrication industry is the largest in Africa and consumes 1.5-million tons of both locally-produced and imported polymers. The plastics sector produces the basic building blocks for the manufacturing sector including home and personal care, food and beverage, automotive and construction sector products.

South Africa’s plastics industry is dominated by the packaging industry which accounts for approximately 55% of the local market followed by building applications with 7%. The primary plastics industry is defined as the conversion of chemicals into various polymers and plastic resins.

The main feedstock for the production

these polymers are exported. of plastics in South Africa is natural gas and coal. Sasol (South Africa’s foremost Imports and exports polymer producer) produces chemicals South Africa imports a large quantity of as a by-product of fuel processing using finished plastic goods manufactured from coal to liquid (CTL) and gas to liquid (GTL) the very same polymers that are exported. technologies.

Various initiatives are being reviewed to Fluctuations in the price of these beneficiate polymers instead of exporting feedstocks have an effect on the cost the raw material. But these initiatives are of production of other secondary plastic not having any products. The South major effect and African plastics sec‘Coface is of the opinion despite the local tor is significantly that the plastics industry has excess, specialty small in the global large untapped potential as grades are immarket and, due long as it shifts resources ported as well. to this small size, The plastics local companies more to recycling and away industry imports operating in the from clear polymers.’ more than it plastics sector have exports and the balance in the trade gap no influence on the global prices and they is increasing. Both plastics raw materials cannot pass on input fluctuations costs to and finished products are imported and the end user. exported. However, exports in general Over 57% of South Africa’s total conhave not been growing at a rapid pace sumption of plastics is produced using compared to imports. A concern is that polyethylene. Polyethylene is the most South Africa’s exports of raw materials common type of plastic and its applicahave been increasing constantly since tions range from shrink film, carrier bags, 2004. This means job creation is being and heavy duty refuse bags to crates and exported at the expense of the local plasboxes, bottles, food containers and industics manufacturing industry. The biggest trial wrapping. The manufacturing capacity source of South Africa’s plastics imports for Polyethylene exceeds local demand are from China, India, the Republic of and, as a result, a substantial amount of Korea and other Asian countries.

The top five export countries for South African plastic products are Zambia, China, Zimbabwe, Brazil and DRC. The biggest growth markets are Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil. Zimbabwe’s import of South Africa plastics was hardly affected by the world recession. Even at the height of economic hardships, Zimbabwe still remained one of the biggest buyers of South Africa plastics. And now with the economy normalising, demand for South African plastics is increasing.

The SADC countries offer significant potential as an export destination because of their proximity. A number of companies are already establishing factories in certain JUNE / JULY 2013

FEATURE

African countries. However, there are competitive challenges including the availability of resources; the administrative time and money required for a start-up business and business licenses and construction permits, which could prove both lengthy and costly.

Enforcing contracts under the local regulatory system, registering and protecting property, can also all be cumbersome.

There are also many challenges faced in securing the right skills. But even this pales in comparison to the effective need for provisions to be made for currency fluctuations. Logistical solutions are also difficult due to the lack of infrastructure development.

How to counter cheap imports from China and India A major challenge facing this sector is how to counter cheap imports from the likes of China and India. Imports are considered to be much cheaper than locally produced goods due mainly to subsidies granted in the country of origin and due to the incentives that overseas companies receive for exporting.

Other issues are the stringent laws and regulations that have been put in place for South African plastic manufacturing companies. However, the same regulations do not apply to products being imported into South Africa. As a result, these imported goods generally are not only of a lesser quality but also cheaper to produce. This puts pressure on local manufacturers who cannot compete because the consumers’ main concern when purchasing plastics

goods is normally price and not quality.

The constantly increasing cost of energy, wages and logistics are also an increasing burden on local manufacturers.

China, being the largest plastic manufacturer in the world, constituted 23.5% of total global production in 2010. The rapid industrialisation in this region is expected to see increasing growth in demand in the Asian region. In 2000 China’s total plastics exports to South Africa was less than R500-million and was fairly negligible.

China is now the biggest supplier, exporting almost R3-billion worth of merchandise to SA per year.

The future Although the plastics industry globally is prosperous with above-average predicted growth, unless something is done to

encourage consumers to purchase locallyproduced plastic goods in preference to cheaper imported goods, South Africa will not experience its true potential.

The 2010 survey by CSIR, aimed at understanding post-consumer recycling behaviour in South Africa, did not paint a positive picture about urban South Africans’ attitude and behaviour when it comes to recycling: More than 73% of South Africans living in urban areas reported no recycling at all; About 27% of urban South Africans reported some recycling behaviour; and Only 3.3% of the respondents indicated that they sort most or all of the selected five recyclables from their household waste and recycle it on a

JUNE / JULY 2013

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frequent basis.

Plasticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; recycling continues to grow and exceeded the virgin polymer consumption growth. There is a strong tendency towards the commodity plastics with a subsequent drop in recycled tonnages of the other materials.

To determine where the recyclables originated, only the data from the top 60% recyclers were taken into account.

There is a deďŹ nite change in the source of recyclable plastic waste for 2011. Preconsumer materials increased 43% and post-industrial materials increased with 50%. Post-consumer and landďŹ ll materials dropped by 13%.

Extensive initiatives by the industry have been undertaken in an attempt to improve this ratio. The result is the development of a national recycling day on 13 September 2013. This falls in the CleanUp SA Week between 9-14 September.

These institutions have also been making progress with municipal entities with the likes of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Separating recyclables at household level is a requirement in terms of the Waste Act. The National Waste Management Strategy requires that in four yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time all metropolitan municipalities, secondary cities and large towns will have initiated programmes for waste separation at source. Some of the largest problems regarding recycling faced by consumers according to CSIR are a lack of space, lack of time, products are dirty or untidy and a lack of knowledge of recycling.

Another reason cited are because the inconvenient recycling facilities.

In 2011, economy was weak, an attempt was made to reduce operating costs, recyclers sourced cleaner materials to recycle. This increased the ďŹ gures for post-industrial and pre-consumer materials. For 2010 South Africa only recycled 18% of the plastics produced, meaning that less used plastic discarded by consumers, was recycled.

Recyclers are still of the opinion that the largest growth in recycling would be in post-consumer recyclables i.e. plastic discarded after use by the consumer. The cost of washing and drying are prohibiting recyclers to source any more post-consumer and landďŹ ll recyclables. It is easier to recycle factory off-cuts, for example.

A number of the larger recyclers made some changes to their washing and drying facilities to be able to operate more energy efďŹ ciently. But this will only bear fruit in the years to come. Coface is of the opinion that the industry has large untapped potential as long as it shifts resources more to recycling and away from clear polymers.

South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plastics industry is looking positive with many manufacturers turning out products that can compete globally from a quality and performance point of view with the packaging industry dominating with over 50% local market share. This is proof that local industry can successfully compete against cheaper, lower-quality imports.

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 2012, the Group posted a consolidated turnover of â&#x201A;Ź1.6 billion.

4,400 staff in 66 countries provide a local service worldwide. Each quarter, Coface publishes its assessments of country risk for 158 countries, based on its unique knowledge of companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; payment behaviour and on the expertise of its 350 underwriters located close to clients and their debtors. In France, Coface manages export public guarantees on behalf of the French state. Coface is a subsidiary of Natixis. corporate, investment management and specialized ďŹ nancial services arm of Groupe BPCE. In South Africa, Coface provides credit protection to clients. Coface South Africa is rated AA+ by Global Ratings.

www.cofaceza.com

JUNE / JULY 2013

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THE DESIGN FACTOR…

BY MIKE WYTHE, M DES RCA (ID ENG), INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER & LECTURER

Developed technology

+ DESIGN = commercially successful product WHICH came first, the chicken or the egg? In this case it’s which comes first, the product or the mould?

The answer for most within the manufacturing sector will be obvious, there is no business sense in setting aside the capital for a new mould until the product design work has been completed.

This is where the problem begins. We are not designing a product; we are sitting back and letting others take our markets. South Africa imports an unjustified quantity of finished plastic products, keeping our BRICs trading partners happy, specifically China and India,

when it comes to finished product and Brazil and Russia with regards raw material. They will continue to revel in the profits to be made by exploiting our markets and those of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Goldman Sachs, the multi-national investment banking firm, predicts that China and India, respectively, will become the dominant global suppliers of manufactured goods and services, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials.

Where do we begin to set up initiatives that will offer much needed help to our floundering SMME sector? In a recent report prepared by Sir George Cox, chairman of

University developed technology + design = Commercially Successful Product: Navetas Smart Meter The University of Oxford developed a new process for measuring electricity usage but needed design support to take it to a stage where they could raise money to fund the next stage of development.

The Design Council’s Innovate for Universities programme helped the team to develop the product and identify market opportunities. The original spinout was bought by energy management firm, Navetas.

The Navetas Energy Monitor is installed at the incoming mains supply of a property at the electricity meter point. The device is equipped with software that can monitor the energy usage of major appliances around the home without the need for additional plugs or devices to be installed. The software is self-learning and does not require any user intervention to identify appliances. It records all appliance activity for a period of time (this is called the learning period) after which it will automatically calculate what the energy usage of specific appliances is in real time.

The learning period takes between 8-15 days. Further investment of £4m has been secured to enable the company to continue developing the product and run national trials with a major UK energy company.

the UK Design Council for the British Government, four specifics were highlighted.

These (with minor tweaks by the author!) could profitably be applied to the business of manufacturing products South Africa: Constitute a national support programme, focus the resources of the DTI and similar organisations such as the SABS and SATA to work with SMMEs and help them use design Recognise that strategic design work should be eligible for R&D tax credits – encourage investment in innovation Create centres of excellence in higher education for multi-disciplinary courses combining management studies, engineering, technology and creative disciplines Raising the profile of the creative industries through a national network of design centres – shop windows for South African manufactured product.

South African has an urgent need to accelerate the development and sustained growth of the SMME sector, create employment through the continued growth of a sustainable product manufacture that in turn will ‘feed’ a domestic and export market with quality innovative products.

How do we achieve these laudable objectives?

Structure and implement a national support programme, emanating and driven by the universities, supported by government and the business sector, to direct and encourage the Small Medium Manufacturing Enterprise sector to use product/industrial design recourses as a strategic value added business tool.

Establish centres of excellence ‘Design & Recourse Centres’ in higher education institutions that are structured to provide a multi-disciplinary resource to the SMME’s in business management, engineering, technology research, industrial design and the creative disciplines. Centres of excellence set up to facilitate the capture and development of innovative, creative

JUNE / JULY 2013

FEATURE Design education + creative engineering = products with strong commercial p otential: Folding plug South Korean-born Min-Kyu Choi, an MA design graduate from the Royal College of Art won the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Award in 2010 for his folding plug design concept. Folding flat for storage, the design reduced the overall plug size by over 70%, folding down to just 10mm wide — no thicker than a Blackberry. The original folding plug is now being developed by Made in Mind, a venture comprising of Choi and Londonbased businessman Matthew Judkins. The folding plug illustrates how design education, combining appreciation of design with creative engineering, can lead to the development of products with strong commercial potential.

product concepts taking them through to a commercially viable status. A hands-on resource to move a product idea from concept to market.

Develop and encourage a good design ethos accepting design as a key factor in business competitiveness in a global economy.

Until now design has not played an important enough part in developing a sustainable product manufacturing base in South Africa.

Our academic and technical universities must be challenged to stretch technology and innovate.

Design can help commercialise new technology, stimulate our manufacturing base and have the potential to accelerate exports.

This in turn will go some way to ‘designing jobs’ by improving the country’s GDP status and also have a positive impact on the health of the country as a whole.

Mike Wythe is an industrial designer and lecturer for the Industrial Design Programme at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Mike is a graduate of the Royal College in London where he completed his Masters in Industrial Design Engineering.

JUNE / JULY 2013

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DESIGN

Diverse range of projects win

British Plastic Industry Awards COMEDIAN Sean Lock announced the winners of the 12th annual Plastics Industry Awards which were held at the London Hilton Hotel on Park Lane in September.

A packed audience of 800 industry guests heard about a diverse range of winning plastics projects which have helped to relocate production of the Trunki suitcase to

the UK, improve the safety of scaffolding board, provide cheap spectacles for the population of Rwanda and revolutionize medical diagnostics testing.

Nathan Bestwick was named Young Designer of the Year for his patented MillMii pepper grinder, designed for people with dexterity problems and weakness in their hands.

A significant number of winners were praised by judges for the efforts they had made in reducing the environmental impact of their products or processes.

Consumer Product Design of the Year Magmatic, for the Trunki Mk V. Production of the well-known ‘ride-on’ children’s suitcase was brought back to the UK from China, requiring a complete – and costly – re-tooling exercise. The product was completely re-engineered and 25 metal screws and adhesives were replaced with plastic parts enabling the case to be snapped together at assembly. UKmade Trunkis are 100% recyclable and old units can be returned to the factory to be ground up and moulded into new ones.

These included Axion Polymers who worked with Marks and Spencer to develop a gift range made from waste fridge plastic, and Artenius PET Packaging Europe who won two awards: Best Business Initiative of the Year for its glass jar replacement and Environmental or Energy Efficiency Programme of the Year. Nifco UK won the coveted Processor of the Year award for an investment programme which included a new state-of-the-art, energy-efficient manufacturing facility.

Young Designer of the Year Nathan Bestwick for his MillMii pepper mill, designed to be used with ease by people with dexterity problems and weakness in their hands – but also to look good too. With firm interest from John Lewis and Lakeland, sales of 15,000 units are predicted for its launch year.

Best Business Initiative Artenius PET Packaging Europe, for its widemouth ‘glass-look’ PET jar, hot-fillable to 95 ˚C, deemed a major technological step forward in PET. Judges said Artenius could “make genuine gains in market share thanks to its offering that offers both environmental as well as safety and cost benefits.”

Industrial Product Design F-Board Limited for the F-Board, a safe replacement for the traditional wooden scaffolding board, made from 100% recycled PVC. The boards have a non-slip surface and are warranted for four years compared with a lifetime of around 12 months for traditional wooden scaffolding. The company also buys used boards back for recycling.

JUNE / JULY 2013

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‘Feel The Pressure’ 2012 by Neil Pauw of The Parlotones

WORLD NEWS

Recovery, strong sales growth at Gloucester Engineering Capital-intensive business with inadequate capital created problem WITH BILLIONS of dollars worth of capital equipment in operation around the globe, and over 50 years of service, Gloucester Engineering Company (GEC) of the USA has been recovering its former status with the new focus and systems development following its purchase in January 2011 out of receivership by private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners.

The story of GEC is about a company, founded in 1961, which rose to the top of the industry by leading the way into the booming plastics packaging market.

GEC developed equipment that produced plastic film, sheet and bags, a market that was in its infancy but would soon experience exponential growth. GEC rode the wave of that success, continually creating newer and better ways to produce superior plastic products.

The Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA-based company was purchased by German industrial giant Battenfeld in 1978, which helped the company expand its offerings to the global marketplace. By the late 1990s, the company was flying high – but great challenges lay ahead.

Lower cost competition began appearing in the market, which began eroding GEC’s market share. Unfortunately, management failed to react to the changing times. Battenfeld sold the business in 2007, but the new owners were not able to harness the

slide.

“We were hurt by a number of factors, and quite honestly we were a capitalintensive business with inadequate capital.

While we had a strong backlog in 2009, we lacked the financial resources to build the machines and there was nowhere left to go but through an aggressive restructuring,” said GEC president Carl Johnson.

The company went into receivership in 2010, and fortunately attracted the attention of private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC, which purchased it the following year and set about implementing necessary changes. These changes have included adding new and experienced leadership, rebuilding the sales and engineering departments, installing a new state-of-the-art ERP system, introducing new products and completing two acquisitions. These substantial efforts have transformed GEC into a leaner, stronger company.

“We had a great NPE2012 show last year in Orlando,” said Johnson. “It helped us get the message out to the industry that GEC is very much alive and well, and ready to compete and succeed in the global plastics marketplace.”

The company is continuing to exhibit at leading industry events around the globe and was present at the recent Chinaplas show and will be at K2013 in October.

Borealis acquires DEXPlastomers in Geleen

www.borouge.com

Acquisitions Under Blue Wolf’s ownership, GEC has become a consolidator, leveraging acquisitions to improve its portfolio of products and services. In 2012 the company acquired two industry leaders: Future Design Inc of Ontario, Canada, and Pearl Technologies of Savannah, New York.

Future Design is a manufacturer of blown film bubble management systems expertise in

BOREALIS has acquired DEXPlastomers VOF in Geleen, The Netherlands, from DSM Nederland BV and ExxonMobil Benelux Holdings BV. DEXPlastomers was a 50/50 joint venture ultimately owned by Royal DSM and ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

The site is located in the Chemelot industrial park, 50km away from the nearest Borealis site in Beringen, Belgium. Approximately 100 employees will be transferred to Borealis Plastomers 1 BV (formerly DSM Plastomers BV) and other Borealis group companies outside The Netherlands.

The products manufactured in Geleen are specialty products, complementary to Borealis’ current innovative plastic solutions.

The acquisition underpins Borealis’ commitment to its Value Creation through Innovation strategy as Borealis believes there is significant potential for the complementary technology. www.dexplastomers.com 78 JUNE / JULY 2013

www.borealisgroup.com

AROUND THE WORLD

Lanxess opens new plant in Brazil LANXESS’ Rhein Chemie business unit has opened a production facility at Porto Feliz in Brazil to produce ‘Rhenoshape’ high-performance curing bladders which are used in tyre manufacture. Around 170,000 bladders can be produced annually at the new plant. Rhein Chemie has been successfully producing Rhenogran polymer-bound rubber additives (Rhenogran) in Porto Feliz for more than 10 years. An expansion adding advanced equipment for manufacturing polymerbound rubber additives will follow in the coming year. The project represents an investment of roughly €10-million and will create up to 60 new jobs in Porto Feliz.

With more than 50 years’ service to the plastics and converting industries, GEC’s significant global installed base is estimated to consist of more than $2 billion in operating assets. The company is continuing to exhibit at leading industry events around the globe and was present at the recent Chinaplas show with its range of and will be at K2013 in October.

a wide array of film applications, including their trademarked ‘Saturn’ and ‘Perfect Balance’ air rings (with profile control technology) and ‘Little Giant’ narrow web/lab lines.

Pearl Technologies has engineered and manufactured consumable parts for film extrusion and converting equipment that improve performance and reduce operating costs.

• GLOUCESTER ENGINEERING IS REPRESENTED BY NEIL SMITH OF AFRITRADE, P. 076 163 9627 www.blue-wolf.com www.afritradesa.co.za

www.gloucesterengineering.com

Ballistic tape for armoured vehicles DSM Dyneema, the manufacturer of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMwPE) fibre branded as Dyneema®, has found a new application for its lightweight, Dyneema BT10 ballistic tape. FNSS Savunma Sistemleri AŞ, a producer of armoured vehicles based in Turkey, won an contract from an Asian government to manufacture 8x8 PARS© amphibious armoured personnel vehicles featuring spall liners made with BT10. Spall liners protect vehicle occupants from highvelocity fragments that are created when, for example, explosive shells send shock waves through the vehicle’s metal armour.

FNSS will use the Dyneema BT10 tape for spall liners in 257 PARS (Turkish for Anatolian leopard) vehicles to be supplied in 12 variants during 2013-2018.

JUNE / JULY 2013

Bayer opens Innovation Hub for Asia Pacific BAYER MaterialScience has inaugurated a regional innovation hub for Asia Pacific in Shanghai, China. More than 200 experts will develop novel ideas for the use of high-performance plastics, foams and coatings in key sectors such as mobility, construction, IT and renewable energy.

They will work in close cooperation with external scientists, suppliers and customers. The new hub, which is located at the company’s existing Polymer Research & Development Centre (PRDC), will provide support to other innovation facilities across the region. www.materialscience.bayer.com

USA group grows IPEG Inc, the parent company of Conair Group and Rapid Granulator, is acquiring the assets of Thermal Care Inc, a major manufacturer of temperature controllers, portable and central chillers, cooling towers and pump tanks used in heat-transfer applications in plastics processing and other industries. This is the second IPEG acquisition of late. In April it completed the purchase of Republic Machine of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, a leader in the design and manufacturing of single-shaft shredding machinery used in recycling of plastics and other materials.

AROUND THE WORLD Solvay breaks ground on new state-of-the-art silica plant in Poland SOLVAY has started construction of a new state-of-the art facility in Włocławek, Poland, that will produce Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS). The new plant represents a €75-million investment that will create more than 50 new jobs and expand the company’s HDS capacity by 85,000 tons per year.

Located in central Poland, the new facility will offer local logistical supply benefits to Solvay’s customers in Eastern Europe and Russia. The site at which the new plant will be located is a designated special economic zone (SEZ) and will be integrated within the industrial complex of Anwil, a subsidiary of the Polish refining and energy company PKN Orlen Capital Group, one of Central Europe’s largest refiners of crude oil.

Evonik plans first MMA production plant EVONIK Industries is starting basic planning for a new methyl methacrylate (MMA) production plant using the Aveneer® process at its Mobile site in Alabama, USA. The large-scale plant, with a production capacity of 120,000 metric tons, is expected to come on stream in the middle of 2015 and will create up to 100 jobs. The overall project is awaiting the approval of the relevant bodies. Methacrylate monomers and their derivatives are the starting materials for innovative products for resource-efficient solutions, as for example in lightweight construction in the automotive industry. www.evonik.com

BASF increases sales, income BASF maintained its good performance in 2012. The company exceeded the 2011 record levels in sales and income from operations (EBIT) and once again earned a substantial premium on the cost of capital. Sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 were €19.6 billion, 9% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. This increase was mainly due to higher volumes in almost all segments as well as price and currency effects.

For the full year, BASF increased sales to €78.7 billion, up 7% compared with 2011. Net income fell by €1.3 billion to €4.9 billion, due in part to the higher earnings contribution from Oil & Gas and thus the significantly higher taxes. www.basf.com

WORLD NEWS

SuperCleanQ project halfway Developing quality assurance tools, procedures for plastics recycling processes for food contact applications THE UK-based SuperCleanQ project, which is developing quality assurance tools and procedures for plastics recycling processes targeted at food contact applications, has reached its mid-point.

The project aims to develop a process to recycle currently unrecyclable coloured and barrier-modified PET. It also hopes to develop a post-process quality validation protocol for assuring the consistency of plastics recycling processes for food contact applications, and real time in-line monitoring for process control.

The SuperCleanQ project plans to enable industry to conform to Commission Regulation EC 282/2008 on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods.

The tools will be applied to a new process for the recycling of coloured and layered PET into food contact applications that cannot be processed by current PET recycling facilities.

The project results will accelerate the development of new recycling processes for the wider food contact materials market and provide quality assurance for converters and end-users of recycled products applications for food contact, overcoming barriers and expanding this high value recycling market.

There is an estimated annual 7.7 million tons of plastic, mostly packaging, that is currently not recycled in Europe, which could be if technology and infrastructure were in place to do so. The value of this

resource in food contact packaging could be up to €7.7 billion.

Expected final results and potential impacts The standard analytical method being developed for the identification and quantification of marker compounds in recycled, food grade PET will be proposed as a potential standard. The availability of such a standard for recycled, food grade PET will provide the capability to determine the purity of such products in a cost-effective and accurate manner.

Being able to obtain such data will provide a number of benefits, such as being able to make a judgment regarding the quality of recycled PET of unknown origin, and whether it has been manufactured using an appropriate food-grade recycling process.

Work on an online monitoring system will ultimately produce a system to detect undesirable levels of contamination in injection moulded parts at the earliest possible stage of the injection moulding process. The final results therefore comprise both the hardware and the chemometric models necessary to perform this task. Another final result, in the form of chemometric models, will enable the spectroscopy system to identify contamination and provide an early warning. www.supercleanq.eu

The SuperCleanQ project aims to develop a process to recycle currently unrecyclable coloured and barrier-modified PET

80 JUNE / JULY 2013

Deepening the value chain of the chemical sector Many companies within the chemicals sector and sub-sectors are currently reporting increased demand for products due to improved economic conditions. This is driving increased activity for the IDC’s Chemical and Allied Industries Unit, which invests in projects in a number of chemical industry sub-sectors across the value chain.

From fertilisers, to detergents; disinfectants and packaging, South African consumers are the end beneficiaries to many industries within the chemicals sector. The Unit concentrates on the manufacturing of base chemicals, including oil and gas, plastics and rubber, cement and concrete, cosmetics, glass and ceramics. Projects that have the potential to develop new industries, lead the expansion of existing ventures, or replace the need to import materials, are a key focus.

The strategic objective of the Unit is to deepen the value chain of the chemicals industry sector, including the security of supplies for key inputs into infrastructure, food and energy needs. The Unit will target investment of more than R7bn over the next five years, into sub-sectors that include polymer conversion, water treatment chemicals, agriculture products, infrastructure-related materials, speciality and fine chemicals, and rubber products.

Chillibush7828IDC

Prime examples of the Unit’s investment into the chemicals sector can be seen in mining company Foskor, initially founded by the IDC in 1951; Bliss Chemicals (Pty) Ltd, which ch is

Telephone: 086 069 3888 Email: callcentre@idc.co.za To apply online for funding of R1 million or more go to www.idc.co.za

the manufacturer of MAQ detergent; ITB Manufacturing, award-winning plastic film packaging manufacturers; and BTC Products and Services (Pty) Ltd, a leading South African manufacturer and distributor of Chlorine Dioxide (CD) that ensures safe drinking water.

The Unit was involved in the introduction of Broad-Based BEE groupings into Foskor, which resulted in IDC’s shareholding reducing from 85% to 59%. The company continues to provide a domestic source of fertilisers and supports the sustainability of local agriculture. Bliss Chemicals (Pty) Ltd, a relatively young company has, with financial assistance from the Unit, been able to diversify their popular MAQ detergent and extend their product offering. MAQ washing powder currently has a 25% share of the detergents market. ITB Manufacturing, located in the municipality of eNdondakusuka between Durban and Richards Bay, is involved in a number of social initiatives in the economicallystricken surrounding area. The Unit has financed a financial services and human resources consultancy company via a SPV structure, to addresss the th shortage of equipment and resources. BTC Products oduct and Services (Pty) Ltd, with funding from the IDC, DC, ha has been able to develop its OXICAT Chlorine Dioxide de technology te that provides a number of innovations to o treat tre water for safe drinking.

TECHNICAL

Conformal cooling as trend for cycle time reduction in injection moulds W. Fassnacht supplies 1000th insert for conformal cooling TECHNOLOGICAL change offers Conformal cooling: dynamic developments within mould makDesign and cross sections ing. In the middle of 2012, W. Fassnacht The cross sections of the cooling channels Werkzeug- und Formenbau, Bobingen, are >5 mm and, according to Wolfgang supplied its 1000th generatively fabricated Fassnacht, are technically consistent and mould insert for conformal cooling. Within reliable. This means there is the possibility the space of five years the LaserCUSING of placing them 2–3 mm below the mould technology has developed to become contour surface to achieve optimum cooling. an important factor in Bobingen, working The contrary, heat control, can also be peralongside the traditional manufacturing formed via such channels. This is illustrated processes like turning, milling and EDM. in the case of parts with a requirement for a The reasons for the increasing importance high-gloss finish. of additive manufacturing with metals can Certain moulds even have both tasks in be found daily in modern mould making. separate circuits: Surfaces with a high-gloss With LaserCUSING, finish are tempered and cooling channels can be on the inner contour Conformal cooling placed very close to the areas such as ribs, can systems are intelligently surface of the contour be cooled in order to created, a few years ago of the mould. Complex prevent warpage. Histhis was not regarded as parts with different wall torically, moulds which thicknesses, including ribs have been produced achievable in relation to and webs, can therefore at Fassnacht with this the flow behaviour, be cooled ‘close to the accooling technology, tion’. It was back in 2008 reach achievable and rethat Fassnacht invested in LaserCUSalistic reductions in the cycle time on series ING machines from Concept Laser from moulds of up to 40%. This technique offers Lichtenfels. enormous advantages in adding value for Conformal cooling systems are intelthe production operation, bringing a level of ligently created, a few years ago this was understanding and control never available not regarded as achievable in relation to using conventional processes. the flow behaviour, but modern techniques make this easily possible today. In addition Cost and speed in mould making to a real reduction in the cycle time, both The short development times of modern warpage and accuracy in the final part moulds creates enormous time pressures can also be greatly improved thanks to the for product developers, mould-makers and cooling. suppliers. The metal additive manufacturing process also allows for the possibility to fuse Transmission part as insert (metal+ABS): The powder materials on top of original material complex geometry is produced in an additive manufactured mould insert with conformal cooling to reduce the cycle time and warpage

82 JUNE / JULY 2013

Wide range of products: Wolfgang Fassnacht explains how differently webs are executed on parts today

layer by layer, commonly called ‘Hybrid Style’.

This technique reduces the overall costs and time to build cores and inserts, focusing on using additive technology in areas of greatest requirement. Today’s hardness levels up to 52HRC are achieved, depending on the material, and works with Hybrid Style parts just as easily. When we consider conventional manufacturing processes, within any company a highly skilled and trained set of personnel are involved, and generally turning, and milling processes have to be continuously monitored.

This is different with the additive manufacturing of metals: With the generative metal laser melting process, the mould-maker saves time in the design and manufacturing phase and it is also easier to

Insert in the mould of the transmission part, on the nozzle side (left) and ejector side (right)

from the procurement of a steel rod from the warehouse through to finish use, are more complicated and expensive to manufacture than with LaserCUSING. At Fassnacht, the ‘generative approach’ with a laser is very important in design and mould making.

Prompt production on demand: M1 cusing machine at Fassnacht

“We are increasingly well advised to explain exactly what ‘Made in Germany’ means for the processor in terms of performance and euros when it comes to moulds,” says Wolfgang Fassnacht

Wolfgang Fassnacht and his new EDM machine genius from Zimmer&Kreim

incorporate possible requests for changes to be made. Once the parameters have been chosen, the LaserCUSING machine from Concept Laser can be operated unmanned 24 hours a day. In the case ‘hybrid technology’ parts too, the mouldmaker saves both time and costs. The formative residual geometry including the remaining cooling-channel design can be ‘fused’ onto a prefabricated basic body, with predrilled feed and drain holes for the cooling, by means of LaserCUSING. With a mixed type of construction, this procedure has already proven to be the fastest and most economical method in many cases. The general rule is that generative technology produces a faster result – and is overwhelmingly cheaper.

Inserts for round parts According to the experiences gained at Fassnacht, round parts in particular are very suitable for inserts based on metal additive manufacturing. Round mould inserts can be manufactured much cheaper with the LaserCUSING technology. This is because with integration of conformal cooling there is no need for any recesses and grooves for O-rings. It is therefore easier to construct the insert.

As a consequence, the outlay on design, manufacturing and reworking is greatly reduced and consequently so are the overall costs. Traditional methods,

Reducing part costs There are numerous reasons for the trend towards conformal cooling, both technical and economic: “In production, moulds should earn money in terms of the unit costs and this is all the more true with large volumes,” says Wolfgang Fassnacht.

Process-reliable moulds which help to outsmart the physics and reduce cycle times enhance the creation of added value in production. The 1,000th mould insert for conformal cooling from Fassnacht demonstrates the success of this strategy adopted by mould purchasers and manufacturing specialists, but with the constant reminder that with all new technology and developments, it has to be a profitable and commercially viable.

Advantages of metal additive manufacturing in mould making Optimisation of the manufacturing costs Time saving during design and mould making Visual quality Cycle time reduction (with conformal cooling) Unmanned production.

Reduced failed parts due to distortion or warpage Hybrid Build techniques Customisation Lower modification costs Construction of prototypes and samples • The University of Stellenbosch’s Institute for Advanced Tooling uses this technology

www.concept-laser.de

3D representations of the inserts in the mould of the transmission part with conformal cooling for improvement of the cycle time JUNE / JULY 2013

New 1-day plastics conference launches to acclaim

PEPP 2013: 18-19 June: Istanbul, Turkey: www.ihs.com/chemical AFRICARAIL 2013: 24-26 June Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg: www.events-africa.com SAITEX: 30 June-2 July: Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg www.exhibitionsafrica.com PPS-29 (POLYMER PROCESSING SOCIETY) INT’L CONFERENCE 15-19 July: Nuremberg, Germany: www.pps-29.com KZN INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SHOW: 23-26 July Durban Exhibition Centre: www.kznindustrial.co.za

MANUFACTURING Partnerships for African Development (mPAD) held its first conference in South Africa on 14 May at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The one-day conference, ‘Plastics Manufacturing South Africa’, consisted of seven technical workshops and was well received by the audience of manufacturers and raw materials suppliers from domestic and multinational companies based in South Africa.

The theme, ‘Finding New Solutions to Improve Productivity and

Energy Efficiency’, saw chairman and speaker Bernard Reeksting, technical director of the Centre for Polymer Technology, opened the day with a pertinent question for the delegates: “How much energy does your plant use?”

While the 28-strong audience were left to consider their own energy usage, they heard updates on raw materials and additives from two leading plastics consultants, Annabé Pretorius and Tim Cooper. The sessions then focused on motivating the workforce with a thought-provoking

AFRICAN LABEL INDABA: 20-21 August Radisson BLU Gautrain, Sandton: jolanda@vdsmedia.co.za PLASTICS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS 2013: 10-11 September Hilton City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA: www.amiplastics-na.com/events POLYOLEFIN ADDITIVES 2013: 10-12 September Hotel Nikko, Düsseldorf: www.amiplastics.com/events PETNOLOGY EUROPE 2013: 15-17 September Munich, Germany: www.petnology.com

DIARY

INTERNATIONAL AVK CONFERENCE: 16-17 September ICS Int’l Congress Centre, Stuttgart: www.avk-tv.de DRINKTEC: 16-20 September: Munich, Germany: www.drinktec.com COASTAL CLEAN-UP: 16-21 September: www.cleanup-SA.co.za EMO HANNOVER: 16-21 September Hannover, Germany: www.emo-hannover.de POLYURETHANES TECHNICAL CONF: 23-25 September Phoenix, Arizona: www.polyurethane.americanchemistry.com MEDIPLAS 2013: 25-26 September NEC, Birmingham, UK: www.meetbirmingham.com WINDABA: 25-27 September CT Int’l Convention Centre: www.windaba.co.za TUBOTECH 2013: 1-3 October Sao Paulo, Brazil: wynhoffU@messe-duesseldorf.de SPE TPO AUTO ENG POLYOLEFINS CONF: 6-9 October Troy Marriott, Detroit, USA: www.4spe.org PE2013 EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE: 8-10 October Messe Dresden, Germany: www.plastic-electronics.org THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS 2013: 15-16 October Düsseldorf, Germany: www.tpe-conference.com K2013: 16-23 October: Düsseldorf, Germany: www.konline.de RAPDASA 2013: 30 Oct – 01 Nov SANParks Golden Gate Hotel: www.rapdasa.org (YIWU) INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION: 19-22 November Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, China: www.yiwuppp.com COMPAMED 2013: 20-22 November Düsseldorf, Germany: www.compamed.de WIND TURBINE BLADE MANUFACTURE: 3-5 December Maritim Hotel, Dusseldorf, Germany: www.amiplastics.com/events EUROMOLD 2013: 3-6 December Exhibition Centre, Frankfurt, Germany: www.euromold.com 2014 PROPAK EAST AFRICA: 1-3 April 2014 Kenyatta Int’l Conference Centre, Nairobi: www.propakeastafrica.com

JUNE / JULY 2013

Award for Wittmann ‘internal welding’ process WITTMANN Battenfeld won a medal at the Plastpol show in Kielce, Poland, in May for a new IMIW process (‘In-Mould Internal Welding’) which makes it possible to over-mould inserts with gas- and watertight sealing. The connection is made directly between the contact surfaces by joining the two injection-moulded plastic halves from the inside, using the same plastic material the parts are made of. The finished parts show neither a ridge nor

a welding bead, the weld seam has an extremely high load capacity. This process, for which Barkley of England has developed the mould technology (the equipment is marketed by Wittmann Battenfeld), is of special interest for RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. At Plastpol, the process was demonstrated by over-moulding an electronic part on an EcoPower 110/350, an all-electric machine from the PowerSeries.

www.wittmann-group.com • BARKLEY PLASTICS, ESTABLISHED IN 1965, IS A LEADER IN THE AREA OF IN MOULD INTERNAL WELDING PROCESSES THAT IT HAS DEVELOPED. THIS ALLOWS FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS MOULDING OF TWO PARTS WITHIN A MOULD TOOL THAT CAN BE JOINED TOGETHER IN A SECOND CYCLE OF THE TOOL TO PRODUCE AN HERMETICALLY SEALED UNIT. WWW.BARKLEY.CO.UK

presentation from Hendrik Lourens, writer of a new ebook ‘Drawing a new map: Doing the right things well through strategic learning and the strategic fitness process’, and technical manager at Ampaglas.

Practical sessions followed, including ‘Troubleshooting to reduce contamination’ presented by Bernard Reeksting and two practical workshops on cutting energy usage. Sivuyile Hlam, managing director of Iskhus, presented on power-factor correction equipment, and Faith Daba of the National Cleaner Production Centre concluded the day with tips and ideas on how an energy audit could save companies millions.

Discussions throughout the day highlighted the challenges faced by plastics manufacturers in South Africa. The rise of lucrative packaging businesses as a threat to non-packaging manufacturing; the

While the 28-strong audience at the recent mPAD Conference were left to consider their own energy usage, they heard updates on raw materials and additives from two leading plastics consultants, Annabé Pretorius and Tim Cooper

need to reclaim South Africa’s position as a designer and innovator of products, and companies having to move production to regional markets because of transportation and logistics issues, were raised as major concerns. “mPAD events offer insight and solutions and we’re delighted that the content of the

CHINAPLAS WITH the world’s economy focus continuing to shift eastward, Southeast Asia is getting more attention in the plastics industry. The low labour and operation costs in this region have made it an ideal place for multinational manufacturers to establish their production bases. Benefiting from this, a variety of application industries like automotive, building,

plastics workshops chimed so well with manufacturers’ challenges and concerns.

We have future projects planned across Africa but we will certainly be hosting this event again in South Africa in 2014,” said Rose Bundock, conference organiser. www.mpad-africa.com

More than 1,700 exhibitors

Southeast Asia the new engine of global plastics industry

electronics industries and other various mid and high-end application industries in countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have experienced continuous growth, which stimulated the demand for plastics and rubber.

Chinaplas 2013, held from 20-23 May at the China Import and Export Fair Complex,

Pazhou, Guangzhou, PR China, offered a valuable demonstration platform for Southeast Asia’s plastics and rubber processing industries.

More than 1,700 exhibitors displayed their plastics and rubber machinery, auxiliary and processing equipment with over 2,900 exhibitors from 38 countries.

JUNE / JULY 2013

International Trade Fair, No. 1 for Plastics and Rubber worldwide

Established 1963

GROUP 1: GROUP 2: GROUP 1

GROUP 2

nights 34 nights

4 nights 3

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Flights in economy class from from JHB JHB

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1. Hotelship Hotelshipmoored moorednear nearOld OldCity City

R19 R 30900.00 400.00

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3. are 4* Hotel close totoshopping R27 R19 100.00pp We also prepared tailor-makearea packages to 200.00 suit your specific requirementsR32 700.00

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the city 2. 3* 3*Hotel Hotellocated close toinstation

We are also prepared to tailor-make packages to suit your specific requirements

27 –Oct - 3 Nov 2013 2010 16 23 October Düsseldorf, Germany Düsseldorf, Germany

Flight departures from Johannesburg: GROUP 1: 14 Oct – 19 Oct 2013 ~ 4 nights GROUP 1: 26 - 30 October 2010 ~ 3 nights GROUP 2:October 18 Oct 23 Oct 2010 2013 4 nights GROUP 2: 29 – 03–November ~ 4~ nights Flight departures from Johannesburg:

Sonja Herbst 2509 Sonja De Wendt 016 016980 9802509 sonjah@rosebanktravel.com sonjad@rosebanktravel.co.za Linda Steenekamp Linda Steenkamp 011 8805954/5 011 8805954/5 lindas@rosebanktravel.com lindas@rosebanktravel.com Allan Wolman 011 8805954/5

Allan Wolman 011 8805954/5 allanw@rosebanktravel.com allanw@rosebanktravel.com Should wish to make a Shouldyou you wish to make reservation, please go to go to a reservation, please Rosebank Website and and RosebankTravel Travel Website complete on-lineapplication: application. completethe on-line

www.rosebanktravel.com www.rosebanktravel.com OR contact any of the

Or contact any ofthe the above to above to send relevant send the relevant information. information.

Big interest in K 2013 Düsseldorf Marked increase in demand for exhibition space: K 2013 is continuing where the thoroughly successful 2010 fair left off. All big-name companies of the international plastics and rubber industry will be taking part in their flagship fair in October. The demand for stand space has risen sharply, and numerous exhibitors want to make a bigger impact at the fair. All 19 halls of Düsseldorf’s exhibition grounds will be fully occupied.

For Werner M. Dornscheidt, President and CEO of Messe Düsseldorf, the big interest from the entire sector confirms K Düsseldorf’s outstanding status. “K 2013 will give us a complete overview of the changing world market, and we can look forward to a multitude of impressive innovations.

We know that many of our exhibitors are already working flat out on their new products and presentations. Düsseldorf will be a powerful source of inspiration for the plastics and rubber world!” Some 3,000 exhibiting companies will be participating in K 2013 from 16 to 23 October and presenting their offers from the fields of: machinery and equipment for the plastics and rubber industry; raw materials, auxiliaries, and semi-finished products, technical parts and reinforced plastics.

“K makes the difference” – the motto of the upcoming event says it all. K Düsseldorf is a trend barometer and innovation forum for the entire sector, with the latest developments and optimized technologies being premiered here every three years. Company exhibits will be supplemented by a special show entitled “Plastics move the world”. This is where aspects of the theme of mobility will be taken up – everything from lightweight design in the construction of vehicles, aircraft and ships, and electromobility to individual mobility and modern leisure behaviour.

Rosebank Travel are the Trade Fair Travel Specialists in South Africa with global access to cost effective accommodation for most Trade Fairs in Germany and around the world. As specialists in WORLDWIDE trade fair travel services, we offer BEST package prices including air tickets, affordable accommodation close to the fairgrounds (we are the ONLY travel company that charters HOTELSHIPS during shows), entrance tickets, comprehensive travel insurance, preferred foreign exchange rates (delivered to your work place) and many more... Rosebank Travel was established back in 1963 and has evolved from those early days of a Travel Agency to a highly sophisticated Travel Management Company. We have been doing travel for 46 years and probably know this industry as well as anyone in the country.

COMING UP AFRICARAIL 2013 ROAD, rail, ports and aviation industry leaders will meet at AfricaRail 2013, Africa’s largest rail, transport and infrastructure show, from 19-21 July at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg.

AfricaRail is the continent’s leading rail event. It is Africa’s only railway conference and exhibition with attendees from all over Africa. It is supported by government and industry alike. More than 2500 visitors attended the 2012 event which also saw more than 80 sponsors & exhibitors, 100 speakers, 4 conferences and 48 free seminars. www.terrapinn.com/2013/africa-rail/index.stm

DIARY

REVIEW OF GLOBAL THERMOFORMING

Kalahari ‘Eco Speedweek’ in September www.speedweeksa.com

A NOVEL ‘eco’ 24-hour mobility challenge at which students have to generate power for their vehicles on site is to take place at Haksteenpan in the Northern Cape in September.

Fuel must be generated on site – be it solar, hydrogen, biogas or any novel renewable energy solution – for the race, which forms part of Kalahari Eco Speedweek from 7-11 September.

Challenges include solar flight, unmanned aerial vehicles and possibly even rocketry, with the sky quite literally being the limit.

One of the organisers, Bob Bond of the Technical University of Tshwane, said the event is intended to encourage universities and colleges to come

up with unique solutions for the 24hour race.

The ECO race will stimulate innovation in vehicle lightweighting, which is highly topical in automotive plastics engineering.

“The event involves teams camping in the Kalahari Desert at Haksteenpan, which is also to be used by the Bloodhound Team for the Landspeed record attempt in 2014. The event is thus a ‘Technology Camp & Conference,’ which should fire up the engines of captains of industry who, it is hoped, will offer sponsorship,” added Bob. The Eco Speedweek takes place in the Kalahari in September annually.

SINCE 2001, over 54% of the top 50 thermoforming companies in the USA have either undergone a change in ownership or gone out of business … which suggests there is a lot of change in this market, in which the USA is probably the global leader. This scenario, or at least trying to work out strategies to succeed in it, will be at the heart of the 22nd annual Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Thermoforming Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, from 9-12 September. www.thermoformingdivision.com

• BOB IS KEEN TO ENLIST SUPPORT FROM COMPANIES IN THE PLASTICS OR COMPOSITES SECTOR, PHONE 083 227 0797; BONDRJ@TUT.AC.ZA

COMPOSITES EUROPE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Carting, with the use of bio gas or bio fuel, is popular at these desert challenges as the vehicle weight is low

The terrain on the salt pan is, well, mainly flat

THE programme for this year’s International AVK Conference on Fibre Reinforced Plastics/Composites at the ICS International Congress Center Stuttgart from 16-17 September is now available.

Lightweight applications in the automotive/aerospace sectors, high-performance sport and boat building will be the core focus. This year’s AVK Innovation Award will be presented on the first evening of the conference and ‘Composites Night’ will be held on the second evening.

The AVK conference is, as usual, the opening event at the Composites Europe trade fair, also on 16-17 September. www.avk-tv.de; www.composites-europe.com

SPECIFICALLY MEDICAL MEDIPLAS, the uniquely focused event for the highly specialised area of manufacturing plastic parts for the medical industry, will take place this year from 25-26 September at the NEC, Birmingham, UK Mediplas differentiates itself from general plastics shows, as it brings to the forefront the aspects and considerations of medical device manufacturing that do not feature in production for other industries. Furthermore, it is distinct from existing medical device shows because it specialises in plastics - the new material of choice as bio-compatible plastics and polymer compounds continue to replace metals and ceramics in all industries, especially medical. www.mediplasuk.com

ELASTOMERS EVENT ON EVE OF K THERMOPLASTIC Elastomers, organised by SmithersRapra, takes place at the Hotel Nikko in Düsseldorf on 15-16 October, on the eve of the K show at the nearby Messe Düsseldorf.

The event will look at bio-content, medical applications, high-temperature TPEs, automotive sector developments, thin-walled components and regulations (food contact updates). www.tpe-conference.com JUNE / JULY 2013

African Label Indaba in August THE African Label Indaba – to be held at the Radisson BLU Gautrain in Sandton on 20-21 August – will offer a detailed insight into the trends and developments of the South African labelling market. The event is primarily geared at education and innovation and will focus on the main label segments of PSA#, IML, shrink and wraparound.

Supported by Opaltone, the organiser, VDS Media, will also host an interactive label & packaging related workshop which will run in conjunction with the conference.

The event will bring industry leaders from the packaging & labelling industry, equipment & machinery suppliers, manufacturers, brand owners & retailers from the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) sector, converters and printers to share insight into the development of their respective value chains in the southern African region.

The programme features an array of speakers including BMI Research, Hahn & Hahn Attorneys, L’Oreal, Rako Labels, Muller Martini, Paragon Inks, Fima Films, SAPRO, Afripack, UPM and others.

Industry leaders from the packaging and labelling industry, equipment suppliers, manufacturers, brand owners and retailers from the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) sector, convertors and printers are expected to attend and share insights into the developments of their respective value chains in the southern African region.

VDS Media invites you and your company to support this event.

• For more information, please contact Jolanda van de Spreng at VDS Media: (pressure-sensitive self-adhesive labels)

jolanda@vdsmedia.co.za

where quality is action

A-PET

BOOKS

The Lazy Man’s Guide to

Saving the World Humorous, environmentally conscious book launches TO coincide with World Environment Week, Tuffy Brands launched a humorous, environmentally conscious book called ‘The Lazy Man’s Guide to Saving the World,’ for those who are apathetic when it comes to recycling. The book comprises a collection of anecdotal tips and quirky visual imagery told through the eyes of Lazy George.

“Some people have had enough of being told to save the world, so with this book we hope to speak to the lazy guy inside all of us, that gets across the importance of doing small simple things that impact on the environment in a visually appealing and humorous way,” says Tuffy marketing director, Rory Murray.

“The book was created out of the insight that some consumers still tend to be apathetic with regard to recycling and they are tired of thinking about their environmental impact,” explains Murray. “The book reminds people, in an entertaining way that every little bit of recycling helps in relieving the pressure on the burgeoning landfills.”

Lazy George takes the reader on a journey giving them planet saving tips beyond the ordinary, including; wear skinny jeans because they require less

WIN!

material, don’t heat the house, find someone to cuddle with and don’t wash your car, it will rain eventually.

He says that Tuffy’s 100% recycled story is told in a way that will resonate with consumers in a not so serious way and at the same time remind consumers that by choosing Tuffy 100% recycled refuse bags they are doing their conscious bit to save the planet.

“Tuffy pulls out 4,200 tons of junk annually from landfill sites to manufacture their refuse bags. That’s about 6,000 20ft shipping containers of waste that would remain in the environment if people didn’t choose Tuffy bags,” he says.

In keeping with being environmentally conscious, the book has been printed on recycled paper using vegetable ink and the images have been created using recycled household objects.

The e-book is available as free download by clicking on this link http://bit.ly/ ZOAO2w or hard-cover for purchase at a cost of R180. For stockist details please contact Kisha van Vuuren at tel: 021 4137500. www.tuffy.co.za

Tuffy Brands will give one lucky reader a complimentary copy of the book as well as a 3-month supply of Tuffy Brands household products. To enter the lucky draw for the giveaway, email your details to tessa@summitpub.co.za. First response received will win!

“CONFESSIONS of a Greenpeace Dropout - The making of a sensible environmentalist” is Dr Patrick Moore’s engaging first-hand account of his many years spent as the ultimate Greenpeace insider, a co-founder and leader in the organization’s top committee. Moore explains why, 15 years after cofounding it, he left Greenpeace to establish a more sensible, science based approach to environmentalism.

This is a must-read for everyone in the PVC and related industries as he deals with chlorine and vinyl in much depth. As an introduction into his book you can download

JUNE / JULY 2013

Author: Taryn Scher, Photography: Simon Barnes, Art Direction: Yvonne Hall & Harriet Stockwell, Illustration & Typography: Harriet Stockwell

pages 314 – 322 (deals specifically with PVC) from the SAVA website (www.savinyls.co.za/posts/index/1-pressoffice .

“After reading these few pages, I am sure you will definitely purchase the book! I have just finished reading it and have learned a lot about being a ‘sensible environmentalist’!” says Delanie Bezuidenhout, CEO, Southern African Vinyls Association.

You can buy the book from www.amazon.com

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BOOKS

High density – strong growth THE broad portfolio of products shows how versatile the plastic high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is.

Ceresana expects worldwide revenues generated with this important type of plastic to rise dynamically to almost US$70 billion in 2019.

Market analysts expect demand in the Asia-Pacific region to rise at average growth rates of 4.4% per year.

Yet sales markets in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America are also likely to generate above-average growth rates. Demand development on the market for HDPE in North America and Western Europe, however, will be notably slower.

Changes in regional demand will also

have an effect on the global production structure of manufacturers. Over the next eight years, new capacities of more than 8 million tons will be added in Asia-Pacific.

The major areas of application One of the major application areas for HDPE is the blow moulding of bottles and other hollow pieces. Products of this type accounted for roughly 28% of global HDPE market volume in 2011, closely followed by films and injection moulded products.

Growth market plastic pipes But the most dynamic growth in the upcoming eight years is forecast for the HDPE pipe segment; Ceresana expects demand in this sector to increase by 4.8% per year. China and other emerging countries are expanding their infrastructure which results in pipes and cable conduits made from HDPE becoming more important.

The book provides a presentation and analysis of the global market for HDPE, including forecasts up to 2019.

Development of revenues, demand, production and capacities is analyzed for each individual region.

It also offers a detailed analysis of the HDPE market in the 27 major countries. Data on demand, revenues, production, producers of HDPE as well as import and export is provided.

Demand is analyzed in detail, split by the processing technologies injection molding, blow molding, film and sheet extrusion, pipe and other extrusion as well as other processes.

Processing technologies of HDPE as well as influences exercised by various areas of application are examined in an in-depth analysis. The book also dedicates a chapter to profiles of the largest manufacturers of HDPE – clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, capacities and profile summary.

www.ceresana.com/en/Market-Studies/Plastics/Polyethylene-HDPE

Practical guide to flexible polyurethane foams SMITHERS Rapra Publishing has released a “Practical Guide to Flexible Polyurethane Foams”.

Polyurethanes are one of the most versatile and exciting materials of the plastics family. Although there are many types, the flexible and viscoelastic foams have opened up vast possibilities, both as viable business ventures, expanding applications and have established themselves as an essential part of people’s daily life, replacing traditional materials over the years.

JUNE / JULY 2013

This book imparts a sound knowledge of flexible and viscoelastic polyurethane foams from its chemistry to calculations and formulating methodology for quality production. The author also presents very valuable detailed information on foam manufacturing, based on over 40 years hands-on experience in both the local and international scenes.

The detailed presentation of two manufacturing set-ups will greatly benefit entrepreneurs, medium volume producers and the large manufacturers.

For the entrepreneurs, the innovative low-cost start-up, high profit, tried and tested methods will no doubt be very encouraging. The medium to large volume producers will find the information provided both interesting and practical to solve inherent problems of

excess wastage, better process control and plant efficiency thus enhancing profitability.

Due to global environmental concerns, as polyurethane chemical components move from petroleum sources to bio-based renewable resources, developers are facing interesting challenges. For continued profitable production, challenges facing the foam machinery manufacturers will be to offer cost-effective, highly-efficient and compatible machinery to producers. This book provides practical guidance in all aspects of flexible polyurethane foam manufacture and is an ideal information source for students, teachers, producers and entrepreneurs. www.polymer-books.com

Advertisers: June / July 2013 Ampacet 25 BASF 15, 57 Bayer 11 Carst & Walker 89 DemaPlastech 51 DESMA 35 DH Polymers 42 Gator Products 34 Haitian Huayuan 27 Hestico 31 Hosaf 87 IDC 01, 81 Jenowill 03 Karbochem 47 Leister Technologies 42 Masterbatch SA 77 MBT 70 MGMW Trading 55 Miracle Mould 72, 73 Mould Base SA 50 Orion Engineered Carbons 60 Performance Colour Systems 05 Plasquip OBC Plastamid 49 PlastiChem IFC Plastics|SA Insert Plastomark 45 Polysaf 69 Proplas 33 Protea Polymers IBC Rawmac 75 Relloy (Reiloy) 41 REPI S.p.A. 43 Rosebank Travel 85 Safrique Intâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l 23 SAPY Colours 63 Sasol Polymers 67 SES 39, 64 Sun Ace 59 Trio Plastics 29 Univ. of Free State 19

VACANCY: COLOUR MATCHER Colour Matcher required for leading masterbatch house in South Africa.

At least 5 years experience colour matching in plastics/ paint/ink industries.

Fantastic rate offered commensurate with experience.

Please send CV to michelle@plasticolors.co.za

TOOLROOM MACHINERY FOR SALE ONA IN360PS spark eroder 60 Amp 1989 model R 100,000.00 Contact: Geoff Hardy 083 259 3199

#,!33)&)%$ !$6%243 FOR SALE Carry bag machine 15mnths old, ex East London R150 000 incl Vat & del in RSA Includes 6 sets steel dies 220V/9Kw, double lane unit Contact: Wouter de Lange bagman@8tamail.com wouterbagman@gmail.com Cell 072 705 8597

THERMOFORMING, SHEET EXTRUSION, AND MATERIALS THERMOFORMING TECHNOLOGY SAVE 90% of your electricity use with GN! *1 &DQDGD PDFKLQHV IRU UHGXFHG ZDVWH DQG UHGXFHG HQHUJ\ 7KHUPRIRUPLQJ 0RXOGV IRU *1 DQG RWKHU WKHUPRIRUPHUV EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGY FROM AGRIPAK OF ITALY Mono & multi-layer extrusion lines for the production of: Âľ&DUWRQSODVW WZLQZDOO KROORZ SURILOH VKHHW

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BRE INNOVATIONS BRE INNOVATIONS CONTACT

NEW: Octal DPET sheet for lowest carbon footprint, highest clarity

We Buy and Sell Plastic Pallets 083 756 6897 www.premierpallets.co.za

Tim Forshaw RU Phil Hopkinson

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FOR SALE PALLETISED PP AND HD PP BLACK/DARK GREY R7.30 PER KG

Are you going to K2013?

PP COLOURS R7.60 PER KG CONTACT SEABATT PLASTICS Jakkie: 082 333 0530

Trade Fair Travel offer a travel package which includes: â&#x20AC;˘ Return airfare Johannesburg/ DĂźsseldorf â&#x20AC;˘ Airport transfer â&#x20AC;˘ Accommodation for 4 nights â&#x20AC;˘ Full breakfast daily â&#x20AC;˘ Travel insurance â&#x20AC;˘ DĂźsseldorf city map For more info visit www.tradefairtours.com or call 031 916 1414

OfďŹ ce: Melissa 011 475 9311

SMALL, PROFITABLE PLAIN AND PRINTED PLASTIC BAG MANUFACTURING BUSINESS FOR SALE IN JOHANNESBURG. E-MAIL: zasas@yebo.co.za

GREENLAND OILS Michael Engels 072 125 4323

Reinette Jordan Email: reinette@jcl.co.za

Tel: (011) 903-8084 Fax: (086) 665-4323 email: mengels1@ telkomsa.net PO Box 1220 Walkerville 1876

FOR SALE Brand New Blown Film Line LDPE/HDPE 45mm screw, 28:1 7.5kw main motor 2 x die heads (45mm + 95mm) Rotating die head 500mm nip rollers Back 2 back windup 700mm winder roller width Trim take off blower 18-200um ďŹ lm thickness R 90,000 Contact 082 449 4100

COMPOUNDING CAPACITY AVAILABLE We can compound mineral powders into PP or PE Please call Alon on 021 521 2400

To place a classiďŹ ed advert please Fax: 086 519 6089 or Tel: 021 712 1408 or E-mail: saplastics@iafrica.com www.saplastics.co.za JUNE / JULY 2013

All plastics - Water pollution activist Ray Chaplin kitted up and ready to riverboard: the load he carries on his back is around 35kg. The riverboard is made from LLD-PE and was designed and developed in South Africa

by Fluid Kayaks, together with Charl van Rensburg. The helmet contains a PP foam inner, the fins are made from TPE materials and the wetsuit is made in Neoprene

WE BUMPED into Ray at the recent first African Marine Debris Summit in Cape Town from 6-8 June, organised by Plastics|SA, where Ray took a short break to address delegates about his experience so far.

Orange River Project challenges, amazes and appalls

SPORTS

PHOTOS: JEFF MORRIS & RAY CHAPLIN

State of river, even from close to source, is not a pretty sight

RAY CHAPLIN, the adventurer who is set on becoming the first person to riverboard the entire length of the Orange River, has been making steady progress in often difficult conditions … but has, unfortunately, encountered large volumes of plastic litter, almost from the source of the river.

Ray is ‘riverboarding’ down the river, from the Maluti mountains in Lesotho to Alexander Bay on the Atlantic coast, a distance of over 2300km. His mission: to raise awareness of South Africa’s water quality and the very present threat of water pollution. Plastics|SA and Nampak Rigid Plastics are sponsoring the expedition, which is expected to take five months.

A 32-year-old Capetonian, Ray is travelling solo without any back-up team to assist him. Instead, he relies on his 3mm wetsuit and plastic riverboard for safety and the kindness of local farmers and communities to resupply his food and water along the journey.

We spoke to Ray after he’d completed

Ray is also visiting schools and municipalities along the route to educate kids and create awareness of plastics recycling JUNE / JULY 2013

the first 400km of his journey, more than half of which he had to walk because river conditions were low, which was made even tougher for the fact that his pack (carrying all his supplies) weighs about 35kg.

“The most challenging bit so far has been carrying the heavy load in immensely difficult terrain. The most amazing experience has been the hospitality I’ve received at every turn,” he said.

However, the most disappointing experience was the pollution he found just 30km from the source of the Orange River.

“This is appalling considering the first settlement along the river is about 40km from the source. The river is in a dismal state: by about 200km downriver I could start smelling the water. Plastics, cans and other waste are stuck in just about every tree from roughly 100km downriver,” he added. www.raychaplin.com

Kids from Oranjekrag School posing with just some of the litter collected around Gariep Dam on 11 June.

There are over 185 bags in this pile and only half the bags had been collected by this point!

SA Plastics magazine: What have you found to be the most challenging so far?

Ray: Lesotho was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. A lot of the time it was a huge mental challenge. Communication was a big issue and trying to find a place to sleep and rest each night. The area is very rugged and remote. I also suffered from a pinched nerve in my back and shoulder and the beginnings of frostbite in my fingers.

SA Plastics magazine: How tough do you expect the next part of your journey to be?

Ray: There’s going to be a lot more flat water and some strong headwinds which mean a lot more paddling. However, the terrain is going to be a lot more hospitable.

It’s going to be a great change of scenery.

SA Plastics magazine: You are visiting schools and municipalities along the route to educate kids and create awareness of plastics recycling. Apart from your obvious mission in raising awareness about water pollution, what do you hope to get out of this personally?

Ray: Right from the start I wanted to use my knowledge and background to try and share how important the sustainability of life and the environment is, but especially with the younger generation. I want to let them know that a sustainable future is possible, and that they have a huge part to play in it.

I want to try and educate actively, through experience. Kids are tired of classroom teaching, they want to see someone go out and do what they teach.

Keep up to date with Ray’s progress on Facebook (www.facebook.com/raychaplin) and Twitter (@raychaplin).

The 32-year-old Capetonian is travelling solo without any back-up team to assist him.

Instead, he relies on his 3mm wetsuit and plastic riverboard for safety and the kindness of local farmers and communities to resupply his food and water along the journey

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