Industries and Markets

No trade show comes close to NPE for sheer dynamism, with aisle after aisle of working plastics equipment filling the exhibit halls with clamor and action. While some of this was lost at NPE2009 as the Great Recession took its toll, the excitement will come back in full force this year. In the words of SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, NPE2012 will mark “The Return of the Machines.”
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LANXESS is continuing to expand its Indian production site in Jhagadia, Gujarat state. The specialty chemicals group is underlining its commitment to the subcontinent by inaugurating three new plants this month to serve the growing India market. LANXESS has invested over EUR 70 million and created roughly 300 new jobs at the site.
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Westchester Plastics, a leading independent toll compounder of engineering resins, alloys, blends, reactive modifiers and other thermoplastic materials, has significantly expanded compounding capabilities at its Wapakoneta, OH facility. The new capacity provides Westchester Plastics with greater flexibility and processing capabilities and positions the plant to better meet the needs of its customers for high performance engineering resins in numerous markets.
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From the February 2011 issue of Plastics Engineering.

By Jon Evans

The beginning of the end of the oil era is already causing headaches for fuel producers and plastics producers, as both start searching for potential replacements.

To read the rest of the article, please see the attached PDF.

In response to the continuing positive order situation, and above all, strong demand for its new large machine model - the MacroPower, WITTMANN BATTENFELD has decided to increase its production capacity in 2012. The MacroPower, the company’s large machine model introduced for the first time in 2010 and now available with clamping forces ranging from 500 to 1,100 t, has met with an extremely positive response from the market.
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Global demand for plastics processing machinery is projected to rise 6.0 percent annually through 2015 to $28.9 billion, a rebound from market declines experienced during the recession-impacted 2005-2010 period.  Sales growth will be driven by an acceleration in plastic product manufacturing, as well as by a favorable fixed investment environment worldwide.  Many nations are building up their plastics manufacturing infrastructure, due to both rising domestic demand for plastics-consuming goods and export opportunities to developed nations.  These and other trends are presented in World Plastics Processing Machinery, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.  
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Solarsoft Business Systems, a leading provider of enterprise software and IT services to manufacturers worldwide, announced today that the integration of Solarsoft’s ERP software and Mattec MES manufacturing execution system has helped Lakeside Plastics, a mid-sized Canadian plastic injection molder, earn automotive industry recognition and a 15-percent increase in business.
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GM and Teijin will co-develop technology to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy -Teijin to open U.S. technical center to facilitate collaborative development.

General Motors and Teijin Limited., a leader in the carbon fiber and composites industry, will co-develop advanced carbon fiber composite technologies for potential high-volume use globally in GM cars, trucks and crossovers. The co-development pact signed today involves use of Teijin's innovative carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) technology, a faster and more efficient way to produce carbon fiber composites. This potentially enables GM to introduce CFRTP components on mainstream vehicles. For Teijin, the arrangement could lead to widening its portfolio beyond specialty and high-end automotive carbon fiber applications. “Our relationship with Teijin provides the opportunity to revolutionize the way carbon fiber is used in the automotive industry," said GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. "This technology holds the potential to be an industry game changer and demonstrates GM's long-standing commitment to innovation." 
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