News

SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business today announced a new, high-performance Lexan* EXL copolymer resin that addresses the fast-moving trend toward miniaturization of photovoltaic (PV) connectors and junction boxes. The enhanced electrical and flame-retardant performance of the new Lexan EXL resin grade enables designers to miniaturize the entire system by creating thin-wall parts, moving conductors closer together and integrating junction box systems – helping to drive down solar energy costs and increase efficiency. New Lexan EXL resin helps customers strengthen their competitive footing by contributing significantly to the benefits of PV systems and further accelerating the move to solar energy.
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Stork Materials Technology has officially changed its name to Element Materials Technology. In this final step venturing away from the Stork Group, Element becomes an independent world-class materials technology company in its own right with over 180 years of experience.
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While many companies struggled this past year, one local company completed two major plant expansions and is looking to extend its market reach through acquisition and/or international expansion.

Penn Color, a leading manufacturer of color and additive concentrates, headquartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has opened a new 52,000 square foot plant in Milton , Wisconsin and a new masterbatch manufacturing facility in Venray, The Netherlands.  
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Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that it has purchased Evonik Industries’ portfolio of manufacturing technology, including patents, for the production of polyethylene waxes used in a variety of applications, from paints and coatings to adhesives and inks.
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Kistler (www.kistler.com), a worldwide supplier of precision sensors, systems and instrumentation for the dynamic measurement of pressure, force, torque and acceleration, has introduced the Type 2869B0 Entry Level CoMo Injection, a four-channel process monitoring data acquisition system, designed to provide injection molders with cost-effective introductory cavity pressure monitoring for 100% zero-defect parts.
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Solvay announced today it is acquiring Société Générale's equity interest in ORBEO, the 50/50 joint venture between the two groups dedicated to the carbon markets. Once this transaction has been completed, ORBEO will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rhodia Energy, itself a subsidiary of Solvay. This acquisition illustrates the determination of the Solvay Group to continue Rhodia's drive to develop its activities in the area of greenhouse gas emission abatement.
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In Massachusetts, a leading global molding firm upgrades its training facilities with new machinery.  In Wisconsin, students gather around an operating electric molding machine to learn basic molding principles.  In Michigan, students pack a classroom for an automation class to learn how to program a robot.  In Southern California, a ‘Plastics Applied Technology Center’ is created to teach students and working professionals injection molding best practices.
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Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) is introducing an upgraded version of its LeakMonitor® device which uses an ultrasonic sensor to continuously monitor the blow molding process for air leaks from machine components and defective bottles. The new capability enables leak detection at production speeds typical for state-of-the-art blowmolding equipment.
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By mixing 100% pure PLLA with 100% PDLA, a fast cycle and heat-resistant injection mouldable PLA with very good temperature and impact properties is made that far exceeds the properties of the individual polymers. With a Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT) of 123°C Synterra® IM material performs much better than conventional PLA and the impact strength is comparable to that of ABS.
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Here at the CARTES & IDentification show, Booth 4N062, SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business today introduced two new breakthrough Lexan* polycarbonate (PC) film technologies for identification (ID) cards that help simplify integration of additional security features needed to combat identity theft and counterfeiting. New Lexan SDCX co-extruded film and Lexan SC92E flexible hard-coated film provide solutions to the challenges of constructing ID cards and security documents with more and thinner layers and complex manufacturing. Several years after SABIC’s successful introduction of the Lexan Secure ID film portfolio, this expansion of its security product offerings with Lexan SDCX and SC92E high-performance films clearly demonstrates the company’s commitment to identity protection technologies that benefit smartcard manufacturers and consumers alike.
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