|
 NPE2009 report: Your post-show wrapup!
Held during what will be recorded as the worst recession in decades, June’s NPE2009 trade show in Chicago generated its fair share of heated discussion, with some industry experts arguing there was no cause to spend money on an exhibition in such a tough market while others were just as convinced that it was exactly the sort of statement the industry needed to make.
The show was combined with the SPE’s Antec and a host of other conferences and events, which some saw as a great more-bang-formy-buck opportunity; others believed that too much choice diluted the impact of NPE, and especially Antec.
No matter where you stand on those issues, there is no question that the show exhibitors brought an incredible array of technology to the Windy City, technology offering processors a way to move well ahead of their peers.
We devote this NPE Showcase to some of those many new developments and wish you success in finding the materials and equipment your company needs.
Modern Plastics Worldwide, Free Subscription
Qualify for Your Free Subscription!
Geographic Eligibility: International
Publisher: Canon Communications LLC
Read the Digital Edition: NPE Showcase September 2009
8 Materials and additives
12 Injection molding
18 Extrusion
27 Material handling
31 Reclaiming and recycling
33 Mold/diemaking and rapid tooling
100 Classifieds
106 Ad Index
38 Processing Trends
Injection molding: Use the scrap, lose the contaminants; Coating brings the look and feel of real metal decoration to molded parts.
Film extrusion: Activity in Italy—Torninova pushes into three-layer stretch film with Macchi; Bioplastics bring their own barrier.
44 Material Thoughts
Additives add buzz to NPE.
52 Make Every Pellet Count:
Want good products and processes?
Train good employees
You can’t make a good part without an operator who knows how to do his or her job.
56 World Tour
56 Processor expands its energy to substantially cut its energy use.
58 iGPS throws down gauntlet for wooden pallet industry.
60 Spotlight
Inmold sees new markets on the horizon.
61 Focus on Japan
72 Additives Directory
80 Short Shots
82 Automotive suppliers battle continued stress
With orders returning, where is the credit to keep these manufacturers filling them?
84 Market Snapshot:
Automotive interior and exterior
Only one thing seems certain among auto parts makers:
Fewer will be left standing at the end of this recession.
90 Observations from NPE2009:
Design competition goes international in style
IMM columnist Glenn Beall notices that, like himself, many at the show were drawn to the creative, largely IM winners in the International Plastics Design Competition.
92 Moldmakers play important role in successful tool transfers
The growing tsunami of molds being moved to other molders requires a moment of pause: Do you really want this work?
96 Plant Tour: Commitment to a global standard need not be a great wall
A visit to GW Plastics in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China.
Visit Modern Plastics Worldwide Website
Training around the world
Funds are being cut in England; a new training program emerges in California; Germans, Austrians, and Swiss emphasize their apprenticeship programs: After you’ve read the Make Every Pellet Count feature in this issue on employee training, dial in to the Web Exclusives section of plasticstoday.com/mpw for more on this subject.
Prototype lab speeding medical device packaging to market
Pharmaceutical and medical disposables OEMs are looking upstream for help in their packaging development efforts, so flexible packaging processor Rollprint Packaging Products opened a prototype laboratory to help its customers mix and match materials more quickly to determine which packaging meets the needs for their products.
Additives at NPE2009
Plasticizers, stabilizers, purging compounds, and flame retardants—if you didn’t find them on pages 44-50, you will find them at plasticstoday.com/mpw. While competitors stumble, Confer Plastics continues its blowmolding ways Unimpeded by the automotive market travails that have impacted other large-part blowmolders, custom and proprietary blowmolder Confer Plastics Inc. is adding another large blowmolding unit to its stable. Bob Confer told MPW what choices have helped keep his firm’s keel even.
Stop being your customers’ bank
“One moldmaker recently told me, ‘I don’t want to push too hard for payment or they might de-source me and not give me more work.’ Huh? If they were not paying you for the work you’ve already done, why would you want more work from them?” Join the discussion and get the rest of Clare Goldberry’s musings in her blog posts at plasticstoday.com/blog.
 |
Magazine Categories 
Subscribe to the RSS feed.