Thermoforming

Thermoformed Container Keeps Battery Cells Safe

Despite last-minute design changes and other unexpected roadblocks, thermoformer TriEnda works with a key supplier on innovative reusable shipping container.  

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Your Business

resin pricing

Prices for PE, PS, PVC, PET Trending Flat; PP to Drop

Despite price increase nominations going into second quarter, it appeared there was potential for generally flat pricing with the exception of a major downward correction for PP.

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processor's edge

High-Tech Molder Goes Digital for QC

Allegheny Performance Plastics turned to 1factory's cloud-based manufacturing quality control software for streamlined, paperless quality systems.    

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Commodity Resins

Prices Up for All Volume Resins

First quarter was ending up with upward pricing, primarily due to higher feedstock costs and not supply/demand fundamentals.

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Processing Plant Tour

Postindustrial

Inside the Florida Recycler Taking on NPE’s 100% Scrap Reuse Goal

Hundreds of tons of demonstration products will be created this week.  Commercial Plastics Recycling is striving to recycle ALL of it.

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sustainability

Engineering Resins Compounder Expands to Take on More Scrap

Polymer Resources responds to sustainability push by upgrading plant with grinding and shredding equipment to take on both postindustrial and postconsumer reclaim.  

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Back in the Family Business

In its 45th year, Precision Molded Plastics has carved out a technology and market niche, growing not just when opportunities arise but when they make sense, after its leader changed careers to keep the family business from changing hands.

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Technology in Depth

SPONSORED

Finding Efficiencies in How Components Work Together

Auxiliary systems are vital to the proper functioning of a plastic processing line, and they can be a source of major cost and efficiency improvements.

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NPE

Impacts of Auto’s Switch to Sustainability

Of all the trends you can see at NPE2024, this one is BIG. Not only is the auto industry transitioning to electrification but there are concerted efforts to modify the materials used, especially polymers, for interior applications.

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Automation

Digital Twin Creates New, Virtual Paths for Robots with Real-World Cycle-Time Impacts

Realtime Robotics seeks to get more robots involved in manufacturing by addressing the biggest current barrier: programming costs.

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Plastics Recycling Latam
New 2024 Twin Screw Report
Guill - World Leader in Extrusion Tooling
Special steels for molding reinforced plastics
KNOWLEDGE CENTERS

Solutions

Fundamentals of Polyethylene – Part 6: PE Performance

Don’t assume you know everything there is to know about PE because it’s been around so long. Here is yet another example of how the performance of PE is influenced by molecular weight and density.

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Screw Design Tips to Boost Productivity

In this collection of articles, two of the industry’s foremost authorities on screw design — Jim Frankland and Mark Spalding — offer their sage advice on screw design...what works, what doesn’t, and what to look for when things start going wrong.

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best practices

Fundamentals of Polyethylene – Part 5: Metallocenes

How the development of new catalysts—notably metallocenes—paved the way for the development of material grades never before possible.

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Maguire Ultra
Advantage temperature control units
Special steels for reinforced plastics
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Essential Reading

Film Extrusion

Follow These Tips to Fire Up Your Cold Blown Film Line

Firing up a cold blown-film line after a shutdown involves multiple pieces of equipment that all interact. Here’s a look at those components individually and some best practices on how to get your line up and running as quickly and safely as possible.

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Tooling

Best of Fattori, Tooling Know How

In this collection of articles Jim Fattori offers his insights on a variety of molding-related topics that are bound to make your days on the production floor go a little bit better.

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polyolefins

Polyethylene Fundamentals – Part 4: Failed HDPE Case Study

Injection molders of small fuel tanks learned the hard way that a very small difference in density — 0.6% — could make a large difference in PE stress-crack resistance.

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What You Need to Know About the Design and Operation of Maddock Mixers

Designed properly, all entering solid polymer fragments and certain types of PE gels entering the Maddock mixer can be trapped and dispersed into the matrix resin. But many are not properly designed. Here’s what to look out for.  

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best practices

Fundamentals of Polyethylene – Part 3: Field Failures

Polyethylene parts can fail when an inappropriate density is selected. Let’s look at some examples and examine what happened and why.

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Commodity Resins

The Fundamentals of Polyethylene – Part 2: Density and Molecular Weight

PE properties can be adjusted either by changing the molecular weight or by altering the density. While this increases the possible combinations of properties, it also requires that the specification for the material be precise.

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ArburgXworld
Inspect 100% of your plastics inline.
View of digital inspection records in OneView

Latest News and Products

NPE

Arburg Eyes Assembly Plant in North America

The 100-year-old German company will continue to manufacture machines from its sprawling operation in the Black Forest, but for the first time, it will add assembly outside of the country.

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NPE

Wittmann Shifts Some Production out of Austria

Manufacture of several core products, including specific models and sizes of injection molding machines, automation and auxiliaries have shifted out of Austria and into Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

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sustainability

Boise State Team Wins Circular Plastics Challenge Focused On PET Recovery

NPE2024: The competition is a collaboration between Hillenbrand, Net Impact and Coca Cola.

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NPE

Engel Reorients Global Business, Adds Production in Mexico

The Austrian maker of injection molding machines and automation announced at NPE2024 that it will establish optimized sales, logistics and production structures for its three major regions: Europe, Asia and America.

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NPE

Globeius Makes NPE Debut With End-Of-Arm-Tooling, Bottle Leak Testing and More

The Miami-based supplier of various plastics technologies also featured a melt-temperature testing system, closed-loop cooling manifolds and its successful mold crane offering.

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NPE

LS Mtron’s Outsized NPE2024 Presence Jump-Starts Ambitious North American Market Goals

The Korean maker of injection molding machines featured eight machines in its nearly 14,000-square-foot booth with additional presses at Yushin and Incoe’s booths, as it targets 20% market share.

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Compounding

Shibaura Machine, NFM Extend License Agreement on Twin-Screw Compounders

NFM to manufacture and sell TEM series of twin-screw compounding extruders for the next 10 years.  

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Materials

In Memoriam: Mike Sepe

“The Materials Analyst” and long-time contributor to Plastics Technology passes away at 71.  

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