Tuesday, 06-May-08

T3 personal transport vehicle geared for professional use

T3 all-electric transport

COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA (May 6, 2008) -- T3 Motion Inc. is marketing its standup, all-electric vehicle to law enforcement and security professionals. Many of the three-wheeled transportation devices’ components are made from plastic, and the manufacturer anticipates even more use of the material as sales increase. Some of the issues designers had to address were how far and how fast the vehicle could go. Suppliers are located in the U.S. and Asia.

Opinion: China’s new labor law may even playing field

Toloken

China’s far-reaching new labor law is getting a lot of attention, says Plastics News’ Asia bureau chief Steve Toloken. The law expands worker protections, which can raise costs, and some companies are citing it as a reason to seek cheaper manufacturing spots such as Vietnam. But the head of one prominent U.S. business group in China thinks that notion misses the point. He suggests China’s getting tough on labor abuses could be good for U.S. companies doing businesses in the country.

Werner Wittmann discusses Battenfeld purchase, China

Wittmann

SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Werner Wittmann, president Wittmann of Kunststoffgeräte GmbH, thinks he made the right decision to create what he calls the world’s first company that can provide a fully integrated range of products for injection molding. His Vienna, Austria-based company bought the insolvent Battenfeld Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH of Kottingbrunn, Austria, at the beginning of April. The unassuming mechanical engineer, who founded Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte in 1976, talked about plans for Battenfeld during an interview at Chinaplas.

Conair to open sales, service centers in China
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Auxiliary equipment maker Conair Group Inc., which started production in Shanghai in 2007, plans to open sales and service operations this year in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and Beijing, executives said at Chinaplas.

Malaysian thermoformer building Thai extrusion factory

Lee

GUANGZHOU, GUANGDONG (May 6, 2008) -- Malaysian thermoformer SCGM Bhd plans to build a factory in Thailand and expand its extrusion capacity in Malaysia, using some of the nearly 12.9 million Malaysian ringgits (28.5 million yuan) it raised from a February public offering. Andrew Lee Wee Teck, marketing executive with the company, said the Thai plant could eventually be larger than SCGM’s Malaysian operation. Lee spoke during an April 15 interview at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou.

U.S. hot-runner supplier expects more growth in China
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- In his fourth year in China, Mark Moss, Asia president for hot-runner supplier Synventive Molding Solutions Inc., continues to expand the company’s Asia base in Jiangsu province with the belief that the Chinese tooling industry is still full of momentum. Synventive, which has production in Germany and the U.S., saw its Suzhou, Jiangsu province, branch’s sales rise 40 percent in 2007. Moss said the growth will continue.

PolyOne outlines its global strategies

Chien

SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- PolyOne Corp. used Chinaplas to update some of its recent investments and product introductions in China, while its GLS Corp. subsidiary mainly touted the environmental friendliness of a couple new thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) lines. Willie Chien, vice president and general manager in Asia for PolyOne’s Color & Engineered Materials business, restated PolyOne’s claims about further expansion in Asia, with a particular interest in the Indian market. He said the firm is still evaluating its options, and should be ready to provide an update soon.

Clariant Masterbatches expanding services
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Clariant Masterbatches is expanding services and adjusting its product portfolio in response to the Chinese manufacturing industry’s need to upgrade products and brand images. Additionally, the masterbatches division of Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant AG also invested an unspecified amount during 2007 to install six more multilayer blow molding machines at its sites on four continents. Multilayer technology can add color, functionality and facilitate the use of recycled materials, the company said.

Eliokem announces Zhejiang province expansion
VILLEJUST, FRANCE (May 6, 2008) -- Eliokem announced that its Ningo, Zhejiang province-based plant will be expanding production capacity for the company’s line of antioxidants by midsummer, responding to growing demand for the product in Asia.

BASF expands biodegradable plastics facility
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Demand for sustainable and environmental plastics is gaining momentum around the world, and in an effort to stay ahead of the game, BASF AG announced the expansion of its biodegradable plastics production plant April 16.

For plastics, it’s not easy being green
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- In the world of prefixes, “bio” has become one of the most popular, particularly in the lexicon of the plastics industry. From additives to downstream products, companies are rushing to attach those three, marketing-friendly letters to their products. The newborn industry, however, still lacks the infrastructure and standardization that could make their products truly green.

Olympics going green with biodegradable plastic

SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) – Come August when the Beijing Olympic Games commence, the trash of about 3 million visitors could turn to gold for the right plastics company. Beijing is loathe to fill up its landfills with the discarded plastic forks, cups and plates that will inevitably accumulate during the event and is looking to compost sites and biodegradable plastics to solve its dilemma.

DuPont adding nylon capacity in Guangdong
SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- DuPont Co. plans to expand its South China nylon compounding capacity, as the company said demand continues to be strong in China’s domestic automobile market. Wilmington, Deleware-based DuPont plans to add an extrusion line for nylon 6/6 and a line for its Zytel HTN polyamide resin, with production targeted for mid-2009 at the company’s plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Sumitomo sees Demag acquisition as blend of abilities

Flämig

SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., which now owns Demag Plastics Group, intends to bring a long-term, Japanese style of thinking to the German machinery builder. Officials from both companies discussed this new type of “global” injection press company -- with factories around the world and a global blending of top managers. “Everybody among our competitors -- and Demag was included in the concept -- says that ‘we are global,’ ” said Raik Flämig, Demag’s director of marketing. “But we are really global, together with Sumitomo. We are present all over the world, for all cultures.”

Auxiliary equipment maker Shini has big plans

Kenny Wu

SHANGHAI (May 6, 2008) -- Shini Plastics Technologies Ltd. of Taipei hopes to turn its third production facility on the mainland into the world’s largest production base of plastics auxiliary equipment. The company is building a factory in the Pinghu Industrial Park near Shanghai. Once finished, Shini will move production at its current facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, to the new factory. Corporate President Kenny Wu said the company makes more than 70,000 units of equipment annually.

Page: 1 ·2 ·3 ·4 ·5 ·6 ·7 ·8 ·9 ·10 ·11 ·12 ·13 ·14 ·15 ·16 ·17 ·18 ·19   Next   Top