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August 28, 2008

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Experts: Lighter-weight vehicles mean more composites
TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN (August 26, 2008) -- Consumer demand for smaller, lighter and more-efficient cars is outpacing any standards the U.S. federal government has proposed for fuel consumption standards. Composites and thermoplastics offer benefits in shedding weight from cars and trucks, which improves gas mileage. And parts consolidation through modular design offers cost savings. Plastics News was in Michigan to report on the auto industry’s Management Briefing Seminars as experts discussed the many facets of developing more-efficient vehicles.

Design Guide: Filament winding is reel deal

Lefteri

Designer and materials specialist Chris Lefteri’s latest Design Guide installment looks at a less common method of production, filament winding. Lefteri says that filament winding has recently been reinvented by designers to produce a whole range of products and furniture. The process can easily be described by imagining a cotton reel where the cotton has been impregnated with resin that is then able to be pulled off its reel to form a rigid plastic part.

Thailand aims to be a bioplastics leader in S.E. Asia

Temprom

BANGKOK, THAILAND (August 12, 2008) -- Thailand’s cabinet approved funding for a bioplastics “road map” last month that aims to develop local production of polylactic acid (PLA) resin made from cassava and other materials. The Thai government plans to take advantage of its position as Southeast Asia’s largest plastic product exporter and its sizable agricultural industry to turn the country into a regional leader in bioplastics. The decision was welcomed by local industry, which said the funding culminates long discussions with the government. “We think this is a good opportunity,” said Benjaporn Temprom with Thai processor N.R. Rama Co. Ltd.

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Plastics help designs bring home IDSA gold

One project provides low-cost, energy-efficient laptops to children around the world.

DULLES, VIRGINA (August 5, 2008) -- A low-cost laptop, a featherlike welding helmet and a customized baby bottle used plastics in winning this year’s International Design Excellence Awards. Components in plastic appeared in about two dozen of the gold winners in the annual contest, co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America in Dulles and BusinessWeek magazine. A panel of 20 designers and evaluators judged 1,517 entries from 33 countries to select the award winners. Plastics News presents the plastics-related highlights of the gold award winners in the full story.

BASF gets its foot in the door at the Beijing Olympics

Elastollan helps make athletic shoes flexible and light.

BEIJING (August 5, 2008) -- A range of BASF AG products and solutions will be used for a variety of purposes, including for athletic shoes, in this year´s summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the company announced. BASF touts subsidiary Elastogran GmbH’s Elastollan thermoplastic polyurethane as a “key component” in athletic shoes.

Decro hangs its future on tech, market development

Luo

SHUNDE, GUANGDONG (July 29, 2008) -- Plastics packaging maker Guangdong Decro BOPP Co. Ltd. said it sees its future in technology and market development. Company President Luo Weiman, for example, told Plastics News in an interview at Decro’s Shunde head office that the firm is working to develop packaging films that will help the country’s farmers crack export markets, and he also said that China needs to protect the intellectual property of companies like his that focus on new technology.

Design Guide: Lord of the Rings and plastics innovation

Lefteri

Designer and materials specialist Chris Lefteri takes a different tack in his regular Design Guide series of stories. This week, Lefteri explores the manufacturing process of a product whose beginnings came about on the set of the popular movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Kaynemaile is a product that challenges conventional injection molding to offer a type of product that is actually hundreds of years old, but until now it has been made very laboriously by hand.

Design competition goes international for NPE 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 15, 2008) -- In a break with tradition, the Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI) will make its next design competition an international event and will add new design categories. The competition will be held in conjunction with NPE 2009, scheduled for June 22 to 26 in Chicago, Illinois. In the past, the National Plastics Design Competition was mostly restricted to U.S. entries and limited to load-bearing parts, enclosures and structural parts. The upcoming competition will be open to virtually any type of design, including packaging products, bioplastics, nanocomposites, and products that address energy efficiency and sustainability.

Opinion: Design center gala full of surprises

Grace

Plastics News editor Robert Grace recently returned from a trip to China where he was a part of the opening ceremonies of the International Design Center, a joint-venture undertaking between Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design and Zhejiang University. The joint venture has been a year in the making, and the Zhenhai district government of Ningbo city is offering strong support to help get it kick-started. The aim is to stimulate industrial design and product research and development. Grace shares his observation and experiences of the celebration through the eyes of a Westerner.

Castle Mark creates chair line for ‘green’ market

Castle Mark’s Edge1 line of office chairs are 90 percent recyclable.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (July 8, 2008) -- Chinese custom molder Castle Mark Enterprises Ltd. already makes chairs and office furniture parts for some of the leading names in the business. Now, with its first branded product, the company wants to make a name for itself in North American and Europe. The company teamed up with U.S.-based designers to make sure the line met standards for fit and use, and also design the line to meet growing environmental concerns. It is a big step forward for the company, and one that President Tony Chi felt was important to give the company long-term potential beyond making chairs and furniture for other manufacturers.

Young Chinese auto design houses win new contracts
BEIJING (June 24, 2008) -- With quick service and low prices, Chinese auto design companies are providing strong competition for their European rivals. A good example is Shanghai-based TJ Innova Engineering & Technology Co., which has the largest team of engineers among domestic auto design companies. At present, 900 of its 1,300 engineers are now stationed in its clients´ plants.

Singapore touts its technology advances
SINGAPORE (June 24, 2008) -- Singapore is focusing on technology and innovation to upgrade its chemical industry production into engineering polymers, performance chemicals and advanced materials, according to Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran. That approach is designed to counter competitive pressure, especially from petrochemical industries in the Middle East, India and China, he said at a reception last month in Singapore. Iswaran also highlighted Singapore’s abilities in manufacturing and research and development.

Branding China: Design venture to help firms develop

Newly opened design center’s co-directors Sun Shouquian, left, and Lorraine Justice (PN photo by Robert Grace)

HANGZHOU, ZHEJIANG (June 17, 2008) – Some manufacturers in China are aiming to redirect their focus from low-priced, anonymous products to domestically researched and developed goods. And with that shift comes the need for brand recognition. So, design experts at Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design have teamed up with Zhejiang University to meet the educational needs of manufacturers and opened an international design center on the mainland, with bases in both Hangzhou and Ningbo. View related video. Local manufacturers will be able to consult and develop their own brands with top professionals while giving students the opportunity to gain hands-on-experience. Professor Lorraine Justice, head of the design school at Hong Kong Polytechnic, and Sun Shouquian, director of the design school at Zhejiang University are IDC co-directors.

Lee Huat Plastics adds all-electrics, design unit

Chen

SINGAPORE (June 17, 2008) -- Malaysian molder Lee Huat Plastics Industries Sdn. Bhd. is taking steps to move into more sophisticated manufacturing and make itself more competitive against low-wage countries. It has invested in 21 electric presses and plans to add three blow molding machines as part of a broader update of systems and capabilities, said Callum K.S. Chen, chief executive officer. The company has also created a subsidiary focused on industrial design.

Design Guide: Ionomer resins have diversity of uses

Lefteri

In his lastest Design Guide column, designer and materials specialist Chris Lefteri explores ionomer resins, a diverse branch of the polymers family tree. Lefteri summarizes the group as having outstanding impact strength, even at low temperatures. The group is resistant to scuffs, abrasions and chemicals, with extremely high optical clarity. That, combined with its moldablilty, means ionomers can be more versatile than glass for transparent products.

Ford looking toward future with PLA
DETROIT, MICHIGAN (June 10, 2008) -- Ford Motor Co. is taking a serious look at bio-based and biodegradable plastics, and asking if it is possible to one day make an auto interior part that can not only be made from natural products, but also will break down and disappear back into the earth after it’s life is over.

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