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Nypro boosts medical capacity in China and France
NEW YORK (June 23, 2009) -- Nypro Inc. is expanding its medical operations in China and Europe as part of its strategy to increase the percentage of its sales from medical from 30 percent to 40
percent over the next two years. “Asia continues to be where we put a lot of our energies because our customers are manufacturing there,” Brian Payson, vice president of business development for
Nypro Healthcare, told Plastics News at the Medical Design & Manufacturing East show in New York.
KraussMaffei expanding PU equipment business in Asia
SHANGHAI (June 16, 2009) -- German machinery maker KraussMaffei Machinery Co. Ltd. is expanding its capabilities for polyurethane (PU) equipment in Asia, expanding capacity in both China and Japan, in
response to a growing PU market in both countries.
PTI develops system for making foamed PET bottles
 oPTI bottle technology
HOLLAND, OHIO (May 26, 2009) -- Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI) has developed a system to make foamed PET bottles and jars that fit existing recycling programs. The oPTI bottle technology produces a
white or silver bottle wall without the use of pigments that can contaminate a recycling stream. Besides recycling benefits, the oPTI bottle promises shelf appeal and product differentiation. Swirls
and streaks on the bottle exterior can be controlled and can improve grip of the bottle.
Honda looks to aluminum molds for cost savings
MARYSVILLE, OHIO (May 5, 2009) -- Four years ago, executives with Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. asked a simple business question: How should the global automaker change to reflect an expected
decrease in production volume? Aluminum alloy molds for injection molding held promise, and thanks to an extensive network of molders, mold makers and material supplier partnerships Honda has
created, the company was in the right place to see just what aluminum tooling could do.
Outsourcing rumor spurs talks between GM, toolmakers
DETROIT, MICHIGAN (March 31, 2009) -- An ill-advised, off-the-cuff comment about the tooling industry by a General Motors Corp. (GM) executive earlier this month could evolve to a watershed change in
the long-standing supply chain relationship between hundreds of tooling suppliers and GM — if discussions turn into results.
Industry still contracting as debt forces more closures
 Mengel
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA (March 31, 2009) -- Analyst Jeff Mengel thinks about 15 percent of North American plastics processors could enter bankruptcy liquidation over the next 18 months -- that’s around
1,000 companies. Leverage will be the big reason. “It isn’t all about having good management. It’s also currently about having good liquidity. And we need to have both of these,” Mengel said
at the Plastics News Executive Forum in Las Vegas. He said about 30 percent of the industry is heavily leveraged.
SPI stimulus brings Nissei back to NPE
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2009) -- In light of current economic conditions, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. (SPI) has put in place what it calls an “economic stimulus” of financial
incentives designed to lower the overall cost of exhibiting at NPE2009 and to prevent exhibitors from incurring unexpected move-in and move-out costs. The offer already has succeeded in getting
Japanese injection press supplier Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. Ltd. to reverse its recent decision to drop out of the show.
Two more plastics equipment majors pass on NPE show
 Carteaux
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (March 3, 2009) -- Three high-profile plastics machinery makers have withdrawn from exhibiting at the big U.S. trade show NPE2009 since mid-February. U.S. auxiliary equipment
manufacturer ACS Group on March 2 joined injection press makers Netstal-Maschinen AG and Nissei America Inc. in pulling out of the June 22 to 26 show in Chicago. Now Bill Carteaux, president and
chief executive officer of the show’s organizer, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., is traveling to Asia and Europe to meet with major exhibitors. Carteaux said that at this stage in the
game the level of cancellations is on a par with NPE2006, with paid exhibit space about the same as it was for the show three years ago, and that SPI continues to book new space weekly.
North American auto toolmakers seek timely payments
WINDSOR, ONTARIO (March 3, 2009) -- Craig Wiggins said it is easy to demonstrate what the automotive slowdown has done to mold makers based around Detroit, Michigan, home of the Big Three automakers.
During a news conference in Windsor, he turned to representatives from about 20 different tooling firms. “How many of you shipped a tool six months ago that you haven’t been paid for yet?”
Wiggins asked. Everyone put their hands up. Wiggins, a consultant with Tooling & Equipment Capital Solutions Inc. of Tecumseh, Ontario, is working with toolmakers to raise their profile among
government leaders in Canada and the United States who are crafting bailouts for the North American auto industry.
China’s M-Tex prepares for economic recovery
DONGGUAN, GUANGDONG (March 3, 2009) -- M-Tex Co. Ltd. said it has opened a mold- and roll-texturing facility in Dongguan, a move it hopes positions it for future growth. The company said it has been
hurt by the economic downturn, but said it sees the investment in the 2,000-square-meter facility as a longer-term strategy.
Sunningdale relocates some Singapore, Mexico work
SINGAPORE (March 3, 2009) -- Sunningdale Tech Ltd. is moving its Mexican auto parts production into Asia and relocating some Singapore parts production to neighboring Johor, Malaysia. Chief Executive
Officer Khoo Boo Hor said the move was part of a strategy to realign the company’s manufacturing operations.
Yu Hing bides its time while building medical business
 Benjamin Chan
HONG KONG (January 20, 2009) -- A simple plastic watch strap may not seem to have much in common with a precision-engineered surgical tool. But for one Hong Kong injection molding firm, Yu Hing Mfg.
Co., molding those watch straps led to the surgeon’s table. How Yu Hing did that offers a look at how one small Chinese firm hopes it can use new markets and adapt technology to survive. Yu Hing
began as a watch-strap maker in 1976, but an interest in technology and a project assisting a charity helped launch the firm’s medical division, MediConcepts Ltd. Benjamin Chan, MediConcepts
director, sat down with Plastics News at his Hong Kong offices to discuss the company’s strategy.
Injection molder, mold builder Mastercraft expanding
 Rawlings
PHOENIX, ARIZONA (December 23, 2008) -- Mastercraft Cos. ordered two all-electric Arburg injection molding machines to accommodate its growing medical market. In addition, it will install some newly
purchased transducer technology on the presses and retrofit two others. Mastercraft sources tools through four domestic shops in the U.S. and four international shops in China. “Today, in the
business of mold making and molding, you must be flexible and creative, for we are competing globally and not just across town,” said Arle Rawlings, Mastercraft’s chief executive officer and
president.
Sunningdale moving most of its molding to Malaysia
SINGAPORE (November 25, 2008) -- Sunningdale Tech Ltd. said it is relocating all molding activities, except for health care, from Singapore to Malaysia, targeting completion by the first quarter of
next year. Sunningdale has reported a drop in orders during the third quarter of this year in all business segments except for health care.
EAS Europe opens facility in Jiangsu province
 Nijzink
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY (October 28, 2008) -- EAS Europe BV, the maker of magnetic mold-holding systems, has opened a factory in China to be closer to major magnet suppliers in that country and
improve service to Asia, President Harm Nijzink said at the Fakuma show. China is the world’s biggest supplier of magnets and the raw materials to make them, he said. The automotive industry is the
biggest consumer of magnetic mold systems, which offer quick mold changes on injection molding machines -- and China is no exception, Nijzink said.
China´s Ace partners with Ireland´s Avenue Mould
 Yeung
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY (October 21, 2008) -- Fast-growing Ace Mold Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong has forged its first alliance in Europe, agreeing to partner with Ireland’s Avenue Mould Co. Ltd. in a deal
signed October 15 at the Fakuma plastics trade show in Friedrichshafen. Additionally, Ace’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Yeung told Plastics News that his firm has been nurturing a relatively
new business called Ace Packaging (Hong Kong) Ltd., to develop cosmetic packaging. While it started modestly, Yeung said the business “is starting to see some results now.”
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