S. China plastics firms struggling, but eye modernization
 Au
GUANGZHOU (September 30, 2008) -- By some estimates, thousands of factories in the Pearl River Delta manufacturing area between Guangzhou and Hong Kong have closed down, as China kicked in tough new
tax and labor laws designed to push local industry to modernize. Plastics News interviewed a number of attendees about the subject at the recent AsiaMold exhibition in Guangzhou, including
Alfred Au, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Mold and Die Council. Au said, “I think the challenging time will be the coming year.”
Automakers discuss tooling at industry event
TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN (August 19, 2008) -- Automakers are aware how much the tooling industry is hurting. But that does not mean that tooling companies can expect any sympathy business. Executives
noted that the industry needs to improve its flexibility in creating future products, including adjusting engineering specifics that allow toolmakers to adapt and improve their molds and speed
development.
DC-Mould makes thrifty move from city center
 Zhang
SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG (July 29, 2008) -- Those who fear rising costs across the board in China, here’s a message from on the ground: You can still keep cost relatively low, but it takes effort.
Injection mold maker DC-Mould, for one, is moving its factory location around boomtown Shenzhen to keep the rent low. “The rent at our current location has jumped 40 percent in the past five
years,” said company owner Tony Zhang. After some research, he decided to move the factory a little further away from the city center.
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.
Univac expands mold offerings
SINGAPORE (June 24, 2008) -- Singaporean molder and mold maker Univac Precision Engineering Pte. Ltd. believes it is the first Asian company to offer its newly licensed multicomponent mold-making
technology. Univac plans to use the Spin Stack technology from Danish firm Gram Technology ApS to expand its offerings in the tools it builds for the export market, for the medical and health-care
fields and the caps and closures markets.
Molder/toolmaker Sunningdale struggles to make profit
SINGAPORE (June 10, 2008) -- Sunningdale Tech Ltd. is working to strengthen its balance sheet in an increasingly challenging business environment. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Koh Boon Hwee
expects an industry meltdown, calling the current market the worst the company has seen in 30 years.
MGS banks on Asia’s multishot molding growth
SHANGHAI (June 3, 2008) -- MGS Manufacturing Group Inc., a Germantown, Wis.-based company that makes molds and add-on injection units for multishot molding, exhibited at its first-ever Chinaplas.
MGS´ rotary turntable molds for multishot are used in China by automotive molders, caps and closure makers and other markets.
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.
D-M-E extends its reach into Asia with Futaba alliance
 Lawrence
SHANGHAI (April 29, 2008) -- American mold equipment maker D-M-E Co. and Japanese mold base and electrical component manufacturer Futaba Corp. formed a strategic alliance April 18. Futaba is investing
in D-M-E’s Japanese facility, while D-M-E benefits by expanding its Asian manufacturing footprint through Futaba factories in China and Vietnam. “The crux of the whole relationship is we need a
bigger footprint in manufacturing in China, especially in some of the mold plate, special mold machining and hot runners,” said D-M-E President Dave Lawrence.
Chinese exhibitors make appearance at Plastimagen
 Tang
MEXICO CITY (April 22, 2008) -- More than 50 exhibitors from China came to the Plastimagen trade show in Mexico City this year. Many, like Aaron Tang, vice president of Qingdao Hengke Precision
Industrial Co. Ltd., were taking a look at the Latin American market, seeking customers or hoping to locate local agents to represent their companies in Latin America.
Release agents makers open China facility
SHANGHAI (April 15, 2008) – A U.S. and a German firm have teamed up to serve the rapidly expanding release agents and lubricants market in China. Chem-Trend and Kluber Lubrication will be sharing a
new 28,000-square-meter facility in the Qingpu district of Shanghai.
KraussMaffei, Ace Mold enter mold-making agreement
SHENZHEN (April 15, 2008) -- German press maker KraussMaffei AG and Chinese toolmaker Ace Mold Co. Ltd. have signed a cooperation agreement to develop a system for two-shot molding and mold-making
applications, targeting high-volume applications like packaging.
April conferences are first in China for SPI, SPE
SHANGHAI (February 19, 2008) —- Two prominent U.S. plastics industry trade groups — the Society of Plastics Industry Inc. and the Society of Plastics Engineers — both are planning
their first conferences in China this spring, in conjunction with the big April 17-20 Chinaplas 2008 trade show in Shanghai.
Former Triple S plants have a new owner
VICKSBURG, MICHIGAN (February 19, 2008) -- The former Triple S Plastics Inc. has a new owner, Nissha Printing Co. Ltd. of Kyoto, Japan, which plans to use the Michigan firm’s molding and tooling
capabilities to expand its sales base in decorative plastics molding in North America.
ToolCare UK to open plant in the U.S.
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND (November 13, 2007) -- British toolmaker ToolCare UK Ltd. is moving into the United States, with construction of a $2.8 million (20.8 million yuan) shop starting. The U.S.
office will take over orders currently being produced in Europe and Asia.
D-M-E opening Shenzhen inspection center
 D-M-E’s inspection center will employ six.
SHENZHEN (October 2, 2007) – Mold-making equipment supplier D-M-E Co. has opened its first quality inspection center in China. The U.S.-based company said the center will start with the capability to
test hot runners and other items, and it will expand into electronic parts testing. The company has another full-fledged inspection center at its U.S. headquarters, and inspection personnel at
locations around the world.
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