The following news briefs were reported by Plastics News correspondent Michael Lauzon from Plast-Ex 98, held May 12-14 in Mississauga, Ontario.
DME making mark with its new inserts
DME Co.'s new mold inserts allow molders to increase the amount of information they can permanently mark on their products.
The firm's Multi-Data Insert contains six different front removable inserts that indicate month, year, day and shift, and a blank insert for a custom mark. DME claims the insert is easily installed by drilling or reaming a press-fit hole at the desired location on the mold. Alternatively, the insert can be held in place with a socket head cap screw.
CCC Plastics expands polyolefins offerings
CCC Plastics has expanded its reinforced-plastics offerings by representing Spartech Polycom's line of filled and reinforced polyolefins in Canada.
CCC Plastics, a division of Canada Colors & Chemicals Ltd. of Toronto, will supply talc-filled polypropylene, glass-fiber-reinforced PP, mica and calcium carbonate-filled PP, and similar products based on polyethylene and ABS. CCC Plastics senior product manager Bruce Wilson said in an interview that the expanded product line will help his firm expand business in automotive markets, for which it recently hired a specialist based in Windsor, Ontario.
CCC Plastics also announced at Plast-Ex 98 it has begun representing Formosa Plastics Corp. in Canada. Wilson said CCC Plastics will supply mainly Formosa high density and linear low density PE resins.
Wilson said his firm has added Eastar polyesters from Eastman Chemical Co. to its lineup and recently began representing Phillips Chemical Co. CCC Plastics has been distributing Phillips PE resins for blow molding, sheet extrusion and other markets for about two months. Late last year CCC Plastics added Dow Chemical Co.'s Questra syndiotactic polystyrene to its offerings.
Killion debuts safer, easy-to-use puller
Killion Extruders debuted a heavy-duty puller designed for safety and easy operation.
Its Jupiter Series has belt widths of 4 and 6 inches, and belt lengths vary from 26-40 inches.
Product manager Donald Miller said the machines feature a lockout guard for operator protection. The guard drops into place rather than swinging out, thus saving space.
Miller said Jupiter pullers include tapered booms for consistent speed and the belts are easy to remove without taking out the boom. Multiple rollers provide a steady traction plane, he said.
Killion of Cedar Grove, N.J., is part of Davis-Standard Corp.
Plast-Ex adds free consulting to show
Plast-Ex 98 featured the show's first-ever free consulting program.
Consultants' Corner included more than a dozen experts on molding and other processes, materials, recycling and mold building. The Mississauga-based Canadian Plastics Industry Association, owner of Plast-Ex shows, debuted the program to provide added value to the show, according to Sally Damstra, CPIA's director of trade and education services.
CPIA technical information officer Desmond Lo said in an interview that consultants spent from 15-45 minutes with individual attendees to help solve design or processing problems. For complex problems, attendees could hire a consultant for after-show sessions. Lo estimated about 70 attendees a day held meetings with the consultants.
Plast-Ex 98 was the largest such show ever in Canada. It included more than 150,000 square feet of booth space and attracted more than 14,000 attendees.
