Dynisco LLC (Booth N5526) of Franklin, Mass., celebrates the 50th anniversary of the business and introduces 14 new and improved products at NPE 2003.
Larry Klumpp, Dynisco president and chief executive officer, characterized his firm as the largest manufacturer of a variety of pressure transducers, as well as a full-service auxiliary equipment supplier to the plastics industry with a concentration on the extrusion market.
``We spend time and effort on research and development of new products to serve customers,'' Klumpp said in a telephone interview. ``If we fill needs exactly, we are doing a better job for the customer.''
Dynisco employs 275 and operates through product groups for instruments in Franklin, polymer test equipment in Morgantown, Pa., and extrusion auxiliaries in Hickory, N.C. In Europe for all three lines, Dynisco operates an engineering and sales service center in Heilbronn, Germany, that also handles some value-added manufacturing. Chicago-based investor Madison Capital Partners acquired the businesses in November 2000.
Dynisco invests about $3.5 million per year in developing products and transitioning them from engineering concepts to the manufacturing phase. Basically, that represents about 5 percent of annual sales estimated at $70 million. Privately held Dynisco does not disclose financial data.
Business in North America accounts for about 50 percent of Dynisco sales, with 35 percent in Europe and the remainder elsewhere.
NPE represents a major opportunity to introduce products, said Rich Pavero, Dynisco vice president of marketing and sales.
* Dynisco is showing a new silicon-pressure-transducer family of nonfilled pressure sensors and transmitters for extruders in food and medical product and packaging markets. Dynisco conducted research and development over more than four years, partnered with sensor technology experts and universities and began customer trials of the mechanical transducers in May. The innovative SPT line becomes a fourth Dynisco transducer alternative for food and medical extruders. Dynisco's related technologies are potassium-sodium-alloy-filled, oil-filled and push-rod-style transducers. A new family of oil-filled transducers is also exhibited.
* A redesigned water ring pelletizer operates in-line - a first in the Dynisco line - and entered the market in early 2003. The pelletizer's short, close-coupled die plate is attached directly to the screen changer or extruder, reduces polymer volume, operates at lower inlet pressures and generates higher output. The product replaces a Beringer design that required a crosshead die and inlet adapter. The pelletizer fits as a drop-in replacement for prior-generation machines.
* A newly introduced pellet dryer, replacing the Beringer TD-10, features an easy-to-clean cylindrical design, an integral exhaust blower and capacity to dry up to 3,500 pounds per hour. Removable doors open 285 degrees for pellet removal and clean out. The dryer can extract air moisture and has an acoustically dampened impact surface that eliminates the need for optional sound abatement.
* A new SPX Series of smart pressure transmitters incorporates 4-20 milliampere output for pressure measurements and HART protocol to monitor, interrogate or make changes from remote locations. The devices can maintain extrusion accuracy within 0.25 percent on a pressure measurement at process temperatures up to 752ø F for pressures of 25-30,000 pounds per square inch. Numerous mounting configurations are available. An industrial SPX version runs at pressures up to 60,000 psi in measuring reactor performance and, for the first time, includes HART-protocol capability.
* Dynisco's transition to digital is shown with both DeviceNet and CANopen melt and hydraulic pressure transmitters. Simplified wiring cuts installation costs, and available diagnostic data helps reduce maintenance expenses. Embedded microprocessor technology converts the low-level analog signal of the pressure-sensing element to a digital value at a rate of 20 milliseconds.
* A proprietary DyMax diaphragm abrasion-resistant coating for melt pressure transducers is exhibited. In-house tests indicate DyMax-coated transducer diaphragms last two to four times longer than equipment with other coatings. Dynisco began exclusively supplying DyMax on its machined stainless steel diaphragms in January after previously using Armoloy Corp. coatings.
In other lines, Dynisco exhibits a next-generation family of pressure and process indicators, an advanced pendulum impact tester, the HTH2 hot tack heatsealer and the HDV3 system for measuring distortion temperature under load and the VICAT softening point of plastic materials.
Dynisco continues to expand aftermarket capabilities including 24-hour response on repair and return of melt pressure transducers and other equipment. Dynisco added the quick turnaround service in September 2001.
``We believe 7 x 24 is a fact of life,'' Klumpp said. ``If a customer cannot afford a new one, we have to get them up and running.''
In Japan in April, the company established a new exclusive distributor, Yokohama-based Dynisco Japan Ltd., headed by Managing Director Marcuz Hiyashi. The previous distributor operated as KK Dynisco and retired in early 2002.
In March, the Massachusetts Division of Employment and Training awarded a two-year training grant of nearly $150,000 to Dynisco's Franklin operations. Sessions as frequently as twice a week involve simulation, offsite experience and leadership instruction for sets of manufacturing and office employees learning lean techniques and practices, said Bill DelSignore, Dynisco vice president of operations.
A kickoff meeting occurred May 8.
In November, Dynisco said it completed conversion to ISO 9001:2000 for the instruments and polymer test product groups from previous registration to ISO 9000:1994.
Dynisco has benefited in its separation from the hot-runner business.
Dynisco acquired hot-runner makers Kona in 1992 and Eurotool in 1996, but Madison Capital did not acquire those assets, which operate now as Synventive Molding Solutions of Peabody, Mass.
The hot-runner orientation to injection molding did not fit Dynisco's primary focus on the extrusion process. The split ``allowed us to concentrate on what we do best'' referring to service of extrusion companies, Pavero said. ``We have customers in injection molding, but in the morning they are not our first thought.'' Among its products, Dynisco supplies hydraulic and nozzle transducers to injection molders.
As part of observing its 50th anniversary, the company is giving a copy of the Dynisco Extrusion Processors Handbook, normally $50, to those visiting its NPE booth.
Klumpp suggested an economic bottom has arrived but wondered when the recovery begins. ``We are looking toward an improved market in the second half [of 2003] but not gang busters,'' and ``2004 may be better than 2003,'' he said.
In a telling note, Dynisco representatives ``hear less anguish from our customers,'' Klumpp said.
