With increases in resin prices, additives costs and foreign competition, many of the new machines on display at NPE 2006 will focus on increased efficiency, lower operating and maintenance costs, improved accuracy and reduced waste and changeover times. There's also a slew of pad-printing machines aimed at achieving more reliable and faster print capabilities.
Here's a listing of companies showing downstream auxiliary equipment and products at NPE, with an emphasis on decorating and materials-handling equipment.
Abbeon Cal Inc. (Booth E11305): Exclusive U.S. supplier for Forsthoff hot-air welding tools. Also sells other plastics working tools such as thermocutters, hot knives, pneumatic nippers and heat sealers.
Acromark Industries (Booth S214): Hot-stamp and screen-print decorating equipment, automation and assembly services.
ACY Corp. (Booth N4596): Introducing suction cups made from 2- to 80-millimeter silicone suction pads and air nippers with blade sizes from 3-30mm and blade hardness of more than 58 HRC.
a+g extrusion technology GmbH/Gruber & Co. GmbH (Booth E10464): Extrusion systems for window profiles and tooling.
Altech APS Co. Ltd. (Booth N7235): U.S. market debut of Bondeip-Universal, a water-based, anti-static urethane-type adhesive agent, previously available in Japan.
American Jet Stream Inc. (Booth S1180): Distributor of equipment for film extrusion, bag making, blow molding, printing and ancillaries.
Arizona Instrument LLC (Booth E11213): Computrac moisture analyzers and Jerome toxic-gas analyzers.
Balzers Inc. (Booth E11343): Physical vapor deposition coatings.
Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co. Inc. (Booth S2515): North American debuts of Flexographic printing press and ePlus2 control system. Also on display, servobag machine, ThermoFlex sheet system and Opticell foam die.
Bell-Mark Sales Co. Inc. (Booth N8324): New line of two-color stack press machinery configured for in-line printing in converting processes such as extrusion, bag making, laminating, coating and slitting/rewinding.
Beta LaserMike (Booth N4007): New products including an AccuScan 5000 diameter gauge and a Fieldbus controller. Company also showcasing these enhanced products: UltraScan DSP with snap technology; integrated Gravimetrics; a LaserSpeed measurement device.
Bunting Magnetics Co. (Booth N4609): New NEO FF Series high-strength, high-temperature neodymium drawer magnets that can capture extremely fine metal particles. Also, drawer gasket, designed from ethylene propylene diene; it is designed to resist heat aging and outlast sponge rubber. Bunting also debuting new Move-It line of parts-handling, heavy-duty grinder/shredder feed conveyors and its new compact electronic metal detector that can be mounted and installed directly where plastics are fed into extrusion, injection and blow molding machines.
Cassco Machines/Cassco Automation (Booth S911): The Cassco command center for decorating, automation and assembly systems.
Chicago Decal Co. (Booth N7142): Screen and digital offset printed labels and decals for in-mold and traditional decoration applications.
CMD Corp. (Booth S755): New, compact and efficient Global draw-tape bag-making system that comes in a variety of models and speeds, including the 1270GDS, capable of production speeds up to 600 feet per minute and incorporating flexible take-off options for rolled or folded bag dispensing. Also, new bottom-seal bag-making machine incorporating advanced servotechnology and Allen-Bradley controls that can handle films and produce bags from 8-99 inches wide. And, premade pouch machines, web-handling equipment and vertical form/fill/seal packaging technology.
Colortronic North America Inc. (Booth N5026): Colortronic's downstream extrusion line offers a full range of products that include vacuum calibrators, water baths, pullers, cutters and saws. Also on display: products from its new business partner, Eriez Magnetics.
Corotec Corp. (Booth E10104): Corona treating systems for surface treatment of film, sheet and three-dimensional parts.
Deco Technology Group Inc. (Booth E9630): Exclusive North American distributor for DYSS of South Korea, which is introducing its DY-30A automatic bottle-printing equipment. Also, provides turnkey systems for pad-printing, screen-printing and corona treating equipment, and Printcolor-brand inks.
DPI In-Mold Applications (Booth N5099): Thermoformed decorated film inserts for injection molding.
Dyco Inc. (Booth N7925): Fully automatic packers, spiral accumulators, robotic bulk bottle palletizing and a new film-roll cart.
Enercon Industries Corp. (Booth S1344): Surface treating and induction cap sealing solutions, and equipment for printing, coating, laminating and extruding industries. Displaying Dyne-A-Mite VCP, its new surface treatment solution for plastics that uses variable chemistry plasma for easier application and improved adhesion of coatings, adhesives, inks, labels and markings; the company claims the system eliminates the need for costly chemical priming, etching and vacuum processes.
FISA North America Inc. (Booth E9413): Ultrasonic cleaning equipment for injection molds and components, extrusion dies and calibrators.
Gamma Machinery Inc. (Booth N8311): Film converting equipment, including new servo, shuttle bag-making machine.
Gima SpA (Booth N4394): Automation and system integration. In-mold decorating, printing and marking equipment, robots, and stacking and packing equipment.
Harvard Factory Automation (Booth S962): Belt- and roller-style conveyors, hopper conveyors, part-runner separators, automatic box/tote filling systems, under-press chutes, portable weight scales, reject diverters, mold chutes and robot/conveyor guarding with a safety interlocking switch.
Huestis Industrial (Booth N7315): Air wipes for drying extrusions and spoolers, coilers, winders and respoolers.
In-Mold Graphic Solutions (Booth N4492): In-mold decorating labels, durable inks and coatings for outdoor applications, flooring products, and dry-erase coatings for the packaging industry.
Inoex LLC (Booth E10301): Flexible calibration sleeve for automated change of pipe dimensions during extrusion, reducing material cost by minimizing scrap generated from stopping and restarting line. Reduces need for dies of different dimensions and calibration units.
ISIMAT GmbH Siebdruckmaschinen (Booth E10834): Industrial screen-printing machines for direct screen printing on 3-D items. New, semiautomatic screen-printing machine, the 1000 P-UV, with integrated ultraviolet curing, for producing printing samples - in particular, sample tubes for cosmetics and personal-care products.
ITW Imtran (Booth S1221): New V5-70 pad transfer printer and GS-100 CC pad transfer printer now part of ITN Imtran's complete line of pad-printing equipment and hot-stamping supplies.
ITW Trans Tech (Booth S1126): Pad-printing machines, supplies and system design. New Pulsar LPM laser plate-making device; the Aries 60/90/130 single-color, sealed-ink, pad-printing machine and the Gemini 60/90/130 two-color, sealed-ink, pad-printing machine, both for cups; and the Orion 130 multicolor, modular pad-printing machine.
Kammann Machines Inc. (Booth S1362): Introducing digital inkjet printing machines for decorating plastic. Custom printing and finishing equipment for packaging, containers, CDs and labels.
Kase Equipment Corp. (Booth N5701): Dry offset printers for plastic caps, cups, pails, lids and closures. Printing machinery for shaped products, including dry offset, silk-screen and hot-stamping machinery. New products include fully automatic and semiautomatic silk-screen machinery for bottles, and dry offset printing machinery suitable for use with laser-printing plates.
Kass Automation Systems Inc. (Booth S328): Auxiliary machinery for blow molders, including spin trimmers, takeouts, deflashers and rotary trimmers. Among the items on display: Kass' DCL 2004-IL, a fully automated, 55-gallon-drum cooling, testing and finishing system; and its SG25D trimmer for oval-shaped and rectangular openings in containers.
Keppel Seghers Inc. (Booth N7140): Advanced technology environmental solutions.
Kurz Transfer Products (Booth N5516): The LS 102 LK hot-stamping machines for applying foil onto extruded profiles, with as many as five heads for printing. Also, the new ES 1000 line of servocontrolled electronic heat-transfer presses from Hastings Manufacturing.
Laidig Systems Inc. (Booth E10147): Bulk storage and reclaim systems and programmable feed-to-process systems.
American Leistritz Extruder Corp. (Booth N5544): Downstream auxiliaries for extrusion lines.
Martor USA (Booth E11407): Safety tools and knives, and deburring tools.
Minatech Inc. (Booth E11423): Automated secondary equipment for blow molding and injection molding. Robotic cells and assembly lines, robotic takeouts, deflash, flame treatment and assembly lines, leak test, weighing, vision and quality centers - including its new, all-in-one quality testing unit that has a common reject point.
Mirror Polishing & Plating Co. Inc. (Booth N8435): Fabrication, repair, hard coating and finishing of industrial and paper mill rolls. Showcasing MPP in-house electroless nickel-plating capacity for corrosion-resistant coating on internal surfaces of flow passages and chambers of single- and double-shell heat-transfer rolls.
OMA USA Inc. (Booth E10016): Braiding machinery and complementary equipment.
Pipe Coil Technology Ltd. (Booth E9637): New range of high-speed automatic pipe coiling equipment.
Plas Alliance Ltd. (Booths S282, S365): Plastic bag-making machinery, including its new PL32TPFA-V300, a servomotor-drive, T-shirt bag-making machine in both die-cutting and hot-cutting types.
Polytype America Corp. (N5539): Introducing BDM-692 cup printer with a scrap-saving option, vision system and high-speed labeling system for bottom of cups that is capable of production speeds of 600 parts per minute. Also showcasing a Madag TPA-3 hot-stamping machine for plastic tools.
Proco Machinery Inc. (Booth S785): Blow molding automation equipment, including new Propak multipackaging system and new, stand-alone version of its 90-degree transfer mechanism for Robopik systems.
Proell Inc. (Booth N4468): Screen-printing and pad-printing inks.
RDN Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Booth N5939): Post-extrusion machinery, including debut of Model IC-8, its now-largest standard IntelliCut servocutter. The motion board is an integral part of the controller and has fewer components, wires and connectors. Also demonstrating improved versions of Taper Tube software, version 6, and its Intellicut software, version 4.
Reel-O-Matic (Booth N7215): In-line FM series of shaftless, tension-controlled spooling equipment manufactured to customer specifications.
Rennco Inc. (Booth N4143): Vertical packaging machinery.
Robotic Production Technology Inc. (Booth E9620): Standard router trimming systems, including its new pre-engineering router trimming and knife deflashing system, RT-500, with flexibility to process a variety of part sizes and shapes; its riser-mounted and servocontrolled rotating table lets it process high or long parts.
Serico Inc. (Booth N7822): Screen-printed products. Custom decorating, finishing and art services.
ShapeGrabber Inc. (Booth S342): 3-D measurement tools, quality control and process control systems.
Sprimag Inc. (Booth E9229): Automatic coating equipment and its new robotic coating cell for painting of plastic parts.
Sprinter Marking Inc. (Booth N8418): Ink-coating machines, including its new, air-only operated, bench-mount code-marking machine.
TAKK Industries Inc. (Booth N5482): Electrostatic control solutions, IonStorm pulsed DC ionizer systems, passive static eliminator bar, diagnostic tools.
Tampoprint International Corp. (Booth N5149): New, two- or three-lane Rotoprint rotary printing space-saving machine with printing units vertically arranged to an in-line running wheel and capacity of 110,000 caps per hour for 38mm closures or 150,000 caps per hour for 28mm closures. New ALFALAS Promo-MOF (mark-on-the-fly) high-efficiency, fully automatic, compact laser marking line for under-the-cap marking of bottle closures, bottle caps and crowns that can mark up to 1,500 parts per minute. Pad printing, laser marking and wide-format inkjet printers.
Teca-Print Corp. (Booth S978): Introducing the largest machine in its new line of fully servodriven equipment, the Series X5 - a multicolor (up to seven colors) pad printing machine with touch-screen control panels, quick changeover capabilities, and multiple ink pickup and drop-off point options. Also on display, its new, high-speed TPS 111, designed for system integration, with a cycle time of less than 0.7 second.
Trekk Equipment Group (Booth S3224): Hot-stamping and heat-transfer decorating equipment. Foil-banding equipment with real-time vision inspection system.
Tulsa Power LLC (Booth N5782): Coilers, takeups, payoffs, let-offs, reel handling, downstream pullers, accumulators and linear measures.
Van Dam Machine Corp. (Booth S1114): Newly developed Model CX3, patented conical dry-offset print system for decorating round plastic cups. Company claims less downtime for cleaning printing plates and blankets.
Videojet Technologies Inc. (Booth E9313): Marking and coding equipment and supplies, including Videojet 3320 laser marking system.
Virtek Laser Systems North America (N8318): G5 laser engraving and marking system.
Vulcan Machinery Corp. (Booth S3023): Take-off auxiliary and extrusion equipment, coilers with improved servocontrols.
Water Transfer Printing (Booths E10721): Water transfer printing equipment and training.
Werth Inc. (Booth N7210): Multisensor coordinate measuring machines, X-ray tomography machines.
Zumbach Electronics Corp. (Booth N4757): Profilemaster M for in-line dimension and shape measurement of extruded profiles. UMAC G for wall thickness and concentricity of large-diameter pipe with diameters of up to 63 inches.