Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
April 06, 2016 02:00 AM

The future is turbocharged

Don Loepp
Editor
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Don Loepp
    Martin Graziadel, right, said suction blow molding may finally break through in North America thanks to the ability to put resin exactly where it is needed.

    Livonia, Mich. — The push to make cars lighter and more fuel efficient, without sacrificing performance, may be good news for a relatively exotic plastics process.

    Three-dimensional suction blow molding has been around for a few decades. Even if you've never seen it, you've probably seen the parts. Remember the unusually shaped plastic canes that you see people walking around with at major plastics trade shows?

    But when it comes to commercial applications, 3-D suction blow is used relatively rarely in North America.

    But now a combination of market forces may finally be coming together that will help the process see the rapid growth that proponents have been predicting since the mid-1990s.

    The push is coming from the North American auto industry, which expects to see a huge increase in its use of small turbocharged engines — the kind of horsepower that American drivers expect, while still meeting aggressive government fuel efficiency targets.

    Growth by the numbers

    Don Loepp

    Doug Madsen, managing director of ActuaPlast North America Inc. The company specializes in product development and prototyping to help companies launch suction blow molding.

    3-D suction blow molding has some major advantages to make the hollow, complex shapes that become automotive air ducts. And plastic ducts are replacing metal and rubber in some turbocharged applications, because of the weight saving opportunities.

    Looking at the latest estimates from automotive experts, the opportunity for plastics suppliers is about to punch the accelerator.

    In 2014, about 29.2 million light vehicle engines around the world were turbocharged, or about 33 percent of the total, according to IHS Autodatabase.

    In 2020, IHS estimates the total will be 56.2 million engines, or 50 percent of the total.

    “The growth this market is expecting between today and 2020 is huge, and the supplier base to make this part is limited,” said Doug Madsen, managing director of ActuaPlast North America Inc. in Livonia. “There will be a lot of growing pains. It's a steep learning curve.”

    Much of the opportunity is in the world's two largest vehicle markets, China and North America. That's because the trend has already played out in the No. 3 market: Europe.

    According to Honeywell, 69 percent of engines in Europe are already turbocharged, and that will rise only marginally, to 73 percent, in 2020.

    In North America, on the other hand, in 2015 only 23 percent of engines were turbocharged, but that will rise to 39 percent in 2020. (In China, Honeywell's estimates are 28 percent in 2015 and 47 percent in 2020.)

    ActuaPlast's roots are in Europe — its parent company ActuaPlast SAS is based in La Forêt-Fouesnant, France. Company owner and CEO Ronan Perennou started the company in 2001, and it serves a very specific niche: helping vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers to commercialize new blow molding technology.

    “We do product development, prototyping, pre-production, low-volume production and production support for Tier 1 suppliers,” Madsen said. “We do not want to be a Tier 1 supplier. We want to assist Tier 1 suppliers.”

    ActuaPlast employs about 110 people in France, and it opened its Livonia factory in July 2014. Production in Livonia started in January 2015, and today the plant has 10 employees and three sophisticated blow molding machines. The newest, a model called the ASPI from S.T. Soffiaggio Tecnica srl in Monza, Italy, started production just over a month ago.

    It's the latest in 3-D suction blow technology from S.T., and ActuaPlast held a special event for select customers on March 15-16 to show off the new equipment.

    The exclusive guest list included automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. The hosts were ActuaPlast, S.T., DuPont Performance Polymers and H.A. Industries, a local specialist in equipment for welding plastic parts. The companies touted the event as a conference to take the mystery out of blow molding.

    DuPont played a major role in the seminar, including local experts and a teleconference link with the company's technical staff in Meyrn, Switzerland, who answered customers' questions about suction blow molding materials and processing.

    DuPont sees big opportunities in suction blow molding for two of its engineering resins: Zytel nylon and Hytrel thermoplastic elastomers, which can withstand the hostile environment under the hoods of turbocharged engines. DuPont has two blow molding machines in Switzerland and offers customers the results of its years of research into the process.

    S.T. Managing Partner Martin Graziadei highlighted the latest features in the ASPI machine, including a tie-barless design and specially designed head for quick mold and material changes, and sophisticated controls that can precisely dose material, putting resin exactly where it is needed in the parison to control the thickness of the part.

    That helps to minimize scrap, which traditionally is a major expense for industrial blow molders. The opportunity for material savings with the new technology can pay for itself in just a few years, Graziadei said — even for a machine that can cost around 600,000 euros ($684,300).

    Previous efforts

    Previous efforts to popularize 3-D suction blow molding in North America were also announced with high expectations, but in the end they fell flat.

    Around 2002-2003, experts thought the U.S. automotive market would embrace turbocharged diesel engines, like in Europe. That never happened.

    Then the Great Recession put the development of innovative new automotive technologies on hold.

    Today, though, the opportunity is real, according to the partners at the open house. Automakers are eager to try any new technology that reduces weight and improves fuel economy, and the plastics supply chain is in a strong position to assist.

    “Europe has led this shift. We've got to catch up,” Madsen said.

    “We are convinced that the same trend is going to happen in the U.S., and also in the Asian market,” Graziadei said. “This conversion is going to happen now.”

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Georgia home to new PET chemical recycling plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified