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
    • 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
      • 2023 winners
    • 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
    • Bioplastics Live
    • 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
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • 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
News
December 04, 2017 01:00 AM

A 3D focus for A. Schulman

Dan Shingler
Crain's Cleveland Business
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Prodways Technologies
    A. Schulman Inc. and Prodways Technologies have introduced a glass-filled nylon for use in SLS production.

    A. Schulman Inc. is stepping up its game and stepping into a new arena: the materials market that serves the 3D printing industry.

    One of the chief challenges the burgeoning industry additive manufacturing industry faces, however, is finding new materials with which 3D printers can work. Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman, with its French partner, Prodways Technologies, hopes to help fill that void.

    It's a fairly big move for Schulman, which is better known for grinding, blending and processing plastic resins and materials for others through its tolling business. It might help profits, too, since engineering new materials often provides more margin than tolling work.

    "I think what's nice is this is not sort of the same kind of materials and processes that Schulman's been working in. It's not the tolling business. This is a foray into the truly innovative side of these products," said company spokeswoman Jennifer Beeman.

    After agreeing to work jointly on development efforts in November 2016, Schulman and Prodways have unveiled their first product, a glass-reinforced nylon 6 sold under the name PA6-12T.

    The end result is a material that produces parts that are tougher, more rigid and more heat resistant than competing materials, said John Steele, head of business development for Schulman's powder business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

    Those characteristics mean PA6-12T can be used to make parts that are not possible with other materials, including for industries that manufacture automotive, aerospace or medical parts or devices.

    The material is designed for selective laser sintering.

    Steele hopes Schulman and Prodways' new product can compete with or replace nylon 12 used in SLS.

    "Probably 95 percent of the industry in SLS is using PA12, and PA12 has a number of limitations, one of them being resistant to high temperatures under the hood, which it's not," Steele said.

    The new product won't necessarily revolutionize the industry — 3D printing is still a fairly slow process, and the new material Schulman and Prodways have developed has specialty applications. But Steele thinks it has benefits that certain manufacturers need.

    "This material is definitely easy to use, and it's very, very rigid," he said.

    It's being launched in Europe now and will hit the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2018, with Prodways handling sales, Steele said.

    It's not likely to significantly move Schulman's revenue needle, at least at first. But it's important because it marks Schulman's entrance into a new and growing industry, where the company can engineer products that are less commoditized than the plastics and materials Schulman usually deals in.

    "We are aiming to release other materials that are not quite so specialized," Steele said of Schulman's future plans.

    That would be just fine for most players in the 3D industry, which is always looking for new materials it can work with and for new suppliers who will develop them, said Darrell Wallace, chief manufacturing officer and program coordinator for Youngstown State University, which works extensively with additive manufacturing technologies.

    Wallace said many manufacturers prefer SLS technology, because it produces parts that are uniform from their outer edges to their inner core. However, manufacturers often have to compromise to use the technology, if they even can.

    "A lot of the materials we are able to print are not identical to the materials we use traditionally," Wallace said. "I may have a particular polymer I like to use, but that polymer in its present form might not be suitable to 3D printing. So we're often limited to a variant of a polymer or member of the same polymer family."

    Wallace would like to see Schulman and other companies get into the 3D materials market. He said it's a natural fit for northeast Ohio, which has a long and strong history in materials science in general and in polymer science in particular.

    "Absolutely," Wallace said. "As more materials become available, the number of opportunities we have to use 3D printing increases."

    What's more, as the new materials demonstrate different strengths, they can be used for new purposes. For example, if a material is heat resistant enough, it can be used to print molds that will be used by traditional injection molders to make plastic parts.

    "The better materials we get — like the new material that Schulman has — that opens up the number of opportunities we have as well," Wallace said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Numbers That Matter Live — sign up for the next live
    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]

    Most Popular
    1
    Target, Walmart cut from bag drop-off site directory following report
    2
    Plastics industry social media accounts worth following
    3
    PVC, PS resin prices take opposite paths in May
    4
    Resin Prices
    5
    Recycling plant for laminated packaging launches in Mexico
    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
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • 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
        • Bioplastics Live
        • 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
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • 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