HANDLER

Business & people

news Business & people

Husky investing in hot runners, caps and closures, preforms, tooling

David Eldridge Plastics News Europe Caroline Seidel From left, Gerado Chiaia, Steve Lawrynuik and Stefano Mirt with Husky's HyperSync machine K 2016. Düsseldorf, Germany — Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. has a continuing investment program in its hot runners business. Its senior managers outlined these investments at a K 2016 news briefing, where they also discussed its other businesses in PET preform systems and tooling for medical and specialty packaging. Stefano Mirti, president of Husky’s hot runners and controllers business, discussed recent investments in that sector. The company invested $8 million at its Milton, Vt., plant and spent $12 million on its Luxembourg facility, where it added a new manifold cell. In Shanghai, Husky has added a test lab to serve the Asia-Pacific region and doubled the manufacturing capacity at its Chennai, India, facility. Other investments will be announced in mid-2017, Mirti said. At Husky’s press event on Oct. 20, the heads of its three business units had a total of 72 years of Husky tenure between them. Gerardo Chiaia is president of Global Beverage Packaging and has 22 years’ service at the Bolton, Ontario-based company, previously as head of hot runners. Steve Lawrynuik, president of Medical and Specialty Packaging, has 30 years’ experience at Husky, and Stefano Mirti has spent 20 years at Husky. Chiaia spoke of the promising market reception of Husky’s multilayer barrier technology for PET preform production. “We have 14 orders for our multilayer PET systems,” he said. “The first beta systems were shipped just over a year ago. Five are now in the field, and two are currently being installed.” He said the technology targets drink products needing enhanced barrier properties that are traditionally packaged in materials such as glass, paper cartons and aluminum. The barrier technology is built on the company’s HyPET HPP5 preform molding system, a high-performance system with the capability to precisely dose the barrier layer. Husky says the technology supports recyclability by reducing the amount of barrier material required, as well as demonstrating the potential to integrate new recyclable barrier materials into PET packaging. At K 2016, Husky showed a hot runner system for the multilayer barrier technology, which was used by an Asian customer. The 48-cavity hot runner system was used by the customer for six months to make barrier PET preforms for carbonated soft drink bottles. The customer converted from a 5.5 percent nylon barrier blend to 2.5 percent multilayer barrier. It has since upgraded to a 72-cavity version of the system. Lawrynuik said his Medical and Specialty Packaging division at Husky was formed after the group bought Schöttli, the Swiss medical mold maker, in 2013. “It was a strategic acquisition to expand our innovation processes into the medical space,” he said.Schöttli is one of the top names in the medical mold sector, he said, and it has brought to Husky expertise regarding the high level of precision needed for medical products. Husky had on display a variety of parts for target medical applications. It also showed a 64-cavity Schöttli syringe barrel mold, showcasing the high capacity and precision manufacturing Schöttli is known for. Husky is investigating the needs of medical customers, such as specific demands for precision, quality and productivity. From this research, it will seek to develop integrated solutions. It has been teaming Schöttli molds with Husky hot runner systems as part of its drive to an integrated system offering. “It’s about putting a mold with a machine in a unique way, so 1 plus 1 doesn’t equal 2; 1 plus 1 equals 3,” Lawrynuik said. In an interview, he added that Husky has learned a lot from its integrated approach to molds and machines used for PET preform production. But it can’t just presume medical customers have the same needs as PET customers when applying its learning, he said. Advances in caps Advances in Husky’s injection molding machinery include two integrated systems for producing caps and closures were being shown at K 2016. The recently introduced HyCAP4 system for beverage closure manufacturing includes mold and auxiliary integration features to increase productivity, improve energy efficiency and provide a simplified operator experience. The HyCAP4 is running a 1.25 gram 29/25 closure for a mineral water application at a 2.4-second cycle time. Brand new is HyperSync for the manufacture of specialty closures. The system is molding a 6.1 gram flip-top closure for a shampoo bottle in an 8.5-second cycle time. The HyperSync name reflects how the system synchronizes the machine and mold function to deliver fast cycle times. The system uses Husky’s new eIMC in-mold closing technology which provides more precise control during molding, with safe overlapping of mold functions to enable better part quality as well as cycle time improvement of more than 20 percent. Husky’s updated Hylectric 4.0 is being launched with improved performance, greater process control and energy management, but also with new connectivity and data collection features. In hot runners and controllers, Husky is showing updates to its Ultra Helix Valve Gate nozzles (with the Ultra Helix 350 nozzle now available) and the servo actuation feature on the new Altanium Servo Control technology. Also showcased are the most recent automotive solutions, including Unify Pre-assembled Manifolds and the Lucent angled manifold, designed for automotive lens production. Plastics News staff reporter Kerri Jansen contributed to this report. http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161117/NEWS/161119848/husky-investing-in-hot-runners-caps-and-closures-preforms-tooling

Ms. Kang 2016-11-24

VEM starting mold making factory in India

Marco Stepniak Marc Weinmann, president of VEM Tooling Ltd., at K 2016. Düsseldorf, Germany — VEM Tooling Ltd., a German-owned mold making company with operations in China and Southeast Asia, is opening a factory in India in late November, as it sees increasing interest in sourcing of plastic molds and parts there.The firm, which opened mold making operations in China in 2003 and Thailand in 2008, said international customers are getting much more interested in buying molds in India as an alternative to rising costs in China.“I can see some risks ahead for China, and I can see some huge opportunities in India,” said President Marc Weinmann. “People are anticipating the future.”The company has a 200-employee mold making factory in Shenzhen, China, that makes about 500 molds a year.It plans to keep it the same size — China will remain VEM’s largest single-production base even with the opening in India — but shift China’s work toward more specialized and higher-cost products, Weinmann said.Beyond the widely discussed rising costs in China, the country is also facing a working-age population that peaked in size in 2012, Weinmann said.In India, it will open the plant in the city of Pune in late November and expects to employ about 50 there.It will be an initial investment of about $500,000, much less than the $3 million it spent to open in Rayong, Thailand, six years ago, he said. The company is starting smaller in India but expects to make continuous investment, Weinmann said.The India factory will initially focus on molds in class 104 and class 103, up to 100,000 shots and some in class 102, up to 500,000 shots, he said.Weinmann said some of its existing multinational customers are “very keen on India. They are customers in Europe and the U.S., and they want to move into India.”While China’s plastics industry is many times larger than India’s, Weinmann said he expects quick development in India’s industry.Manufacturing in India may not develop as quickly as China has, he said, but called India the “hottest market in the plastics industry.“I’m very optimistic about molding and mold making, and I’m optimistic about the parts market,” he said.India’s much-publicized imposition of high tariffs on injection molding machines from China in 2009, and then from Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines, has raised prices on the molding industry there, but they are manageable, he said.“It’s a pain but not a showstopper,” Weinmann said.The company also plans, in time, to start injection molding parts for customers in India, as it does now in Thailand, where it has 10 injection molding machines and 70 employees in the tool shop.VEM started in 1998 as a mold sourcing company, Hong Kong registered VEM Virtual Electronics Manufacturing Ltd., before opening its Shenzhen plant. Weinmann said he is the owner of the firm.It also has sales offices in California, Germany and Mexico.http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161109/NEWS/161109842/vem-starting-mold-making-factory-in-india

Ms.Kang 2016-11-16

Gerd Liebig succeeds Dr.Tetsuya Okamura as new Sumitomo(SHI)Demag CEO

http://www.adsalecprj.com/Publicity/MarketNews/lang-eng/article-67024343/NewsArticle.aspx

Ms.Kang 2016-10-31

The Interview_The Vice President, Pete Baxter and the Director of Sales, Koji Tsujino at Delcam UGC

From the 27th to the 28th of August, Hankook Delcam held the 27th UGC(the 27th User Group Conference) in Laviedor Resort in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. During the conference, Hankook Delcam offered unique solutions to integrate the latest information technology, such as data analysis, Internet of Things(IoT) and cloud computing into manufacturing, in order to build a flexible and efficient manufacturing system.Under the slogan, ‘Keep Changing, not to be changed’, around 1,000 people attended the event. Seungil Yang, the Hankook Delcam CEO, delivered his opening speech, and at the Autodesk session, Pete Baxter, the Autodesk Vice President, had a presentation on ‘Make Tomorrow Today.(Autodesk’s Vision for the Manufacturing industry)’ After the presentation was over, Handler interviewed the Vice President, Pete Baxter and the Director of Sales, Koji Tsujino. Pete Baxter, the Autodesk Vice President, giving a presentation at the 27th User Group Conference.Pete Baxter, Vise President of Autodesk, Worldwide Digital Manufacturing SalesHow many times have you visited Hankook Delcam User Group Conference?Personally, this is my second visit. Autodesk acquired Delcam in 2014, so it is the 3rd time Autodesk, as a company, has been involved. Personally, I have been running Autodesk for one and a half years, so this is my second conference.Compared with your last visit, what is your opinion on this year's conference?It is pretty difficult to compare with the conference 12 months ago, because things move so quickly. I think the area that is most developed is additive manufacturing which is 3D printing using plastics and metals. Now for example, a lot of our biggest customers around the world are starting to invest and investigate how additive manufacturing can change manufacturing process.Could you deliver a message for the Korean CAD or CAM industry or market?Delcam has been a company for 27 years, and on this market, it has always been very strong for us in the automotive and supply chain. I think our partner, Hankook Delcam is in a strong position. They continue to grow, so we see a lot of innovation and opportunity in this market, and we expect that we could continue to invest in the market.Do you have a message for Korean users?I think our customer base has got a lot of established relationship with Hankook Delcam. Also, our intentions are to continue to work very closely with them, and to support them. With Autodesk acquisition of Delcam, there are going to be a lot of interesting and exciting new developments, the products will become easy to use, and we are investing in new functionality that will make products work better together. We are also extending the access to some of the other Autodesk products such as simulation and additive manufacturing which I think will add value, and give a lot more value for the products the users have. I think over the coming period of the time, in 1 year or 2 years, they are going to see a lot of new stuff to make their jobs even easier to do.Are there any conferences like this in other countries?We do a combination. In terms of conferences organized by our partners, this is the biggest one in the world. They do a very good job, and have a very good relationship with their customers. Also, Autodesk has just had an Autodesk University event which is the brand we use for conferences. There was one in Seoul just earlier this week which 1,500 people attended. Autodesk does have an event in Las Vegas every year, and we get 10,000 people in that event which is a very large one, and a combination of technical presentations and training sessions. We have run in different locations in the world. There is one in India, and next week, there will be events in Japan and China. We have run them in every location. I would say in terms of events organized by our partners, this one is special.On your presentation, you emphasized on additive design, and said it is significant in the future. When do you think bionic design in aero and automatic areas will be commercialized?It has started to get commercialized now, so the plain partition that I mentioned is going into production. If we look at some of the large automotive companies, they are investing about a hundred million dollars, not just with us of course, with companies exploring the opportunity. It is their intention to go into the main stream production in the near term. Within 5 years, I think it will be mainstream. At the moment, to a large extent, it is a research project. Producing multiple identical components with additive manufacturing still has its challenges. However, even among some examples we showed you, 3D printing with metal has moved on significantly in last 12 months, and it will follow the same trends. As all other technology, where it starts relatively slow, then it grows at a steep rate, and that is our expectation for this as well. However, the important thing is that additive and subtractive manufacturing exist together. Additive manufacturing is not a single process, so it will be a true enhancement for the Delcam users that use subtractive products.Do you attend other Autodesk events?I have been working in Autodesk for 12 years, so I have attended a lot of these events. We had an event in China last year, and recently I have been Turkey, and oversea all around Europe based on the UK. In these events, customers realize the manufacturing market is changing, and the pace of technology change is accelerating. Since one of our challenges as a software company is that we have to try to predict where the technology will go in 5 years, and develop the product road map to use, we have got a lot of interests from customers who understand it. Even if I am not in design, I understand that generative design, and the way design is changing are going to really impact the manufacturing business. It is because they have to figure out how they are going to help the customers manufacture the increasingly complex things they design.Do you attend a lot of exhibitions? and are you planning to attend any exhibition later this year?We attend a lot of trade industry events. It varies from year to year. The biggest machine show in the world is IMTS(International Manufacturing Technology Show) in Chicago, and that is happening from the 12th to the 17th of September, and we will be at the show. Also, there are a lot of large customers and our large users from here who will be attending as well. Pete Baxter, the Autodesk vice president(on the left) and Koji Tsujino, Director of Sales, APAC(on the right) Koji Tsujino, Director of Sales, APAC Digital Manufacturing Group May I ask your task and position in your company?I am in charge of the Asian-Pacific region, and report to Mr. Pete. My task is integrating Delcam into Autodesk, and increasing sales.What are the countries included in the Asian-Pacific region?Japan, China, Korea, Australia are included, and Delcam Hankook has subsidiaries in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Taiwan, we have another company called Delcam Taiwan.

Ms. Kang 2016-09-05

Some global plastics machine makers see potential in Taiwan

Michael Huang, Taiwan branch manager for Arburg GmbH & Co. KG, left,and Andrea Carta, Arburg's overseas sales director.By Steve Toloken Taipei, Taiwan — In the last year, European injection molding machinery makers Arburg GmbH & Co. KG and Wittmann Battenfeld GmbH both set up technical centers in Taiwan, a small but significant sign of increased interest in the local market on the part of global firms. Lossburg, Germany-based Arburg opened its center in April, saying it sees the Taiwan presence as the way to build more sales among the many global manufacturing companies based there. “For us, this is really the most important reason, Taiwan is the headquarters of very strong Asia-based companies,” said Andrea Carta, Arburg’s overseas sales director, in an interview at the Taipei Plas trade fair, held Aug. 12-16 in Taiwan. “Most Taiwanese companies have production facilities in China of course, and also in Southeast Asia,” he said. “What we went to do is support these companies with a direct presence here, where they have their R&D centers and headquarters, and then integrate this presence with our Asian subsidiaries. “We see a potential that we are not tapping now,” he said. Officials with Wittmann were less specific about their reasons for opening a technical center, but it’s a similarly sized investment. The Kottingbrunn, Austria-based equipment maker first announced the technical center in 2012 but opened it in mid-2015, the company said at Taipei Plas. Roland Pechtl, area sales manager for East Asia and Oceania, sees some Taiwanese companies bringing investment back from mainland China to Taiwan. Taiwan is Wittmann Battenfeld’s second-largest market in Asia after mainland China, said David Chen, general manager of Wittmann Battenfeld (Taiwan) Co. Ltd. The technical center, in the city of Taichung, is about 15,000 square feet and employs 16. Arburg’s center, also in Taichung, will help the company make inroads into Taiwan’s sizable manufacturing industry, said Michael Huang, Taiwan branch manager. There are well-known Taiwanese companies like global contract manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron, which make products for Apple Inc. and other consumer giants, and have large factories for injection molding in China. But Huang said there are many smaller molding firms in Taiwan that are key in global supply chains but less well known, like Chenming Mold Ind. Corp., also known as Uneec, and Taiwan Power Technologies Co. Ltd., which specializes in metal molding. “Sometimes they are silent, they are not such a big group but they are famous in some industries, like medical or metal injection molding,” he said. Others, he said, are active in the consumer electronics industry: “They are supporting Foxconn, they are supporting [Taiwanese computer maker] Acer, and others. There are many component suppliers, they are not as big but we know they are here.” Arburg’s Carta said Taiwanese firms are increasingly interested in liquid silicone rubber molding technology. Arburg has moved a technical director from Germany to staff the Taiwan center, and that person has expertise in LSR, Carta said. While the Taipei show does not have a large group of global exhibitors, German mold maker and hot runner supplier Otto Männer GmbH was exhibiting at its first Taiwan show. “For Taiwan manufacturers, if they want to keep business, they need better quality,” said Xin Liu, managing director of the Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl, Germany-based company’s Hong Kong office. “The market changed in the last two years.”http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160819/NEWS/160819777/some-global-plastics-machine-makers-see-potential-in-taiwan

Brandy 2016-08-30