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Queens Awards honour UK plastics industry |
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Tags: Plastic Blow Mold Plastic Auxiliary Machine Plastic Pipe Extrusion Line
The winners of the 2009 Queen’s Award for Enterprise have been revealed and once again the UK’s plastics industry gets a healthy share of the honours.
Stars of the plastics industry include Sheffield-based packaging specialist William Beckett Plastics, Merseyside’s colorants and additives manufacturer ColorMatrix Europe, cushioned packaging company Easypack of Stevenage, Welsh rubber rollers specialist Just Rollers, banking and gift card firm Nitecrest of Leyland, Redcar’s Greenstar WES for its recycled food-grade and plastics, SmartStak for its pallet system for bottle – another Sheffield winner, and design and marketing specialist Cambridge Consultants.
Commenting on the honour, Greenstar WES founder and managing director James Donaldson said: “The Queen’s Award is a tribute to typical British ingenuity and application, and I and all my staff feel very privileged to have our hard work rewarded in this manner. We’ve sacrificed a lot to bring our dreams to fruition, and I’d like to thank all my staff for their dedication.”
"This is an independent and prestigious endorsement of the quality of our company and of the people that we employ. Our team has worked very hard to transform the business and this award is great recognition of their efforts. We are all incredibly proud," added Dr Geoff Davis, managing director of Just Rollers.
The 2009 awards have 194 winners, the largest number in the scheme’s 44 year history.
Business minister, Lord Mandelson, said: “I heartily congratulate all today’s winners of The Queen’s Awards. These inspirational firms have proved they are amongst Britain’s very best businesses. They are flying the flag for British enterprise, innovation and corporate responsibility, both here and abroad.” |
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PDM 09 conference moulds to needs of industry |
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Tags: Plastic Injection Molding Machine Plastic Blow Mold Plastic Automotive Mold
Crain Communications has announced full details of its free-to-attend conference at the Plastics Design and Moulding Exhibition and Conference (PDM 09). Taking place at the Telford International Centre from 19 to 21 May 2009, the PDM09 Conference addresses all the hottest topics facing plastics design and manufacture today from how to maintain profitable operation and identify new business opportunities in the current downturn, to the impact of the latest technical innovations and trends in sustainability and energy efficiency.
Debate sessions open the conference each day with a panel of industry experts. In the afternoons are a series of Design in Detail sessions, which trace the plastics design and production cycle from real-life examples in packaging, medical devices and consumer products.
Tuesday’s Moulding Business Debate focuses on arguably the biggest issue of the day - how best to tackle the impact of the recession. Gain the essentials of how to maintain profitability, identify new business opportunities and learn how to manage costs to come out of the downturn in a much healthier shape. The line-up of expert panellists includes Dr George Kellie of Kellie Solutions, a leading business consultancy for the plastics and packaging manufacturing industries.
Wednesday’s Design Trends Debate covers the essentials of good design and the latest design trends, including the current drive towards sustainability and a greater use of recyclable materials. Panel experts include internationally renowned materials design expert Chris Lefteri.
In Thursday’s Moulding Innovations Debate, the panel discusses the potential of many of the latest industry innovations such as gas-assisted moulding, in-mould labelling and the latest processes to mould anti-counterfeiting features into plastics products.
The highly practical Design in Detail sessions take delegates through every stage of production from initial design concept, through development to manufacturing and will cover polymer selection, tooling and processing challenges as well as overall project co-ordination.
The opening Design in Detail Packaging session on Tuesday focuses on sustainable packaging. Will Davis of design firm Studio Davis will discuss development of the compact packaging for Ariel’s Excel Gel laundry detergent, launched by Procter & Gamble last year. Alex Peacop of PDD will then present a view of the future of packaging concentrate liquids, highlighting the product design group’s innovative Quantex pump.
In Wednesday’s Design in Detail – Medical Devices session, Allen Green, managing director of AK Industries, will discuss his company’s vital role in the development of two medical products: the Rapid-3D allergen tester and the innovative Rapi-Heal wound system.
In Thursday’s Design in Detail – Consumer Products session is presented by Alastair Kingsland, design director at Minima Design, whose featured products will include a revolutionary music keyboard with hexagonal keys.
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Mold has become a huge industrial chain |
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In recent years, driven in high-tech plastic mold and pillar industries, driven by application requirements, formed a huge industrial chain, from upstream raw materials and processing, and testing equipment to the downstream machinery, automobiles, motorcycles, home appliances , electronic communications, building materials, such as the application of several major industries, plastic mold the development of a very lively scene. At present, the application of plastics increasingly wide range of plastic mold for providing a broad market, while the mold is also a higher demand. Large-scale, high-precision, multi-purpose complex will be favored mold.
At the same time, construction, household appliances, and automobile industries are of great demand for plastics. It is estimated that only cars, the annual motorcycle industry needs to die more than 100 billion; color die each year about 2.8 billion market. |
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Why mould customization needs to be local |
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and rapid manufacturing can play a key in this activity
Precision mold making is one of the important industries that is involved in our life. The global mold making industry is currently in a strong growth period which is expected to be sustained over the next several years. Many of these successful mold making companies are facing the need to diversify their mould markets to find new business and also are interested in transforming this old industry in such a way as to strengthen the overall competitiveness of the industry as well as augmenting its capacity. From design to mold making to manufacturing, the mold manufacturer community is looking for solid, practical advice.
Custom moulding can be characterized by three major requirements: High quality, short lead times combined with high flexibility, and low volume production. Mould quality is crucial because parts are designed for maximum performance and operated at their limits. The main advantages of rapid manufacturing are shortened lead times that permit a later design freeze, as well as greater geometric mould making freedom. It is crucial to find applications where these advantages compensate for the inherently inferior properties of RM parts for mould maker. New applications of RM will emerge mould material properties, mould dimensional tolerances, and mould part repeatability.
Mould tool manufacturers from almost all industries are currently evaluating the purchase of tools from Asia, or have even established supplier relations there – for local or global applications.
This is also true for other mold manufacturers who face massive cost pressure and relocate part of their production, not only to follow their customers but also to serve new customers in the target markets. Cost savings from 40% to 70% are possible, but the process of finding the right supplier of mould tool and mould material is intense and the necessary input very high. Which die and mold manufacturers are suitable to be sourced from China or India, and what cost savings are realistic? How can a good cooperation with local mold tool builders be established, and what kind of input is necessary? What are the relevant mould making facts to be kept in mind when establishing your own die and mold making production? |
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Briefing on China's Plastics Machines Industry |
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Xinhua News Agency reported on December 15, 2005 that "China has 600 enterprises engaged in the production of plastic machines and related products with an annual production capacity of over 100,000 sets, including 8,000 sets of extrusion machines, 30,000 sets of moulding machines, 3,000 sets of hollow-forming machines. The annual output value of plastic machines totaled 8-10 billion yuan."
The news agency said China's export of plastic machines has increased fast to reach 50 million US dollars in value, with mould machine accounting for 60.4 percent of the total export, extrusion press machine 6.8 percent, hollow-forming machine 11.7 percent, and other plastic machine 9.8 percent.
The export of die assembly also grews fast, especially in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Fujian province. The major export destinations are Chinese Hong Kong, Japan, Chinese Taiwan, the United States and Singapore, as well as Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, India and Mexico.
The moulding tools producers are mainly in the southeastern coastal areas. Guangdong and Zhejiang produced two thirds of the total products, and most of the products are plastic injection and moulding tools. |
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