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Several machinery manufacturers are introducing small plastics injection presses. The machines, with less than 100 tons of pressing power, cost on average $50,000 each. Before 1991, two German manufacturers, Arburg and Dr. Boy GmbH, dominated the market. Since then, several American and Asian manufacturers, notably Batavia, OH's Cincinnati Milacron Inc have begun to challenge the industry leaders. This is partly because Arburg is concentrating it marketing on higher tonnage presses. Some companies hope to capture part of the small press market by downsizing their larger machines.

North American automotive plastics molders are faced with global marketplace changes that could force them to adapt or force them out of business. Considerable opportunities and risks result from three major developments: General Motors' demands for radical cost cutting, the North American Free Trade Agreement and increased North American sourcing by Japanese automakers.

Injection molders can benefit from installing industrial robots in the areas of labor and quality. Most injection molders primarily are concerned with the labor savings from an automated system, but quality management is as big a consideration. A new generation of industrial robots can give injection molders enhanced production flexibility, better control, and higher quality. Besides labor savings, scrap reduction and increased production are major factors on which to base a cost/benefit analysis of industrial robots.

Automakers, in pursuit of increased fuel-efficiency, are focusing on 'lightweighting,' the drastic reduction of vehicle weights. Plastics should benefit from this trend. By 1996, automotive plastics producers are likely to find opportunities in the production of engine intake manifolds, fuel tanks, door systems, bumper beams, seats and other components.

Halogen-free fireproofing agents are being developed in anticipation of plans to ban halogenated products in Europe. Alternatives to polybrominated diphenyloxide include alumina trihydrate, ammonium polyphosphate, magnesium hydroxide and melamine amyl phosphate, but none of these chemicals work as efficiently as halogenated products. The products of several fireproofing agent manufacturers are described.

New techniques for increasing the melt strength of polypropylene (PP) have widened the range of materials suitable for sheet-fed thermoforming. The use of cross-linking and acrylic modifiers have improved the processibility and controlled the sag of PP and provided advantages over amorphous materials such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. Some programs involving nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyarylate, have stalled, but flame-resistant resins have emerged in aircraft interior use and carbon fiber-reinforced polyether-etherketone is under development as an epoxy system.

Consumer demand for improved kitchen appliances remains strong, and appliance manufacturers are relying on polymer developments to enhance their products' appearance and performance. Mr. Coffee Inc's Potato Perfect, Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex's Personal Coffee Maker and Gooding International Ltd's Potato Crisp Factory are representative of plastics-based appliance developments. Potato Perfect, a minioven, has a molded polymer housing that can withstand 550-degree-F temperatures.

Many presentations at Mar 1993's Society of Automotive Engineers show focused on environmental and regulatory concerns. The American Plastics Council's Automotive Group gave a recycling presentation focusing on several projects, including a Ford Motor Co/GE Plastics program to convert automotive bumpers into tail-light housings and other automotive parts.

Sales of electric, servo-driven presses have been growing 15% per year, and that figure is expected to rise. All-electric presses, at least 20% more costly than hydraulic presses, initially were targeted at clean-room operations, but a broad range of molders, drawn by the machines' precision and energy efficiency, are now specifying electric units. Japan's Fanuc estimates the global annual market for electric presses to be about 800 units.

The trend toward managed health care is forcing medical equipment molders to cut costs. Many are addressing the problem by entering into partnerships and preferred supplier relationships, by offering on-line packaging and other value-added services and by specializing in product design and tooling instead of finished manufactures. Stiffer cleanliness standards have imposed an added burden. Molders can expect cleanliness upgrades to add at least 5% to their overhead.

Dow Plastics' Automotive Materials Group has introduced an automotive instrument panel that it claims is lighter and less expensive than current models. The panel replaces metal supports with Dow's Pulse polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic. The panel will appear on a 1994 car model and was developed with the assistance of two undisclosed company, probably a car builder and a molder. Automotive instrument panels are being redesigned because of the use of airbags, new side-impact safety standards and an emphasis on aerodynamic styling.

Sophisticated gaging, along with total line control, has become a necessity for plastics sheet and film extruders attempting to survive in the international marketplace. But myriad choices confront extruders seeking to buy gage-monitoring equipment. Three types of sensors, nuclear radiation, infrared and laser, are available in numerous system types, including scanners, double scanners, fixed-point devices and triangulated systems.

Potential regulatory pressures are influencing producers of flame retardants to find an alternative for antimony oxide synergists and other toxic chemicals. The European Community has already banned the use of polybrominated diphenyloxide, the most effective flame retardant for polyesters and styrenics. Alternatives for polybrominated diphenyloxide include alumina trihydrate, ammonium polyphosphate, magnesium hydroxide, and melamine amyl phosphate. None of the alternatives are as effective as halogenated products.

Manufacturers of industrial equipment are introducing new single-stage machines for the blow molding of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Single-stage systems combine the injection unit and the blow molder so that the bottle preform does not have to be reheated on a stretch-blow molding system for processing. Single-stage machines are used more often than two-stage systems in the manufacture of wide-mouth containers, but they are unable to provide enough strength for carbonated-beverage bottles.

The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering held its 37th annual conference recently in Anaheim, CA. The conference highlighted new materials and new processes in advanced composite materials, but the real focus of the event was the overall shrinking of the composites market, primarily due to cuts in military aerospace spending and the weak economy. Consolidation in the market has led to a greater likelihood of companies joining forces on projects in consortia or joint ventures.

Producers of flame retardant thermoplastics are being faced with challenges both from extensive health and safety regulation and from expanding demands from users to produce more efficient materials at a lower cost. While the threat of a European Community-wide ban on polybrominated diphenyloxide seems to have passed, individual countries appear to be ready to impose their own regulatory roadblocks. Compounders are responding to these challenges by maximizing the flexibility of their product lines.

Molders seeking to cut costs, provide just-in-time service and improve job flexibility are increasingly using small injection machines (IM). Under-100-ton IMs account for approximately 25% of all IMs purchased by North American molders, up from approximately 18% in 1989. Small IMs are becoming more sophisticated, and the selection available continues to grow. A tiebarless Engel machine, for example, offers automation features previously available only on large machines.

In the past much of the money for composite research has come through military contracts, so, as spending on defense projects decreases, the advanced composites industry will have to make changes in production methods if they are to survive. Cuts in research budgets are expected to particularly impact thermoset and thermoplastic composites development. Some companies, such as France's Aerospatiale and US companies Cincinnati Milacron Inc and Hercules Aerospace Co have already developed new processing systems.

The 1994 price and supply outlook for advanced thermoplastics is discussed. Most polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) producers concede that there is an excess of capacity and that a shakeout could occur. A consolidation would probably impact Japanese suppliers the most. Unfavorable exchange rates, patent restrictions and other factors make it difficult for Japanese producers to compete in North America, the largest PPS user.

Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd and Mannesmann Demag Fordertechnik AG, crane and materials handling equipment producers, are working together to assist injection molders in automating their factories and maximizing the efficiency of their equipment through the expanded use of overhead cranes, thus expanding shop-floor space. The cranes would be coordinated by a computer program, now under development at Husky.

A joint venture between Owens/Corning Fiberglas Corp (OCF) and Alpha Corp will create the largest unsaturated polyester producer in North America. The resultant company will have an annual combined capacity of 515 million pounds. The move will not affect OCF's technology-sharing contract with BASF AG in Germany and Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd in Japan. Another major consolidation between Interplastic Corp and the Silmar division of BP Chemicals Inc will create a combined capacity of 232 million in polyesters.

Automotive parts makers are using special extrusion technology to compound and mold long-fiber thermoplastics on line. Composite Products Inc developed this technology, which it licenses to several molders and uses in its own manufacturing facility. The technology, which the company calls long-fiber-thermoplastic direct melt-phase molding, is described.

Composite Process Equipment has supplied a pultruder with 18-in by 52-in maximum die dimensions and a 100,000-lb pull- and clamp-force capacity to BP Chemicals' Auburn, WA, facility. The pultruder, said to be the biggest commercial unit ever built, has an 84-in/min profile-fabrication line speed. It can also make thin-wall tubing and hollow parts without crush or deformation problems.

Antistatic agents are being used extensively in electronic packaging, and carbon black is becoming increasingly popular for this application. Plastics with carbon black can be made with resistivities of 10 to the eighth power ohms/cm to 1 ohm/cm. Amine-free antistatic agents are important in electronics because polycarbonate components can suffer stress cracking when exposed to amines. Manufacturers are developing antistatic agents with high molecular weights to reduce the speed of migration.

Heavy-metal-free (HMF) colorants are gaining in importance as the move to ban heavy metals spreads. About 22 states have banned or restricted the use of cadmium, lead and selenium, and the European Community may ban these materials in 1995. The use of organic pigments should grow by a minimum of 8% a year through 1997 and several companies are developing new HMF colorants. New pigments from several manufacturers are discussed.

New epoxy compounds have been developed that have improved performance, shelf-life and processing ability and fewer toxic emissions. ICI Fiberlite has developed an epoxy toughened with thermoplastics. Bakelite GmbH has developed a new catalyst which allows epoxies to cure in two minutes instead of hours and have a greater shear strength. Several chemical companies have introduced low-viscosity epoxies which may be processed by varied techniques including resin transfer molding and filament winding. Ciba Polymers has introduced a water-based epoxy, which eliminates the need for volatile solvents.

Mannesmann Demag AG purchased the Van Dorn Plastics Machinery Co division of Van Dorn Co, merged it with a Demag marketing and distribution facility and renamed the new division Van Dorn Demag (VDD). VDD will sell both Van Dorn and Demag plastic injection molding machines under their separate brand names. Demag machines are marketed toward high-performance use, while Van Dorn machines are aimed at custom applications and captive markets. Demag also has machines for gas-assisted and lost-core molding, which Van Dorn lacks. The merger represents the internationalization of the industry.