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Engel realigns manufacturing in North America
Responding to a reduced market for presses in North America, injection moulding machinery builder Engel is reorganising its North American manufacturing operations. Its plant in Guelph, Ont., will now focus strictly on all-electric machines and serving the packaging industry. It is letting some staff go in Guelph.
Steve Braig, the new CEO of Engel North America, says, "Optimising our processes and investing in our North American production facilities will allow us to provide our customers with improved delivery times and competitive cost, an absolute necessity in the current market environment.
"With a reduced market for standard machines, especially for the production facility in Canada, some changes in manufacturing processes are required to maintain profitability. Engel North America will utilise the expertise of the parent company Austria or Engel's factory in Asia, to enable us to provide a quality product at a competitive price."
To facilitate all this, the company is investing US$4-million on its production processes, and it is opening a Technology and Training Centre at its York, Pa. plant, which produces larger tonnage machines.
Austrian-based Engel has a total of eight production plants in Europe, North America and China and Korea.
www.engel-ec.com
Engel's plant in Guelph, Ont.
Raw materials supplier buyouts
July has been an active month for sales of resin producers and compounders. After polyolefins giant Basell Holding BV announced it was buying Huntsman Corp., a second round of negotiations resulted in Hexion Specialty Chemicals (Columbus, Ohio) buying the company for US$10.6-billion. Basell then announced a US$19-billion deal to buy Lyondell Chemical Co. (Houston, Tex.).
The boards of Basell and Lyondell, which are both major players in polyolefins, unanimously approved their transaction. Lyondell's three business segments – ethylene, co-products and derivatives; propylene oxide and related products; and refining – complement and strengthen Basell's already world-dominant polyolefins business. Basell is owned by New York-based Access Industries. Lyondell and Basell had combined 2006 revenues of US$34-billion, and globally employ 15,000 people.
Hexion is a producer of thermoset resins, reputedly the world's largest, and arose in 2005 out of the merger of four other firms: Borden, Bakelite AG, Resolution Performance Products and Resolution Specialty Materials. It is controlled by the private equity firm Apollo Management LP.
Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc. (Wichita, Kan.) is buying Huntsman's commodity resins business. Last year, Huntsman sold its European petrochemicals business to Saudi Basic Industries, and also sold its tertiary butyl ether business.
Meanwhile, on the PVC side of the resins business, PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio) has sold its stake in Oxy Vinyls LP (Dallas, Tex.) to its partner Occidental Chemical Corp. for US$261-million. PolyOne , formerly Geon Co., which was previously part of B.F. Goodrich, had owned 24 per cent of Dallas-based Oxy Vinyls since Geon and OxyChem merged their PVC and vinyl chloride monomer businesses in 1999. PolyOne will maintain its existing PVC and VCM supply agreements with Oxy Vinyls through 2024.
Officials with PolyOne said proceeds of the sale will pay down debt. After Shintech Inc. (Houston, Tex.) OxyVinyls is North America's largest PVC maker, with about 4.2-billion lb of capacity. Its plants include one in Niagara Falls, Ont.
PolyOne claims to be North America's largest compounder, with a roughly 10 per cent market share. Its 2006 sales were US$2.6-billion, with profit of $123 million.
www.basell.com, www.hexionchem.com, www.polyone.com
Demag ends machine production in North America
Demag Plastics Group is ending manufacturing of injection moulding machines in North America. DPG, which acquired Van Dorn (Strongsville, Ohio) several years ago, will be reducing its product lines, 13 in number, to just three by 2009. It will be making these machines in Europe and Asia.
Company president Klaus Erkes told a press teleconference in Ohio that machine production in Strongsville will finish at the end of August. Demag has production plants in India, China and Europe. The three lines will be the Systec hydraulic range, the all-electric IntElect line and the hybrid El-Exis machines. All the lines will feature modular designs, allowing for particular market variations, according to Kerkes. The IntElect range will be increasing soon to include 420 US ton presses.
"We have to change our organisation towards the principles we think are applicable," he told the press conference. His view of the North American market is that it requires sophisticated, high-end machines and also more economical equipment, but with the mid-range assuming relatively less importance.
www.dpg.com
SPI reorganises executives
The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (Washington, DC) has realigned its senior management team to place greater emphasis on the three major sectors of the industry: equipment, material suppliers and processors. Walt Bishop, who has been with SPI since 1985, has been promoted to the new position of vice president, Equipment Council. Bishop was formerly vice-president of trade shows.
Lynne Harris, who has been with the trade association for 17 years, has the new position of vice-president, Material Suppliers Council. This is in addition to his continuing service as senior vice-president of science and technology.
Susan Howe, who has been with SPI since 1993, has the new position of vice-president, Processors Council. She previously served as senior technical director, worker and product safety; executive director, colour and additive compounders division; and executive director, food, drug, and cosmetic packaging materials committee.
SPI has also announced the addition of Gene Sanders as its new vice-president of trade shows. He has over 25 years' experience in planning, managing and marketing large association trade shows, and comes to SPI from C4-Events, a division of Stout, Causey, Horning.
www.plasticsindustry.org
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Changes
STANMECH Technologies Inc. (Burlington, Ont.) has appointed Rocco Trentadue technical sales representative for southwestern Ontario and other parts of Canada. He has over 10 years of technical sales experience dealing with industrial and commercial markets throughout Ontario.
www.stanmech.com
Rocco Trentadue
Weyerhaeuser Co (Tacoma, Wash.). is suing Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.) over patented oriented wood-plastic composite extrusion technology. Weyerhaeuser says it acquired the technology when it bought PSA Composites LLC (Guelph, Ont.) in October 2006. This technology was co-developed by Frank Maine and William Newson. Lawyers for Weyerhaeuser say neither they nor the company will comment on the dispute. Dow is also not commenting at present.
www.weyerhaeuser.com, www.dow.com
Automotive foams supplier Woodbridge Group (Mississauga, Ont.) will close its plant in Corunna, Ont., in response to a drop in sales of its products. The plant, which employs 182, will be shut on December 21. The site makes PUR foam energy absorbers, but with some customers choosing absorbers made from lower-cost systems, there is less demand for its products. The rise in the Canadian dollar was also cited as a factor in the decision.
D-M-E Co. (Madison Heights, Mich.) has promoted Jim Hunt to global business manager of its Molding Supplies business unit. He will lead D-M-E Molding Supplies, which was recently created from the integration of D-M-E's Northern Supply, Nickerson and OHS businesses. Hunt, a 22-year veteran of D-M-E, joined the MRO division in 2001, and has managed several MRO groups.
www.dme.net
Jim Hunt
Global specialty chemicals manufacturer Sartomer Co. (Exton, Pa.) has named Earl Emerson the new market development manager, photocure. In the newly created position, Emerson is responsible for identifying and developing new business areas and markets in the US for Sartomer's photocure products. Kevin Rice will replace Emerson as eastern regional sales manager. for managing the hydrocarbon resins, and other specialty chemicals.
www.sartomer.com
Ron Puvak has joined Plastic Technologies, Inc. (Holland, Ohio) as director of marketing and sales for the new business development group.
www.plastictechnologies.com
Asaclean - Sun Plastech Inc.(Parsippany, NJ), manufacturer and distributor of Asaclean purging compound, has promoted sales manager Joseph Serell to vice-president of the company.
www.asaclean.com
Joseph Serell
David Andrews has joined the Packaging Association of Canada as director of education. He will assume responsibility for the development of strategic and operating plans to enhance their relevance, and ensure the continued success of the PAC's Packaging Certificate Program. He has over 40 years in the packaging industry, and retired from Smurfit-MBI last year where he was vice-president, sales and marketing.
www.pac.ca
David Andrews
Lou Grupe has joined Progressive Components (Wauconda, Ill.) as engineering manager. He has extensive mouldmaking, mould design and engineering experience. Also, David Arias has joined the company as technical customer service specialist. He worked for several years at another tooling components supplier.
www.procomps.com
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| Lou Grupe |
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FD Plastiques Canada Corp., a wholly owed subsidiary of F&D Plastics Inc. (Leominster Mass.) has acquired the assets of compounder C.E.K Entreprises, (Lachine, Que.) The company intends to keep all employees and to pursue operations at the Lachine plant after renovation. Raw materials business veteran Germain Archambault, who joined F&D Plastics in 2006, will head the company.
www.fdplastics.com
For the second time in under five years, growth at Beaumont Technologies, Inc. (Erie, Pa.) has prompted the firm to move to larger facilities. Phone numbers do not change. The new address is 1524 East 10th St., Erie, Pa
16511.
www.beaumontinc.com
Future Design Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.) has signed an international agreement with Syncro srl, which is located near Milan, Italy. Future Design's new Perfect Balance Thickness Control will use Syncro's computerised automation.
www.saturn2.com
Gabriele Caccia (right), managing director. of Syncro.s.r.l.,
with Future Design's founder and president, Bob Krycki.
Agie Charmilles (Lincolnshire, Ill.) is combining its Agie, Charmilles and Mikron brands under a new brand identity, GF AgieCharmilles.
www.gfac.com/us
Sandra (Sandy) Beach Lin is the new president of Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corp. (Florence, Ky.), and executive vice-president of Celanese. She replaces Lyndon Cole, who has announced his retirement and will remain with the company during a transition period. She most recently served as group vice-president, specialty materials and converting, at Avery Dennison Corp.
www.ticona.com
Sandra Beach Lin
Björn Hedlund has assumed the role of global marketing director for DuPont Engineering Polymers (Geneva, Switzerland) in addition to his position as regional director Europe, Middle East and Africa for this business. He succeeds Timothy P. McCann, who is the new vice-president and general manager of DuPont Electronic Technologies. Hedlund has over 25 years' experience with DuPont's engineering polymer business.
http.//plastics.dupont.com
Anplas Inc.(Anjou, Que.) is now exclusive agent and distributor for Hamilton Avtec (Mississauga, Ont.) in the province of Quebec. With the recent Wittmann acquisition of the raw materials handling line of Mould-tek Inc.(Scarborough, Ont.) Anplas decided to expand its operations and offer the complete range of Hamilton-manufactured and distributed products.
www.hamiltonavtec.com
Jeff Wotring has been appointed by Spirex Corp. (Youngstown, Ohio). as Midwest regional manager for the company. In his new position, he will manage Michigan, western New York, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Canada.
www.spirex.com
Plasticolors, Inc. (Ashtabula, Ohio) has completed an asset purchase of the UCD colourants products previously owned by Rohm & Haas. The purchase includes the UCD V-Line, Q-Line, HS-Line, E-Line, SF-Line, PS-Line, L-Line, W-Line, and N-Line. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed.
www.plasticolors.com.
John Collins has been promoted to market manager - plastics and PolyMag processing at Eriez (Erie, Pa.)
www.eriez.com
John Collins
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