News
CPIA names 2008 award recipients
Six industry veterans will be recognised for their accomplishments and contributions to the plastics industry when the Canadian Plastics Industry Association holds its annual awards banquet on May 21 in Toronto. This year, the main one, the Leader of the Year Award will go to Sajjad Ebrahim, president of Par-Pak Ltd. of Brampton, Ont. This is given to individuals who distinguish themselves by building strong, vibrant businesses while contributing to the industry and to their own communities.
There will be two recipients of CPIA's Lifetime Achievement Award. The first is Robert Krycki, founder and president of Future Design Inc., a supplier of machinery to the blown film industry since 1978. The other goes to Gilles Plante, president of Poly Expert, a Montreal area extruder of PE films. Both recipients, according to the CPIA, have a history of building strong, internationally recognised businesses while supporting their industry and community.
There are also three recipients of the association's Canplast Award, given to individuals who serve the industry through their volunteer efforts both at CPIA and through other industry organisations. This year the awards go to Miguel Petrucci, president of Compact Mould (Woodbridge, Ont.), chair of the CPIA Mould Makers Council and a member of the CPIA board of directors; John Zadro, president of Structural Glass of Winnipeg, chair of the CPIA's Composites Council and a CPIA board member; and Marion Axmith, a 25-year veteran of CPIA, and SPI Canada before that, who currently serves as director general of the Vinyl Council and also handles several key files in the environment and health area.
www.cpia.ca
Electrovaya CEO joins Plast-Ex Summit lineup
Dr. Sankar Das Gupta, chairman and CEO of electric vehicles producer Electrovaya (Mississauga, Ont.) has been added to the roster of speakers for the Plast-Ex Summit next month. He will be joining a panel discussion in the morning session, on macro-manufacturing issues. A co-founder of Electrovaya, he has more than 25 years experience in materials engineering and battery science. Electrovaya's main portable power solution is its proprietary lithium ion SuperPolymer battery technology. It has over 150 patents issued or pending globally.
The Plast-Ex Summit is a one-day conference aimed at CEOs and other senior executives looking for a better grasp of the challenges currently facing manufacturing within Canada. It includes speakers from government and industry, who will discuss the current state of manufacturing, and look at options for the future.
The day includes a networking session as well as lunch, dinner and a Blue Jays baseball game. The location is the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto (formerly the SkyDome).
www.plastexsummit.ca
Dr. Sankar Das Gupta
Ontario finances software implementation program
Ontario's mould and diemakers are hoping a new provincial government initiative can help them overcome some of the competitive challenges it's facing. Allocation of $600,000 to allow assessment of new types of software along with the industry's ability to implement it was announced on April 24 by Ontario's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello. Pupatello is also an MPP for a Windsor riding.
The money will be managed through the Canadian Tooling and Machining Association. An equal amount was simultaneously allocated to the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association, for similar purposes. The CTMA will use its grant to assess shortfalls in software skills across the industry, and work with suppliers to identify solutions. This will include testing and evaluating software and developing training programs.
"We are facing a number of challenges," Pupatello said in announcing the award at the Anchor Danly plant in Windsor, Ont. "In addition to the high Canadian dollar, there is increased competition from other countries, the extreme rate of technological innovation, the capital investment necessary, and the cost pressures from customers."
"The industry needs leading-edge software skills to compete," added CTMA president Horst Schmidt. "The program we are undertaking with this grant is to assess where the resources are, where the gaps are, and then to assess what's out there that can be developed in our industry.
"And we have to check that the software will do what the software suppliers say it will. Hopefully, we can move this industry forward."
A further issue is software obsolescence. New programs or new releases of existing programs are quickly superseded, and many shops are not able to give enough time to assessing the strengths and limitations of these. The grant money should provide a way for shop owners to find out what they don't know about CAD and business management software, and what they must do to address the knowledge shortfall.
www.ctma.com
Sandra Pupatello announces the grant to the CTMA and APMA.
Mold Expo show
The 2008 Mold Expo show was held on April 23 and 24 at Rock Financial Place in Novi, Mich. The show drew visitors and exhibitors from the US, Canada and elsewhere. Below are photos of some of the exhibitors in Novi.
The 2009 version of this exposition will not be a standalone event, but will be combined with NPE2009 when it's held next year. NPE is held at Chicago's McCormick Place from June 22 through June 26 2009, and this time is also bringing the Society of Plastics Engineers annual ANTEC conference under the same roof.
www.moldmakingexpo.com
Tracy Pringle of the Windsor Essex Development Commission (left) and Diane Deslippe, general manager of CAMM.
Mike Hicks and Frank Iatonna of DMS at their booth.
Cy McGrath and Inno Fabbro of Progressive Components.
Al Morrow, D-M-E Canada's regional sales manager, and D-M-E staff.
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Changes
Patt Technologies Inc. (St-Eustache, Que.) has agreed to an exclusive master distributor/reseller agreement with Enovik Inc. (Montreal). Under the agreement, Enovik will sell and distribute Patt's complete line of rotary filtration products, components and services.
www.enovik.com, www.patt-technologies.com
Redoe Mold (Windsor, Ont.) has won a best-in-class award from Visteon Corp. for its lens tooling for automotive lighting products. This is the second time in six years the firm has taken this award. Redoe was one of only 23 of Visteon's 2,300 worldwide supply partners selected for the award, and one of only five in North America.
www.redoemold.com, www.visteon.com
Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (Bolton, Ont.) celebrated Earth Day last week by committing to reduce electricity use through the EnerShift Demand Response (DR) Program. EnerShift is an energy management initiative implemented by Rodan Energy and Metering Solutions Inc. designed to help large energy users reduce their environmental footprint. For Husky this will mean reducing its power usage in order to assist when provincial electricity demand exceeds supply. To accommodate this reduction, Husky will temporarily reduce its electricity consumption for non-essential activities.
www.husky.ca
Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. (Mississauga, Ont.) is celebrating its 30th anniversary of as a supplier of machinery to the plastic film and sheet industry.
www.macroeng.com
Optima Colour (Cambridge, Ont.), a custom colours and specialty additives masterbatch producer, has Christen Bates an account executive. He will be based in Ontario.
www.optimacolour.com
Injection moulding machinery producer Dr. Boy has reached its 40th anniversary. For the occasion, it is celebrating with an event for customers at its Neustadt-Fernthal, Germany, headquarters from June 12 to 14 that will highlight the company's past, the present, and future, focusing especially in current technical innovations.
www.boymachines.com
Global specialty chemicals manufacturer Sartomer Co. (Exton, Pa.) has named Henry Miller manager of UV/EB technical development. Miller will concentrate on growing UV/EB opportunities in new developing applications and markets. Miller previously served as manager of UV/EB Technology.
It has also promoted James Goodrich to manager of UV/EB technology, and Josh Oliver returns to the US as manager of UV/EB specialty applications after spending three and a half years at Sartomer Europe as technical manager, graphic arts.
www.sartomer.com
The Polymer Technology Group Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.) is being sold to Royal DSM NV of the Netherlands. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
Polymer Technology is a private developer of biomaterials used for contact lenses, and also medical applications such as orthopedic implants and catheters. PTG operates three plants, and has 100 employees. Its president and CEO, Bob Ward, who is also a co-founder of the company, remains in this position.
www.dsm.com, www.polymertech.com
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Coming Events
2008
May 4-7: UV&EB Technology Expo & Conference 2008, at McCormick Place, Chicago. (Contact: Mickey Fortune at 240-497-1243 or mickey@radtech.org).
May 12-13: Tenth International Conference on Progress in Biofibre Plastic Composites. At the Toronto Airport Renaissance Hotel. (Contact: Guida Williamson at 519-249-0545 or www.biocomposites-toronto.com)
May 22: The Plast-Ex Summit 2008 is a look at the urgent issues facing the plastics industry in Canada. Co-sponsored by Plastics in Canada magazine and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association. At the Rogers Centre, Toronto. (Contact: Nick Passingham at 416-764-1527 or nick.passingham@plastics.rogers.com).
May 22: Plastic Film Manufacturers Association of Canada, 27th annual golf tournament. At Richmond Hill Golf Club. (Contact: Marilyne Berman, 905-678-7748 or mberman@cpia.ca).
May 26 - 29: Aseanplas 2008 incorporating Aseanrubber 2008, Southeast Asia's main international trade fair for plastics and rubber. At Singapore Expo. (Contact: Messe Düsseldorf North America at 312-781-5180 or info@mdna.com).
June 16: Windsor Chapter of CAMM dinner meeting. (Contact: Diane Deslippe at 519 255-7863 or info@camm.ca).
June 5: Canadian Plastics Pioneers 12th annual reunion and citation awards dinner. At the Donalda Club, Don Mills, Ont. (Contact: Tom Thomas at 416-498-4016 or tom.thomas@rogers.com)
June 20: SPE Ontario golf tournament, at Station Creek Golf Course. (Contact: Andrew Marshall at 416-781-5286 or amarshall@ontor.com).
September 30-October 2: Interplas 2008, Britain's national plastics show, at the Birmingham NEC, UK. (Contact: Graham Earl at 020 8910 7890 or graham.earl@reedexpo.co.uk).
October 22-23: Rotoplas '08, the international rotational moulding event, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill. (Contact: Maria at 630-578-3266 x225, or mariap@cmservnet.com)
October 20-21: Expoplast 2008, Quebec's triennial plastics show, at the Palais de Congres in Montreal. (Contact: Tom Sockett at 905-678-7748 or tsockett@cpia.ca)
October 22-23: Rotoplas '08, the international rotational moulding event, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill. (Contact: Maria at 630-578-3266 x225, or mariap@cmservnet.com) TOP
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - June issue
Precision Parts - Moulding to Tight Specifications
Extrusion Report - Innovations in Blown Film
Spotlight on Granulators and Shredders
Product Review of Printing & Decorating
Product Review of Welding Systems
Raw Materials Report
Processor Profile
Closing: May 21, 2008
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