News
  Basics of Plastics returns to Ontario
  CAMM Mold Trade Fair gives tool sector a boost
  Bayer to work with Canadian firm on holograms
  Dow Automotive makes push into transportation
Changes
  Movers and shakers in the Plastics industry
Classified Ads
  Job Forum
Events
  Coming Events
Coming Soon From Plastics In Canada Magazine - February
  From Plastics in Canada

News

Basics of Plastics returns to Ontario
If you missed it the last time, your chance to catch The Basics of Plastics is coming back to southern Ontario. This one-day seminar on the elements of the industry, its materials, processes, markets and environmental issues, is being presented in the province for the second time this year on Tuesday, December 2.
Presented by veteran trainer and lecturer Paul Waller, president of The Plastics Touchpoint Group (Thornhill, Ont.), the course is held at the Rogers Brampton campus on Dixie Rd., in Brampton, Ont. The program, which costs just $195 plus GST, includes lunch and a book containing the full course material, for later review. Spaces for this seminar are now limited, but are still available as of this week. You can access the registration form, and more details, at:
www.bizlink.com/plasticsincanada.basicsofplastics

Participants at the recent Basics of Plastics Course held in Halifax.

CAMM Mold Trade Fair gives tool sector a boost
The first Canadian Moldmaking Trade Fair was held this week in Windsor, Ont. Around 100 exhibiting companies drew attendees from well outside the local mouldmaking community to the two-day event at the new exhibition facility at Caesar's Windsor.
The show featured technical seminars as well as two dinners with hockey great Paul Henderson and astronaut Roberta Bondar as celebrity speakers.
For photo highlights from the show, click here.

CPIA fine tunes its restructuring
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is close to finalising its restructuring. Following a board meeting this week, the split into two divisions, announced earlier this year, is confirmed. One will be the existing Environment & Plastics Industry Council (EPIC), under existing executive director Cathy Cirko, and the second will be a Processors Division, under a new executive director to be hired in the coming weeks.
The last remaining regional office, in Montreal, closes shortly, and no further regional offices are anticipated. Existing CPIA president Serge Lavoie retains his position until December 31, though he will remain in an advisory capacity over the transitional period, through March 31.
“The new organisation will focus on specific areas,” he says. “EPIC will look after two areas – solid waste and human health issues – and the Processors Division will look after the interests of processors.
“We expect existing members from the supplier communities will remain with this because they want the processor community to be healthy, but the interests of machinery suppliers, for example, are better looked after by groups such as Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME). The resin suppliers we retain will have essentially all their dues going towards EPIC, because the environment and health are where their concerns are.”
There will be three smaller councils under this structure: the Vinyl Council of Canada, the small but growing Composites Council, and the Plastic Film Manufacturers Association of Canada.
There will be no downsizing of the current head office staff in Mississauga, Ont. However, Lavoie anticipates that when the current lease is up in 2010, the organisation will move to smaller quarters.
www.cpia.ca

Bayer to work with Canadian firm on holograms
Bayer MaterialScience AG, Bayer MaterialScience LLC and Ultimate Holographic Reproductions Inc. (Woodbridge, Ont.) have entered into a joint development agreement to advance broad commercialisation of high-quality, true-colour holographic images. Bayer MaterialScience is supplying colour-sensitive photopolymers for the mass replication of the true-colour master holograms produced by UHR.
Full-colour holograms have potential uses in a broad spectrum of applications. The advertising industry, the packaging and entertainment sectors, product design and a broad range of high-quality print products use them in various ways.
“By joining forces with UHR, we are working with one of the world's leading developers of full-colour hologram technology and a company with extensive know-how in the production of holographic masters and mass replication,” says Dr. David Jurbergs, holographic application development manager at Bayer MaterialScience LLC.
Peter Vivona, vice-president marketing & sales at UHR adds: “These photopolymers will enable us to produce full-colour holograms on an industrial scale while also satisfying the strict requirements placed on commercial applications in terms of consistently high image quality and cost effectiveness.”
Although there have been many past attempts to produce holographic images suitable for broad market use, they usually failed due to the lack of appropriate materials for mass production. The image quality and colour fidelity of those holograms also fell short of expectations because the complete production process was not fully developed.
The new photopolymer film that Bayer MaterialScience plans to launch commercially in 2010 has several advantages over other holographic materials. It is reportedly easy to process and environmentally robust, and can also be exposed by laser light in one or more colours.
www.bayermaterialscience.com

Dow Automotive makes push into transportation
As one sign of the shift away from automotive manufacturing, Dow Automotive (Auburn Hills, Mich.) has created a dedicated team of sales and application development experts to focus exclusively on manufacturers serving the commercial transportation markets. The newly formed Commercial Transportation Group will provide solutions and technical expertise to both Tier and OEM customers, helping them solve challenging technical issues that are driven by regulatory compliance and end-user preferences.
The Commercial Transportation Group will initially concentrate on the global bus and truck segments, with a focus on solutions to improve vehicle durability, safety, emissions control and fuel efficiency.
“Our commercial transportation customers have unique challenges, needs and opportunities,” says Dagmar van Heur, managing director of the group. “Our team will engage with customers during the earliest stages of product development to help develop solutions that achieve their specific goals. We have global representation and support that will allow us to provide quick and reliable responses.”
The new organisation will tap into Dow Automotive’s proven products, technologies and services that, together with new, custom-tailored products can be leveraged into this growing market. Target application areas include interior and exterior composite paneling, seating foams and components and diesel particulate filters. The organisation will continue to build on Dow Automotive expertise in glass and plastic bonding.
www.dowautomotive.com

TOP