Association News

2006 EPDA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The 2006 Annual Conference, held from Friday, 12 May, to Monday, 15 May, hosted 99 attendees in the English countryside, making it a great success. The conference included presentations from Derek Garner, Curbell Plastics, Inc., and Mark Kramer, Laird Plastics, on distributor-manufacturer relations. And Professor Peter Sinclair from the University of Birmingham spoke on the global economy. During the Annual General Meeting, members elected Bryan Heath, Robert Horne Sign & Display, as president.

Attendees also enjoyed a gala dinner at Warwick Castle. At the dinner, Calvin Hussey was named the Pacesetter Award recipient for his work with the UK Division and for his preparation of the conference. Deborah Hamlin, EPDA executive secretary who will be stepping down in September, was also presented with an award in recognition of her service to EPDA.

The EPDA Charity Auction that evening raised more than 3.500 Euros to benefit Save the Children. EPDA would like to thank the following companies for donating auction items: Angst + Pfister Group; ARacryl S.A.; BENCORE Srl; Brett Martin Semi-Finished Products; CENTROPLAST Engineering Plastics GmbH; ENSINGER GmbH; EPDA; The Global Plastics Letter; IAPD; IBG (Insigne Berg Groep BV); Murtfeldt Kunststoffe GmbH & Co. KG; Plastique Polyfab, Inc.; Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products — Europe; and Robert Horne Sign & Display.

The final evening of the conference, attendees enjoyed a medieval banquet, where president Bryan Heath and past president Lida Arageorgis (pictured) were named baron and baroness for the evening.

EPDA would like to thank the following conference sponsors:

Notebooks:
Foamalite Limited — www.foamalite.ie

Gala Dinner:
Brett Martin Semi-Finished Products — www.brettmartin.com
ENSINGER GmbH — www.ensinger-online.com
The IAPD Magazine — www.theiapdmagazine.com
IBG (Insigne Berg Groep BV) — www.ibgfittings.nl

A list of delegates, tabletop exhibitors and other conference information is available online. Please visit www.epda.com for more information.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS
During the conference, EPDA members elected three new members to join the EPDA Board of Directors: Mats Andersson, Carlsson & Möller AB, Helsingborg, Sweden; Antonella Annunziata, Madreperla Spa, Cinisello Balsamo, Italy; and Giovanni Vesco, Angst + Pfister Group, Zürich, Switzerland; were elected to serve a two-year term.

Mats Andersson
Mats Andersson is currently the managing director of Carlsson & Möller AB, a leading company within engineering plastics, which offers materials cut-to-size, fabrication, assembly and technical solutions within prioritized business areas in the Nordic countries.

He was previously vice president of production for Kalmar Industries, and also worked for Cetetherm, BOC Ohmeda, Haldex Brakes and Sandvik Coromant.

“I’m looking forward to joining the board with both excitement and honor,” Mats said.

In addition to his family, Mats enjoys hunting and fishing, and modestly, he says he’s slightly familiar with the game of golf (33 hcp).

Antonella Annunziata
Today, Antonella is the managing director and major shareholder of Madreperla Spa, a cast acrylic sheets producer, located in Milan. She began her career 20 years ago, immediately after graduating from the German Lycee in Milan. Her work philosophy is a combination of Italian tradition and mentality and her German education. In 1972, her father, then president of the company, gave Antonella the chance to take over complete responsibility.

“It was, for me, really a challenge, because I was very young, and because I was a woman,” she said. “But I must admit, that, despite all you hear, being a woman has given me more advantages than problems. That's probably why today I am still enthusiastic about my work, and every day I try to develop and attempt new objectives. I will try my best to bring my enthusiasm to my cooperation with EPDA.”

Giovanni Vesco
Before joining the Angst + Pfister Group, Giovanni had been with Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products — Europe (as DSM Engineering Plastic Products and Polypenco Italy SRL) since 1979, where he was lastly both commercial director of Europe as well as managing director of Italy. Giovanni’s entire business career has been dedicated to the plastics industry.

“Having had the privilege to represent the previous manufacturing company I worked for as an EPDA member, I was able to experience the value of the association,” he said. “Now, as a distributor, I will use that experience to try and improve the relations of the two distinct sides of the association. We all have one goal: increase the plastic business in the market.”

In his spare time, he enjoys reading, traveling, classical music and sports.

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Company News

EPDA members are invited to submit news on their company and products for publication in EPDA’s E-Update newsletter. News may be submitted in any language, to be translated by EPDA staff, and may include photographs. Please e-mail news (in a Microsoft Word document or as text in an e-mail) to epda@epda.com. Please note that submissions may be edited for length and clarity.

SILWOOD PLASTICS GIVES SIGN UK THUMBS UP
Silwood Plastics Ltd. reported that the Sign UK exhibition held at Birmingham in May was a resounding success. Silwood was the only traditional sheet stockist exhibiting, and enjoyed a busy interest in their stand.

The company launched two new products at the show: Acrysign cast acrylic sheeting and Altuglas® Soft Fluo-FX.

Debbie Coxall, Silwood’s sales manager, commented, “It was great to take part in such a vibrant show with so many potential new customers as well as so many of our friends within the industry. A particular hit for us was Soft-Fluo, which is a versatile product that offers some stunning effects, especially under UV light. The trend is for display products that support either a sophisticated finish or a dramatic visual effect, and this product is certainly hitting the spot.”

For more information, please visit www.silwoodgroup.co.uk.

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ALEXANDROVITZ OF KAMAN HOLDINGS ACQUIRES IKA INDUSTRIAL
Alexandrovitz – Kaman 2005 Ltd. has announced the purchase of IKA Industrial Consulting, which serves as an independent materials testing laboratory. This is the only laboratory in the Mediterranean region that is certified by the Boeing Aircraft Corporation. IKA is a company active in the field of materials engineering and is comprised of four main components: quality assurance consulting, material selection and failure analysis, material testing and evaluation of physical and mechanical properties and the support of advanced projects in the field of materials technology.

“This purchase is part of Alexandrovitz’s strategy to expand its activities. This step has been taken in response to the growing demand for outsourcing procurement activities in large companies,” said Daniel Lev, CEO of Alexandrovitz.

IKA has been a leading company for 22 years. Among its many customers are IAI, Iscar Group, and the Israel Desalination Engineering.

“The combination between supplying semi-finished raw materials and a certified, independent materials laboratory, will enable Alexandrovitz the unique advantage of providing additional services and an overall solution in terms of a ‘One Stop Shop,’ ” Lev said.

The present CEO of IKA, Dr. Alberto Kaufman, will continue as a special advisor for the next four years.

Dr. Gad Elkabir, who recently joined Alexandrovitz in the position of vice president for engineering and technology, will be in charge of the activities of IKA in the framework of Alexandrovitz.

For more information on Alexandrovitz – Kaman 2005 Ltd., please contact Daniel Lev at daniel@alexandrovitz.co.il.

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INVESTMENT COMPLETED AT INTERNATIONAL PLASTIC SYSTEMS LTD.
A 12-month investment program at International Plastic System’s site has been completed and its new facilities are now fully operational. The development has seen the IPS warehouse more than double in size to over 50,000 square feet (4,645 square metres), as well as major investments in storage, computer systems and materials handling equipment.

The pipe storage area for daily picking now holds in excess of 80,000 metres (roughly 50 miles) of pipe and is backed up by a completely new high-bay store for bulk quantities of additional stock. Storage for fittings and valves has increased by 53 percent, in addition to newly created mezzanine areas for extra bulk stock. Making use of the increased capacity, stock levels have already begun to increase and currently run at 25 percent higher than at the beginning of 2006. This is part of an on-going program to make further improvements to the ex-stock availability of our products.

For more information, please visit www.ips-plastics.com.

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Product Showcase

Articles reporting on plastic products are prepared from information furnished by
members of EPDA. It should not be assumed that the publisher has reviewed or tested
any of the products. For more information, contact the companies listed.

PERSPEX® FLUORESCENT ADDS NEW CELESTIAL BLUE TO THE RANGE
One of the most innovative and successful Perspex® from Lucite® solutions is Perspex® Fluorescent acrylic sheet. Now the range offers even greater innovation, with a brand new color, Perspex® Fluorescent Celestial Blue.

As the name suggests, Perspex Fluorescent Celestial Blue 021 takes its inspiration from the clear crisp blue skies of a new spring day.

This is a fresh new color that adds a delicate lightness to the range, but still maintains the bright, almost startling fluorescent edge color of this versatile Perspex® range.

The new Celestial Blue 021 is available in 3mm, 8mm and 10mm thicknesses and sheet size 3050 x 2030 mm. The new color joins the others in the Perspex® Fluorescent range: Mars red, solar yellow, lava orange, Neptune blue and acid green, all of which are now available in 3 mm, 8 mm and 10 mm sheet thicknesses.

For more information, please visit www.lucitesolutions.com.

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CANDY-COLORED CAST
QUINN CAST, the brand name for cast PMMA sheets from Quinn Plastics, was chosen by the Spanish Metacrilato y Grabados (MG), a specialist in point-of-purchase equipment for confectionary vending in Spain, to develop their latest 100-percent plastic sweet displays. Quinn Plastics was able to provide MG with tailor-made colored plastic sheets, whilst working to tight time schedules and very demanding color specifications.

“Looking for the best fit solutions for developing our latest vending unit for sweets we chose Quinn Plastics,” says Raphael Múgica Ceballos, managing director of MG. “They were immediately on the same wavelength in our design process. We wanted bright colors that are unique in the market and Quinn Plastics delivered us accurately color matched panels using QUINN CAST acrylic sheet. The standard palette of colors was useful, but we needed eye-catching combinations of color, which Quinn helped us to achieve. The fact that every single part of our vending unit is made out of plastic makes it unique.”

QUINN CAST combines all properties that are required to design food displays. The plastic sheets are well known for their ability to withstand scratches and finger marking, whilst providing a modern look to in store displays and signage. The special textured surface also reinforces brightness and can offer subtle light filtration to shop fittings.

For more information, visit www.quinn-plastics.com.

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FROM SMALL TO LARGE: CAST POLYAMIDE TUBES IN MANY DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS
ENSINGER GmbH has complemented the product range of TECAST tubes and spun tubes with many additional dimensions. From now on, cast polyamide semi-finished products are available from very small to very large, with outside diameters of 50 to 710 mm and inside diameters of 30 to 500 mm.

“We want to make it easier for our customers to get material modifications that match their applications, in different dimensions with a very short delivery time,” explains Marketing and Sales Manager Martin Baras.

Beside the TECAST tubes and spun tubes, the portfolio also comprises numerous dimensions and modifications that will be produced on demand.
Since customers cannot always buy larger amounts of such special productions, the company has improved some processes and can now offer smaller minimum amounts for special demands in the range of small rod dimensions.

In contrast to rods, tubes have many advantages. For applications that demand hollow materials, the customer has less finish machining work. The process of machining is also more economical, due to a smaller amount of waste. Furthermore, the customer can order tubes in dimensions which are very close to those of the final product, thereby saving processing time.

For more information, visit www.ensinger-online.com.

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FABULOUS FLUORESCENTS FROM PLASTICS PLUS
Fluorescent colors are the latest contemporary design choice. A range of fluorescent, matte and tinted colored plastic sheet is available from Plastics Plus.

Create exciting and dramatic effects for interior design, display and shopfitting applications from our innovative range of colors and finishes, available in a choice of sheet sizes and thickness.

Speak to their expert sales team for advice on the right plastic sheet to suit your design needs.

For more information, please visit www.plasticsplus.co.uk.

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GEVACRIL XT ACRYLIC TUBES A WORK OF ART
Quality GEVACRIL XT acrylic tubes will be used for a prominent light-art project at the Museum of the Industry in Oberhausen, Germany, which will be inaugurated in September 2006.

Because of their extraordinary properties of light transmission and combined with the stability and suitability to LED light, the artist, Christoph Stark, chose Gevacril XT acrylic clear and white tubes to create an illuminated railway, which runs along the whole length of the “Museumsbahnsteig,” a platform of a railway station, used for art installations.

Illuminated from inside with the LED light system of OSRAM, the XT acrylic tubes diffuse a soft, smooth colored light throughout the whole surface of the acrylic “rails,” whose colors are constantly changing, creating new and fascinating atmospheres.

Visit www.rim.lvr.de or www.gevacril.com for further information.

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SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS MADE OF TECHNICAL PLASTICS – LATEST DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS
The following article, written by Ensinger’s Dipl. Ing. Peter Bongardt, was published in the German “TECHNICAL TRADE” Magazine (“Technischer Handel”) in April.

In the past few years, technical trading has increasingly discovered technical plastics as a new and expandable business field with growth potential and positive prospects for the future. This now satisfies an important function as a link between manufacturers of plastic semi-finished products and the highly differentiated consumer industry.

At the same time, technical trading is going through a strong change to more qualified added-value creation. In other words, selling according to the “fish market” principle with simple distribution, i.e. “goods for money” is changing to individual customer relationships with technically well-founded advice, the objective being to offer solutions related to certain applications.

The modern technical specialised trade is increasingly characterized by working closely with the end customer. This is technically supported in the value creation chain by the preliminary process industry of semi-finished goods manufacturers in a competent way, whereby this back-up takes place in different respects.

It is important in the process to be able to rely on several pillars of support, such as competency and service. This includes as a functional unit, amongst other things, a full product range of materials in different geometries, dimensions and specialities, supported by production processes which are geared to one another, qualified development and technical assistance.

To read the whole article on semi-finished products, please follow this link: www.ensinger-online.com/frames/gb/bf_u7_news58.htm.

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RIGHTON LIMITED’S LAUNCH OF NEW PRODUCTS BRINGS SUCCESS
Righton Limited, a leading distributor of plastics and metals to industry in the United Kingdom, has been achieving amazing success following the launch of their complete range of composite material, in particular the metallic grades, which includes a mirror-finish option.

The company is confident that in a very short time, this material will dominate the sign trade, in particular the digital print market.

The growth of this product will play a significant part in the development of the Righton product range which currently accounts for 30,000 tonnes of material being processed and delivered from stock via their eight strategically located service centers throughout the United Kingdom.

For more information, please visit www.righton.co.uk.

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EUROMAP RECOMMENDATION FOR NEW SAFETY SIGNS
Additional warning and prohibition signs have been included in the EUROMAP recommendations 64 “Injection Moulding Machines – Warning Signs” und EUROMAP 68 “Injection Moulding Machines – Prohibition Signs”. The new safety signs are related to magnetic mould clamping systems which have been covered by EUROMAP 70 “Electrical Interface Between Injection Moulding Machines and Magnetic Clamping Systems” and EUROMAP 72 “Horizontal Injection Moulding Machines – Integration and Use of Magnetic Clamping Systems”.

The safety signs may be used not only on injection moulding machines but as well on other plastics and rubber machinery if the same hazards exist.

For further information, please visit www.euromap.org.

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GE AND ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART NAME WINNING “AUTO DESIGN OF THE FUTURE” STUDENTS
Vehicle designs for the emerging Chinese market and new ideas for the unique properties of plastics scooped the top awards on April 6 at the GE sponsored Royal College of Art PLASTicon competition.

RCA students mingled with leading international figures from the automotive design industry at the lively awards ceremony at the RCA HQ in Kensington, London.

Judging was so tight that two winning teams, consisting of a total of eight different nationalities, were announced, rather than a single award, with each successful team being rewarded with a trip to New York and a meeting with the GE Design Council.

The Material Icons team — Ana Zadnik, Flavien Dachet, Daniel Sjöholm and Yuko Kanemura — concentrated on the unique properties of plastic and explored different ways to manipulate it to create new textures, patterns and lighting effects.

The team’s ideas included a car featuring copper sheets laminated in thermochromatic plastic, which changes color as the vehicle heats up, and a “celebrity car” for Icelandic star Bjork, using the colors of Iceland for inspiration.

The second winning team, Mobility Icons — China, were challenged to create a suitable mode of transport for this emerging market.

After a trip to China, the team of Filip Krnja, Ehsan Maghaddampour and Jamie Tomkins developed vehicles for residents of an imaginary tower block — the Beijing Boom Tower. These ranged from a luxury concept car for the penthouse residents, a taxi design for the middle level residents with concertina doors for the crowded Chinese streets, and a new hybrid bike with interchangable parts for the working class at the entry level.

For more information, e-mail anne.rohinsky@ge.com.

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Industry Events

For a list of all events, please visit www.epda.com/industry.cfm

MEDICAL POLYMERS 2006
6 to 7 June 2006, Cologne, Germany
Medical device manufacturing is a high value marketplace, but one where mistakes can be very expensive. Materials are highly regulated and medical grades are subject to extensive quality controls and specified for particular applications. Polymers are being used in a broad range of items, from bulk blood and drug infusion bags, tubing and catheters, to joint replacements, implants, cardiac stents and other intravascular devices, needle guards, tissue scaffolding, suture materials and wound adhesives.

Rapra Technology Limited is pleased to announce the Fifth International Conference on Medical Polymers, to be held in Cologne, Germany 6 to 7 June 2006. This event will bring together world experts in plastics and rubber to talk about the latest materials and to tackle issues affecting medical device manufacturers.

For more information, please visit www.rapra.co.uk.

FOOD CONTACT PLASTICS
13 to 14 June 2006, Brussels, Belgium
This is a critical time for the plastics food packaging industry. The European Commission has applied the brakes to progress of the Super Regulation but some key elements are now included in the fourth amendment of the Plastics Directive, which puts them on the fast track for implementation. Meanwhile, in North America, funding for the US FDA Food Contact Notification programme may be withdrawn next year. The fourth Food Contact Plastics conference will explain the impact of these developments for plastics packaging producers and users. The conference includes a first-day EU and FDA regulatory workshop directed by Jean Philippe Montfort, partner in the law firm of Mayer Brown & Mawe and a specialist in EU food and chemical regulation, and Eric F. Greenberg, founder of Chicago-based Eric F. Greenberg PC and expert in U.S. food and drug packaging law. For information, please visit www.foodcontactplastics.com.

PLANNING AND BUDGETING FOR SUCCESS: THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY 2007
21 June 2006, The Moat House Hotel, Stoke-On-Trent, UK
The Planning and Budgeting for Success conference will provide delegates with a guide to the key underlying assumptions and potential factors which could blow progress off course. This conference is designed to help plastics businesses plan and budget effectively for 2007. It will examine existing and emerging drivers for plastics manufacturers and explore some of the potential pitfalls for 2007. Visit www.bpf.co.uk/downloads/files/business_planning.pdf for more information.

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Copyright 2006
European Plastics
Distributors Association
Beethovenstraße 12
63846 Laufach Germany
Phone: +49.6093.9942852
Fax: +49.6093.994077
epda@epda.com
www.epda.com