Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

DuPont also commented on the outlook for auto production in 2021 in light of the current global shortage of semiconductor chips, citing IHS estimates of auto builds down around 20% in Q4 of 2021 versus Q4 in 2020, and a 17% decline in auto production for the second half of 2021 compared with initial forecasts made in July.

It all started in February 1935 at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, DE, with the first production of polymer 6-6, later to become the polyamide (PA) resin nylon 66. Commercial production in fiber form commenced in December 1939 in Seaford, DE, with the first retail sales of nylon stockings coming in May 1940.

Milacron CEO Tom Goeke stated, “Stories like 20/20’s machine retrofits reinforce the fact that Milacron has an unrivaled aftermarket offering. Our aftermarket offerings aren’t only spare parts, we can literally take an older machine and transform it to like new condition. Milacron has set the standards, driven innovation and led the industry in Multi-Nozzle Low-Pressure Injection Molding Technologies for more than four decades. These machines can be used for Structural Foam, Structural Web, Gas Assist, Solid Molding, or combinations of these technologies depending on the application.” Goeke added, “The LPIM market is strong for our customers that require either new or rebuilt machines in both North America and Europe, and we have a number of solid inquiries both domestically and internationally including many from Latin America and India.”

Around 86 years after its discovery, DuPont now sees a more profitable future in electronic materials, as evidenced by the planned acquisition of Chandler, AZ–based Rogers Corp., a leading supplier of high-margin advanced materials for applications such as electric vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), 5G telecommunications, and clean energy. Rogers’ portfolio includes circuit board materials and specialty elastomers for electronic applications based on silicone, EPDN, solid urethane, and thermoplastics, among others. Consequently, with a target closing of Q4 2022, DuPont has unveiled plans to divest several products in its Mobility & Materials portfolio, sales of which are estimated at $4.2 billion for 2021.

Hallstrom added, “Essentially we are updating machines that have been in production for over 30 years and bringing them up to the same specifications as our new machines. This has been especially popular since we started to promote this capability to our customers, as they see a significant enough savings since we are re-using the most expensive parts of these large machines, being the bases, platens, and cylinders. The customer gets back a machine that outperforms the machine’s original specifications and is as reliable as a new machine with the same warranty.”

The company plans to focus more on high-margin electronic materials; the $5.2-billion acquisition of Rogers Corp. and other “priority targets” is the first step.

In total, Milacron is currently rebuilding eight LPIM machines as well as four HPIM machines. “Milacron’s commitment to the LPIM side of the industry, their quality, performance, and service is second to none and is the reason that we made this decision to have them rebuild and upgrade this equipment,” said Ron Ernsberger, President, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics.

Subsequently, DuPont developed its PA business into a global engineering plastics enterprise under the Zytel brand, widely used in the automotive industry.

Machine builder Milacron Holdings Corp. has seen demand increase for its Low Pressure Injection Molding (LPIM) Structural Foam machines following a successful NPE 2018 in Orlando, FL, including machine rebuilds. Milacron had a dedicated space in the NPE booth focusing on LPIM technologies and large part molding. An eye-catching display showed a replica platen of the massive Cincinnati 6,750 ton machine sold to 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics of Holiday City, OH.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

DuPont’s Mobility & Materials business retuned a solid operating EBIDTA margin of 21.6% in Q3 of 2021, which would be the envy of many a polymers producer, but this compares with 25.3% for Water & Protection (which includes aramid fibers) and 32.4% for Electronics & Industrial, which will become a $40-billion business after the Rogers acquisition.

At NPE, 20/20 entered into an agreement with Milacron to refurbish and upgrade two of their existing 400-ton LPIM machines to 500-ton LPIM machines, and one of their 500-ton LPIM machines to 750-ton LPIM machines. 20/20 is also having Milacron rebuild and upgrade five of their 750-ton LPIM machines. The machines will undergo a complete remanufacture and rebuild process at Milacron’s Batavia, OH manufacturing plant and be returned like new machines.

Machines delivered in the 1980s and 1990s are being upgraded to outperform their original specifications, while new machine deals also are accelerating.

Ernsberger added, “Milacron worked closely with our entire team at 20/20 to identify the upgrades to the existing machines to be rebuilt that will put these machines above today’s current machine specifications and give us the widest capabilities for these size machines in the industry.” Ernsberger continued, “We also had Milacron integrate some proprietary technologies into their machines that allow us to have the most versatile LPIM Structural Foam machine fleet in the custom molding market. It’s a great partnership between the companies, as all equipment at 20/20 CMP is 100% Milacron.”

The markets driving the increased level of activity are material handling (pallets and boxes), underground enclosures for telecommunications and utilities, drainage and irrigation products, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) components, commercial/institutional, and industrial and safety products. Milacron is also seeing other new products being developed that are conversions from concrete, metal, and wood in the building and infrastructure market as well.

Having said that, several opportunities exist for PA resins in EVs, including thermostat housings and cooling pipes, while fuel cell vehicles represent a fertile ground for resins such as polyacetal, PA, and polyester engineering plastics in applications such as fuel cell stacks and hydrogen tank liners. As such, the Mobility & Materials product portfolio up for sale appears to be attracting a lot of interest from incumbent players and investors.

Besides its Zytel, specialty nylon, and high-temperature nylon products, also on the block are other engineering resins and performance polymers that DuPont pioneered, including Crastin PBT, Rynite PET, Hytrel thermoplastic elastomers, Vamac elastomers, and Delrin polyacetal resin. Surface protection films marketed under the Tedlar brand — used in solar panels, to name one fast-growing application — and the DuPont Teijin Films BOPET joint venture are also within the scope of planned divestments, with proceeds going toward the $5.2-billion Rogers acquisition and other “priority M&A targets.”

Milacron has aggressively expanded its rebuild and remanufacture capabilities for LPIM machines for customers. There are a large number of old LPIM machines in the field that were purchased in the late 1980s and 1990s that need rebuilds and upgrades to control systems and new motor and drive selections, moving away from DC to AC drives which provide better energy efficiency. Milacron’s full remanufacturing consists of fully rebuilding the machine to current model specifications, including full teardown and inspection, platen refurbishment, full re-painting of the machine, new controls, electrical system, and hydraulics. The major tonnage and injection cylinders and hydraulic accumulators are sent out for refurbishment and resealing. New screws, barrels, and injection melt accumulators are also included as part of this program.

Despite the planned mobility divestiture, DuPont will continue as a leading supplier to the new electric vehicle sector through Rogers and group company Laird, which supplies electrically-conductive elastomer gaskets, conductive tapes, and other electronic components. DuPont’s move appears to recognize that the growth potential for internal combustion engines, where polyamides play a critical role in under-the-hood applications such as charge-air ducts and air-intake manifolds, is limited, while electric vehicles are set to be the future of the automotive industry.

Ideal for injection molding large, lightweight, durable structural plastic parts, the Milacron LPIM Structural Foam Technology creates a cellular foamed core surrounded by integral skins, forming a total integral and rigid structure. In this process, a foaming agent (nitrogen) is mixed with the polymer melt and short-shot through a modular multiple nozzle system into a mold (or multiple molds) in a volume less than is required to fill a solid part. The injection pressure and expanding gas/polymer cellular mixture act to fill the mold. The mold cavity pressures are 10–20 times lower than conventional injection molding which permits the use of lower cost aluminum molds with no additional hot runner system since the hot runner manifold and nozzle system is integral to the machine. Many molds and large parts of different sizes can be molded at the same time. The multi-nozzle machine design allows for multiple molds to be run simultaneously allowing for higher productivity.

Parts molded with LPIM can replace many rotational molded or industrial blow molded parts with better aesthetics and better cycle times.

Eric Hallstrom, Business Manager, Milacron LPIM added, “Milacron has been promoting our proprietary Structural Web technology that allows for multi-point gas assist molding that can be added to as an option to our standard LPIM machine. The process allows for a cosmetic part appearance for large projected area parts and can reduce part weights by up to 20%. The gas assist process also creates an inherently strong and durable part, molded with low internal stresses and a dual wall thickness which can replace many rotational molded or industrial blow molded parts with better aesthetics and better cycle times for higher volume parts.”