When, how, what and why to automate — leading robotics suppliers and forward-thinking moldmakers will share their insights on automating manufacturing at collocated event.

Formnext Chicago is an industrial additive manufacturing expo taking place April 8-10, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Formnext Chicago is the second in a series of Formnext events in the U.S. being produced by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and Gardner Business Media (our publisher).

Processors with sustainability goals or mandates have a number of ways to reach their goals. Biopolymers are among them.

If von Pechmann had remained as Röhm’s advisor, Röhm would likely have transitioned smoothly into an academic position at Tübingen. But by the fall of 1901, when Röhm was concluding his work, von Pechmann left the university, having been diagnosed with “severe melancholy,” what today would be called depression, and took his own life in April of 1902. Röhm set aside his doctorate, but appeared to have an instinctive appreciation of the potential for these materials, and in 1907 he teamed up with banker Otto Haas to form the Rohm & Haas chemical company, a name which became synonymous with acrylic polymers.

Across all process types, sustainability was a big theme at NPE2024. But there was plenty to see in automation and artificial intelligence as well.

Successfully starting or restarting an injection molding machine is less about ticking boxes on a rote checklist and more about individually assessing each processing scenario and its unique variables.

While prices moved up for three of the five commodity resins, there was potential for a flat trajectory for the rest of the third quarter.

Core Technology Molding turned to Mold-Masters E-Multi auxiliary injection unit to help it win a job and dramatically change its process.

In a time where sustainability is no longer just a buzzword, the food and beverage packaging industry is required to be at the forefront of this innovation. By adopting circular packaging processes and solutions, producers can meet regulatory requirements while also satisfying consumer demand and enhancing brand reputation. Join Husky to learn more about the broader implications of the circular economy — as well as how leading brands are leveraging this opportunity to reduce costs, increase design flexibility and boost product differentiation. Agenda: The cost and operational benefits of embracing circularity Key materials in circular packaging — including rPET and emerging bioplastics How to design a circular food and beverage package Strategies for selecting sustainable closures to future-proof packaging solutions Optimization and streamlining of production processes for enhanced efficiency How Husky Technologies can enable your sustainable success

(From left) Uwe Telinde (managing director NETSTAL Deutschland GmbH), Thomas Fischer (senior trainer Injection Moulding SKZ Horb am Neckar), Peter Schmid (head of Application & Training NETSTAL Maschinen AG), André Liebscher (area sales manager South, NETSTAL Deutschland GmbH) and Jürgen Kern (site manager SKZ Horb am Neckar) at the handover of the new injection moulding machine in Horb am Neckar on June 25, 2024.

"We are very pleased about our first injection moulding machine from Netstal at SKZ. Especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, it is important to keep the machinery up to date in order to work with the latest technology. We would like to thank Netstal for their support and are pleased to be able to offer our participants courses at a very high technical level," said Jürgen Kern, site manager of the SKZ in Horb am Neckar.

In this collection of content, we provide expert advice on welding from some of the leading authorities in the field, with tips on such matters as controls, as well as insights on how to solve common problems in welding.

In this collection, which is part one of a series representing some of John’s finest work, we present you with five articles that we think you will refer to time and again as you look to solve problems, cut cycle times and improve the quality of the parts you mold.

One of the big challenges was developing an efficient method for manufacturing the acrylic acid esters to be used as monomers.

The road from discovery in the lab to commercial viability can be long, and this was certainly the case for acetal polymers.

Aliphatic polyketone is a material that gets little attention but is similar in chemistry to nylons, polyesters and acetals.

Join Engel in exploring the future of battery molding technology. Discover advancements in thermoplastic composites for battery housings, innovative automation solutions and the latest in large-tonnage equipment designed for e-mobility — all with a focus on cost-efficient solutions. Agenda: Learn about cutting-edge thermoplastic composites for durable, sustainable and cost-efficient battery housings Explore advanced automation concepts for efficient and scalable production See the latest large-tonnage equipment and technology innovations for e-mobility solutions

Additive technology creates air pockets in film during orientation, cutting down on the amount of resin needed while boosting opacity, mechanical properties and recyclability.

In 1892, Georg Kahlbaum, a professor at Basel University, carried out research on methyl acrylate, which he polymerized into polymethyl acrylate, the precursor to our PMMA of today. The initial polymers were not of very high molecular weight, taking the form of high-viscosity, gelatinous materials whose utility was not apparent at first. But it was noted that as the polymer formed, the clear monomers remained clear in polymerized form.

"We are proud to provide the SKZ with a machine and thus support training and further education in the plastics industry here in Germany. It is crucial that skilled workers have access to advanced machines to develop their skills in plastics processing," explained Uwe Telinde, managing director of Netstal Deutschland GmbH, at the handover of the machine.

Mixed in among thought leaders from leading suppliers to injection molders and mold makers at the 2023 Molding and MoldMaking conferences will be molders and toolmakers themselves.

Join this webinar to explore the transformative benefits of retrofitting your existing injection molding machines (IMMs). Engel will guide you through upgrading your equipment to enhance monitoring, control and adaptability — all while integrating digital technologies. You'll learn about the latest trends in IMM retrofitting (including Euromap interfaces and plasticizing retrofits) and discover how to future-proof your machines for a competitive edge. With insights from industry experts, it'll walk you through the decision-making process, ensuring you make informed choices that drive your business forward. Agenda: Maximize the value of your current IMMs through strategic retrofitting Learn how to integrate digital technologies to enhance monitoring and control Explore the benefits of Euromap interfaces and plasticizing retrofits Understand how retrofitting can help meet new product demands and improve adaptability Discover how Engel can support your retrofitting needs, from free consultations to execution

Start by picking a target melt temperature, and double-check data sheets for the resin supplier’s recommendations. Now for the rest...

This Knowledge Center provides an overview of the considerations needed to understand the purchase, operation, and maintenance of a process cooling system.

Multiple speakers at Molding 2023 will address the ways simulation can impact material substitution decisions, process profitability and simplification of mold design.

Say “manufacturing automation” and thoughts immediately go to the shop floor and specialized production equipment, robotics and material handling systems. But there is another realm of possible automation — the front office.

Introduced by Zeiger and Spark Industries at the PTXPO, the nozzle is designed for maximum heat transfer and uniformity with a continuous taper for self cleaning.

The aim of this presentation is to guide you through the factors and the numbers that will help you determine if a robot is a smart investment for your application. Agenda:  Why are you considering automation? What problems are you trying to solve? How and why automation can help Crunch the numbers and determine the ROI

Nevertheless, in 1915, Röhm secured a German patent for the use of polymerized acrylic acid esters as paint binders and for use in drying oils in industrial paints and lacquers. During this time period, Röhm came up with about 20 different proposed routes for creating useful products based on acrylic acid chemistry. By 1918 he had brought on six chemists to work through these ideas. One of these chemists was Dr. Walter Bauer, who became Röhm’s point man for all things acrylic. Bauer dutifully worked through Röhm’s proposals, but had a much better fundamental understanding of organic chemistry. After going through Röhm’s laundry list without success, he began to work on his own ideas for synthesizing acrylic esters.

Acrylic polymers were developed in Germany over the course of around 70 years, despite technical and economic hurdles and battles over intellectual property and professional pride. (Photo: Evonik)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Sepe is an independent materials and processing consultant based in Sedona, Ariz., with clients throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He has more than 45 years of experience in the plastics industry and assists clients with material selection, designing for manufacturability, process optimization, troubleshooting, and failure analysis. Contact: (928) 203-0408 • mike@thematerialanalyst.com

Resin drying is a crucial, but often-misunderstood area. This collection includes details on why and what you need to dry, how to specify a dryer, and best practices.

Bauer, in commenting on his experiences in investigating new approaches to chemistries that were thought to be useless, delivered a quote that should resonate with all innovators: “Doubts about the accuracy of existing thinking prove to be justified again and again. Research scientists frequently need to act in a way that appears irrational.”

While prices moved up for three of the five commodity resins, there was potential for a flat trajectory for the rest of the third quarter.

Across the show, sustainability ruled in new materials technology, from polyolefins and engineering resins to biobased materials.

Acrylic acid was first synthesized in the laboratory in 1843. Methacrylic acid was derived from acrylic acid in 1865 and shortly thereafter it was reacted with methanol to produce the compound known as methyl methacrylate. This is the monomer that is the primary ingredient in what would eventually become the acrylic polymer. The accompanying figure shows the chemical structure of these three compounds. Both methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate contain the double bond that is crucial in promoting polymerization. In 1877, the German chemist Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig, Professor of Chemistry at Tübingen University, discovered the process for polymerizing methacrylic acid.

Mold maintenance is critical, and with this collection of content we’ve bundled some of the very best advice we’ve published on repairing, maintaining, evaluating and even hanging molds on injection molding machines.

In this three-part collection, veteran molder and moldmaker Jim Fattori brings to bear his 40+ years of on-the-job experience and provides molders his “from the trenches” perspective on on the why, where and how of venting injection molds. Take the trial-and-error out of the molding venting process.

Exhibitors and presenters at the plastics show emphasized 3D printing as a complement and aid to more traditional production processes.

In many respects, nylons and polyesters appear to be interchangeable. But there are interesting differences in the properties of these two families that arise from their chemical structures.

The process from the first synthesis of acrylic acid, the base from which the monomer is derived, to introduction of the commercial polymer, was an 85-year journey. Even after commercialization of the first compounds, the process of getting to the acrylic materials that we are familiar with today was fraught with a number of technical and economic hurdles, as well as battles involving intellectual property and professional pride. The process was driven almost exclusively by German chemists; even when contributions were made by scientists from other countries like England, they were working in or had been educated in Germany.

While the melting process does not provide perfect mixing, this study shows that mixing is indeed initiated during melting.

Learn about sustainable scrap reprocessing—this resource offers a deep dive into everything from granulator types and options, to service tips, videos and technical articles.

The commercial significance of the material was not immediately recognized. At the time there was not a clear understanding of the composition of materials in this chemical family, and in particular there was poor comprehension of the difference between the organic acids and their esters. Today we know that esters of organic acids are more difficult to polymerize but produce more stable products. But the distinction between acrylic acids and their esters was not well understood at the time.

Join Wittmann for an engaging webinar on the transformative impact of manufacturing execution systems (MES) in the plastic injection molding industry. Discover how MES enhances production efficiency, quality control and real-time monitoring while also reducing downtime. It will explore the integration of MES with existing systems, emphasizing compliance and traceability for automotive and medical sectors. Learn about the latest advancements in IoT and AI technologies and how they drive innovation and continuous improvement in MES. Agenda: Overview of MES benefits What is MES? Definition, role and brief history Historical perspective and evolution Longevity and analytics Connectivity: importance, standards and integration Advantages of MES: efficiency, real-time data, traceability and cost savings Emerging technologies: IoT and AI in MES

While the major correction in PP prices was finally underway, generally stable pricing was anticipated for the other four commodity resins.

This reaction, which was only the beginning of the process, became the subject of two patents issued to Rohm & Haas in 1919 and 1921. The process concluded with an innovative approach to the chemistry that was called the “one-pot process.” In doing so, Bauer exploited a chemistry that had been developed in 1913 but had problems with yield that he was able to solve, making the route to commercial application viable.

Sustainability continues to dominate new additives technology, but upping performance is also evident. Most of the new additives have been targeted to commodity resins and particularly polyolefins.

Discover how artifical intelligence is revolutionizing plastics processing. Hear from industry experts on the future impact of AI on your operations and envision a fully interconnected plant.

The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has released final figures for NPE2024: The Plastics Show (May 6-10; Orlando) that officially make it the largest ever NPE in several key metrics.

Take a deep dive into all of the various aspects of part quoting to ensure you’ve got all the bases—as in costs—covered before preparing your customer’s quote for services.

After successfully introducing a combined conference for moldmakers and injection molders in 2022, Plastics Technology and MoldMaking Technology are once again joining forces for a tooling/molding two-for-one.

Second quarter started with price hikes in PE and the four volume engineering resins, but relatively stable pricing was largely expected by the quarter’s end.

In this collection of articles, two of the industry’s foremost authorities on screw design — Jim Frankand and Mark Spalding — offer their sage advice on screw design...what works, what doesn’t, and what to look for when things start going wrong.

The machine will enhance the existing range of training courses in Horb - including "Machine Operator" or "Certified Setter", as well as courses on injection moulding defects or sampling of injection moulds. The course program includes course options for career changers and specialists. The injection moulding unit from the Elion series is characterized by low noise emissions and optimum energy efficiency. With injection compression moulding (ICM), new fields of application can also be opened up.

August 29-30 in Minneapolis all things injection molding and moldmaking will be happening at the Hyatt Regency — check out who’s speaking on what topics today.

Join KraussMaffei for an insightful webinar designed for industry professionals, engineers and anyone interested in the manufacturing processes of PVC pipes. This session will provide a comprehensive understanding of the technology behind the production of high-quality PVC pipes: from raw material preparation to final product testing. Agenda: Introduction to PVC extrusion: overview of the basic principles of PVC pipe extrusion — including the process of melting and shaping PVC resin into pipe forms Equipment and machinery: detailed explanation of the key equipment involved — such as extruders, dies and cooling systems — and their roles in the extrusion process Process parameters: insight into the critical process parameters like temperature, pressure and cooling rates that influence the quality and consistency of the final PVC pipes Energy efficiency: examination of ways to save material and energy use when extruding PVC pipe products

During the era when many of the polymers we have discussed previously (nylon, PET, PBT, PC, acetal) were undergoing development, another member of the family that has become a mainstay in the industry was following its own lengthy path to commercialization. This was the material that has become known generically as acrylic.

The initial focus for the use of these materials was in textiles and leather goods. Röhm used the proceeds from the sales of these products to resume his acrylic chemistry research. But the history of the development of modern acrylic polymers was characterized by Röhm’s approach as a businessman rather than a chemist. This led to long periods of attempts to develop products that reflected a poor understanding of the acrylic chemistry because the focus was on developing a product that was marketable. Röhm observed that the acrylic polymers he was creating had a rubber-like set of properties.

Aware of the success of natural and synthetic rubber, Rohm sought to produce an ester-based rubber using the mechanism of vulcanization. In 1912 Röhm received a German patent for the “process for manufacturing a product with the properties of vulcanized rubber.” A special rolling mill was installed at Rohm & Haas to carry out the vulcanization process. But the patent was not technically viable because vulcanization relies on unsaturated sites where the sulfur can attach chemically to create the crosslinked structure. Röhm did not realize that the ester-based polymers were saturated structures that could not be vulcanized.

This month’s resin pricing report includes PT’s quarterly check-in on select engineering resins, including nylon 6 and 66.

Despite price increase nominations going into second quarter, it appeared there was potential for generally flat pricing with the exception of a major downward correction for PP.

Injection moulding machine manufacturer Netstal is providing the SKZ Plastics Center in Horb am Neckar with an Elion 1200-510 injection moulding machine. The official machine handover took place on June 25, 2024. The Elion 1200-510 with a clamping force of 1,200 kN will be used in future for the extensive training activities in injection moulding at the Horb am Neckar site.

Gifted with extraordinary technical know how and an authoritative yet plain English writing style, in this collection of articles Fattori offers his insights on a variety of molding-related topics that are bound to make your days on the production floor go a little bit better.

The monomer that Bauer succeeded in synthesizing was ethyl acrylate. While the breakthrough was made in the very early 1920s, a combination of technical challenges related to polymerization, economic difficulties in Germany during the 1920s, and a healthy dose of paranoia regarding the intellectual property associated with the one-pot process, delayed the development of useful commercial products for about a decade. And that part of the story will be told in our next installment.

technotrans says climate protection, energy efficiency and customization will be key discussion topics at PTXPO as it displays its protemp flow 6 ultrasonic eco and the teco cs 90t 9.1 TCUs.

One of the big challenges was developing an efficient method for manufacturing the acrylic acid esters to be used as monomers. Many experimenters had started with organic acids, aldehydes or ketones that had chemical structures similar to acrylic acid. These various approaches were plagued by poor yields. Bauer developed a complex multi-step process dubbed the ethylene approach. Because ethylene was difficult to obtain at the time, Bauer started with acetylene, reacting it with hydrogen bromide to form ethylene bromide. This was a route that most chemists felt was fruitless, but Bauer showed that in the presence of the appropriate catalysts, it worked.

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Ultradent's entry of its Umbrella cheek retractor took home the awards for Technical Sophistication and Achievement in Economics and Efficiency at PTXPO.

Plastics Technology’s Tech Days is back! Every Tuesday in October, a series of five online presentations will be given by industry supplier around the following topics:  Injection Molding — New Technologies, Efficiencies Film Extrusion — New Technologies, Efficiencies Upstream/Downstream Operations Injection Molding — Sustainability Extrusion — Compounding Coming out of NPE2024, PT identified a variety of topics, technologies and trends that are driving and shaping the evolution of plastic products manufacturing — from recycling/recyclability and energy optimization to AI-based process control and automation implementation. PT Tech Days is designed to provide a robust, curated, accessible platform through which plastics professionals can explore these trends, have direct access to subject-matter experts and develop strategies for applying solutions in their operations.

In 1901 Otto Röhm published his doctoral dissertation on polymerization products of acrylic acid. Röhm’s thesis advisor at the beginning of his doctoral studies was Hans von Pechmann, also a Professor of Chemistry at Tübingen University and the person who had first created polyethylene in 1898 while studying diazomethane. Von Pechmann was persuaded that acrylic-based materials had the same potential as other notable successes of the time such as rubber, celluloid, and casein. He asked Röhm to conduct his doctorate research on esters of acrylic acid. Röhm quickly figured out that methyl acrylate polymerized more easily than ethyl acrylate and focused on creating a solid material using a combination of light, heat, and a chemical initiator. He produced a colorless, transparent material that had characteristics “between tough, flexible glass and stiff rubber.”

Mike Sepe has authored more than 25 ANTEC papers and more than 250 articles illustrating the importance of this interdisciplanary approach. In this collection, we present some of his best work during the years he has been contributing for Plastics Technology Magazine.