Teknor Apex Acquires Lanier Color Company

From PET bottles straight to food contact grade r-PET packaging

Zeppelin Group appoints new Management Board in Plant Engineering

Dr. Markus Vöge becomes Managing Director of Zeppelin Systems GmbH and Head of the Plant Engineering strategic business unit

Friedrichshafen, December 1, 2021 The Zeppelin Group appoints Dr. Markus Vöge as Managing Director of Zeppelin Systems GmbH with effect from February 1, 2022. With a PhD in engineering, he will also take over the management of the Plant Engineering strategic business unit. Dr. Vöge has gained many years of experience at various industrial companies.

The Supervisory Board of the Zeppelin Group appointed Dr. Markus Vöge at its meeting held on

November 19, 2021 as Chairman of the Management Board of Zeppelin Systems GmbH. Dr. Vöge will also head the Plant Engineering strategic business unit, which will bundle the Group’s worldwide business with the construction of systems for the handling of high-quality bulk materials. He succeeds Alexander Wassermann, who left the company at the end of October 2021. Rochus Hofmann, who has been working for the Zeppelin Group for decades, is leading Zeppelin Systems GmbH’s business on an interim basis.

Peter Gerstmann, Chairman of the Management Board of the Zeppelin Group, thanked Rochus Hofmann for his commitment and congratulated Dr. Vöge on his appointment. “I am delighted that with Dr. Markus Vöge we have succeeded in gaining an internationally experienced engineer and manager who can understand and manage the complex business of plant engineering from the planning stage right through to project implementation. Zeppelin is looking forward to working with you – I would like to welcome Markus Vöge on behalf of the entire workforce!”

“I am looking forward to my new role and am delighted that I will be able to help shape and develop the Plant Engineering division of the Zeppelin Group in both the national and international markets. I am particularly pleased that this new position means I will also be making my new home near the water, in other words, on Lake Constance,” said Markus Vöge, who was born in Bremen, when commenting on his appointment.

Dr. Markus Vöge can look back on a long career in the industrial environment. After studying mechanical engineering at Clausthal Zellerfeld University of Technology and completing his doctorate in Bremen, he initially worked for various management consultancy firms. His career led him through various management positions in industry, such as Siemens Industrial Solutions & Services AG to Homag Group AG, for which he most recently served as Executive Vice President Global Sales and Marketing and held several supervisory board mandates for its foreign subsidiaries. Dr. Vöge is married and has two children.

Volume holographic optical elements in car

Innovative windshield displays on the way to volume production

Covestro and Ceres Holographics strengthen their partnership

Covestro and Ceres Holographics are expanding their collaboration to make transparent displays with volume holographic optical elements fit for application readiness e.g. in the automotive industry. © Ceres Holographics

Looking out of the car onto the road and seeing the speed and navigation instructions displayed on the windshield as if on a screen: this is made possible by a new generation of transparent displays. The technology offers a particularly wide range of design freedom and excellent imaging. In addition, the necessary projection system requires less installation space in the dashboard. In the innovative displays, a volume holographic film is integrated into the windshield or side window.

Covestro and Ceres Holographics, Scotland, are now expanding their collaboration to make transparent displays with volume holographic optical elements fit for application readiness in the automotive industry in particular. The opening of Ceres Holographics’ new digital mastering and replication facility in Livingston is another important step for both companies to build and scale this technology.

The technical collaboration will focus on optimizing Covestro’s Bayfol® HX film and Ceres’ HoloFlekt® mastering and replication equipment with respect to the system geometry of various vehicle classes, imaging performance, as well as integration requirements. “By expanding our relationship with our long-time partner Ceres, we are significantly advancing forward-looking display solutions. The interest and exchange with OEMs shows us that a new generation of displays for mobility applications are important,” says Moritz Winterstein, Head of Growth Ventures Specialty Films at Covestro.

Ceres’ holography system and design capabilities enable the development of vehicle-specific master designs, which can then be produced in replicas as large-format HoloFlekt® films and integrated into glass. The system efficiently directs the projector light into the user’s eye-box and maintains the high transparency of the screen. “Bayfol® HX films from Covestro are key to our ability to provide high-volume transparent films with light-guiding optical functions for volume holographic display solutions,” said Andy Travers, chief executive officer of Ceres.

Transparent displays with volume holographic elements are attractive not only for automotive applications, but also, for example, for applications in buses, trains, industrial vehicles, and aircraft, as well as in architectural glazing.

LANXESS successfully produces polyamide compounds on Coperion turnkey system Polyamide Compound Manufacturing Reaches New Throughput Dimension

Stuttgart, November 2021 – Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is now operating another Coperion line to produce Polyamide 6, Polyamide 66 and Polybutylenterephthalate (PBT) at its Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, location, making significant steps toward a new throughput range. With this technology, constructed around the high-performance ZSK 92 Mc 18 twin screw extruder, LANXESS is producing demanding compounds at throughputs never achieved before. To reach such high output and maintain very good product quality, Coperion equipped the entire system with special features that ensure a high degree of automation, a crucial requirement for this developer and provider of high-performance compounds. Among these features is the ASC strand conveying system from Coperion Pelletizing Technology which automatically conveys polymer strands from the twin screw extruder discharge to the pelletizer. The entire system, built around the ZSK 92 Mc 18 , is one of several Coperion lines that LANXESS operates in Krefeld- Uerdingen.

Seamless Productions Thanks to Complete Solution from a Single Source

Coperion has designed this compounding line as a complete turnkey solution for LANXESS — from engineering to commissioning. From state-of-the-art raw material feeding, to conveying, compounding, pelletizing and classifying technology, Coperion seamlessly synchronized every one of the system’s process steps with each other and logistically integrated them into one steel construction, forming the basis for the compounding system’s fully automated operation. Following a short startup process, its high performance capacity can be fully exploited. Moreover, Coperion designed this compounding line for LANXESS to make optimal use of available space and to assure good accessibility to individual components, as well as short walking distances for operating personnel.

Every key component of this complete solution comes from Coperion’s own development and manufacturing, including the ZSK 92 Mc 18 high performance extruder with its very high 18 Nm/cm 3 torque, which takes pride of place when aiming for high throughput rates for reinforced polyamides. The ZSK twin screw extruder is equipped with a twin screw ZS-B side feeder and a ZS-EG side devolatilization unit. Coperion further developed the SK92 die head specifically for polyamide compound manufacturing. With its intelligent heating/cooling concept, a very homogeneous temperature distribution is achieved so that strands discharge completely uniformly across the entire width of the die head, even at high throughput rates. Optimized flow geometry allows for very gentle handling of the polyamide melt, achieving high compound quality. In the new SK92 design, the die plate can be changed very easily and quickly with just a few simple maneuvers’. The fully automatic strand conveying system from Coperion Pelletizing Technology is one of the most important contribution to the entire system’s operation. It automatically guides the extruded strands over a cooling water chute and a downstream conveyor belt to the SP 700 HD strand pelletizer’s intake section. Startup is fully automatic just as the conveying and rethreading of the broken strands is. There is no product loss and running production is not interrupted.

Frank Lechner, General Manager Process Technology and Research & Development of the Polymer Division at Coperion, speaks of his complete satisfaction with the system: “We were able to pour all of our expertise in complete systems into this solution for LANXESS. A lot of our spirit of development has gone into every single process step. We are very proud to see how all these technologies intermesh successfully, and that LANXESS can fully exploit the performance potential of our system to manufacture their polyamide compounds.”

SABIC INTRODUCES NEW NORYL ™ RESINS FEATURING ROBUST FLAME RETARDANCY AND IMPACT RESISTANCE FOR EV BATTERY MODULES

To support broader adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), SABIC is launching two new grades of NORYL ™ resin that support demand for lighter, thinner and more crash-resistant battery modules and housings. These new innovative materials – NORYL NHP6011 and NHP6012 resins – address key consumer requirements for EVs: improved safety, range and power. They deliver enhanced robust flame retardancy and impact strength to meet stringent industry-related safety standards, as well as thin-wall molding capability to reduce weight and accommodate more cells, helping to extend vehicle range and boost performance. These novel glass fiber- reinforced NORYL resins feature proprietary polyphenylene ether (PPE)-copolymer technology and are the latest additions to SABIC’s growing NHP family of materials for mobility applications.

“Optimization of batteries is crucial to expanding adoption of electric vehicles and realizing the full sustainability benefits of e-mobility,” said Darpan Parikh, global product management leader, Resins & Compounds, SABIC’s Specialties business. “By helping to enhance EV batteries through better safety, higher energy density and lower weight, our new NORYL resins can also help manufacturers increase the consumer appeal of their vehicles.”

Improved Properties Align with Evolving Battery Trends
Several trends are shaping the future of EV batteries. For example, stricter flame retardance requirements are now in force, driven primarily by concern about the safety of lithium-ion batteries. In Europe and Asia, battery module materials must meet the UL 94 V-0 standard. New NORYL NHP6011 and NHP6012 resins provide best-in-class, non-chlorinated/non-brominated flame retardancy that meets UL 94 V-0 requirements at 1.5 mm. In addition, they supply high stiffness and impact strength for crash protection. The two products differ in their glass fiber loadings to accommodate specific customer requirements for stiffness.

Another key trend in EV battery manufacturing is miniaturization. Battery manufacturers are striving to fit more cells in existing or smaller spaces to increase vehicle power and range. The dimensional stability and good flow properties of the NORYL grades enable thin-wall designs for cell frames, retainers and battery pack top covers. These properties help increase energy density while minimizing weight and space.

Furthermore, these materials provide excellent dielectric performance with a comparative tracking index (CTI)
of 2 to help avoid electrical shorts among tightly packed cells.

In addition to these outstanding mechanical properties, the new NORYL NHP6011 and NHP6012 resins provide excellent resistance to acid vs. polycarbonate (PC), better resistance to moisture compared to polyamide, and a low specific gravity.

“SABIC continues to advance the performance properties of our NORYL materials for e-mobility to keep pace with rapidly changing industry requirements, such as more robust flame retardancy,” said Luc Govaerts,

director, Formulation & Application Development, SABIC’s Specialties Business. “By developing these unique and proprietary high-performance PPE copolymer technologies, we are able to expand our formulation design space. This is key for us to offer customers new choices for the next generation of battery designs and enable them to meet stringent requirements.”

VDMA India Symposium on Electric Mobility – Disrupting Technology trends in the Transportation Industry

Indian automotive industry is the fifth largest in the world and is slated to be the third largest by 2030. Catering to this vast domestic market, reliance on the conventional modes of fuel intensive mobility will not be sustainable Hence by making the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), India stands to benefit on many fronts. India has been astute about the increased utility of electric vehicles and the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid
and Electric Vehicles (FAME) I and II schemes, being a testament that are aimed at promoting the adoption of electric vehicles and creating a robust EV charging infrastructure.

In the light of this burgeoning potential, VDMA has creating a comprehensive awareness on the emerging Technology trends in Electric Mobility and its manufacturing competitiveness. VDMA India together with our esteemed partners, BENDER, CADFEM, FESTO, HARTING, INFINEON, SCHAEFFLER, WEISS and ZWICK ROELL conducted the “Electric Mobility – Disrupting Technology trends in the Transportation Industry” at Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi Airport in Delhi on 17-Nov 2021 and LE ROYAL MERIDIEN Chennai, on 19-Nov 2021 respectively.

At Delhi on 17 th Nov 2021, The event organized by VDMA India, started off by the traditional Lamp lighting by the chief guest Dr. Steffen Koch Head of Department for Economics & Global Affairs EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY and Guest of Honour B. B. Gupta President Strategy & Business Planning JBM GROUP in Delhi

In Chennai on 19 th Nov 2021, the event commenced lighting of the lamp by Chief Guest Ms. Karin Stoll, Consul General, German Consulate, Chennai and Mr.Kaniappan P, Managing Director, WABCO India Guest of Honor at the Chennai.

The welcome address at both the locations of Delhi and Chennai was given by Mr. Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India presenting the importance of the EV industry in the coming future and he also gave a brief update on the policy side by the Indian and few state governments incentives programmes for EV. He gave an update on PLI and other Schemes by various government for the betterment of the EV Industry.

After that, in Delhi, we had the update on Indo-German Trade by Dr. Steffen Koch, Head of Department for Economics & Global Affairs, EMBASSY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, NEW DELHI. The speech by Guest of Honor, was given by Mr. Gupta, President – Strategy & Business Planning, JBM GROUP was regarding the Accelerated Growth of the Electric Mobility Technological Ecosystem in India.

In Chennai we had Ms. Stoll, Consul General, German Consulate, Chennai, explaining the current vaccination drives in Germany and on the current raising cases of Covid-19 in Germany. After this we had Mr. Kaniappan P, Managing Director, WABO India, speaking about the Accelerated Growth of the Electric Mobility Technological Ecosystem in India. The special address from the Guest of Honor, which set the stage for the speakers, and the participants to understand the present situation in the subcontinent on the E.-Mobility growth

The presentations from the partners were covered the on the vehicle and off the vehicle solutions like automations in the plant by the German Partners. In the two locations, we had divided the presentation into two sessions, Technical Session 1 before Lunch and Technical Session 2, after Lunch

In these Technical presentations, e BENDER presented on the topic Electrical Safety Solution for E-Mobility, which was explained by Mr Washim Ahamed, Senior Manager – Sales & Marketing in Delhi on the vast portfolio in the Battery Management System and Charging infrastructure and the same presentation was given by by Mr. Raghavendra Sajjan, Senior Manager – Sales & Marketing in Chennai.

After that we had a presentation from CADFEM Regarding the Simulation and Analysis in the EV’s which can reduce 50% of testing and modeling time in production and R&D cycle. The presentation on Computational modeling to step up e-mobility to realize efficient, reliable Power trains was presented by Mr Santhosh Manepally, Technology Specialist at both the locations that helped the audience to understand the uses and current upgrades in the simulation software’s in the EV Segment.

The presentation of Mr. Vijay Menon, Sr. Business Development Manager of Festo included the automation side in the manufacturing of the EV with the explanation of Opportunities for New Manufacturing Automation benchmarks. He spoke about the current and upcoming trends in the Automation comparing India to the global standards of the automation. He stated that the new technology in automation is to be integrated for the most effective process on the shop floor.

E Mobility who explained his presentation on Charging Infrastructure ecosystem for growing Electric Mobility. The connectivity solution being the one of the main drawback in India for more faster phase in the EV. He expressed his views that only when consumers see an extensive network of public charging stations will they consider EVs a feasible mobility solution. Thus, a reliable and accessible network of public chargers is imminent.

The Presentation on Trends & Developments in E-Mobility by Mr. Narendra Walvekar, Sr Manager – Automotive Sales in Delhi, and by Mr. Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Sr Manager – Automotive Sales of INFINEON in Chennai gave a chance to look up to the semiconductor and the electronics side of the EV game explaining the Microprocessor and the power electronics which goes into the vehicle. The upcoming technology from on the cooling and Silkicon Carbide that enables better power semiconductors had been the interesting development on the Battery management Systems for the coming future.

Followed by this we had the Presentation on Automation in Electric Mobility Ecosystem by Mr. Franz Oebels, Director Global Sales/Key Accounts, Market Segments & Technology, WEISS AUTOMATION explained the Subsystem for body parts assembly and the predictive maintaince application He also the presented the assembly line applications for th battery packs and the motor drives.

The presentation on Mechanical testing solutions for e-mobility by Mr. Ashim Jyoti Sharma, Associate General Manager in Delhi and by Mr. Girish Sharma, Automotive Industry Specialist in Chennai from ZWICK ROELL, introducing the testing solutions for the E.Mobility applications and explaining the importance of testing in Lion Battery, Fuel cell’s and different equipments that goes into the EV.

The above presentations by the Partner organizations were at both the cities of Delhi and Chennai on the Electric Mobility ecosystem.

The Presentation on Electrification Outlook for Indian Auto Industry was given by Mr. Sanjeev Saxena, President – Automotive, SCHAEFFLER in Delhi symposium. He explained the importance of the Hybrid & Electric Drive trains, and the future products that would be developed for the better transmission system in the upcoming models of the Electric Vehicles He also explained regarding the carbon neutrality and methods and process of achieving carbon neutrality. Mr. Saxena said that the IC engine and the EV market are going to have their own market spaces and he further explained that the IC/Combustion engine Market would not be significantly affected by the EV in Passenger Vehicles in the coming decade.

After the daylong presentations, participants spread across the different segments in the EV Ecosystem took their Question and answers session followed by the concluding remarks by Mr. Rajesh Nath in the Delhi, and by Mr.S.Manohar, Regional Head South, VDMA India in the Chennai symposium.

Nissei ASB Machine and Shibaura Machine Enter into Memorandum of Understanding for Business Partnership  

Selig Group Announces Acquisition of MGJ

Ascend to expand compound production to Latin America

HOUSTON – December 8, 2021 – Ascend Performance Materials has announced plans to purchase a compounding facility in San Jose Iturbide, Mexico, growing its global footprint and expanding production capacity for high-performance engineered materials.

The purchase agreement includes the assets of DM Color Mexicana, a joint venture between Dainichiseika and Mitsubishi Corp. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

“We continue to invest in and grow our engineered materials business with a focus on regional production,” said Phil McDivitt, Ascend’s president and CEO. “This acquisition establishes our footprint in Latin America and allows us to produce our world-class materials closer to our global customers.”

Ascend, a fully integrated producer of durable engineered materials, has grown its global production footprint with four acquisitions over the last three years.

“We remain committed to supporting our customers’ growth and innovation through continued investments in our global manufacturing footprint, the development of new materials and enhanced technical services and support,” said Isaac Khalil, Ascend’s senior vice president for polyamides.

Details of the deal were not disclosed.