Plastics News Show Daily - April 3, 2012 - (Page 28)

28 PLASTICS NEWS, April 3, 2012 Conair Continued from Page 27 a standard Conair table-top manifold. Through flexible hoses, the manifold can supply up to six different source materials for vacuum conveyance to up to 36 machine, blender, dryer or other destinations. In setting up a job, an operator designates the source and desti- nation in the material-handling system control and, via a push-fit connector, manually connects the appropriate flexible hose to the proper outlet ports. The control indicates to an operator exactly where a hose connection needs to be made. Before conveying anything, the camera moves behind the selector table and positions itself between the appropriate rows of ports, confirming to the materialhandling system control that the correct connections have been NEW For more than ULTRASONIC PLASTICS WELDER WITH TOUCH SCREEN CONTROL Color touch-panel technology for 40, 20 and 15 kHz ultrasonic welding systems brings user-friendly navigation and intuitive command flow to the welding process. Including digital time, energy and distance-based welding modes, this microprocessor-driven system’s vivid display highlights multiple menus designed for maximum weld control, monitoring and versatility. Plus a Full Product Line of Systems for: SmartPress+SmartControl=SmartSystem WELD SMARTER, CONTACT SONICS TODAY 800.745.1105 www.sonics.com Visit us at The Extrusioneers REIFENHÄUSER Maschinenfabrik REIFENHÄUSER EXTRUSION REIFENHÄUSER KIEFEL EXTRUSION REIFENHÄUSER REICOFIL REILOY REIMOTEC POLYREMA Each of these companies is a big player – together we are an outstanding force The Reifenhäuser Group multiplies the number of possibilities many times over. Under the strategic management of the corporate holding, six companies with the highest level of expertise and fully focussed on extrusion connect their interfaces to provide a range of products and services unique within the plastics sector worldwide. Booth # 1203 4 decades, Sonics has been working with customers to assess applications and provide costeffective welding solutions. Call today to speak with one of our assembly experts. made. This process takes just seconds to complete, the company said. Conair’s large-scale ELS system and smaller, flexible FLX control are compatible and connect via Ethernet to the MVP system. Conair claims the MVP system will give users a return on invested capital in months rather than years. The patent-pending automated resin manager selection station uses robotic actuators to route plastic material from one place to another by digital instructions entered in any of Conair’s central materialconveying system controls. Operators use the ARM control interface to identify source and destination. The new materialselection station has a bottom manifold with inlet ports for 32 different sources of material and an ‘We can provide a total solution to a person putting in a greenfield plant and that gives us an advantage.’ Christopher Keller Conair Group outlet manifold with 16 ports corresponding to various destinations. The ARM system includes two pneumatically driven actuators and one flexible tube. Baker said ARM is simple and comparatively inexpensive, unlike some automatic material distribution systems with multiple mechanical motions and numerous flexible hoses. Maintaining focus The economic slowdown drove Conair to tighten operations, sharpen its focus, expand customer service and push promising technical innovations. “We were not immune from what every Western business experienced,” Keller said. As for 2012, he is “cautiously optimistic” about sales. “We’ve got to be sure we are hitting on all cylinders across the whole portfolio,” he noted. Currently, the firm’s main business challenge — managing growth — requires finding enough people with the right talents and applying those resources globally, Keller said in a telephone interview. “The other challenge is to assure consistency [of value] … everywhere we are,” he said. Conair has “seen strong double-digit growth everywhere [with] more and more greenfield opportunities from customers” than three or four years ago, he said. “We can provide a total solution to a person putting in a greenfield plant and that gives us an advantage.” While providing all of the auxiliaries for a greenfield operation is rare, Conair’s wide-ranging functional capabilities — blend, cool, convey, feed, grind, dry, extrude, store — position it to compete for multiple equipment orders. The company is touting innovations in each of its product lines, according to Larry Doyle, vice president of global sales and marketing. Doyle underscored how Conair’s customer-driven focus had led to technology advances such as complete PET preform molding cells, the EnergySmart drying system and TrueWeigh hoppers for film and sheet processing. Doyle “We know what specific end markets [customers] are looking for, and these don’t just apply to U.S. but to global customers,” Doyle said. Conair, based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township, Pa., expanded its operations in Michigan and India last year. The company acquired a 50,000-square-foot facility in Pinconning, Mich., and, in September, moved manufacturing, laboratory, and conference and training operations for its downstream extrusion business from an 18,000-square-foot location in Bay City, Mich. In March 2011, Conair joint venture Nu-Vu Conair Pvt. Ltd. relocated its Ahmedabad, India, operations to a newly constructed 35,000-square-foot building from a 15,000-square-foot site. For the region’s market, the operation makes Nu-Vu lines and Conair-de- ‘We know what specific end markets [customers] are looking for, and these don’t just apply to U.S. but to global customers.’ Larry Doyle Conair Group signed equipment like desiccantwheel dryers and EarthSmart portable chillers. Visit us at NPE Orlando April 1– 5, 2012 West Hall Stand 4863 www.reifenhauser-group.com info@reifenhauser-group.com Conair offers more than 450 individual products. Worldwide the company employs over 300, with manufacturing and sales operations in North America and Asia, as well as sales offices also in Europe and South America. Rubik‘s Cube® used by permission of Seven Towns Ltd. www.rubiks.com http://www.sonics.com http://www.sonics.com http://www.rubiks.com http://www.reifenhauser-group.com

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Plastics News Show Daily - April 3, 2012

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