The fourth quarter saw a significant drop in prices of commodity thermoplastics such as polyolefins and PET, which largely negated the price increases of the second and third quarters.
Magna International, Inc. may be a global Tier One automotive parts supplier with over 220 manufacturing divisions and more than 82,000 employees, but it doesn’t stifle creativity at the individual plant level.
The latest fashion in machine controls is to network temperature and pressure sensors with fieldbus protocols for faster, more accurate data acquisition, built-in sensor diagnostics, and better machine uptime.
Part II of our review of the big composites show in Paris focuses on news in materials and reinforcements. They include lighter, stronger reinforcements for large parts such as wind blades and growing inroads by thermoplastics to speed up production.
After a mid-summer respite from price increases in commodity resins—with some prices actually declining—processors face rising prices again heading into fall.
Topping the news from the year’s biggest composites show are PP ballistic panels, “stealth” composites, thermoplastic RTM, new tooling concepts, microwave curing, “instant” SMC, and laser projection for QC and ply layup.