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Uway Extrusion is in many ways the perfect combination of cofounder Dustin Kremer's family ties to plastics manu- facturing and his own interest in running an import-export business. Founded in 2011 by Kremer and his partner, Will Wood, Uway Extrusion supplies extrusion systems for flm, sheet, and board, as well as compounders and pellet- izers, with production based from two sites in China and management located in Marshall, Ind. Since its inception roughly three years ago, the company took off commercially in 2014. Kremer says Uway has deliv- ered around 25 complete extrusion lines from its Shanghai facility this year, and approximately 10 twin-screw extrud- ers are delivered every month from its Nanjing complex. Kremer is a third-generation plastics extrusion processor, having spent time working for his father and grandfather at Futurex, a custom roll and sheet extruder in Bloomingdale, Ind., founded by his grandfather in 1969. While at Indiana University in Bloomington, Kremer spent a semester abroad at City University in Hong Kong, and after graduation, went to work for an international furniture company with production in China. Kremer returned to plastics in 2007, working as an engineer sourcing plastic extrusion machinery from China. "Being third-generation and having experience operat- ing, maintaining, and building extruders, I have a unique perspective on how to create the machinery to meet customers' needs," says Kremer. "I focus on keeping the machinery simple and reliable, while making the extrud- ers generic enough that parts can be locally sourced to prevent production delays." Kremer's partner, Wood, graduated from Beijing University of Chemical Technology with a focus on plastic extrusion machinery and began working as a mechanical engineer in the industry in 2004. Uway has two Chinese factories with about 90 workers and two operations in the U.S., including an offce and warehouse in Marshall, Ind., as well as sales and ware- housing in Solon, Ohio, run by its U.S. distributor, Plastics Machinery Group. "We are investigating U.S. manufacturing and hope to have an operating facility by mid-2015," Kremer notes. Uway has sales offces in Belgium, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and India. It maintains technical service teams in the U.S., India, and China. Uway builds extruders ranging in size from 16 to 300 mm. Kremer notes that the company delivered two systems in 2014 that had outputs of 8000 lb/hr. Uway imports all the main components from the U.S., Germany, and Italy, with China building the machine frames and controls, using Schneider, Siemens and WEG electronics. Uway will exhibit at NPE2015 next March in Orlando, Fla., with a 1500 ft² booth in the South Hall. (765) 592-6089 • uwayextrusion.com New Extrusion Equipment Supplier Combines U.S. Management, Chinese Production Dustin Kremer (left) and Will Wood, co-founders of new extrusion equipment supplier Uway, pictured at September's SPE Thermoforming Conference. Braskem Breaks Ground On Texas UHMW-PE Plant A ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of an UHMWPE plant at LaPorte, Texas, was held recently by Braskem of Brazil (U.S. offce in Philadelphia). Braskem's frst UHMWPE plant in North America is scheduled for completion in the frst half of 2016. It will complement the Utec UHMWPE produced in Brazil, which has been supplied to clients in the U.S. and Europe for over 10 years. (215) 841-3194 • braskem.com 6 DECEMBER 2014 Plastics Technology PTonline.com T E C H N O L O G Y A N D I N D U S T R Y N E W S St ar t ing Up