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KraussMaffei and Roctool Sign Global Collaboration Agreement KraussMaffei of Germany (U.S. office in Florence, Ky.) and Roctool S.A. of France (U.S. office in Charlotte, N.C.) are intensifying their cooperation in global marketing of Roctool's induc- tive mold-heating technology, HD Plastics. HD (High-Definition) Plastics is a rapid heat/cool ("variotherm") process utilizing induction mold heating (roctool.com). It is said to offer extremely fine mold- surface repro- duction that eliminates the need for in-mold films or painting. It also smooths surfaces of foamed parts, eliminates weld lines, and facilitates long flow lengths in thin-wall parts. This Global Collaboration Agree- ment enables KM to offer real-time synchronization of data between RocTool equipment and all its presses. This capability is offered as an option within KM's Dynamic Mold Heating (DMH) technology for rapid heat/cool molding. KM can also offer a turnkey package including Roctool induction heating hardware. 978-772-5100 • kraussmaffeigroup.us Spartech Is Back In July, Arsenal Capital Partners, N.Y.C., completed its acquisition of the Designed Structures and Solutions business segment from PolyOne Corp., Avon Lake, Ohio. That business, which supplies cut sheet and rollstock, as well as packaging and specialty products, was formerly part of Spartech Corp., acquired by PolyOne in 2013. It has been renamed Spartech LLC and is still headquar- tered in Maryland Heights, Mo., the original home of Spartech. Joining the company as CEO and president is Arsenal's senior advisor, George Abd, who was an executive of the former Spartech Corp. for 10 yr and was CEO before departing in 2007. Get a Handle on Part Release: How Easy? How Hard? If you have ever wished for a quantitative measure of ease of part release, here's a new technique that can help you choose an optimal mold finish or coating for fast and reliable automatic injection mold cycles. It was featured at this spring's annual Technology Days expo hosted by Arburg at its Lossburg, Germany, headquarters (see May Close Up). KIMW Forschungs-GmbH, a venture of Kunststoff Institut Ludenscheid in Germany, showed off a four-year develop- ment effort to develop a method to measure release force. As explained by KIMW managing director Frank Mumme, KIMW has developed a test apparatus with disc-shaped inserts that replicate the mold surface. Any desired coating can be applied to the insert. The test mold produces a disk of 35-mm diam. and 2-mm thick. The disk has a series of raised "teeth" arranged radially around the sprue on the back side. These teeth engage with a mechanism that rotates the disc and senses the force required to cause the disc to first start to turn against the cavity insert. That force serves as a proxy for the force required to release the part. If the user wants to simulate a situation in which the part has shrunk onto a core, a controlled force is applied to press the part against the cavity before the rotational force is applied. KIMW began by investigating release of soft TPEs but is now testing hard thermoplastics. +49 (0) 23 51.10 64-139 • kunststoff-institut.de Davis-Standard Opens Expanded Plant, Buys Maillefer Davis-Standard (D-S) has completed a 15,000 ft² expansion at its home base in Pawca- tuck, Conn. The new space houses manufacturing of multi-layer blown film dies, enabling D-S to move all blown-film equipment manufacturing from Gloucester, Mass., to Pawcatuck. D-S had a facility in Gloucester since its 2015 purchase of Gloucester Engi- neering Inc. Notes D-S president and CEO Jim Murphy, "All Davis-Standard blown film die technology is now integrated under one roof, making us one of the largest manufactur- ers of seven to 11-layer blown film dies in the world." Last month, D-S also announced it had bought Maillefer International Oy of Vantaa, Finland, and Ecublens, Switzerland. Maillefer (maillefer.net) is a global leader in wire, cable, pipe, and tube production technologies. Said Murphy, "Maillefer has built a strong brand based on operational excellence, technology, and providing superior customer solutions." 860-599-1010 • davis-standard.com 6 SEPTEMBER 2017 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