BP&R March 2021
In this issue...
Cover Story
Plastribution has used its content to keep the industry informed with material developments and market updates since 2011. Here the polymer distributor reflects on the decade and outlines plans to make their insights more accessible via a new online platform.
Testing and Inspection
Plastic is used across almost every sector in UK industry, from packaging to transportation, making it a vital material for British and Irish manufacturers. The versatility of this range of materials means that manufacturers must deliver products that meet a range of specifications and comply with various regulations, so flexibility in measurement is key. Here Mike John, managing director of industrial metrology provider The Sempre Group, offers advice on how to solve common quality issues when working with plastics.
Software and Process Control
A Manufacturing Execution System is a tool that monitors, manages and brings together all the different parts involved in production. In this article, intouch Monitoring explains how real-time monitoring and reporting and analytics makes processes more efficient, accurate and improves quality.
PVC and Vinyl
PVC compounder, the Benvic Group is becoming an increasingly forward integrated company, owning a variety of plastics processing companies. Bp&r finds out about the launch of its ProVinyl brand and the £1.7 million investment in its Sowerby Bridge facilities in order to handle markets in the UK and Ireland.
Distribution over a decade
As it continues a successful 10-year partnership with one of the biggest injection moulding machine suppliers in the UK, Bp&r spoke to Steve Stubbs, Technical Operations Project Manager at BioPure Technology, to find out the history behind the company’s distribution arrangement with KraussMaffei, the latest models in the portfolio and how the partnership has developed the business in the medical plastics sector.
Comment: The word from Hird
Richard Hird, Chairman of the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMMDA), writes for BP&R on the results of a recent PMMDA statistics survey and the increased use of automation due to social distancing.
Brexit adds turbulence to the perfect polymer pricing storm
In this edition of his regular column, our resident materials expert, Mike Boswell, takes an in depth look at the post-Brexit and Coronavirus turbulence and the potential implications, opportunities and challenges for plastics processors in the UK.
The dirty secret behind machine breakdowns
It causes UK manufacturers to lose millions of pounds each year in machine breakdown, parts replacements, and labour - yet goes largely unnoticed. What is it? In this article, Andrew Thoms, Managing Director of TRIS UK, lifts the lid on dirty oil and explains how cost-effective oil management is the no-brainer solution to dramatically extending the life of critical components.