President’sMessage

f we’ve met in person, you’ve probably guessed that, first and foremost, I am a salesperson. It’s the job I have always loved because it lets me be me. Through my sales position, I have been given the opportunity to meet friends, educate customers about performance plastics and, as I have mentioned many times, form relationships with companies, branches and salespeople. Through all my conversations, I let people know that if they have any questions, they can come to me. I love helping people and contributing to their success which, in turn, helps contribute to my employer’s success.

Even with my love of sales and relationship-building, I will admit that the word “training” has always sparked some fear in my heart. I don’t think that’s unusual among salespeople. After all, we’d all rather be out talking to customers and prospects and doing what we do best. While training other salespeople is part of how we make sure that everyone can achieve their goals (and, for us nearing the end of our careers, the ability to retire someday!), it isn’t what gets us excited about waking up in the morning and hitting the road.

Editor’sPerspective

ne of the most rewarding parts of my job is to see people in our industry connect, become trusted business partners and grow professionally. As time passes, these relationships grow stronger and deeper. The people involved rise through the ranks of their companies, expand their business networks and, in many cases, give back to the industry in various ways, including serving on any of IAPD’s committees, task forces or even the Board of Directors.

How does this magic happen? Where does it all begin? Call me biased, but I see IAPD events as being the perfect venues for performance plastics professionals at any point in their career to connect with their peers and get exposed to the broader industry. IAPD offers neutral space for meetings and socializing, and we’re always happy to see members engaging in these activities at our events.

Receivables over 30 days were 1.7 percent, down from 1.8 percent the previous month and down from 2.1 percent in the same period in 2021. Charge-offs were 0.09 percent, down from 0.17 percent the previous month and down from 0.55 percent in the year-earlier period. Credit approvals totaled 78.2 percent, down from 78.4 percent in January. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was down 12.2 percent year-over-year, a decrease due to significant downsizing at an MLFI reporting company. Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) in March is 58.2, a decrease from 61.8 in February.

Performance plastics offer many advantages to the aerospace industry. When considering material choices, the priority is safety. Performance plastics can meet the flammability requirements for use on airplanes, as well as some less obvious safety requirements of other aircraft components.

For example, airplanes are subjected to many harsh conditions daily, due to climate and chemical exposure. Some performance plastics can withstand wide temperature swings and corrosive chemicals. Designers and engineers look for interior components that can hold up to frequent cleaning using chemicals that keep passengers protected from illness and are tough on the parts.

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) can extend equipment life and improve operational efficiency in agricultural applications. It has outstanding toughness, resistance to abrasion, low friction, self-lubricating characteristics, chemical and moisture resistance and sound deadening properties. It is cost effective, easily machined and may be thermoformed into two-dimensional shapes and contours such as spouts, chutes, trough liners, complex shaped wear plates and shrouds.

Virgin and reprocessed grades are common for applications where there is limited exposure to the sun. For demanding UV exposure applications, UHMW-PE is available with a UV inhibitor, which extends product life. UHMW-PE is also available in anti-static grades.

As global organizations focus on improved product sustainability, reduced carbon footprint and increased use of renewable green energy, performance plastics are meeting the challenges that make these applications possible.

Engineers have been improving the energy generation costs of renewable technologies for decades and now offer biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar and wind-based energy that competes with the costs of fossil fuel sources. Geopolitical risk and global warming provide tail winds that are increasing the rate of adoption of these green energy technologies.

Of these technologies, hydro, wind and solar are the making the most impact, which is good news for the performance plastics industry. Both hydro and wind systems involve large parts and geometries that are impossible to injection mold. This article highlights demonstrated application successes in these energy segments and how you can participate.

The very term performance plastics embodies the expectations of the transportation industry: lightweight for speed, flexible for creative and useful design, colorful for beauty, impact resistant and anti-microbial for safety, clear for visibility, as well as weatherability and corrosion resistance.

The opportunities for performance plastic shapes distributors to gain access to the various transportation market segments continue to increase with megatrends such as increased light-weighting, sound absorption improvements, safety enhancing requirements and the use of sustainable and recycled materials.

Performance plastics are becoming the material of choice for applications in the building and construction market. From canopies to sound barriers, skylights to interior partitions, greenhouses to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wall cladding, architects and builders are taking advantage of the many benefits of performance plastics in everyday commercial and industrial projects.

For example, polycarbonate (PC) panels are commonly used for glazing. With the increasing emphasis on green building and energy efficiency, incorporating daylighting with glazing and skylight solutions continues to gain traction in building design. Performance plastics such as PC are a highly viable and sustainable choice for integrating daylighting strategies.

The chemical processing industry is a tough environment for creating safe structures that mitigate corrosion. To develop products capable of standing up to demanding applications, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) is often specified because of its track record of consistency, reliability and problem-free lifespan. In addition, the material effectively resolves the most common customer issues by providing corrosion resistance and reliable, long-term handling.

Corrosion is one of the most costly issues facing plants that handle chemicals such as hydrochloric acid (HCl). This substance causes corrosion, pitting and stress-corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel, such as 316. In fact, 300-series stainless steels can even be attacked by diluted HCl. Although there may be low concentration and low temperature combinations that are acceptable in some specific cases, 316 stainless steel is not recommended when hydrochloric acid is present.

• Strong yet lightweight performance plastics use less fuel to transport thus reducing an organizations carbon footprint.
• Weather-resistant performance plastics are replacing wood in construction and signage, resulting in longer lasting applications that won’t warp or rot.
• Certain performance plastics can be used without the added lubrication that metals would require, eliminating the need for greases and lubricants.
• Many performance plastics qualify for LEED points for building design and construction.
• Most performance plastics can be recycled into new, useful products again and again.

In these examples, performance plastic components have advantages over metal for several reasons, such as the benefits of clarity, material consistency and traceability found when using cell cast acrylic. Additional advantages include:

• Abrasion and corrosion resistance
• Very high level of precision, even above injection molding, where some form of machining is being done
• Resists exposure to air, salt, elements and ultraviolet (UV)rays
• Easy to sanitize
• Lighter parts, which can be less expensive to replace
• Clarity, because the component can be transparent or translucent where that property is required
• Some are self-lubricating, thus they are non-contaminating
• Material batch traceability
• Material consistency
• Depending on the resin, the part can be porous or impermeable, flexible or rigid
• Better insulator for hot fluids — no sweating of flammable liquids

A producer of fast food chicken nuggets had an issue with their conveyors and found a solution using performance plastics. In their plant, the conveyor system moves chicken nuggets through industrial fryers to cook, then moves them to cooling and packaging. The nuggets ride on top of conveyor components known as frying strips made from stainless steel. Each of the three conveyor systems at the production facility have 180 individual strips.

For instance, polycarbonate (PC) is often used in the windows and sunroofs of cranes, front loaders and backhoes that lift heavy objects overhead. The PC helps protect the operator if any of the product falls. The impact resistance of PC far outlasts that of standard glass for these applications. Some equipment experiences “blast back” during operation; in those cases, PC is necessary to protect the operator from injury.

These organizations can conduct research, develop and manufacture items such as medical devices and diagnostic equipment, pharmaceuticals, prosthetics, food processing, botanical science and crop technologies, to name a few applications. As innovations and investments continue in these areas, some are growing quickly. Investments in this industry show optimism about future growth. To keep that growth on track, companies are concerned about keeping their supply chain operating efficiently and cost effectively. Many companies outsource manufacturing to other countries, but plastics distributors, with their stocking and fabrication services that can supply multiple levels in the supply chain, have the local edge.

An upper Midwest manufacturer of maintenance-free boat, pontoon and personal watercraft docks and lifts looked for an alternative solution because neither aluminum pulleys nor injection molded pulleys were giving them ideal results. Both the aluminum and injection-molded pulleys (which require bronze or alternative metal bushings) were causing squealing noises and “stick-and-slip” motion during normal operation. This result is common with metal materials since metallic bushings have a less desirable coefficient of friction (COF) for this application, which causes premature wear and stress on the entire lift.

Most conveyors are material handling systems. Before you raise your hand and shout ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), know that nylons, acetals, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polycarbonate (PC) are all involved in conveyors. UHMW-PE is commonly associated with material handling because it usually runs the sides of the conveyor in the form of guide rails, so it’s easy to see. This versatile material also runs under the conveyor with the chain guide and is often machined into bearings or gears to keep the conveyor running.

Microorganism and microbe are blanket terms that refer to bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae, mold and mildew. Many antimicrobial plastics are intended to inhibit the growth of microorganisms that may stain the plastic surface or cause an odor. That is, they are intended to protect the plastic rather than to protect human health. Other antimicrobial formulations are intended to prevent disease caused by the uncontrolled growth of microorganisms on plastic surfaces. The former group of antimicrobial products can be classified as Type 1, low efficacy, and the latter as Type 2, high efficacy.

The armor housing covers the electromagnetic sensor in this proximity system. It had to be strong enough to withstand rock falls, which are a chief concern in mining environments. The strength of this component was even more crucial because it serves a key role in a safety system that can save coal miners’ lives.

Performance plastics excel in numerous applications that can keep a manufacturing plant running, such as bushings, bearings, gears, manifolds, pulleys, cams, rollers, sheaves, sprockets, housings, seals and gaskets. Guards and safety shields can keep workers safe, as do personal protective equipment. Conveyor applications such as corner tracks, rails, bumpers, chain guides, machine guards and wear strips keep products moving.

Using performance plastics instead of other materials offer numerous advantages, such as:

• Reduced weight and lower cost than traditional materials
• Better sealing performance
• Greater design flexibility
• Can handle harsh environments, from downhole heat to arctic conditions to subsea systems
• Corrosion resistant
• Improved efficiencies (sealing properties, coefficient of friction)
• Easier to machine, ship and install
• Reduce/eliminate lubrication dependency
• Excellent electrical insulation properties
• Static dissipative and conductive grades available
• Less wear on mating parts

In fact, performance plastics are the leading materials used in pharmaceutical packaging based on the breadth of applications for which they are suitable, their cost effectiveness and their favorable barrier and aesthetic properties. You can find performance plastics in intravenous and infusion devices such as insulin pens and inhalers, blister packaging, pharmaceutical pouches for dose packaging of powder and topical medicines, strip packs for sample-size oral drug applications, medication tubes, pre-fillable dose-measured syringes, tamper-evident and childproof closures, droppers, measuring caps and spoons, bottles, vials, ampules and syringes.

Fluoropolymer resins are used in high purity components in semiconductors for their resistance to corrosive acids, being inert to common process chemicals and having minimal contamination to flow. Because metal particles contribute the deadliest types of contamination to a semiconductor chip, perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) fluoropolymer resin has provided the best overall material solution.

Local architects Elisa Burnazzi and Davide Feltrin, co-owners of Burnazzi Feltrin Architetti, have rejuvenated the entry way to the Centro Servizi by upcycling approximately 200 aluminum composite panels recovered from billboards used to advertise past performances at the Centro Servizi.

Plastics such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic and polycarbonate (PC), among others, are being used in countless applications within the rail, bus, automotive, marine, heavy equipment, recreational and specialty vehicle (ambulance, emergency vehicle, fire truck) markets. From interior panels and partitions, dashboards, cabinetry, shrouds and housings to air deflectors, boat hatches, signage, windshields and windows, performance plastics play a key role in transportation.

Governments, cities, municipalities, major manufacturing businesses that use large amounts of water are required to clean water before returning it. We call the cleaning process wastewater treatment. In simplest terms a highly engineered system brings wastewater in, cleans it using a process sequence that includes the settling of solids (sedimentation) and biological and chemical treatment prior to the water being returned either to the process consuming water or as an outflow completing the water cycle.