Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. TMT said operational headquarters of the business unit will remain in Damme , Germany, and all employees will be retained .

"Solid Future investment support for our activities TMT Rubber & Plastics certainly gives us greater opportunities for global business development ," said Torsten Bremer , head of R & P business unit of ZF .

Rubber & Plastics business unit of ZF generated approximately $ 962.7 million in sales with about 3,300 employees in nine locations in Europe , North America, South America, Asia and Australia .

ZF CEO Stefan Sommer said TMT offers opportunities to drive business your company could not have provided . The company is " delighted that we have found a strategic partner following a long-term strategy , it is willing to invest in the business and provides the best possible solution for our employees and customers," said the executive.

TMT is a leading component of noise , vibration and harshness and polymer composites for railway, wind power industry and the automotive supplier. TMT said it aims to expand in the global automotive market noise , vibration and harshness to make Rubber & Plastics business unit of ZF one of its main business units and their primary automotive platform globally.

" The management team and employees of the business unit , rubber and plastics have done an outstanding job in the past and are looking forward to further developing the business Rubber & Plastics, along with them, " said the CEO of TMT Jun Yang .

 

Reports late November and plastics companies traded analysts pointed to a "shameful " and " uncertain " picture , with suggestions the worst may be over slowing this year, but without solid offensive view.

For example, China 's second largest manufacturer of plastic machinery , Chen Hsong Holdings, said on November 27 that sales in the country increased only 4% for the six months ended 30 September.

Easier credit in China in recent months did bring a small recovery , but the company said the plastics factories remained cautious investment and looking to the government for the signals.

" A tight monetary policy adopted by the new central government of China - crucial for long-term economic stability - will inevitably lead to short-term pain ," said company based in Hong Kong. "The market in China during the second half of this financial year continued to be veiled in uncertainty, depends largely on the direction and degree of tightening credit policy of the Central Government . "

Injection molding company of Hong Kong Karrie International Holdings half year saw sales fall 21% in the plastics molding and metal parts division , which led the company said in its earnings report November 28 I was coming up investment in robots and automation.

And the plastic toy maker Lung Cheong International Holdings said on November 28 that sales of half a year fell 19 %, which is attributed to the economic problems worldwide .

It was not all bad news. Others reported better results.

L. K. smaller rival Chen Hsong Technology Holdings said sales in the division of plastic machinery rose 13 % on strong demand in China, and the dye and plastic mixer engineering Ngai Hing Hong said that healthy sales in China were main engine that drives revenue by 14%

to a record HK $ 1.86bn ( € 177m ) in the year ending June 30.

Ngai Hing Hong But just held , making a cautious tone about the future amid challenges in China and Europe.

"With the eurozone crisis unresolved ... and the ongoing slowdown in economic growth in China , the group will continue facing the challenges in the second half of 2013," he said.
 

"However , the recovery of the U.S. economy has helped stabilize exports to China , which management believes will present opportunities for the world market and the price of raw materials should be stable. "

Examining China 's manufacturing industries on an analysis of 27 November the Manufacturers Alliance U.S. based for Productivity and Innovation said the picture was "shameful" .

" While recent Chinese data have suggested a bottoming of the sharp slowdown in Asia 's largest economy , there is a definite sense of recovery in the near-term horizon ," according to MAPI. "Economic growth stabilized in the third quarter primarily due to a gradual recovery in exports and public investment . "

MAPI predicted that production in China could see a moderately slower growth this year of 9.2 % to 9% in 2014 as global GDP growth fell from 7.3 % this year to 7 , 1% by 2014.

Major trade group Plastics country , the Association of Plastics Processing Industry of China, estimated in early November that the industry grew by 5 % in the first nine months of the year , a significant slowdown from double-digit increases in years.

" Such a muted forecast likely portends a prolonged period of slower growth as the country faces a sluggish world economy, increasingly difficult demographic challenges affecting the supply of labor " and the need to rebalance its economy towards consumption domestic private, MAPI said.

Still, plastics companies reporting financial results continued investments in new capacity, and seeking long-term opportunities . And even with the slowdown , the growth of the plastics industry in China still larger than other major economies of the world plastics .

LK was building a new production base in Zhongshan , Guangdong Province . Ngai Hing Hong said it will continue expanding its sales network in mainland China, where significant resources are focused in recent years , and said he expected to benefit from increased Chinese exports and a gradual recovery in the U.S. economy .

And Hsong Chen said he had nearly completed a previously announced expansion space 88,000 m² factory in Shenzhen , to give more capacity in ultra - large tonnage presses and help them achieve what he called a leadership position in this sector.

He said he planned to submit an injection molding machine of 6,500 tons , the largest yet made ​​in Asia , to a customer in early 2014 .

International sales of Chen Hsong also suffered in the period. He said he saw encouraging signs of their efforts to grow in markets such as Brazil and Europe, but noted that overall international sales still fell by 7 % in the first half due to the depreciation of currencies quickly in some major developing economies .

New Southeast Asian currencies in the broader market fell by 10% against the U.S. dollar in the period, the company said . But let Chen Hsong suggesting the status quo would not be so bad.

" The group is of the opinion that the GDP of China should maintain its current growth rate of 7.8 % and that, barring unforeseen circumstances , we expect stability in the business development group can be guaranteed ," said the company.

 

Both developments come as the automotive industry is to reduce weight and lower price fluctuations that come from more traditional materials.

"It's only two product cycles now until we get to that ( 54.5 miles per U.S. gallon fuel economy ) standard in 2025," said Jay Hutchins, director of marketing and product planning for Faurecia North America during a telephone interview on Dec. 12.

Faurecia showed a range of natural materials during the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, and displays them in an event during the press preview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in 13-16.

Compounds with renewable materials as a replacement for glass or talc auto parts are not new. They have been in production for over a decade, but is normally used in compression -molded parts.

NafiLean Faurecia is an injection molding material, which can be used in existing equipment, reducing the costs of bringing it to market.

The company began manufacturing door panel substrates with him during the summer two piece PSA Peugeot Citroën Peugeot 308.

"We've been doing compression molding for 25 years and with the natural fiber for 10 or 15 years," Hutchins said. "These are great products for something with a relatively flat geometry without undercuts. When talking off the top of the door, there are a lot of constrained geometry ".

Hemp also offers an enhanced level let alone on glass density, so Faurecia can produce a piece of thinner walls, with the same structural capabilities. In the case of the 308, which is saving 400 grams per door panel said.

Faurecia continues to prove NafiLean prospects elsewhere, especially the instrument panels, and is looking forward to starting production in the U.S. is lining material's suppliers, as well as sources for hemp.

In tests, hemp has been the best natural material for bio- composites because it works better with the chemistry of PP, despite U.S. laws that restrict hemp production in the country. Other companies have from Canadian hemp farmer's compression molded parts.

The next step beyond NafiLean be based material of all bio - Hutchins said. Faurecia has collaborated with Mitsubishi Chemicals and other partners to develop BioMat that combines natural fillings with a bio -based resin.

" The next step in the evolution is BioMat " he said. "The idea is 100 percent green content. You could be isolated from the fluctuations on the oil market that affect resin prices now."

Faurecia expects the Biomat injection molding could do in cars in 2016.

History

The first injection molding machine was patented in 1872, and celluloid was used to produce simple everyday items like hair combs. Just after World War II, an improved injection molding process much - ' screw injection ' was developed and is the most used technique today. Its inventor James Watson Hendry, later developed ' blow ' which is used for example to produce modern plastic bottles.

Types of plastic

The plastics used in the injection molding are polymers - Chemistry - either thermosetting or thermoplastic. Thermosets are set by the application of heat or through a catalytic reaction. Once cured, they cannot be re-melted and reused - the curing process is chemically irreversible. Thermoplastics, however, can be heated, melted and re-used.

The thermosetting plastics include epoxy, polyester and phenolic resins, while thermoplastics include nylon and polyethylene. There are almost twenty thousand compounds available for plastic injection molding, which means that it is not a perfect solution for almost any requirement molding.

Glass is not a polymer, so that does not conform to the accepted definition of thermoplastic - even though it can be melted and recycled.

The Mold

The mold manufacturing has historically been a highly skilled art ( "die - making" ) . A mold is usually in two main sets fastened together in a press. Make a mold often requires a complex design, multi-function machine and a high degree of skill. The tool is generally of steel or beryllium copper, which is used for the manufacture of the mold requires a heat treatment to harden it. Aluminum is cheaper and easier to machine, and can be used for the production of the shorter term. Today, milling techniques discharge machining ( " EDM " ) enabled computer control a high degree of automation of the process of mold manufacture.

Some molds are designed to produce several related parties - for example, a model airplane kit - and these are known as family molds. Other mold designs can have multiple copies ( ' impressions ' ) of the same article produced in a ' shot' - that is, one injection of plastic into the mold.

How Injection Molding Works

There are three main units make up an injection molding machine - the feed hopper, barrel heater and the ram. The plastic in the hopper is in granular or powder form, although some materials, such as silicone rubber may be a liquid and may not require heating.

Once hot liquid, the ram ( ' screw ' ) causes the liquid in the mold and the liquid held firmly sets. More viscous molten plastic required higher (and higher loads press ) pressure to force the plastic in every nook and cranny. The plastic mold is cooled as the metal conducts heat and then the press is cycled to remove the trim. However, for thermosetting plastics, the mold is heated to secure the plastic.

Advantages of Injection Molding

Injection molding allows complex shapes to be manufactured, some of which could be almost impossible to produce economically by other means.

The wide range of materials allows almost exact coincidence of the physical properties required by the article, and multilayer molded allows the adaptation of the mechanical properties and visual appeal - even a toothbrush.

In volume, this is a low-cost process, arguably, with minimal environmental impact. There is little scrap created in this process, and waste that is produced, and to be re- ground and reused.

Disadvantages of Injection Molding

Investing in tools - make the mold - usually requires large production volumes to recover the investment, although this depends on a particular object.

The output of the tool takes development time, and some parts do not easily lend themselves to a practical design mold.

The Economics of injection molding

A mold of high quality, although relatively high cost, will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of "impressions." .

The plastic itself is pretty cheap, and despite the energy required to heat the plastic and press cycle (to remove each print ) the process can be economical, even for the most basic products, such as bottle caps.

With several hundred new plastic compounds being developed every year, and techniques of modern molds, injection molding is safe to continue increasing use in the next fifty years. Although thermosets cannot be recycled, its use, especially for high-precision components, is also destined to grow.