Visitors to the Compounding World Expo will be able to attend a series of six free training seminars on a range of plastics compounding topics. The practical seminars will take place over both days of the exhibition, which is being held at the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA on 8-9 May 2019

The topics being covered in the training seminars include process optimisation, compound formulation, regulatory compliance, polymer stabilisation, machine specification, and colour measurement and control.

“The practical seminars will be delivered by acknowledged experts and experienced trainers,” explained Andy Beevers, events director at AMI, the organiser of the exhibition. “We want to provide visitors with valuable educational content, in addition to the opportunity to meet more than 140 suppliers who will be exhibiting at the Compounding World Expo.”

The opening training seminar will cover the specification of twin-screw extruders for compounding. It will be given by Adam Dreiblatt, the director of process technology at CPM Extrusion Group. Dreiblatt has over 35 years of twin-screw extrusion experience. Prior to joining CPM in 2007 he ran a consulting and training company focused on compounding technology, and he developed training workshops for the Society of Plastics Engineers.

The second training seminar at Compounding World Expo will focus on regulatory compliance. Bernie Henn, supplier development manager at Verisk 3E will speak about modernising product stewardship for compounded, extruded or recycled plastics. Verisk 3E provides compliance solutions to more than 5,000 companies around the world, including many leading chemical companies.

The next free training seminar will focus on understanding and formulating plastics compounds and will be delivered by Chris DeArmitt, president of Phantom Plastics. He has an extensive plastics industry background including technical and management positions at BASF, Electrolux, and several suppliers of fillers and additives. DeArmitt has authored a book on innovation and he works as a consultant for companies on breakthrough materials, problem solving and training.

The first free training seminar on the second day of the Compounding World Expo will focus on top tips for optimising twin-screw extrusion and it will be given by Bert Elliott, engineering manager at Leistritz Extrusion. He has extensive experience of working with customers on commissioning and optimising a wide range of compounding lines for a variety applications. Elliott wrote a series of very popular articles on this topic forCompounding Worldmagazine and has delivered well-received talks on the subject at our Compounding World Forum and other events.

 The vitally important topic of evaluating and controlling colour in plastics will be covered in a seminar by Frank Koger, technical sales engineer at Konica Minolta Sensing Americas. He will share key knowledge garnered during the 30 years that he has worked in the world of colour.

The final training seminar will be on understanding the basics of polymer degradation and stabilisation. It will be delivered by Ronald Becker, business development manager at SI Group who speaks regularly on this fundamentally important topic for compounders.

If you wish to attend any of the training seminars at the Compounding World Expo, register for your free ticket here. This will give you free admission to the exhibition and its two conference theatres featuring technical presentations and business debates in addition to educational seminars. It will also ensure free entry to the Plastics Recycling World Expo and the Plastics Extrusion World Expo.

For more information on the Compounding World Expo, including the exhibitor list, stand booking details, conference programmes and online registration for your free ticket, please visit: https://compoundingworldexpo.com/na/

Influential leaders from across the plastics compounding industry will take part in four industry debates at the Compounding World Expo, which will be held at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA on May 8-9, 2019. Admission to the tradeshow and its conference theatre will be free-of-charge to visitors who register in advancehere.

The four debates will cover the future for technical compounds, masterbatch, cable compounds and PVC. They will feature senior managers from an array of leading producers in these fields.

Compounding Worldmagazine’s editor Chris Smith will chair the discussion on the future for technical compounding, which will include: Frank Roederer, senior VP, engineering composites at A. Schulman; Jean Sirois, MD of strategic planning and acquisitions/GM Canada at RTP Company; and Tom Drye, VP emerging markets and innovation at Techmer PM.

Andrew Reynolds, director of Advance Bidco, the owner of AMI, will chair a high-level discussion on the future for thermoplastics concentrates. This will feature business leaders from major masterbatch producers including: Matthew Hellstern, CEO of Americhem; Dr. Deepak Parikh, region president and CEO at Clariant Corporation USA & Canada; and Amit Puri, owner and director marketing at Alok Masterbatches.

The future for PVC compounds will be discussed by influential representatives from leading suppliers of vinyl formulations including: Darrell Hughes, CEO of Aurora Plastics; Renee Havrilla, vice president, compounds at Westlake Compounds; and Gautam Nivarthy, vice president and general manager of the compounds business group at Mexichem Specialty Compounds. The discussion will be chaired by Sylvia Tabero, senior project consultant at AMI Consulting.

Key trends in cable compounds will be the subject of a separate discussion involving experts in this dynamic market including: Tariq Quadir, chief technologist and senior scientist at Champlain Cable; Dave Camillo, chief engineer formulations at Southwire; and Eric bates, principal engineer at General Cable.

Organised by AMI, the Compounding World Expo will take place alongside the Plastics Recycling World Expo and the Plastics Extrusion World Expo. By registering in advance, visitors will receive free admission to all three exhibitions, featuring more than 200 leading suppliers, plus free entry to five conference theatres hosting technical presentations, educational seminars and business debates. Attendees and exhibitors will also have the option to buy tickets (just $20 each) for a networking party at Cleveland’s iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the evening of May 8.

Rita Andrews, head of exhibitions at AMI said: “Our debut compounding and recycling exhibitions in Essen, Germany attracted 4,024 visitors, and we are confident that our first Cleveland shows will build on this success and be the biggest plastics industry gathering in the USA in 2019”.

The three expos, which will occupy the two largest halls at the state-of-the-art Huntington Convention Center, will feature a wide array of leading manufacturers of extrusion, compounding and recycling equipment, plus suppliers of a huge variety of polymers, additives and related services.

The exhibitor line-up already includes companies such as Clariant, Milliken, Coperion, Cabot, Leistritz, Heritage Plastics, CPM Century, Struktol, Entek, Dover Chemicals, Farrel Pomini, Ferro, Omya, Nordson, NFM, Chemours, Maag, Wacker, Lanier Color, Modern Dispersions, B&P Littleford, IMI Fabi, Zoltek, Buss, and over 160 additional leading suppliers.

The limited number of remaining booths are being filled on a daily basis. To find out more about exhibiting at any of the expos, visit /exhibitions.

To book your free ticket, which is valid for both days of the event, visit: ami.ltd/Register-AMI-Expos

According to our new report, the European injection moulding industry is thriving as most of its markets have recovered from the economic collapse which struck over a decade ago. In 2018 the industry value from virgin polymer exceeded EUR85 billion, an average growth of 3% p.a. since 2007, supported by growing polymer demand and added value opportunities, together with increased polymer prices. The industry is also taking increasing advantage of the use of recyclate feedstocks which added about 8% to the industry value in 2018.

The versatility of the injection moulding process lends itself to serving an extremely diverse market portfolio with demand, in terms of polymer volume, being led by the packaging, automotive and electronics sectors.  Each market faces different opportunities and challenges, particularly as the plastics sector and the applications it serves comes under increasing environmental scrutiny.  Since AMI Consulting’s prior report on the sector in 2014 all the key market segments have grown, with packaging exhibiting the most sustained growth whilst automotive has seen most robust growth in the last 4 years. Overall demand for injection moulding has seen an average growth of 1.6% p.a. in virgin polymer demand taking it above 12 million tonnes in 2018.

View the full press release here: Injection Moulding in Europe: Industry value, structure & market dynamics 2019