PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2010

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Landhausstr. 4 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Doris Fischer f ischer@hbmedia.net Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Tony O´Neill Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä andrae@hbmedia.net Miriam Kiesler kiesler@hbmedia.net phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49(0)6201-878925 fax: +49(0)6201-878926 koepke@hbmedia.net LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Kay Krüger reader@hbmedia.net PRINT WDW Druck GmbH Gustav-Throm-Straße 1 69181 Leimen-St.Ilgen Germany WWW www.petpla.net | in dia.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 10/10 www.petpla.net EDITORIAL dear readers, EDITORIAL PET spearheading the flow of visitors Once again we are in exhibition season, this time the K Fair in Düsseldorf. Whilst the show dazzles with its 3,100 exhibitors from the field of engineering materials and finished products, you might want to investigate one or the other corner of the area covering almost 0.2 km² devoted to PET and closures. So if your shoe lea- ther can stand the pace you can catch up with us on PET-related issues. You can read our report on page 60. A striking feature of the exhibition is that many exhibitors are using the plastic industry as a flagship for their other products. It is absolutely clear to all plastics users that the demands placed by PET on machinery and equipment are of the highest possible order. Machines have to work in every corner of the world, regardless of whether it’s 5,000 meters up in the Himalayas or in scorching 50°C heat in the Gulf States or in the high humidity of the sub-tropics. In developing countries there may be power failures to cope with but the plant still needs to be up and running again as soon as the power is restored. This applies to manufacturers of stretch blow-moulding machines, injection moulding machines and peripheral equipment. Machinery has to operate 24/7, producing high single shot weights super-fast, at the same time they need to feature extremely high plate rigidity so as to ensure that the large number of cavities is neatly filled. Mould cooling is an extremely compre- hensive operation and the material supply chain also has to pro- vide the hygroscopic PET dry and in sufficient quantities. To cap it all, there is fierce price competition for the finished preform, making sure that it also undergoes regular optimization and not overlooking the need for constant investment in tools and moulds. No other plastics application is so exacting, and some- times contradictory, in the demands it makes on the plant at this extremely high level of output. No wonder that PET will be seen as THE jewel in the crown on K Fair stands. Enjoy strolling round the K Fair Yours, Alexander Büchler