PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2012

TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 38 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 03/12 www.petpla.net NPE Orlando, Florida, April 1 - 5, 2012 Breaking the mould on sustainability After 40 years in Chicago, IL, this year’s NPE will take place from April 1 to 5, 2012, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL, USA. The exposition halls will be open April 2 to 5. The triennial international plastics exposition is organised by The Plastics Industry Trade Association (SPI). The trade show portion will include 1,800 companies exhibiting on 83,600m 2 and is expected to be visited by industry professionals from over 100 countries. NPE can be seen as the largest plastics industry event in 2012 and targets plastics applications in building and construction, automotive, medical and consumer products and packaging. Highlights of specific interest to packaging professionals will include: Bioplastics and sustainability. These will be prominent themes throughout NPE2012, embracing not just a spe- cial multi-exhibitor Emerging Technologies Pavilion but developments highlighted elsewhere on the show floor and in many conference sessions. For example, these topics will be the focus of three sessions of SPI’s Busi- ness of Plastics conference, co-located with the trade show. 2nd International Plastics Design Competition. Categories open to entrants from around the world include packag- ing and sustainability. Entries may be submitted online at www.plasticsdesign.org. SPE Antec 2012, the plastics technical conference, will be co-located with NPE2012 and have multi-paper ses- sions dedicated to flexible packaging and bioplastics, respectively, as well as to key primary processes like blow moulding, extrusion, thermoforming, and other relevant sectors like thermoplastics raw materials, colour, and decorating. As readers of the magazine you will be particularly interested in PET, so our preview will give you a brief idea of what awaits you on the 83,600m² exhibition space in the field of PET . PETplanet will be on show at West Hall Level 2, Stand 3891. Full details on NPE are available at www.npe.org Servo stretch rods and flying head leak tester Amsler Equipment Inc. will demonstrate its latest reheat stretch-blow (RHB) mould- ing machines and auxiliary equipment. It will highlight the enhanced efficiency of servo stretch-rods for its RHB machinery and introduce a new single flying head leak tester, the latest addition to its line of quality inspection equipment. The stand will feature the company’s L32 convertible machine with servo stretch rods, a three-cavity all-electric unit designed to meet the high-output needs of custom blow moulders of PET containers with small to medium size requirements. The machine can be run with one, two, or three moulds. It will run an oval bottle production process without the complexity of a preferential heating oven system. Amsler says that servo-driven electric stretch rods offer more precise and better speed control and ramp up for better productivity, compared to pneumatics. The company will also introduce a high-speed single flying head leak tester, which has a relatively small footprint, a solid steel frame con- struction, and runs 50% faster than a stationary unit. www.amslerequipment.net Amsler West Hall | Booth 583 Injection stretch blow moulding Mould & Matic Solutions, part of the Haidlmair group, will be exhibiting its Blowliner, an injection moulding machine combined with a newly-developed automated blowing station. The Blowliner can produce a number of different plastic types and product shapes in volumes from 5 to 10,000ml, with output from 500 – 10,000pcs/h. The company says that its machine offers users short changeover times and servo engines for energy efficiency. Blowliner can be customised to customer requirements and can be offered as a turnkey solution for fillers. Mould & Matic will be on the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber stand in Hall F. www.mouldandmatic.com Mould & Matic Solutions Gmbh Hall F | Booth 9147