FPD Highlights - June 2007

SPI Activities in Support of FPD

"FINANCING & EXPANDING YOUR EXPORT BUSINESS" - The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the US Department of Commerce are sponsoring a seminar on "Financing & Expanding Your Export Business" on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland. Topics to be presented include how to find foreign buyers, secure export financing, and arrange for payment. Participants will be able to speak with Department of Commerce and private sector specialists. A similar event will also be held on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 in White Plains, NY. Register by phone or for more information, call Kimberly Robinson at 410/962-4534. Registration is $40.

SPI'S NEW PLASTICS INDUSTRY CAREER CENTER is the best source for plastics industry jobs. The Plastics Industry Career Center is continually updated with job listings from top employers that span the full spectrum of opportunities from technical specialists, plant managers, engineers and lab managers to sales representatives, quality assurance specialists, product development managers, and more.
Check out the Center's easy-to-use job seeker services:

Nearly 100 resumes are now posted on SPI's new Plastics Industry Career Center. Nearly 80% of these job seekers have a 4-year college degree or more. For more information, call Barbara Darby at 864/239-2939.

SPI'S FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC PACKAGING MATERIALS COMMITTEE (FDCPMC) will convene its 8th Biennial International Symposium in Baltimore, June 19-20, 2007. Renowned packaging experts from around the world will tackle regulatory obstacles to global marketing at June symposium. The symposium, titled "Food Packaging Around the World: Global Regulations and Regional Challenges," will bring together experts from government and industry around the world to discuss regulatory obstacles to global marketing of food packaging materials and efforts to overcome those obstacles. Come meet your suppliers and customers at this international event. For more information, call Kyra Mumbauer at 202/974-5214.

PLASTIVAN™ rolls on to train-the-trainer workshops at North Carolina teachers conference. Teachers attending the North Carolina Career and Technology Educators Conference to be held on July 26 in Greensboro, NC will learn about the plastics industry during two 90-minute workshops produced by the internationally acclaimed PlastiVanTM program. The National Plastics Center's PlastiVans travel throughout the United States, teaching students, educators and the public about plastics' chemistry, history and processing issues. More than 3,000 North Carolina teachers will learn how to conduct hands-on activities that teach students about the chemistry, processing methods and environmental solutions associated with plastics. The latter part of the July workshop will be devoted to talking about careers in plastics. Representatives from plastics companies will be on hand to talk about the processes used to make products and the jobs involved. For more information, contact Betty Coleman, 781/337-7127, or Barbara Darby at 864/239-2939.

FPD Activities

FALL 2007 CONFERENCE is planned for The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sept. 23-25, 2007. The Conference Chairmen are Tim Grattan, Daikin, and Dave Ely, Chromatics Inc. Confirmed presentations to date include "Trade Secret Protection," "Trends in Enterprise Software", and "Bar Coding/Warehouse IT." Please visit the conference website for additional details.

MONTHLY FPD HIGHLIGHTS - Please include E. Robert (Bob) Hill on your press release list at eben_hill@msn.com, so we can note your company and staff accomplishments and honors.

SUMMER 2007 ISSUE OF FLUORONEWS will again be printed as well as posted on the FPD web site. We are continuing to offer 5 free, business card size ads to members first come, first serve. Input and business ads for this issue are now being accepted.

FLUOROGUIDE - We did a full updates of FluoroGuide and the related tables in early March 2007. We plan an update of the section and membership tables in early May. The next full update of FluoroGuide is expected in July 2007. Please check your company input on our website and give Bob Hill any needed further revisions at eben_hill@msn.com.

FPD WEB SITE HITS continue to increase steadily and are now running over 2.2 million hits annually. We continue to add a steady stream of new content to our web site, and are now posting post-conference summaries, including the conference program, a list of attendees, and more.

FPD Section Activities

FPD Section activities continue to be strongly emphasized at all of our conferences. One afternoon at each conference is dedicated to Section Breakouts.

People on the Move

FLUOROCONSULTANTS GROUP - Niall McKee joined FluoroConsultants Group, LLC, in January 2007 as a Senior Consultant. Niall has a wealth of experience that includes 45 years of employment at the DuPont Company. He has worked in a wide variety of assignments that include QC, direct supervision, technical innovation and process optimization that has resulted in a unique blend of skills. Niall is a well known authority in the processing of melt processible fluoropolymers such as FEP and PFA. To contact Niall, please visit www.FluoroConsultants.com.

DAIKIN - As part of Daikin America's on going commitment to service their rapidly expanding fluoroelastomers business, Kerry Heck joined Daikin America as DAI-EL® Technical Service Engineer, effective January 2007. Kerry will provide technical and applications development assistance to fluoroelastomer compounders, fabricators and end users, working closely with the Daikin sales force to identify customer requirements and develop custom solutions with DAI-EL®.

Industry Highlights

ADVANCED FLEXIBLE COMPOSITES, INC. (AFC) has introduced its new kit for repairing PTFE coated belts. The belt repair kit was specifically designed to repair PTFE coated conveyor belts, and PTFE coated fabrics. The belt repair kit includes a lightweight sealing iron with a 3 in. diameter sealing head, a high temperature mineral board work surface, a variety of patching materials and an instruction manual. Replacement parts and materials will be available from AFC. The tacking iron was design to reach the proper sealing temperature for PTFE materials without the need for a temperature controller. The sealing iron was designed to reach sealing temperature of PTFE within 20 minutes.

For further information, contact Michael Baker, Director of Marketing at 800/334-9372.

WHITFORD CORP - HALO is a totally new and different nonstick coating system for top-end cookware. While it has unsurpassed resistance to wear, and releases food easily, it does a lot more:

AGC CHEMICALS AMERICAS, INC announced that AFLAS® 100S fluoroelastomer has been tested to the rigorous requirements of United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Class VI and has met those requirements.

This is the first step in getting acceptance for AFLAS® compounds, typically used in applications which require excellent chemical resistance at high temperatures, in medical and pharmaceutical applications. There are many applications where the highest level of biocompatibility is required. In the case of synthetic polymers and elastomers, this means passing the requirements of USP Class IV including the following tests: USP Systemic Injection, USP Intracutaneous, and Intramuscular Implant

W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES (GORE) introduces a new version of GORE™ SKYFLEX® Aircraft Fuel Sealant designed for high temperature applications, up to 356 °F (180 °C), that resists UV and aging. GORE™ SKYFLEX® Aircraft Sealant is a reusable, non-curing, non-hazardous, form-in-place sealant that provides excellent protection against corrosion, water ingress, fuels, and other environmental influences including oils. The fuel sealant provides excellent fuel sealability and is resistant to leakage. It requires less compression to seal than traditional sealants and offers more controllable panel flushness.

GORE™ SKYFLEX® Aircraft Sealant is a PTFE-based sealant. Unlike rubber gaskets, PTFE does not age or become hard and brittle. Degrading rubber gaskets harden, crack and can fall into the fuel tank creating a flight hazard and causing a longer maintenance cycle. GORE™ SKYFLEX® Fuel Sealant does not cause these problems.

DAIKIN INDUSTRIES and LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, Germany, have jointly developed the world's first water-based fluoropolymer coating material (water-based fluorinated urethane coating material), which is environmentally friendly and has superior anti-stain properties, weather resistance, and chemical resistance.

Organic solvent-based fluoropolymer coating materials, with good weather resistance, are used in a wide range of fields including architectural coatings; but in response to VOC regulations, demand for environmentally friendly water-based coatings is rising. In the latest joint development, Daikin's fluorine chemical technology and the dispersion technology and polyurethane know-how of LANXESS Business Unit Leather were combined to create a VOC-free water-based fluoropolymer coating material product that has equal physical and anti-stain properties compared with organic solvent-based coatings.

DAIKIN INDUSTRIES has developed "OPTOOL DAC", a breakthrough fluorine antifouling additive for UV cure coatings, which delivers excellent antifouling (anti-fingerprint) properties and low friction, in addition to its water and oil repellency. Daikin will start selling this product beginning in May.

Adding a small amount of "OPTOOL DAC" to a UV cure acrylic coating system, which is widely used for plastic and metal substrates, provides fluorine's original characteristics such as antifouling, anti-fingerprints, superior water and oil repellency, low friction and easy-clean feature onto hard coat surfaces. Further more, its strong chemical bond with hard coating system ensures long-lasting superior antifouling characteristics. Since the product meets the need for antifouling, anti-fingerprints and easy-clean properties required on substrate surfaces (for example, liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, touch panels, casing for mobile devices such as cellular phones and portable game consoles, optical disc surface and optical lenses) where UV cure hard coating system is often used, Daikin expects demands in such applications to be high.