Based on a combination of the range of services offered, support of the customer's business model, perceptible advantages as a supplier, and a solid on-time delivery rate, Rockwell Automation selected TecStar Mfg. Co., a business unit of MGS Mfg. Group to receive its Supplier of the Year award.

"TecStar's technical capabilties and global footprint provide Rockwell Automation with a strategic partner who offers a competitive supply chain advantage", says Matthew Sprader, Strategic Sourcing Commodity Manager for Rockwell. 

For the record, the downturn that slammed the plastics industry starting in about mid-2008 and proceeding through mid-2009 was the first period since 1950 when the plastics industry saw a dramatic drop in consumption of resin globally. Until then, average annual demand growth had been 9%/year, according to figures presented yesterday by officials working for PlasticsEurope, the trade group representing Europe's plastics suppliers.

A patent recently granted to robotic tooling supplier SAS Automation (Xenia, OH) recognizes the technical achievement of its robotic EOAT, which can be programmed to automatically relocate four separate component holders within the robot's cycle with the same EOAT. What the EOAT gives the user is increased productivity and lower costs.

The global sales and distribution network of DME Co. has been joined with the hot runner, processing, and analytical technology of Plastic Engineering & Technical Services Inc. in a strategic alliance aimed at improved sourcing for molders and moldmakers worldwide. First targets: new solutions for medical and high-volume consumer applications.

A recycling robot that uses sensors to detect five different wavelengths of laser beam light reflected from plastic materials, and will automatically sort six different polymer types, currently is being tested in Osaka, Japan.

The photonics sensing technology has been developed by the Idec Co. (Japan) and the Photonics Advanced Research Center (PARC) at the University of Osaka. Optical and robot technologies are supplied by Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Co. (MEE).

Blowmolders seeking cost savings through reduced material usage in large containers might want to consider the latest coextrusion blowmolding machines from Fong Kee International Machinery Co. (Tainan).

Research on electro-activated polymers that began at Stanford University, and was further developed at a company called Artificial Muscle Inc., has now been acquired by Bayer MaterialScience. The acquisition of the company, its patents, and its patent applications is the latest purchase by the massive plastics and chemicals supplier to focus on plastic film's surface haptics and appearance.

With sales returning to the levels seen in 2008, the company's best year on record, film and sheet extrusion systems supplier Macro Engineering & Technology Inc. (Mississauga, ON) is planning to expand its production floor space by approximately 40%. The new room will be used mainly for setting up and testing machinery prior to shipment.

When Tim Peterson of Industrial Molds invited the district's Congressional Representative to visit the Rockford, IL company, he didn't expect Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL16) to actually come. But in early February he did, and Peterson is even more convinced than before that this is the right thing to do. Washington, says Peterson, appears to be getting the idea that these jobs are important.

You may not have heard of Edex Machinery Co. (Taipei), but the latest entrant to injection molding machine manufacture in Taiwan aims to make waves with its Atom Series micromolders.