A perfect day for surfers consists of warm sunshine, calm water, and an off- shore breeze. Surfing is an incredible experience, so it’s no surprise that it’s so popular. However, any surfer will tell you that choosing the right board is crucial. Over the years, the materials used in board sports equipment have evolved significantly, from solid wood to more lightweight materials like fiberglass and polyurethane. Newer designs have made it easier to manoeuver the board and barrel the waves.

Engineering plastics such as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), which have a variety of properties that make it ideal for use in sports and leisure equipment, have been introduced as a result of changes in board construction. TPE is a great choice for beginners to advanced riders looking for the perfect board weight. It creates surfboards that are durable, flexible, and meet other design criteria for a board that fits any riding style.

KRAIBURG TPE, a global TPE manufacturer of a wide range of TPE products and custom solutions for multiple industries, caters to the surfing equipment industry with a wide range of TPE products and custom solutions.

TPE is available in a variety of hardnesses and mechanical properties such as abrasion, scratch, and sebum resistance, as well as a soft velvety surface, giving designers a wide range of choices for their applications. TPE is typically used in surfing equipment applications such as surfboard pads, fins, ear plugs, coiled surf leashes, foot rings, paddle handles, and others.

Oil-resistance for better grip
KRABURG TPE’s AD/PAX/CR series is resistant to skin oils, sunscreen, and olive oils, making it ideal for surfboard applications as well as leashes, foot rings, paddle handles, sealing, and other sports equipment parts. The compound is a solution for 2-component seals with good adhesion to polyamides such as PA12, PA6 and PA6.6, partially aromatic polyamides (PAX), and polyarylamides (PARA) via the injection moulding process.

Velvety like the sea surface
The VS/AD/HM series provides smooth riding without the hiccups of scratches or grease. The compound series is the answer to velvety surfaces and the need for wear resistance. Surfboard pad, fin, earplug, GPS waterproof cover, and other parts are viable applications for this series. Furthermore, abrasion and scratch resistance, as well as resistance to skin oils, sunscreen, and olive oil, are important properties for surfing equipment that must withstand harsh extreme environmental conditions and substances such as sea water.

The series has good adhesion with PC, ABS, PC/ABS, ASA, SAN and polyamides like PA6 and PA12.

Vibrant colors, safe
Both series are available in a wide range of vibrant colors. The consistent colorability contributes to the improved appearance of TPE-rendered end products. These TPE compounds are also recyclable and free of latex, PVC, phthalates, and heavy metals. The flexibility and versatility of the compounds allow ergonomic and complex designs especially in board sports equipment.

Located in the heart of famous French dairy farming region, Valframbert demonstrates ongoing UNITED CAPS Close to You strategy.

Wiltz, Luxembourg, 5 May 2022 – UNITED CAPS, an international manufacturer of caps and closures, recently held a special customer day at its new manufacturing plant located in Valframbert, France, in the heart of a region of France famous for its dairy farming. This plant bolsters UNITED CAPS’ position as a global player with continuing growth, opening new opportunities in the infant nutrition and dairy markets with its ‘Close to You’ strategy and focus on innovation and sustainability.

During the event, UNITED CAPS demonstrated a brand-new product designed specifically to meet the needs of the infant nutrition and dairy markets. The Biostime bespoke closure for Health and Happiness Group reflects the dedication of UNITED CAPS’ RandD team in bringing differentiation to clients through a collaborative effort that enables a differentiated total packaging solution. Such is UNITED CAPS’ expertise in this area that more than 50% of UNITED CAPS products are bespoke closures tuned to specific customer requirements.

“At Biostime Nutrition, part of the Health and Happiness Group, we strive for excellence,” said Health and Happiness Group. “It’s in our DNA. So, to develop a closure that could represent that excellence and meet the demands of next generation nutrition, we looked for a partner that shared our passion for innovation that pushes boundaries. That search led us to UNITED CAPS and resulted in a development with an uncompromising commitment to quality and safety.”

An Expert in Infant Nutrition Packaging
UNITED CAPS has been recognised as the market reference for snap caps and scoops for tins of infant milk powder. Its expertise extends beyond the product itself to encompass how brands and fillers can best optimise their on-shelf standout. The Biostime closure developed for Health and Happiness Group is an example of the company’s superior bi-injection capability.

In addition to the new bespoke Biostime closure, UNITED CAPS offers a large portfolio of standard closures for dairy and infant nutrition, including:

• 127 SAFE-TE , a flip-top hinged closure whose innovative design is optimized for use in Asia, placing emphasis on product security and hygiene. 127 SAFE-TE’s tamper- evident band presents highly visible evidence of any tampering with a unique ‘drop down’ lock that makes it incredibly obvious if the product has been opened. Thanks to its flex band, it is literally impossible for a malevolent actor to remove the closure, tamper with the contents, and return the closure to its original condition. UNITED CAPS produces these closures in Asia, but also in Europe for fillers that ship product to Asia.
• 127 PROTECSCOOP , a premium one-handed, hinged closure with a built-in scoop. A contamination-free, foil-sealed chamber protects the scoop until use; and throughout the product life, scoop hygiene is optimized. An integrated hook keeps the scoop handy. PROTECSCOOP is used for both Asian and European products.
• KINDCAP, a pioneering, light-weight snap cap technology that is kinder to the environment and kinder to budgets offering up to double the capping speeds on existing lines without modifications.

A Focus on Sustainability
“As has been the case for many years, a key focus for UNITED CAPS is sustainability,” said Benoit Henckes UNITED CAPS CEO. “We consider the impact of our operations and our products on the environment in everything we do. This most recent joint development with Health and Happiness Group along with our off-the-shelf portfolios offer are good examples of how we are able to optimise functionality and sustainability. Our caps are engineered to perform in the hand, on the line, on the shelf and for the planet.”

In addition, UNITED CAPS has been an industry leader in the development of Tethered Closures to comply with the EU’s Single Use Plastic Directive, which also impacts some Dairy producers. To that end, UNITED CAPS is rolling out an exciting new range of tethered closures as part of its UCTC Range which promise to deliver Maximum Compliance with Minimum Disruption for our Dairy customers.

And furthermore, UNITED CAPS recently launched at its Sustainability Week: Every Cap Matters Webinar series an opportunity to enable brands to pilot and road-test packaging concepts that include caps made from ISCC+ Certified materials. ISCC Plus (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is a certification system that offers solutions for the implementation and certification of sustainable supply chains of raw materials and products, and also shows savings in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Along with MECHANICALLY RECYCLED resin, we offer both BIOBASED and CHEMICALLY RECYCLED feedstock,” Henckes noted. “This is certified material, and our extensive RandD has demonstrated that a closure made with ISCC+ certified resin looks and performs in exactly the same way as a traditionally made closure.”

As consumers increasingly expect brands to be more sustainable, they are also prepared both pay for more sustainable packaging and will penalise brands that don’t meet this
expectation.

Henckes concluded, “Companies need to act now. They will find it helpful to take an experimental approach to developing solutions with partners and then perfecting the packaging along the way. Attempts to second-guess consumer preferences in packaging-design labs are likely to increase the risk of market failure. UNITED CAPS are well positioned to help with that process, and we look forward to collaborating with brands in this space to help move their sustainability initiatives forward”

For more information about sustainability objectives at UNITED CAPS or other products and services, please visit www.unitedcaps.com or download the UNITED CAPS Interim Sustainability Report here: https://www.unitedcaps.com/company/united-caps/sustainability- interim-report-2020/

Interview with Tim Rudersdorf, Managing Director of ProTec Polymer Processing GmbH

Mr. Rudersdorf, what is the greatest benefit of digital transformation?
I think the greatest benefit of digital transformation is in interpersonal communication, because it enables a significant increase in employee efficiency. We have a very high wage level in Europe but are facing international competition. We cannot afford to operate with the same manpower as companies in countries where wage levels are lower. Conversely, this means that our employees must achieve higher productivity, which can be achieved through digitalisation.

What does that mean in concrete terms?
I would like to focus on sales. I have been working in B2B business in the plastics industry for many years. We know from studies that buyers in the manufacturing industry today use other channels for sourcing than visits from sales reps. When seeking equipment for a project, they first conduct research on the internet first, so their method is digital. They obtain a lot of information about products, possible suppliers, and even about the contact persons listed on the website. It’s only further down the line in the decision-making process, when the sourcing is already very far advanced, that a personal meeting will take place, which can now also take place virtually. As a supplier, we are therefore close to the customer despite the physical distance, enabling us to deploy our sales staff much more efficiently. Of course, personal visits will still take place. In the future, it will be important to find a good balance.

Has the pandemic accelerated this process?
Absolutely. We were able to significantly increase our order intake last year, even though trade fairs were almost non-existent. We have therefore rebuilt our online presence with a new website, our own social media channels, and a considerable amount of new content. Customer enquiries and ultimately orders are generated through this online presence. The pandemic has shown us that digitalisation plays a key role for us on the way to additional growth.

What role does digitalisation play at a later stage in terms of the cooperation with customers? Are they ready to exchange data yet?
There are still some hurdles to overcome for customers to rely on data exchange in the digital transformation. For example, if we received production data from a customer’s plant, we could tell them how to operate the machine more efficiently in the process. It is still comparatively easy to convince small and medium-sized companies of these advantages, where we are often in close contact with the managing directors. With large international corporations, it’s so much more difficult, as they usually have IT guidelines that make the digital transformation more difficult due to security reasons.

Is it necessary then for you to improve security?
On the one hand, as suppliers, as machine builders, we must be able to offer solutions of that nature for secure data exchange in the first place. But we only do that when there is a need. People have been talking about Industry 4.0 for years, but in my experience, many companies have been reluctant to use it for fear of losing know-how.

Could the experience of the Corona pandemic help to initiate a rethink in this field?
For sure. When customers’ machines failed unexpectedly in 2020 and 2021 because service technicians were no longer allowed to enter plants, we tried to solve the problems via data glasses or mobile phones with cameras. If those customers had opened up to us a little beforehand, allowing us, as their supplier, access to productivity levels, times, processed quantities and other framework parameters of their plants, it would probably have been possible to notice that something was not going right before the breakdown. I feel that the experience of the last two years has increased the pressure on customers. They know they have to do something. We are seeing a surge in maintenance contracts. That is a first step. Preventive maintenance, for which data exchange is essential, will hopefully follow.

The government is relying heavily on digitalisation. Is it doing enough in this respect?
Politicians are already quite supportive. There are many opportunities for companies to apply for funding. We have also done that, and the funds from theFederal Ministry of Research help us a lot in financing our digitalisation projects. For example, if we want to offer our customers secure data exchange in the future, we will need a qualification process for our employees. This is exactly what the ministry supports in our case. We can therefore not only offer customers secure predictive maintenance, but also make it easier for employees to operate the machines. This represents great added value, especially in times of skilled worker shortages.

Avery Dennison Corporation
(NYSE: AVY) today shared details of two major investments aimed at expanding its manufacturing capacity and improving factory efficiency in Europe to meet growing demand for its label and packaging materials.

The company said it is one year into a three-year, €45 million expansion of its facilities at Champ-sur-Drac, France. Enhancements include five new logistical buildings covering more than 8,700 square meters, a new automated warehouse, and an additional high-speed, state-of-the art hotmelt adhesive coater, scheduled to come online during 2024.

At its Luxembourg facility specializing in labels made with acrylic emulsion adhesives, the company has undertaken a €15 million project to redesign operational flow and add a new emulsion speciality coater. The coater is expected to come online during the first quarter of 2023.

“Our investments at Champs-sur-Drac and Luxembourg will allow us to meet customer demand now and into the future by freeing capacity throughout our European manufacturing network”, said Tim Presto, vice president of supply chain & operations, EMENA.

The expansions at both Luxembourg and Champs-sur-Drac will enhance the reliability of service for customers by strengthening the company’s already robust network of manufacturing plants and distribution centers across Europe. Finally, these expansions will take us a step closer to fully embracing Industry 4.0 practices that increase efficiency, reduce operating costs, and free our employees to perform safer, higher-value tasks.