News
from the
Scottish Plastics and Rubber Association

September 2008
 







 
Click button for Archived News


Contributions
ALBYN: INNOVATE TO COMPETE


Each News issue will feature one of the SPRA Corporate Members.
Appropriately in this issue we feature Albyn Limited, the first SPRA Corporate Member, both alphabetically and chronologically.
Albyn Limited was formed in 1973 to carry on the 150 year old tradition in the Aberdeen area of manufacturing combs. The injection moulding company developed a range of healthcare and beauty products and was selling into major retailers both in the UK and overseas. More recently, faced with mounting globalization of ordering by major retailers, reverse auctions and competition from moulders in low cost economies, the company reinvented itself by outsourcing the moulding facility and concentrating on its strengths of design, marketing and excellent customer base. Doing so it became a company that brought innovative products and packaging to the market place through licensing, exclusive distribution and developing products from a customer brief.
Specialising in the haircare sector, Albyn now has two main markets:

1 The professional hair market where products are developed for major brands like
Toni and Guy, Trevor Sorbie and Lee Stafford.

2. The head lice market. Here, Albyn develops lice detection and removal products for
major brands around the world, such as Full Marks, Lyclear, Rid and Nix.


The transition has been challenging but is proving a success.

In the professional hair market, Albyn recently won a prestigious Silver Award from Pure Beauty Magazine for Best Appliance Launch. The appliance was an innovative gift set developed for the Lee Stafford brand, comprising electrical hair products in an attractive and re-useable vanity case. This, combined with other Lee Stafford accessories, is supplied to customers both in the UK and overseas, with Russia becoming the most recent market to order.

 


Within the head lice market, Albyn has just celebrated the 5th anniversary of supplying the Rid Dual Comb Pack to Bayer Healthcare in the USA. This product continues to be the number one selling lice comb in North America. New customers for lice products have been added in Spain and Norway, increasing to 12 the number of overseas markets to which Albyn supplies lice products.

Albyn serves as an excellent example of how innovative thinking can counteract unfavourable trading conditions.

Recommendations from Customers:

"impressed at input of ideas and the service you provide. We want to say thank you"
Global healthcare company

"Albyn Limited's expertise in identifying new market gaps and capitalising on them before others makes them the best choice for the suppliers of head lice removal products."
Major European healthcare company

"much more creative than far-eastern suppliers"
UK drugstore chain


Tel: +44 1224 335800

Fax: +44 1224 335801
Email: info@albyn-int.com

WebSite: www.albyn-int.com
POLYMER STUDY TOUR 2008

Although delegate numbers were down on 2007, the annual 4-day residential course for teachers held at Napier University in June, met with general approval from teachers from all over the UK. Good use of the available time ensured that the mixture of science, design and technology teachers gained a useful insight into the world of polymers. Formal sessions were conducted by Colin Hindle, and other Napier staff, on the basics of polymeric materials and associated processing, followed by a range of guest speakers -- Colin Williamson on 'History of Plastics', John McLoughlin on 'Plastics Product Design' and John Sale on 'Environmental Sustainability' -- all generating considerable questions and informal discussion.


Results of vacuum forming
 The hands-on practical sessions on polymer processing, materials testing and identification of plastics were likewise tackled with enthusiasm. The rocket car race, the traditional ice-breaker on the first day, involving vehicles constructed by the teachers from a coke bottle, vacuum formed chassis and injection moulded wheels, had elements of frustration, elation and disappointment but helped engender a further appreciation of polymeric materials.


Fatigue testing of Expanded Polystyrene chairs designed by Tom Dixon

The eye-opening feature of the course was once again the visits to local companies,
Vitasheet Group to view extrusion and
Bausch & Lomb for injection moulding.

There was also a tour of Grangemouth to see the polymer manufacturing complexes of Ineos, Sabic IP and Polimeri.

Polishing up on sheet extrusion at
VitaSheet Group

All eyes on contact lens manufacture
at Bausch and Lomb

Winners of the Rocket Car Race
 The chief guest at the course dinner was Colin Richards, Renter Warden of the Worshipful Company of Horners and Chairman of the Polymer Innovation Network, who talked about the origins of the Horners and its current support for polymer education.

SPRA again sponsored two teachers,
Allan Gorman, Design & Technology teacher at Gairloch High School and
Caroline Byrne, Technology teacher at Portobello High School.

For £750, any company can sponsor a teacher in 2009 and thereby build up a relationship with a local school. At the same time the image of the company and the polymer sector can be improved to help future recruitment.
For further details of
enrolling on Polymer Study Tour 2009
or sponsoring a teacher

contact Colin Hindle
0131 455 2622
C.Hindle@napier.ac.uk
MATERIALS IN SPORT


At the June SPRA meeting, Alan Davidson, Lecturer in Materials at Napier University and President of the Scottish Association for Metals, provided SPRA members, their guests and the teachers on the Polymer Study Tour with an overview of how materials selection and materials development have had a huge impact on all sports. Examples varied from everyday leisure pursuits of golf, skiing, cycling and tennis to the high technology of Formula 1 motor racing. In many applications exploitation of the unique properties offered by polymeric materials has been the key.
Golf ball construction has moved on from the original 'feathery' (goose feathers in a leather cover) to the sophisticated multilayer balls with controlled modulus elastomeric cores, thermoplastic elastomer layers and a tough thermoplastic cover (usually ionomer 'Surlyn'). Replacement of the wooden shafts of golf clubs with graphite/epoxy composites has improved both distance and accuracy - longer stiffer shafts give increased club head speed and the bigger sweet spots in larger club heads give better accuracy. Modern skis have progressed from the all-wooden versions to composite designs with polyethylene running surfaces.


'Feathery' golf ball



Modern multilayer golf ball

Extensive use of polyurethane has resulted in ski boots that are lighter, mechanically more suitable, more waterproof and easier to clean than the old leather boots. In athletics, steadily improving records owe much to the use of polymeric materials in the track surfaces while pole vault records have been transformed by the move from bamboo poles to aluminium and now carbon fibre


Composite pole vault construction
epoxy composites. Advanced polymeric composites also feature in the construction of Formula 1 cars but the most critical polymer involvement is in the design of the tyres. Low modulus tread compounds help grip in wet conditions but the associated high hysteresis heat build up in dry conditions lead to catastrophic degradation. Many field sports have been made more accessible through development of all-weather synthetic sports surfaces, which make use of polypropylene and polyethylene fibre for the 'grass', polyurethane for the base and rubber crumb for resilience.

Napier University

A.Davidson@napier.ac.uk
 
CHINAPLAS

Report by Colin Hindle, SPRA Education Officer

I was very fortunate to join the British Plastics Federation Trade Mission to China and attend the Chinaplas Exhibition in Shanghai. Flying from Edinburgh to London via Heathrow Terminal 5 & 4 my trepidation was unfounded and the total journey time of 19 hours door to door was only 4 times that I would have taken to get to Telford. Not bad when you consider its 5,606 miles "as the crow flies" but then we went by 777. We were well looked after by British Airways and arrived at Pudong airport after breakfast raring to go. The Maglev train travelling at 300 km/hr was our first introduction to China and we could have been in any major modern city but then a taxi ride to our hotel introduced us to the traffic, fumes, and car horn sounds of China, or at least Shanghai. We decided to save the exhibition for the next day and took time to relax, explore our surroundings and meet our fellow "missioners". Our banquet that evening introduced us to the local cuisine and I recalled some of the advice I had been given - "don't ask!".
The next morning (Friday) at 9 am we climbed aboard the bus and headed for the exhibition. Modern halls and K-show style advertising greeted us. With 11 halls and 5 smaller tented exhibition spaces I decided on my 2 day stratergy and set about the long walk. The UK exhibitors were all around the BPF pavilion in Hall W1 and this gave us a base as well as a place to sit down and have a coffee. The familiar European companies, machinery and materials were much in evidence and seemed to be doing good business. The contrast between European and even Taiwanese machinery and the local Chinese machinery was stark. With the exception of extrusion, where possibly the home market for noodles puts the in a similar position to Italy (pasta extrusion gives them a strong position as extruder manufactures), there was no comparison.

Chinese machines typically had few if any guards. Where there were guards (usually only at the front) there were no interlocks, replaced instead with signs that read "do not open when machine working". Machinery was certainly on offer at bargain prices, e,g. you could buy a K-Tron gravimetric doser for less than the UK price for the equivalent volumetric version.

Chinese design was not evident at all either in products or machinery. You begin to see why when it comes to Rover they would buy the company whereas we would not even buy the car. Moulding machine designs were very old fashioned (pre-1980) with large footprints due to both long opening strokes and inefficient simple toggle designs. The contrast between local Chinese machines and the likes of Arburg, Demag and JSW was night and day.

Interestingly the materials exhibits were much more even with local suppliers clearly learning from the international boys. Bayer, DuPont, Lanxess, etc. were all there with the same size stands you would see at K. Not surprisingly there was a strong presence from Middle East and Far East materials manufactures. Compared to European exhibitions the surprise for me was the absence of processors as exhibitors, and small lot distributors. The former may be a cultural thing and perhaps the newly established inward investment moulders, such as Rosti who have a plant just outside Shanghai, already have enough business. The small lot distributor? - well that's bound to come. Clearly "small" is a relative term, especially when you consider the >40 million tpa of plastics that China consumes each year.
On the Saturday evening there was a reception at our hotel with staff from the British Consulate, UK Trade & Investment, and the Chinese Plastics Processing Industry Association (CPPIA) which like the BPF has business groups. I spoke to the chairman of the recycling group who told me that they were looking to buy the automatic plant and equipment that we use in Europe because they could not afford the increasing labour rate (>20% pa) for manual sorting. China is still keen to import good quality clean plastic waste because the demand for plastics far exceeds supply.
On the Sunday morning while the rest of the group had a lie-in and then went on a factory visit arranged by the CPPIA we headed to the nearby Hongqiao airport to fly just over 1,000 miles into the very centre of China. Lanzhou, the capital city of northwest Gansu Province has a population of >3 million and is situated on the Yellow River and the ancient Silk Road. A petrochemical complex much larger than Grangemouth dominates the view as we approach the city on our 73 km journey from the airport. As we leave the toll dual carriageway - I would refer to it as a motorway except for the oncoming bicycles along the hard shoulder - we encounter the real China as our driver expertly steers our 4 x 4 around the worst of the potholes, indeed craters, in the road. Through the smog I can clearly see the gas phase polyethylene plant ahead. Here there is no injection of steam into the flare-stack and the flame burns orange and smoky but its hard to see the smoke as the air is dark anyway. In addition to petrochemicals, Lanzhou is a centre for non-ferrous metallurgy, textiles, rubber and machinery manufacture. We are here to see machinery being manufactured and our tour on a Sunday is quiet and extensive. We will be gone before the hundreds of workers arrive tomorrow morning. When our driver arrives to collect us from our hotel at 5.45 am there is already 20 mm of snow lying and it is still coming down. This is a surprise to us, however we are 1500 m above sea level which is higher than Ben Nevis. Our driver expertly gets us to the airport in good time to catch our 8.00 am flight.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE POLYMER SECTOR

When Cogent Sector Skills Council published, in 2006, the results of the Skills Needs Assessment for the UK polymer sector, there was general agreement among observers, and no views to the contrary from companies in the plastics and rubber business, that maintaining competitiveness in the face of global competition would require addressing three critical areas:
The sector would have to be more innovative and move to niche markets with higher added value;

To become more innovative, companies would have to narrow the skills gaps, particularly at the higher technical level;

Both aims could be achieved with good management and better leadership.
Some companies have responded well to the challenges but others appear to have ducked the opportunity to develop skills. With around 50% of school leavers destined for Higher and Further education, companies are unlikely to find as much raw talent in shopfloor recruitment as they did 30 years ago. SMEs have been reluctant to tap into the graduate pool but there is plenty evidence that those who did take on graduates have benefited. Today one of the best contributors to innovation in polymer companies is the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme. Not only is the cost of a graduate heavily reduced but the companies can also tap into the resources of academic institutions, the other partners in the scheme. With universities forced to move away from highly specific degree courses, engineering and science graduates will need more help in absorbing the specialised knowledge of polymeric materials and their associated manufacturing processes. In the short term, perhaps it would be better for the sector if Cogent concentrated more on 'graduate apprenticeships' than on lower level skills. If companies are serous about upskilling their workforce, I would expect them to be actively seeking help from Cogent, the SPRA, academic institutions and other providers, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. Some companies have expressed their requirements but the overall voice has to be stronger before funding bodies take notice.
Charlie Geddes, SPRA Hon Secretary
The personal views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the SPRA.
 
ECOPET EXTRUSION

The polymer sector in Scotland has received a welcome shot in the arm with the start up in East Kilbride of a new venture, Ecopet Extrusion Limited, which will produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) food grade packaging film from PET recyclate. The extrusion line is capable of producing film suitable for thermoforming, at thicknesses in the range of 200 - 1000 microns and at widths up to 1500mm. Anton Davis, a former chemical engineer with ICI, heads up the company of 13 employees, having secured financial backing of £450,000 from the business angel group, Highland Venture Capital and the Scottish Enterprise Co-investment Fund.
01355 247 972
anton@ecopetextrusion.co.uk
POLYMER EDUCATION

September sees another chapter in the evolution of polymer education at Napier University in Edinburgh. The University is moving from 15 credit modules to 20 credit modules. Although this will have minimal impact on the BEng Hons Polymer Engineering programme, the opportunity has been taken to increase the teaching of polymer materials manufacturing technology to general engineering students by 33%.


Napier University
BEng/BEng (Honours) Polymer Engineering
Year 1

Computers in Engineering
Engineering Principles (Elec)
Engineering Principles (Mech)
Engineering Laboratory Foundation Mathematics
Option 1

Year 2

Management for Engineers 1
Engineering Design & CAD
Mathematics
Materials & Manufacture
Mechanics & Thermofluids
Option 2
Year 3

Plastic Product Design
Materials & Manufacture 2
Management for Engineers 2
Engineering Applications (Mechanical)
Energy Systems Design
Industrial Placement (Honours)
Individual Project (Degree
Year 4

Mechanics
Polymer Engineering
Polymer Process Simulation
Professional Engineering
Project
BEng Degree
BEng(Hons)
The part-time programme covers the same modules as above, over 6 years of study

The new module structure at postgraduate level sees the launch of MSc Polymer Engineering, replacing MSc Engineering (Polymers), and MSc Advanced Materials Engineering, replacing the long standing MSc Materials Technology. Plans are in hand to seek professional accreditation for the new programme structures next year.

Colin Hindle, Programme Leader for Polymer Engineering, would welcome comments from employers on the new provision, particularly for part-time students.

School of Engineering and the Built Environment

www.napier.ac.uk/sebe

09452 60 60 40

C.Hindle@napier.ac.uk
CONGRATULATIONS



At the Napier University ceremony in July, seven students graduated from the BEng/BEng (Hons) Polymer Engineering Programme, two at Honours level and five at Degree level.
Nirmal Gandhi
Emmanuel Monnin (left), who was awarded an SPRA scholarship earlier this year, graduated with an Upper Second Class Honours in BEng (Hons) Polymer Engineering. Emmanuel is now working at Lab901

Alexander McNair (right), another SPRA scholarship student, graduated with First Class Honours in BSc (Hons) Product Design Engineering.

The SPRA congratulates all the graduates and wishes them every success in their careers.
 
DESIGN INNOVATION IN PLASTICS 2009

Established in 1985, Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running student plastics design award in Europe. It is sponsored by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Worshipful Company of Horners and Bayer Material Science

The challenge of the 2009 Award is to design a product suitable for mass production in plastics that clearly demonstrates the principles of sustainable design.

Entrants are tasked with creating a product that helps to meet a key human need, including water, food, energy, shelter, transport and lighting.

Definitions of sustainable design include "the best performance for the least cost over the long term" and "meeting current or future needs without compromising the environment".



Sara Bellini, winner of the Design Innovation in Plastics 2007, for her winning entry "Keepsafe Personal Bag Security Accessory"

 
The over-riding rationale of sustainability is
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Recover Energy.
Design submissions will be judged on originality, use of plastics, sustainability, manufacture, aesthetics, viability, presentation.

First Prize:

Second Prize

Third Prize

4th, 5th 6th

£1000 plus a placement at Bayer Material Science, Germany
(plus £500 for the university)
£500 plus placement at DuPont, Geneva

£250 plus placement at PDD

£100 plus placements in local companies
Schedule

17 October 2008 Deadline for submission of entry form
November 2008 Road Show at various Universities (Napier University 14 November)
27 February 2009 Deadline for Submission of Design
10 March 2009 Preliminary judging
02 June 2009 Final judging at Tower of London (6 finalists present, expenses paid)
26 June 2009 Awards ceremony in London
29 June - 31 July Exhibition of short listed designs in London

For more information and an entry form go to www.iom3.org/designaward2009

 
CONTRIBUTIONS


For contributions to future Newsletters, press releases, sponsorship contact:
Charlie Geddes,
143 Lady Nairn Avenue, Kirkcaldy,
Fife KY1 2AT
tel: 01592 651 269;
E-mail :c.geddes@blueyonder.co.uk

 


[ home page ]