Any way you look at it, the U.S. auto industry is in a growth period. Automotive sales figures are a moving target, so to speak. Sales are commonly expressed in terms of seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). Projected automotive sales in the U.S. for the calendar year 2012 range from 14-15+ million vehicles (combining cars and light trucks), the highest in 3-5 years, depending on the specific base of comparison. GM says
14-14.5 million, Autodata Corp. says 15.1 million, and other sources are within that range.

The overall figures are expressed in terms of sales, finessing the matter of where the vehicle was manufactured, and the origin of the components. “Made-in-the-U.S.” vehicles are chock full of components manufactured elsewhere. Also, U.S.-based companies set up manufacturing lines in other countries. Cars built in the U.S. are sold in the U.S., of course, but so are cars built in Germany, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. Detailed statistics are also kept in terms of specific manufacturer, monthly sales, and so on (New York Times, 5/2/12, p.B3), but our focus here is really on plastics, not detailed automotive statistics.

Quantity needs for plastics component suppliers to the automotive industry are associated not only with the total number of cars built, but also with the model-year structure of the industry, which dictates delivery times. Once a design is settled on and production dates set, auto-assembly plants will not wait for a given plastics component. If one processor can’t or won’t deliver it, another will.

Let’s look at some quantities to get an idea of the orders of magnitude we are dealing with here. Taking 330 pounds per car as the average plastics content per vehicle (an ICIS estimate), for every hundred thousand (100,000) vehicles added to annual sales, that means an increase of (330) x (100,000) = 33 million more pounds of plastics to be conveyed. And that’s just the amount of change, not the overall quantity.

Quality demands are formidable, exceeded perhaps only by the medical sector. Quality is critical from making the car to buying and using it. Assembly lines are very intolerant of a need to slow or stop in order to deal with a defective component. At the other end of the business, consumers are not very forgiving of cars that require a lot of service, and Web sites make service records of given makes and years of cars more readily available than ever, to the chagrin of a manufacturer whose flaws get well publicized.

Innovation needs are related to function, appearance, and cost. Auto manufacturers are trying to reduce overall vehicle weight, which means increasing the use of plastics, including glass-fiber-reinforced and aramid-fiber components, thermoplastic elastomers, and the commodity plastics, engineering plastics, and blends.

Exhibitors at the NPE 2012 event held in April in in Orlando touted a wide variety of innovations for the automotive sector. One relatively easy breakout of automotive categories is this: interior, exterior and under-the-hood components. An SPI/NPE table that names more specific automotive targets for innovation, without naming exhibitor names, is at www.npe.org/Markets/content.cfm?ItemNumber=4443&navItemNumber=4289

Novatec, the sponsor of this Knowledge Center, supplies conveying and drying equipment for plastics processors, including those in the automotive sector, and continuously improves its technology in both drying and conveying. Particularly notable is the recent introduction of the Moisture Master™ equipment for continuously measuring and controlling moisture levels online. Drying systems are needed for some automotive materials, especially the nylons (polyamides), the blends of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) and other hygroscopic materials. Novatec has recently entered the downstream extrusion equipment market as well.

For most of the 30+ years that I have been observing the plastics processing business, automotive has been the segment of the business in which the “grass is greener on the other side of the fence.” Processors who were not in the automotive sector wanted to be, for the volumes and the money. Processors who were serving the automotive market had reservations, as quality demands are unforgiving and payment arrangements are frequently difficult. It’s not a business for the faint of heart. However, the opportunity remains, especially in today’s growing automotive market.

You are already reading this on one of the links below, and for more information,
I encourage you to visit the other as well.
www.ptonline.com/kc/plastics-drying
www.ptonline.com/kc/plastics-conveying

Merle Snyder, Editor — Plastics Conveying & Plastics Drying Knowledge Centers

P.S. This commentary is mine, but the Knowledge Centers are sponsored by Novatec, whose personnel check this section for technical accuracy. This article is not a statement of Novatec policy. Please direct comments on this column to me at tekrite@gmail.com.

For additional technical information about inline moisture measurement,
contact Mark Haynie 410-789-4811, markh@novatec.com.
For additional technical information about conveying equipment,
contact Jim Zinski 410-457-1379, jimz@novatec.com.
 

Moisture requirements are normally specified in terms in terms of the drying process, not the actual moisture levels. The instructions typically specify drying in terms of airflow, temperature, time (frequently 3-6 hours), and dewpoint (usually -40˚F). The actual (vs. theoretical) moisture levels attained as a result of this regime is measurable, but traditionally only offline, and with error-prone, labor-intensive lab procedures.

A fundamental development has occurred in moisture-measurement technology. It is now technically and economically feasible to measure the actual moisture level of material online, while it is being processed, and to make changes, either manually or automatically, to generate the actual moisture level desired.

A new mentality is required for processors and their customers to commit to measure actual moisture level in plastics, rather than using the traditional criteria and trusting that the outcome will be OK. Customers now have the opportunity to identify actual moisture levels that are appropriate rather than just what procedures should be conducted.

The technology comes from BryScan, and is exclusively licensed to Novatec for use in North America. Novatec is marketing this product as MoistureMaster™. We addressed this briefly in our March editorial, (Of Pellets & Magnets) in connection with the use of magnetic forces to perform these actual measurements.

Moisture control is especially critical to satisfy customers in demanding applications, notably medical, automotive and electrical components. Appearance problems that can result from under- or over- drying include splay, silver streaking, internal bubbles, sink areas, stress cracks, and fogging. Physical property losses can include elongation and decreases in impact strength and tensile strength.

Influences on moisture content are numerous, and some of them unavoidable. Processors can’t change the natural progression of the seasons or some of the daily changes in process. Problems can be caused by changes as simple as changing the bag or gaylord source during the day or changing the regrind percentage to use up regrind from the warehouse.

Also, the inherent levels of moisture in polymer materials as received by the processor can vary considerably. In polycarbonate (PC), for example, moisture levels can less than 500ppm in the winter, but as high as 3000 ppm in the summer. Resin temperature can change by 120°F throughout the year and as much as 50-60°F over the course of a day.

Hopper design, resin type, drying time, drying temperature and other considerations can change the outlet moisture. However, the processor can compensate for changes in the situation by using equipment that measures moisture online and indicates what drying changes are needed or makes them automatically. This delivers consistently dried material to the process.

Briefly, here is the basis for the automatic moisture measurement technology. Dielectric constants of water range from 36-80, and polymers range from 2-5. The BryScan 100 uses a magnetic field to measure moisture content within the resin. It measures the known dielectric constant of a particular resin vs. the relatively high dielectric constant of water. Moisture can be expressed as a percentage of resin weight or as parts per million. Sensors have been designed to operate in a range of temperature from 0 to 190°C.

With real-time in-line moisture control, the moisture in the pellet is measured as the pellets pass through the sensor. Trending charts alert the processor to change dryer settings or stop production if the moisture isn’t within acceptable limits. When integrated with dryers equipped for the purpose, the dryer automatically makes changes to settings in order to maintain proper moisture levels.

The system can effect changes before making a bad part. After all, the best way of dealing with a bad part is to not make it in the first place.

Merle R. Snyder
Editor, Plastics Drying Knowledge Center, April 2012

P.S. This commentary is mine, and the PDKC is sponsored by Novatec, whose personnel check this section for technical accuracy. This article is not a statement of Novatec policy. Please direct comments on this column to me at tekrite@gmail.com.

Additional technical information about inline moisture measurement is available from Novatec personnel Doug Arndt at 410-789-4811, douga@novatec.com or Mark Haynie 410-789-4811, Markh@novatec.com--MS
 

For me the standout in change among process technologies is controls. That word makes most of us think of machine controls for temperature, pressure, and so on, but we also should include all the other control technology for the total business. That includes production, but should include controls for financial, project, human resources, supply chain, facilities, and maintenance management. Poor control of any of those can bring potentially serious problems to a processing business.

It should be obvious that I’m thinking about ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning, which ought to be called something like complete operation software. It watches everything, and you watch it – to watch everything. ERP isn’t new. Many processors have it. But it would seem we’re past the point where it’s an option.

How critical ERP is hit me in the face about four years ago during a visit to the startup Chinese operation of California medical molder APEC. They had barely moved in. Only three injection machines were in the clean room, though there was space for more and potential to expand further. But the first piece of “equipment” I saw just inside the front door was a black mid-range computer behind glass doors, up and running, and looking a bit like a trophy.

That was the host computer of the company’s ERP system, an exact duplicate of the IQMS ERP system used at APEC’s California facility. It was the first thing set up in the new shop because “that’s what runs everything else,” and everything else in the Shenzhen shop was an exact duplicate of what was working in the California plant.

APEC was acquired in 2008 by Freudenberg-NOK and is now part of that company’s Helix Medical LLC division. Helix Medical’s APEC Asia website shows the Shenzhen facility I visited, but with much more equipment. Not surprisingly, the fact sheet says the IQMS software also is still running.

Many successful processing shops have taken ERP to heart, learned it, and profit from its powerful control tools. If you run your business the traditional way – waiting for reports to reach you – it’s worth thinking about how you will compete with those who see their operations in real time and whose mobile phone tells them when something is just starting to look like a problem. This game won’t get any easier.