Articles
How to Extrusion Blow Mold PHA/PLA Blends
You need to pay attention to the inherent characteristics of biopolymers PHA/PLA materials when setting process parameters to realize better and more consistent outcomes.
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Gear Pumps Alleviate Pressure in Extrusion Barrels
At #PTXPO23 we talked with PSI Polymer Systems general manager Donald Macnamara about how gear pumps help in the extrusion process.
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Foam-Core Multilayer Blow Molding: How It’s Done
Learn here how to take advantage of new lightweighting and recycle utilization opportunities in consumer packaging, thanks to a collaboration of leaders in microcellular foaming and multilayer head design.
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Processor Turns to AI to Help Keep Machines Humming
At captive processor McConkey, a new generation of artificial intelligence models, highlighted by ChatGPT, is helping it wade through the shortage of skilled labor and keep its production lines churning out good parts.
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Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: Part 31, The Conclusion
Let’s close this lengthy series with some personal anecdotes.
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Flexible-Film Processor Optimizes All-PE Food Packaging
Tobe Packaging’s breakthrough was to create its Ecolefin PE multilayer film that could be applied with a specialized barrier coating.
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The Cost of High Employee Turnover in Injection Molding: Why Retention Matters
Starting in molding in 1993 and clocking in for nearly every job on the floor over the intervening decades, I’ve seen all sides of the hiring, training and retention process in the industry. Here are my thoughts on how to keep your most important asset — your people.
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Hot Runners: Truths. Myths, Overlooked Areas: Part 2
Here’s a view from the trenches of a tooling manager who, over 30 years, has experienced the joys and pains of using virtually every type of hot runner on the market. Part 2.
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Attention Molders: Time to Get Serious About Sustainability
If you’re not looking at ways to make your injection molding operation more sustainable, perhaps you’d better get started.
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Atop the Plastics Pyramid
Allegheny Performance Plastics specializes in molding parts from high-temperature resins for demanding applications as part of its mission to take on jobs ‘no one else does.’
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How to Configure Your Twin-Screw Extruder: Part 3
The melting mechanism in a twin-screw extruder is quite different from that of a single screw. Design of the melting section affects how the material is melted, as well as melt temperature and quality.
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Roll Cooling: Understand the Three Heat-Transfer Processes
Designing cooling rolls is complex, tedious and requires a lot of inputs. Getting it wrong may have a dramatic impact on productivity.
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