Innovative technology and equipment offer superior process control and produce better parts with higher repeatability and reproducibility. In a recent article published in the October 2019 issue of Plastics Engineering, new developments by Kansas City, Mo., startup Ripple Engineering address two of the most frustrating challenges with rotational molding (rotomolding): long cycle times and poor part repeatability and reproducibility (R&R).
SPE is pleased to announce the opening of its new headquarters office in Connecticut. Located at 100 Reserve Rd, Suite B310 in Danbury, the SPE office will be situated in The Summit at Danbury, a 1.3 million square foot living, working, and recreational environment located within 99 wooded acres. Well-known in the plastics industry, The Summit property was formerly home to Union Carbide’s headquarters building.
The Automotive Division of SPE recently announced the winners for its 49th annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries.
In October's issue of Plastics Engineering, Jeffrey A. Jansen, Senior Managing Engineer and Partner, The Madison Group and popular SPE webinar presenter, shares this advice for those new to the plastics industry: "Learn as much as you can related to plastics materials. Building a fundamental knowledge of plastics at a structural and molecular level will serve you well across material, processing, and design aspects."
Giving High Impact Feedback, presented on October 17 by Rick Lepsinger, Managing Partner, OnPoint Consulting, is focused on helping managers and team leaders create a climate that supports open feedback, provides strategies to reduce defensiveness, and ensures feedback is perceived as useful.
Deadline for submitting papers into ANTEC® 2020 is October 25! Don't miss this opportunity to contribute to the largest, most respected and well-known technical conference in the plastics industry.
Degradation Failure of Plastics, presented on October 10 by Jeffrey A. Jansen, Senior Managing Engineer and Partner, The Madison Group, is focused on plastics susceptibility to molecular degradation through a variety of exposures. Topics include: plastic molecular degradation; material susceptibility to degradation; stabilizers to prevent degradation; testing; and more.
On the most recent episode of PlastChicks – The Voices of Resin podcast, hosts Lynzie Nebel and Mercedes Landazuri talk to guest Eric R. Larson, Author and Founder/Chief Engineer at Art of Mass Production, during ANTEC® 2019. The trio riffs on plastics, Eric's new book for children, and linguistics.
The first Plastic-Metal Hybrid (PMH) front end structure, used on the 1999 C170 Ford Focus GOR from Ford Motor Company, has been named the 2019 Hall of Fame winner by the Automotive Division SPE.
Bumps & Bruises: Starting Your First Real Job, presented on October 1 by Jeremy Dworshak, Plastics Engineer, Steinwall, is focused on maneuvering through the landscape of your first job. Topics covered include understanding your role in the workplace, effectively working with peers, planning your future and more. Bumps & Bruises: Starting Your First Real Job and dozens of recorded webinars are currently available to SPE members in the SPE Library.
The SPE Thermoforming Division has announced the winners of its annual parts competition. The awards were presented during the Thermoforming Division’s annual conference, held last week in Milwaukee, WI.
Five nationwide to receive scholarships from the SPE Thermoforming Division. Recipient information can be found here.
Introduction to Design for Rotational Molding, presented on September 18th by Michael Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems, is focused on the rotational molding process, applications and basic design guidelines. Webinar highlights include the distinctions between rotational molding and other processes (i.e. injection molding) and touches on gaining technical knowledge and learning basic skills necessary to understanding rotational molding. Introduction to Design for Rotational Molding and dozens of recorded webinars are currently available to SPE members in the SPE Library.
ANTEC® 2020, taking place March 30-April 2 in San Antonio, TX, is the largest, most respected and well-known technical conference in the plastics industry. SPE is now accepting paper submissions for publication and presentation. Present the latest topics in industrial, national laboratory and academic work. Raise awareness and share your findings in polymer research or new and improved products and technologies.
The organizing committee for the SPE® Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) announced the Best Paper Award winners of the group’s nineteenth-annual show, Sept. 4 – 6, 2019. Three authors, who received the highest average ratings by conference peer reviewers out of a field of close to 100 contenders, will be honored for excellence in technical writing with a commemorative plaque during the SPE ACCE opening ceremonies on September 4th.
The organizing committee for the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) announced the winners of the group’s annual SPE ACCE scholarships and the Dr. Jackie Rehkopf scholarships from an endowed fund that has been set up to honor the long-time SPE ACCE committee member, SPE Automotive Division board member, and automotive composites researcher.
Over 40 SPE Foundation Scholarship recipients for 2019 were announced on August 29. The SPE Foundation offers numerous scholarships to students who have demonstrated or expressed interest in the plastics industry.
The 57th Annual SPE Color and Appearance Division RETEC® will be held in Cleveland, OH September 23 – 25, 2019. Take advantage of early rates and register by 9/6/2019 to save $100. Event includes two full days of technical sessions, 60+ exhibitors showcasing products and services as well as multiple networking opportunities.
ANTEC® 2020 is the largest, most respected and well-known technical conference in the plastics industry. SPE is now accepting paper submissions for publication and presentation. Present the latest in industrial, national laboratory and academic work. Share your findings in polymer research or new and improved products and technologies.
The executive planning committee for the SPE® Automotive Composites Conference & Expo (ACCE) is announcing the third keynote speaker for their 19th annual event September 4 – 6, 2019 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich. in the Detroit suburbs.
Michael J. Whitens, retired former Global Director for Ford’s Vehicle and Enterprise Sciences at Ford’s Research and Innovation Center, has been named the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Automotive Division of the SPE.
The executive planning committee for the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Expo (ACCE) is announcing the second keynote speaker for their 19th annual event September 4 – 6, 2019 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich. Gulay Serhatkulu, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials North America, BASF Corp. will present “Chemistry-Driven Composite Innovation – the Future is Now.” The presentation will outline the challenges facing composites solutions in the automotive industry and what needs to happen to increase the adoption.
SPE recently announced Accede Mold & Tool Co., Inc. as an SPE Preferred Partner. An SPE Preferred Partner is a converter, manufacturer, solutions provider or product distributor that has been recognized by SPE for demonstrated leadership and innovation in the plastics industry.
Nominations are now open for SPE Honored Service Members and Fellow-of-the-Society. Fellows are honored for their contributions in the fields of plastics engineering, science or technology, or in the management of such activities and Honored Service Members are recognized for their outstanding service to the Society and its objectives. For more information, please visit SPE's Awards and Recognition area on our website.
The organizing committee for the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) issued a call for nominations for its annual parts competition at the group's 2019 conference, September 4-6 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan.
This year, the SPE Milwaukee Section is celebrating its 75th anniversary as a chapter in the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). Since 1944, SPE Milwaukee has focused on spreading knowledge, strengthening skills and promoting plastics throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis(DMA) is a thermoanalytical technique that measures the stiffness (modulus) and damping (tan delta) of polymeric materials to assess the viscoelastic properties as a function of time, temperature, and frequency. Polymeric materials display both elastic and viscous behavior simultaneously, and DMA can separate these responses. Polymers, composed of long molecular chains, have unique viscoelastic properties, which combine the characteristics of elastic solidsand Newtonian fluids.
Taking place March 30- April 2 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, TX, ANTEC® 2020 will host managers, engineers, R&D scientists, technicians, sales & marketing associates, executives, academics and students through this networking and knowledge sharing event. Exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities are now available.
Compensation of professionals in the plastics industry made a healthy gain last year according to the recently released 2019 Plastics Salary Survey, conducted jointly by SPE and MBS Advisors.
The seminar aims at review of available sandwich panel technologies, with the focus on configuration with thermoplastic honeycomb core being accepted in more and more applications today. The principles and benefits of sandwich panel design will be presented, along to post-processing techniques and examples of applications starting from a lower end of industrial packaging, through building and transportation, including but not limited to automotive.
What makes a product successful? It’s always a blend of both functional and emotional attributes that together create beauty in a product. This webinar will focus on these attributes and their proper application in the entire spectrum of the product design and development process.
This webinar will introduce the attendees to the basics and most important topics related to thermoset rubber compounds. About 15 billion kilograms of rubber are produced ever year. Rubber finds its way into wide range of applications in the automotive, medical, appliance, electrical, and chemical industries. As a class of materials, rubber has many useful properties because of its unique molecular structure. These include being soft and relatively flexible, high ultimate elongation coupled with good elastic recovery, useful over a wide temperature range, and good chemical resistance.
This webinar, presented by David Peterson, Managing Partner for Direct Recruiters, will focus on resume development, looking for job opportunities, networking, interview types and tips, getting offers and more. Peterson manages and oversees DRI search and recruitment teams in the Plastics and Flexible Packaging industries.
During the ANTEC® 2019 plastics technical conference in Detroit, MI, SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals honored plastic products that meet the ultimate test of value by making our lives better in some way.
BETHEL, CT—March 18, 2019: SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals announced today that its ANTEC® 2021 program will take place on March 22-26 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown in Denver, Colorado. ANTEC® 2020 was previously announced for March 30-April 2 at the Marriott River Center in San Antonio, Texas.
BETHEL,CT—SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals announced today a licensing agreement with PLASTICS Industry Association’s for its This is Plastics® program.
BETHEL, CT—SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals announced today that its partnering with more than fifty-three other leading societies to form the Societies Consortium on Sexual Harassment in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine).
BETHEL, CT—Feb 20, 2019: At SPE’s ANTEC® 2019 in March, the SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals will introduce two new Honored Service Members who are being recognized for their contributions to the Society.
BETHEL, CT—Feb 19, 2019: At March’s SPE ANTEC® 2019 in Detroit, MI, SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals will introduce twelve new Fellows who are being recognized for their contributions to the Society.
An organization’s ability to manage accountability is key to its success. Among top-performing organizations, 77 percent of leaders reported employees of all levels are held accountable for results, according to an OnPoint Consulting survey. Only 44 percent of leaders said this was true at less successful organizations. Learn how to recognize and measure accountability, manage accountability more effectively and evaluate how well your team or organization is performing in this area.
Many leaders would say they want to create a culture of accountability, but what does this look like when it’s put into practice? How can you measure accountability within your team or organization? What are some challenges that keep you from holding others accountable? How do you respond to someone who makes excuses?
As Industry 4.0 gains momentum in the plastics industry, many are calculating the risk-reward ratio of becoming early adopters. To truly understand the urgency of starting your Industry 4.0 project, consider what you’re losing by not innovating, specifically: the cost of poor quality, downtime, and competitiveness.
In this session, you will learn why the process data and analytics provided by Industry 4.0 solutions are the most important part of industrial automation and how they can help you solve your production problems.
BETHEL, CT—February 4, 2019: SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals and the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) announced the continuation of their partnered membership program for plastics industry brand owner companies. This program which started in 2017, grants employees of companies that belong to PLASTICS Brand Owners Council SPE memberships, with access to all SPE benefits. Employees of all current and newly-registered PLASTICS brand owner company members are eligible to participate.
Creep is the tendency of a polymeric material to deform permanently under the influence of constant stress, as applied through tensile, compressive, shear, or flexural loading. It occurs as a function of time through extended exposure to levels of stress that are below the yield strength of the material. Given sufficient time, this can lead to creep rupture, the failure within a material as a result of continuously applied stress at a level below the tensile strength. Plastic materials are particularly prone to creep rupture through exposure to static stresses, and a recent study indicates that 22% of plastic failures are associated with creep.
BETHEL, CT—January 31, 2019: SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals announced today that Townsend Solutions is SPE's first Preferred Partner. An SPE Preferred Partner is a converter, manufacturer, solutions provider or product distributor that has been recognized by SPE for demonstrated leadership and innovation in the plastics industry.
Visit www.4spe.org/antec for more information about ANTEC® 2019 Detroit.
You’re nearing graduation; Yeah!
Cannot wait to start getting multiple job offers; double Yeah!
Now you have multiple job offers; oh Crap!
How do you choose which one to pick; double Crap!
Hopefully this webinar will help put some quantitative decision making around a very complex choice: what job offer will you choose to start your career and how do you know you’ll make enough money to thrive?!
Cycle time optimization is often one of the main objectives when designing and constructing the mold. However, the majority of a molding cycle is often dictated by the cooling time. Therefore, it is strange that in the mold design process the integration and design of the cooling line layout and high conductivity inserts is often left toward the end of the design process where the design envelops has been drastically reduced. It is also commonly believed that the placement of the cooling lines is the only driver for properly cooling the part, and its design only influences the manufacturability of the part.
Studies show that higher levels of emotional intelligence and social intelligence are what separates top performers from average performers. And emotional and social intelligence impacts almost everything we say and do!
When professionals build and leverage their emotional and social intelligence, they are better equipped to develop rewarding strategic partnerships, increase their influence and boost their performance.
SPE’s Plastics Engineering magazine is now housed in Wiley Online Library. The capabilities and functionality of the library enhance the reader experience by providing access to back-file content back to 2007, full-text search and inclusion in collections. As a benefit of membership, SPE members will continue to have full online access to the publication, along with SPE’s three journals, by logging in through SPE’s website, www.4spe.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—October 10, 2018: As the result of the success of their student program partnership — which assisted over 2,000 students in their pursuit of a career in plastics since 2015 — the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and SPE: Inspiring Plastics Professionals today announced they will continue the partnership for an additional year through September 2019.
Bethel, CT. October 09, 2018 SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals is pleased to announce the launch of a new mentoring program for its members.
Improving design with thermally conductive compounds. From adimensional numbers to graphite orientation driven local thermal conductivity
Added-value should be as customizable and diverse as the people using it. SPE partners with businesses that ensure your success, wherever we go or whatever we're doing. Only as an SPE member, are you invited to share in on some of those great deals as well!
Goal: To address questions that arise regarding wear within plastic components: What causes plastic parts to wear? • What is friction, and how is it different than wear? • Can I test my material to predict wear?
How to make better presentations and engage your audience more.
BETHEL, CT, U.S.A. July 24, 2018: With only eight months leading up to ANTEC® 2019 in Detroit, SPE-Inspiring Plastics Professionals (Society of Plastics Engineers) debuted a new online exhibitor directory and floor plan that benefits both exhibitors and attendees.
SPE’s Flexible Packaging Division is delighted to again join AIMCAL’s R2R event to present a must-attend event for flexible packagers and their suppliers. This year’s program includes a session on eCommerce, the double-digit growth market for packaging. Following presentations on the materials, trends, and challenges in eCommerce, there will be a workshop where participants can imagine new approaches and solutions across the variety of components and requirements.
SPE has licensed 19 modules—roughly half—of the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ (IoPP’s) Fundamentals of Packaging Technology online course. The three-year license provides online training to plastics professionals through a private, co-branded online portal managed by IoPP.
During last week’s ANTEC® 2018 @NPE2018 plastics technical conference in Orlando, Fla., SPE (Society of Plastics Engineers) honored plastic products that meet the ultimate test of value by making our lives better in some way.
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