With global supply chains breaking down due to the COVID pandemic, coupled with the ‘Brexit effect’, many companies have considered bringing their outsourced tooling manufacture closer to home.
With global supply chains breaking down due to the COVID pandemic, coupled with the ‘Brexit effect’, many companies have considered bringing their outsourced tooling manufacture closer to home.
Many UK companies that currently import components into the UK believe that they should be looking at a reshoring programme, and the reasons are numerous.
If your company is processing significant quantities of plastic material, it could be time to consider a centralised material handling and drying system. In this blog article, PlastikCity examines the benefits of moving to a centralised system and look at factors that could make such a move impractical.
We’ve all heard soundbites about how the COVID crisis has permanently changed the way we do business. But will this apply to the UK Plastics Sector?
This week, many plastic sector companies will be beginning the process of ramping up their production. As businesses ‘turn on the taps’, they will have to find new ways of connecting with their supply chain.
Many UK companies that currently import components into the UK believe that they should be looking at a reshoring programme. The right incentives are definitely in place, so what exactly is stopping them?
Our next stop was at Telford based LVS Quality Measurement Services.
Our next stop was at Nottingham based CMS UK Ltd.
Welcome to the second edition of PlastikCity on tour! Our next stop was at Wellingborough based Renmar Plastics Machinery.
Welcome to the first ever edition of PlastikCity on Tour! There are now over 200 active partners represented on the PlastikCity site. Our ambition has always been to have suppliers that cover EVERY product or service required by plastic manufacturers. As such, many of our partners are very specialised and not widely recognised in our industry. Our plan is to raise their profile in our sector.
Earlier this month, I attended a seminar at JLR’s Castle Bromwich Site. The event was organised by the BPF and its aim was to shed some light on the current state of the UK automotive market and likely scenarios resulting from a range of Brexit outcomes.
We frequently hear talk of how big the Interplas exhibition used to be – apparently Battenfeld alone filled one hall!
If you are one of the growing number of UK companies looking to bring previously offshored moulding work back into the UK, then this blog should help you to decide the best way to achieve your goal.
OK, so we aren’t the Plastic Gurus in question (it’s the below handy Infographic), but at PlastikCity we operate both a Help Desk and an Assisted Service facility within our Source a Moulder section, so we have first-hand experience when it comes to ‘pointing people in the right direction’.
Masterbatch as a simple colouring agent has been with us for some time, but we wanted to find out how far things had come. We posed three separate questions to UK based specialists that we thought would be of interest to our audience. As well as technical advances, aspects such as long-term environmental impact are also covered.
Gravimetric colour dosing units (also known as continuous or loss-in weight units) have been around for a while, so we asked the PlastikCity Ancillary Partners for some feedback that would help our readers to make a more informed decision when considering their options.
The ‘heart’ of any plastic processing machine is its Screw and Barrel, so if your equipment is not as athletic as you would like, perhaps a ‘transplant’ is the answer!
When large OEMs such as JLR are ‘waving the flag’ in building a UK based supply chain, we are right to be more optimistic about the future of our Toolmaking industry. But do you need ‘deep pockets’ in order to be patriotic and support the cause?
There will always be an argument for using metal over plastic, which has often been seen by both the engineering fraternity and the general public as a ‘poor cousin’. However, the field of Plastic Component Design and Production has been evolving in recent years, and should now be viewed as a technical solution that in some cases can out-perform machined or cast metal….
When you buy a plastic processing machine, the plasticising screw is often supplied with a General Purpose (G.P.) design and nitrided wear resistance. In many cases the OEM won’t have been told you only process particular material grades, and a GP screw provides the biggest processing window across the spectrum of materials.
This design however, will always be a compromise….
