news Strong 2016 for Italian machinery


Assocomaplast, the Italian trade association for manufac- turers of plastics and rubber processing machinery, equipment and moulds, said 2016 proved to be a strong year for its members with rises in production, exports and imports and a generally strong domestic market. Exports were up by 1.7% on


2015 to a record level of €2,970m, while production was up 1.9% to €4,230m. Italy,


traditionally a strong net exporter of machinery and related equipment, also saw a 12% increase in imports to €850m as the domestic market grew by 6.3% to €2,110m. This meant a slight fall in the trade balance to €2,120m. Total revenues for members are believed to have returned to pre-crisis levels at over €4.2bn. Europe remains the largest


market, though its share fell slightly in 2016 to 49.3%


Haitian has extended its all-electric Zeres range to 1,400 tonnes


despite a 2% increase in sales to the single largest market in Germany. Asia and Oceania increased their share to 16.7%. The strongest individual


country growth came from Mexico (up 71%) but the US was relatively weak after years of previous growth, with exports slowing down from mid-year leading to an 11% fall on 2015.


A member survey found that 43% expect 2017 to see a


further improvement and an upturn in revenues over 2H 2016. “Expectations in the industry for 2017 are thus rather positive, further buoyed by the measures to support investment in capital equipment – super-amortisation, hyper- amortisation, the new Sabatini law, tax deductions for R&D – implemented also as part of the National Plan Industry 4.0,” Assocomaplast added. ❙ www.assocomaplast.org


Proto Labs quotes IP settlement


Haitian extends all-electrics


Chinese injection machinery maker Haitian has extended its high performance electric Zhafir Zeres machine range beyond its current 650 tonne upper limit to 1,400 tonnes. Zeres machines are based


on the Venus II all-electric platform developed by Haitian’s Zhafir subsidiary but


include an integrated hydraulic pack allowing simple operation of core pulls and complex ejec- tors. According to Haitian’s US distributor Absolute Haitian, this hydraulic pack offers more power and greater flow than typical external solutions. The new large Zeres machines are available in 800,


900, 1,100 and 1,400 tonne sizes for order immediately. They are designed to provide the benefits of all-electric moulding technology at a more affordable price than current large machine options, according to the company. ❙ www.haitian.com ❙ www.absolutehaitian.com


Denso using castor oil-based plastics


Japanese-based automotive supplier Denso says it is using bio-polycarbonate made from starch and urethane resin extracted from castor oil. This material is being used to make


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plastic bezels for Toyota’s car navigation systems. The company said that bio-PC has higher surface hard- ness, better optical characteris- tics and superior hydrolytic


INJECTION WORLD | March/April 2017


stability than conventional PC. In addition, it said, bio-PC refracts less light, exhibits better colour-forming proper- ties and provides high hardness. ❙ www.denso.com


US-headquartered fast parts firm Proto Labs has reached a settlement with ICO Products, an injection moulder in the US that it claimed was infringing a patent relating to its on-line quoting process. Under the agreement,


Proto Labs said it has received ‘monetary compen- sation’ from ICO Products. It has acquired an equity stake in the ICO business, with an option to take a larger stake. In return, it has granted ICO Products a licence to use certain aspects of its quoting technology. Proto Labs’ automated quoting software analyses a 3D CAD model to determine pricing in real-time and provides design for manufacturing feedback in less than 24 hours. ❙ www.protolabs.com ❙ www.icoproducts.com


www.injectionworld.com


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