BCF coatings care study finds environmental, safety improvements

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the results of the British Coatings Federation’s 2017 Indicators of Performance study, it was revealed that the coatings industry has made noticeable improvements from 2016, especially in regards to safety and environmental performance, as per Coatingsworld.

Data from 36 manufacturing sites making paints, coatings and printing inks have been surveyed every year since 1996.

2017 was a milestone year as it represented the lowest ever figure for injuries per 100,000 hours worked. Over a long-term trend, the rate has come down from a high of 0.85 in 1996 to a low of 0.16 in 2017.

The amount of waste sent to landfill decreased and the proportion of participants reporting zero landfills increased dramatically, from 38 percent in 2016 to 47 percent in 2017. Recycling now accounts for 63 percent of all the waste created by BCF’s members, compared to 17 percent in 1996. In contrast, waste to landfill has plummeted from 75 percent at a peak, to eight percent today.

Two other metrics going in the right direction are energy used per ton of production, which was 3.7 percent lower than in 2016, and organic solvents purchased per ton of production, which decreased by 5.8 percent.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- It was the year of inventions that are still indispensable today, such as the diesel engine by Rudolf Diesel and the zipper by Whitcomb Judson, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

And 1893 also showed what persistence means. Andy Bowen and Jacke Burke fought a seven-hour, 19-minute boxing match over 110 rounds – with no winners in the end. At the same time, the businessman Franz Ramesohl and the cabinetmaker Franz Schmidt in Oelde, Westphalia, proved their innovative strength, creativity and stamina. They opened a workshop on September 1, 1893, and produced a hand-operated milk centrifuge with the model name "Westfalia". Ramesohl & Schmidt oHG had three locksmiths and two turners 125 years ago. They produced the hand-operated milk centrifuges with the simplest but effective equipment. Entrepreneurial skills, craftsmanship and technical expertise coupled with a love for innovation formed the basis for the following 125 years.

The roots of the company developed into today's GEA site, the most modern separator plant in the world. The products "made in Oelde" are supplied all over the world. The export quota is currently over 80 percent. GEA's expertise now encompasses over 3,500 different processes and 2,500 products for various industries ranging from food and beverage, marine, oil and gas to power, chemical, pharmaceutical and environmental technology.

Today, Oelde is GEA's largest single site worldwide with a production area of around 37,000 square meters. Around 1,900 employees, 180 of whom are trainees, are currently working in the areas of design, production and administration. GEA invested heavily in the site in 2013.

The company's own Process Test Center (PTC), which opened in 2014 and provides extensive specialist support for customers' investment projects, also enables even greater customer orientation: Starting with the specification of product properties through the determination and design of machine types to pilot tests at GEA and on site at the customer's premises. In cooperation with the customer, GEA Product Managers and GEA Process Development, the PTC also develops and tests completely new processes. The PTC also underscores GEA's innovative strength as a leading international technology group. More than 11,000 tests and process developments as well as more than 18,000 laboratory product analyses have been carried out to date. This know-how is bundled in a database, which is supplemented and updated every year by around 500 new product tests and over 150 process developments.

In order to reliably ensure maximum customer satisfaction and continuous machine availability during operation, the supply of spare parts is coordinated centrally from Oelde and in cooperation with renowned logistics companies via so-called hubs. These spare parts centers are currently located in Cologne, Germany (since 2011), Singapore (since 2014) and Naperville, USA (since 2017). At the European Parts Logistics Center (EPLC) in Cologne, around 21,000 different articles – from 5 mm diameter sealing rings to machine parts weighing several hundred kilograms – can be retrieved in the shortest possible time; on average, 250 shipments are handled daily. GEA customers can call this service 24/7 via a hotline. If an order is received by 3 p.m. local time, it is guaranteed to be ready for dispatch on the same day. Particularly urgent shipments even leave the site within an hour.
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MOSCOW (MRC) – Gulf Energy Information, a leading provider of market intelligence and technical information for the international energy industry, names Harry Brookby named Vice President of Data Sales for Energy Web Atlas (EWA), as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Harry comes to EWA from DrillingInfo where he was the Director, Global Strategic Sales. Prior to that he led sales for Ponderosa Energy, which was acquired by DrillingInfo in 2016. Previously, Harry held positions with S&P Global Platts and ConocoPhillips.

We thank you for your continued support of Energy Web Atlas and Construction Boxscore. Please join me in welcoming Harry to the EWA team and, as always, I can be reached for any additional questions.

For more than 100 years, Gulf Energy Information has been the leading provider of business and technical knowledge for the global oil and gas industry. Since its formation in 1916, the company has evolved from a single publication—The Oil Weekly, which was dedicated to upstream activity in the Gulf Coast area of the United States—to a diversified media and market intelligence company. Gulf produces the oil and gas industry’s leading publications: World Oil, Hydrocarbon Processing, Gas Processing & LNG, Petroleum Economist, Pipeline & Gas Journal. In addition, Gulf also produces datasets (Construction Boxscore and Energy Web Atlas) containing in depth project and facility data.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Polytama Propindo is in plans to undertake debottlenecking at its polypropylene (PP) unit, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Indonesia informed that the company has planned to ramp up production capacity of the plant to 300,000 mt/year. The debottlenecking exercise is likely to begin in the first half of 2019.

Located in Jawa Barat, Indonesia, currently the unit has a production capacity of 240,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, last year, the company conducted maintenance at this plant from end-January to mid-February.

PT Polytama Propindo was established in 1993 as a signifcant manufacturer of polypropylene resin (PP resin) in Indonesia. Polytama is taking a leading role in Indonesia's fast growing economy by utilizing the country wealth i.e. the secondary processing yield of oil and natural gas , through industrial manufacturing. The factory located in Balongan, Juntinyuat district, Indramayu-West Java, using one of the best technology in the world, the Spheripol technology of Montell (now LyondellBasell), with an installed capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year.

Two years later the construction of the factory was completed on July 27, 1995 and PT Polytama Propindo started the production (the product trade name: Masplene), the supply of raw material propylene with high purity from PERTAMINA refinery UP-VI (now RU-VI ) Balongan. In 1996, and the plant capacity grown to 180,000 tons per year. Response to the addition of propylene production capacity of PERTAMINA RU-VI in 2004, PT Polytama Propindo increased its capacity to 200,000 tons per year.
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mOSCOW (MRC) -- Injection molding machine supplier and mold component maker Alba Enterprises LLC has a new president and CEO and an expanded operation, as per Canplastics.

Rich Oles, a 33-year veteran of the tooling, injection molding, and hot runner industries, is the new head of the Torrence, Calif.-based company, which is also being merged with Oles’ former consulting company ROI Group.

Alba is now jointly owned by Oles and John Dineen. Dineen, a 20-year industry veteran who purchased Alba in 2013, will now serve as the company’s CFO.

The merger is designed to expand Alba’s product and service offering to include injection molding consulting services, as well as Alba’s existing portfolio of Babyplast micro injection molding machines, Vega hydraulic cylinders, and peripherals and mold components sold under the Alba brand.

"From the day I met Rich in May of 2015, I thought he was exactly the type of leader Alba needed," Dineen said. “Nearly four years later, and now that he and I have found a way to merge our businesses, I am thrilled he has joined Alba. More critically, Alba’s clients and manufacturing partners should be equally happy, as Rich brings to Alba a keen intellect and decades of experience spanning all major injection molding disciplines."

Oles began his career as a journeyman moldmaker and rose quickly to serve as engineering manager for Standard Tool and Die in Stevensville, Mich. From 1999 to 2012, he was North American president and CEO of Softline Corp., a hot runner supplier, and its successor organization, PSG Plastic Service Group. He then served as director of molding and tooling manager at Stone Plastics, a mid-sized molder focusing on the automotive market. In 2015, he founded the ROI Group.
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