Accumulated plastics expertise within a strong corporate group was the heading under which AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH, a specialist in innovative and application-oriented plastic compounds took part in the 21^st Fakuma trade fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany, together with its subsidiary AF-COLOR and K.D. Feddersen GmbH & Co. KG, a distributor of engineering plastics and sister company of K.D. Feddersen UK Ltd.

Think – was written in bold letters on the exhibition booth. With this slogan the companies of the Feddersen Group invited the visitors for common reflection. And there is always something to think about, as extensive know-how is provided „under one roof” and in this way a comprehensive service is offered to the customers.  

Think Value is the slogan of K.D. Feddersen underlining the Hamburg-based distributor’s focus on a customer-oriented and project-related work method.

Thus unlike a traditional trading company, K.D. Feddersen has its own Application Engineering department to assist customers in selecting the right raw material and create effective, practicable solutions for product development. Customer-focused demand, distribution and production planning means distribution concepts are tailor-made for each customer – even for small quantities.

AKRO-PLASTIC truly lives up to its slogan Think Polyamide. The manufacturer of compounds, situated in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate has established itself as an integrated service partner. In the state-of-the-art production facilities formulations are developed according to customers‘requirements and translated into marketable standard products or respectively applied special products.

From small orders to full service - in the area of toll compounding, a flexible, efficient production environment is offered at a high quality level. As one of few-medium sized providers of plastics production and compounding services, AKRO-PLASTIC offers the option of assured materials testing. The test methods have been certified by the German Accreditation Council in accordance with DIN EN ISO 17025.

AF-COLOR is perfectly suited for it’s slogan Think Masterbatch. The specialist of masterbatches presented its program involving color masterbatches and additive concentrates based on biodegradable polymers for the first time to specialists on the occasion of FAKUMA.

The initial trials were performed using a 50 % glass fibre reinforced polyarylamide (PARA), however, the components failed to deliver the necessary required results. Brasier, therefore took the decision to change both the material and the supplier.

Hamburg based plastics distributor K.D. Feddersen and its’s French subsidiary were selected as the preferred development partners by Brasier. Working closely together, both companies were able to provide the comprehensive technical support necessary for the success of this project.

“When undertaking metal replacement projects using high performance thermoplastics, it is important that the component design is optimized accordingly” says Ian Nott general manager at K.D. Feddersen UK Ltd., the UK distribution arm and wholly owned subsidiary of K.D. Feddersen GmbH & Co. KG.

“In this case a component with a constant wall thickness and the addition of reinforcement ribs was essential due to the enormous forces acting on the component”

Following preliminary discussions with Brasier and the selected moulder, the decision was made to test AKROLOY®, a glass fibre reinforced PA 6.6 blend from AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH (member of the Feddersen Group).

Using this special AKROLOY® PA blend, AKRO-PLASTIC developed a product displaying superior properties compared to standard polyamides when used in metal-replacement applications. One such property is the significantly reduced moisture absorption behavior of AKROLOY® giving an increase in stiffness, strength and creep modulus, resulting in a better dimensional stability of the material.

The replacement of die cast metal components place such high demands on plastics parts – demanding a constant property profile over a broad range of operating conditions. When considering traditional polyamides, even with as much as 60 % glass fibre reinforcement, successes have been the exception due to their increased moisture absorption behaviour.

By blending PA 6.6 with a partially aromatic CoPA (PA 6I/6T), AKRO-PLASTIC has been able to significantly reduce the effect of moisture on the product properties. Whereas a 50 % glass-fiber-reinforced PA 6.6 shows approximately a 50 % decline in stiffness in ambient conditions, the partially aromatic AKROLOY® PA blend exhibits a decline of less than 10 %. With this significant reduced moisture absorption a better swelling behaviour, improved dimensional stability and an increase in glass transition temperature can be demonstrated.

The fittings used to anchor the shutters are between 30 and 80 cm long, depending on the size of the window. After injection moulding of PARA for such long parts (in some cases quite considerable), irregularities and an uneven surface finish were noted, these were not evident in the selected PA blend. A further benefit when selecting AKROLOY® is the significantly lower processing temperature; PARA is processed at a mould temperature of 170 °C whereas AKROLOY®PA requires only 90 °C.

Distributor K.D. Feddersen and compounder AKRO-PLASTIC are both part of the international Feddersen Group, giving them a wealth of technical expertise in engineering plastics to draw on. The synergies created by this alliance are used in turn to increase the productivity of many existing and potential customers.

Based on the shutter tests, AKRO-PLASTIC developed a special AKROLOY® grade for a part in Brasier’s product portfolio that was required to undergo thermo-lacquering.

“In order to ensure an even application of colour on the component, it is crucial that the material is electrically conductive”, says Ian Nott. “With the special compound developed for this application, the customer can achieve excellent and uniform results.”

Brasier is completely satisfied with the material conversion results and fully intends to use AKROLOY® to produce other components (such as turn handles, brackets, and other shutter accessory parts) in the future, thus, allowing raw material purchasing standardization.

The new 850 square-metre building in the Swedish city of Värnamo was inaugurated with an open house on 2 and 3 September 2010. Many international guests, from the Feddersen Group and partner firms alike, gave interesting talks and machine demonstrations, making the event entertaining and instructional.

Even the chairman of the boarder of county of Jönköping, Göran Lindell, took the opportunity to make a personal appearance at the event. Together with Mr Volker Scheel, Managing Director of Hamburg-based K.D. Feddersen Holding GmbH, he took part in the symbolic opening of the new facility. Attendees were impressed with the results of just 13 weeks of construction work. In addition to 300 square metres of office space spread over two storeys, a total of 150 square metres of space has been reserved for training classrooms. The state-of-the-art facility offers a direct perspective on the adjacent 200 square-metre showroom, in which two Negri Bossi injection moulding machines and peripheral equipment from Piovan and WEMO could be seen in operation.

During the event, the 200 square-metre warehouse for machines and spare parts also served as a presentation and representation area for a number of suppliers of raw materials and peripheral equipment.

On both days of the exhibition, visitors were able to gain an overview of the product ranges in plastics, processing machines and peripherals which K.D. Feddersen Norden AB market and sell in Scandinavia and the Baltic states. A hands-on knowledge exchange was made possible through a number of technical discussions following presentations given by international representatives of manufacturer partners Ticona, LyondellBasell, AKRO-PLASTIC, Bekum, CTS, DSM, EVONIK, FEDDEM, Negri Bossi, Piovan, Rapid and Wemo, who had made the trip to participate in the event.

“Our open house was a complete success,” declared Torbjörn Egerhag, Managing Director of K.D. Feddersen Norden AB. “We were able to offer our customers and business partners not only a state-of-the-art building fitting for the requirements of our services, but also insight into our international Group of companies, thereby presenting ourselves as a strong, forward-looking partner for anything having to do with plastics,” Egerhag added.

In terms of weight savings, and therefore also fuel savings, the use of plastic-metal hybrid structures is opening up possibilities for new structural designs in the automotive industry. In this method, an injection mould is used to interlock metal components with plastic in a single step. This hybrid technology utilizes the synergies of the two materials comprising the composite, enabling cost-effective production of multifunctional components.

Peter Wahl GmbH & Co, a leading manufacturer of technically sophisticated hybrid components, received an order for the locking handle of the soft top in the luggage compartment of the new Mini Cooper convertible. The task was to improve the look and feel of the component compared to the previous model, which had a handle made of separate plastic parts bolted to a metal part. To meet the customer's requirements, Wahl tested a wide array of materials with and without a blowing agent. However, due to the surface requirement, none of these materials proved to be a resounding success.

An in-depth consultation with the Application Engineering Department of the Hamburg-based plastics distributor K.D. Feddersen followed. Based on its extensive experience with different handle geometries, a specially modified AKROMID® B, a PA6 from AKRO-PLASTIC, was selected at the plastics distributor's facility in collaboration with Project Management.

"The special modification of the grades used makes it possible to produce thick-walled components for high mechanical stress without sink marks, while imparting a very good surface appearance and an exceptional feel, which is ideal for handle solutions," explains Heinz-Günter Onken, application engineer at K.D. Feddersen.

"We met with scepticism at first, but after presenting a few components made from the prototype tool we built, we succeeded in convincing the end customer of the positive material properties. We were able to overmould over the metal insert with no sink marks and produce a high-quality surface finish," says Peter Kerber, Project Manager at Peter Wahl GmbH & Co.

Adjustments in the standard production tool were made to further optimise the surface finish and adapt the parting plane to suit the handle application.

Today, the handle levers are manufactured in a fully automated standard production process and are fitted and removed with the help of a handling robot. The complete assembly of the module including the locking unit takes place in a semi-automated process within the injection cycle.