Plastics News - Consumer products

Friday, July 04, 2008

Consumer products

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Lego taking production back in-house
BILLUND, DENMARK (July 2, 3:50 p.m. EDT) -- Toy maker Lego A/S said July 1 it will end its outsourcing agreement with electronics manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd. in 2009. The Danish firm will take over Lego production from Flextronics factories in Juárez, Mexico, and Nyíregyháza, Hungary.

Maker of EcoHangers raises $10 million
NEW YORK (July 2, 2:45 p.m. EDT) -- Hanger Network Inc. has raised $10 million in a second fund-raising round to expand distribution of its EcoHangers made of plastic and paper. The 5-year-old firm claims to have grown 500 percent since 2005.

Ideal Tool gets new owner, somewhat-new name
MEADVILLE, PA. (July 2, 12:35 p.m. EDT) -- Joint Venture Tool & Mold LLC has acquired Ideal Tool Co. Inc., picking up new capabilities in molding, more employees, a larger customer base and a new home and name.

Green design can bolster bottom line
CHICAGO (July 1, 5:15 p.m. EDT) -- “Going green” will demand changes in how people live, design products and operate businesses, but also can more than pay for itself. That was the message from a pair of sustainability experts at a "Greenstorming" workshop June 26 in Northbrook.

Teamwork paying off big for BASF in furniture
CHICAGO (June 30, 1:10 p.m. EDT) -- A team consisting of a designer, a material supplier and a molder collaborated successfully to produce a breakthrough product: an all-plastic cantilevered chair. The Myto chair made its North American debut recently at NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago.

Brunswick furloughs fiberglass boat plants
LAKE FOREST, ILL. (June 27, 4:50 p.m. EDT) -- The sluggish U.S. economy is prompting recreational boat builder Brunswick Corp. to shutter most of its fiberglass-boat production for the month of July, while the firm also prepares to close four plants for good by the end of 2009.

Mastercraft Cos. names new management
PHOENIX (June 27, 4:40 p.m. EDT) -- Mastercraft Cos. is using a midyear lull to restructure its management ranks and target injection molding and tool-building opportunities in medical and other markets.

Chair, architectural panel and Corian news
CHICAGO (June 27, 3:20 p.m. EDT) -- This file contains news briefs from the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair in Chicago. It includes news about Davis Furniture Industries Inc., 3Form Inc. and DuPont Co.

Steelcase boosts plastics use in products
CHICAGO (June 26, 5:50 p.m. EDT) -- Don’t expect Steelcase Inc. to change its name anytime soon, but the office furniture giant is becoming more and more comfortable with the language of plastics.

Castle Mark teams up with U.S. designers
CHICAGO (June 26, 5:45 p.m. EDT) -- Chinese custom molder Castle Mark Enterprises Ltd. already makes office furniture for some of the leading names in the business. Now the company is out to make a name for itself.

Ribless chairs hold their own against students
CHICAGO (June 26, 5:40 p.m. EDT) -- Here’s an advantage to gas-assisted molding that most plastics engineers probably never considered: It stands up better to high school boys.

Herman Miller turns to patient seating

The Nala chair

CHICAGO (June 25, 7:05 p.m. EDT) -- Herman Miller Inc. is looking to bring its experience in both design and comfort out of the office and into the hospital. The company that changed the look of high-end executive seating with its plastics-intensive Aeron chair has introduced two new treatment chairs designed to change the way patients and medical professionals alike think about furniture.

Growth prompts GMB to increase space in Ga.
CUMMING, GA. (June 24, 6:10 p.m. EDT) -- Custom injection molder GMB Plastics Inc. is nearly doubling its operations, refurbishing a 20,000-square-foot building in Cumming so its consumer product and automotive manufacturing areas will be housed in separate buildings.

CCL investing $25 million in Asian expansions
TORONTO (June 23, 12:45 p.m. EDT) -- Canadian packaging supplier CCL Industries Inc. plans to build four new plants, in China, India, Thailand and Vietnam, and will expand facilities in China and Japan.

ADS launching corrugated PP sewer pipe

HILLIARD, OHIO (June 23, 10:35 a.m. EDT) -- With a track record of success as piping material in Europe, polypropylene is expected to be a winner in the North American sanitary sewer and drainage markets as the continent’s largest corrugated pipe maker launches a new PP product. Hilliard-based Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. announce that it will launch a triple-wall corrugated PP pipe in spring 2009.