October 2008

Meeting Change for OCTOBER!

The South Texas section of the SPE is excited to join with Rice University, University of Houston, Texas A&M and the Houston Technology center to co-host the Promoting Advanced Materials Across the Atlantic conference that will highlight opportunities in Europe and America for nanotechnologies and advanced materials. Specifically you may have an interest in the presentation of Dr. Marc Dupire, physical chemical of polyolefins department manager from Total Petrochemicals research center inBelgium. I hope that all will consider this as an exciting opportunity to network in a broader group and learn about some of the recent advances.

President’s Message

First, I want to congratulate Brandon and all those who helped to support our now second annual Astro’s game networking kick off. We had a very successful event and appeared that everyone enjoyed visiting and the game.

We are nearly two weeks past hurricane Ike as I write this letter in the dark. The response from our email distribution following the storm has been full of well wishes and general offers to help. We can be grateful that other than the great need for power we have received no news of significant losses. I sincerely hope that you, your family and businesses are well. In times of disaster it is comforting to know that there is a community of genuinely concerned industry associates that are there to support us.

As we enter into October, I am excited to start the new quarter with cooler weather, power to run our plants and re-connecting with many of you. Marti Husti is hosting the annual breakfast bunch Golf Tournament on October 17. This is always an easy going day that is fun for golfers and non-golfers alike. Non-golfers are welcome to join in the fun for lunch following the tournament. The programs committee has joined with Rice University, University of Houston, Texas A&M and the Houston Technology Center to co-host the program to provide information and networking opportunities to promote nanotechnology and advanced materials. For the non-golfers this conference will also be hosted on October 17. Don’t forget the other opportunities for getting together at the monthly Breakfast bunch and lunch bunch meetings.

Hurricane Ike has brought our neighborhoods, community and region together to help each other in a time of need. As the months pass and we reflect on this time I hope that we all find this as a time that brought us together to make stronger families, companies and communities.

Best wishes to all.

Jeff Applegate
SPE South Texas President 2008-2009

Plastics Information: Check it Out

Since the Houston Public Library on McKinney St is essentially closed for remodeling, you cannot go there to browse for books on plastics/polymers. However, go to their catalog at www.hpl.lib.tx.us and arrange to pick up books at a branch library.

The Fondren Library at Rice University has the most complete collection of books on plastics and polymers. This is also a prime resource for patent and trademark information, as well as other US Government documents. You cannot check out books there unless you join Fondren Library [$50], but you can arrange for books to be sent to your library by inter-library loan. Use their catalog at www.rice.edu/fondren/.

The next best place to browse is at the MD Anderson Library at the University of Houston central campus. South Texas Section has donated many plastics books to this library. If you plan ahead, you can get a TexShare library card from a library where you are a member, which will allow you to check out books from any U of H library. Their catalog is at www.library.uh.edu/.

Bulletin Board

Upcoming Topical Conferences (TopCons)

October 2008

Automotive TPO Conference
October 5-8, 2008
Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA

Annual Blow Molding Conference
October 8-9, 2008
Chevron Phillips Chemical Technical Center and Bartlesville Community Center
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA

New Approaches in Polymer Characterization
October 13-14, 2008
Holiday Inn Select
Wimington, Deleware USA

Vinyltec – Vinyl Raw Material Overview and Update
October 13-15, 2008
Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel
Rosemont, Illinois USA

Twin-Screw Extrusion Design Enhancements for Processing Heat-Sensitive and Shear-Sensitive Biopolymers
Best of ANTEC 2008
e-Live^® Presentation
October 16, 2008
11am EST

SPE Injection Molding MiniTec 2008
October 21, 2008
Wyndham Milwaukee Airport Hotel & Convention Center

SPE Co-Extrusion TopCon
October 21-22, 2008
Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
Cincinnati, Ohio USA

Multi-Property Optimization of Nylon-EVOH Extrusions Produced Controllably by Chaotic Blending
Best of ANTEC 208
e-Live^® Presentation
October 23, 2008
11am EST

SPE Thermoset Molding Conference
October 23-24, 2008
Concourse Hotel and Conference Center
Madison, Wisconsin, USA

November 2008

SPE 2008 New Technology Symposium
November 11-12, 2008
Renaissance Philadelphia Hotel Airport
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

February 2009

SPE International Polyolefins Conference
February 22-25, 2009
Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel
Houston, Texas. USA

Breakfast Bunch Golf Outing

Golfers:

First I hope that you all were spared the wrath of Ike. The storm has been somewhat responsible for my being out of touch – thus the late follow up message about the golf outing. We were without power for 16 days, and just got broadband service back on Sunday. So we are now able to catch up on some SPE duties. I’ve talked with the folks at Windrose, and they report that the course is in excellent shape – they only lost power for a couple of days (something to say for underground power lines).

As we previously reported, our annual SPE Breakfast Bunch Outing is again being held at Windrose CC, 6235 Pine Lakes Blvd, Spring, TX 77379. Windrose is located off of Kuykendahl Road less than ½ mile south of FM2920. If you are coming north or south on I-45, take the Spring exit for FM2920, and go west approx 5 miles. At the Kuykendahl intersection, you will take a left which is south, and go less than ½ miles to Pine Lakes Blvd which will be on your right hand side. The entrance to the club is a little less than a mile down Pine Lakes on the left hand side.

We have been receiving golf sign-ups and sponsor donations. Sorry for the delay in depositing checks that have been received – they will be deposited into the Section account this week. Again – here’s the set up for the outing:

1. Friday morning at 8:30AM, Oct 17th – Windrose GC – shotgun start. We got them to move it back ½ hour – makes it bit easier for south-siders.
2. Friday around noon time – after golf lunch at Windrose – weather permitting, we’ll have it outside on the patio.
3. Friday during luncheon – prizes and awards.
4. $55.00 entry fees gets you the round of golf, lunch, and two drink tickets for use on the course or in the snackbar.
5. Prizes to first and second place finishers.
6. Format will either be 2 person or 4 person scramble. If we have a large enough field, and it can be fairly flighted we may do 4 person. If not, we will go with 2 person.
7. Send me an e-mail and let me know if you are going to play. You can pay by check or credit card. Make checks payable to:
   So Tex SPE, and mail to me at: Marty Husti, 17510 E Strack Drive, Spring, TX 77379. If you care to pay by credit card, call me with the type of credit card, name as shown on the card, card number, and expiration date. You can also fax the cc info to me at: 281-655-1197. Please do not e-mail credit card information.

That’s about it for the golfers. We still need some more sponsors – even if you can not come out for the outing, we would appreciate a donation of $50.00 for a sponsorship. We will give you publicity at the outing – mention your company in the Section newsletter when we do the publicity write up, and again in the Section newsletter when we announce the 2010 tournament next September. We have already received a number of sponsor commitments, but still can use some more.
 
Finally as has been the case for the past two tournaments – the BBIG-O tourney will also be the October Lunch Bunch meeting. For those who normally attend Lunch Bunch, we will make the lunch available for $10.00. Join with the golfers at noon time and do some networking. Just drop me an e-mail, or call me, letting me know that you plan to attend the lunch so I can give the Golf Club a head count for lunches needed. As in the past, we will have the Windrose All American lunch which consists of burgher or chicken, potato salad, beans, chips, and iced tea.
 
Look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.
 
Marty Husti
TIAero, LLC
Tel: 281-655-1919
Fax: 281-655-1197
 

Tips to Help Promote Your Business Online or in Print

As an organization, the SPE offers great networking opportunities, especially in the South Texas chapter. Outside of that realm is where all the rest of your potential buyers of your services or products need to be discovered. This will be an ongoing new addition to the Extruder Newsletter. I hope to share with everyone fresh ways to promote your business through different mediums. Please always feel free to contact me if you need further explanation at Noreen@ictexas.com.

According to a 2008 Google survey a whopping 93.4% of industrial buyers use the Internet to research purchase decisions.

One FREE online avenue is through the ThomasNet Industrial Newsroom. http://news.thomasnet.com (Please note http, not www.) It is the largest online publisher of industrial news. The newsroom is approached daily by the AP and search engines such as Google & Yahoo looking for industrial news for print or online publications or RSS feeds.

What is the benefit of an online press release and how does it help promote your business? Other than the stated obvious of promotion, it helps improve your websites opportunity to be found higher when people search for industrial services. You are allowed to accompany a link back to your website with the press release submission. The Internet spiders that search for the relevance of your search term like seeing many links on one page, the Newsroom gives your company that opportunity to be discovered in a search.

Jeff Applegate of Blackwell Plastics has used this avenue of promotion. Please see his most recent submission: http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/547446

If you need help with a press release submission please contact me since I represent ThomasNet and can help ensure publication of your company.

Next edition: The benefits & importance of greater inbound links to your website and another FREE online publisher of industrial news.

Book Bag

	Rapid Prototyping (#0322) Andreas Gebhardt, 2003, 379 pages $75.00 (originally $89.00) Encourages engineers to incorporate rapid prototyping in their daily routine. It illustrates the benefits that come with the use of models at any stage of the product development process and defines the different types of models. It gives comprehensive coverage on the fundamentals of rapid prototyping and the special capabilities. Demonstrating how RPT can be an effective means for evaluating design before costly commitments are made makes Rapid Prototyping an invaluable resource. This book presents rapid prototyping and its principles in a thorough way that enhances the learning experience.
	Giant Molecules: Essential Materials for Everyday Living and Problem Solving, 2nd Edition (#0316) Charles E. Carraher, Jr., 500 pages, 2003 $65.00 (originally $118.00) “Giant molecules” refers mainly to polymers, which are large molecules that exhibit specific physical and biological properties related to their shape, size, orientation, and environment. Giant Molecules will appeal to individuals who have a personal or professional interest in polymers, as well as to college chemistry and materials science students who study polymers. Contents Include: The Building Blocks of Our World; Small Organic Molecules; Introduction to the Science of Giant Molecules; Relationships Between The Properties and Structure of Giant Molecules; Physical and Chemical Testing of Polymers; Thermoplastics; Engineering Plastics; Thermosets; Fibers; Rubbers (Elastomers); Paints, Coatings, Sealants, and Adhesives; Composites; Nature’s Giant Molecules: The Plant Kingdom; Nature’s Giant Molecules: The Animal Kingdom; Derivatives of Natural Polymers; Inorganic Polymers; Specialty Polymers; Additives and Starting Materials; The Future of Giant Molecules
	High Performance Polymers (#0826) By Johannes Karl Fink, 760 pages Price: $245.00 / SPE Member: $203.00 High Performance Polymers presents the most reliable and current data available about state-of-the-art polymerization, fabrication, and application methods of high performance industrial polymers. Chapters are arranged according to chemical constitution of the individual classes, beginning with main chain carbon-carbon polymers and leading to ether-containing, sulfur-containing, and so on. Presents the state-of-the-art polymerization, fabrication and application methods of high performance industrial polymers Provides fundamental information for practical engineers working in industries that develop advanced applications (electronic industry, medical instruments, etc) Discusses environmental impact and recycling of particular polymers Includes recent journal and patent literature of specific interest to specialists

Councilor’s Report

As I wrote this column, the Senate had approved the Emergency Stabilization Act of 2008, and the Congress was scheduled to consider it as amended since their first rejection. So what does that mean to us SPE members? And how should our professional society leadership respond?

Clearly, credit has tightened. It’s less available and more expensive. For business owners that can be very stressful. Many businesses used line-of-credit loans for working capital, and so their working capital just became less available and more expensive.

Many of our South Texas members work for large corporations which may be able to cushion this effect. (However, even large corporations have needed cash infusions.) However, several of our members work for smaller companies and own their own businesses. “They” say that companies should carefully review their suppliers and customers for financial viability. Collapse on either end is a problem. But that’s pretty obvious.

As short-term viability becomes more questionable, the planning cycle contracts. Cash flow is even more important than in the past. Unfortunately for plastics professionals, this could lead to reduced investment in training and professional development. On the other hand, dynamic times sometimes lead to workforce displacement. The optimistic companies assume they will survive, and they plan their staff to be even stronger in the end. In that case, strengthening the organization through repositioning and training is opportunistic.

Interestingly, as post-Enron, there is a lot of finger-pointing, reminding us all that honesty and integrity in business is a cornerstone, never to be violated.

This suggests a “back to basics” perspective. Live on what you earn, and earn what you earn. Develop open and candid relationships with customers and suppliers, recognizing that more than ever, we’re in this together.

Years ago, when I was SPE President, the governance, Council, read the book “The Will to Govern Well”. The book says that successful governance is built on Knowledge, Trust, and Nimbleness. Decisions must be data-driven. The decision makers must understand the needs and wants of their constituents, and they must earn the trust of those constituents to act in their best interest. Governors must be willing to invest in learning the basis for their decisions and act responsibly. But they cannot procrastinate either. They must be prepared to act in a timely way to minimize problems and maximize success.

The SPE Council will be meeting October 18 in Connecticut. I invite your input for that meeting, and I will communicate back to you the actions taken. The two key agenda items for this meeting will be the SPE budget and election of officers for 2009/2010.

If you’ve followed the SPE business stuff, you are aware that, like most professional societies, and like the plastics industry, we struggle to provide high value products and services while minimizing cost. The budget plans for about $100k in retained earnings on a $5M budget. Like many of our employers, SPE has reduced staff significantly--about 50% since 2002. Similarly, it has outsourced publishing of Journals and the magazine, while retaining editorial control. (This has actually been a great boost to member value--full access to ANTEC proceedings and JVAT ($57/yr to libraries) and PES ($1,195/yr to libraries). SPE rents a portion of it”s building to AIChE for operations, but it is willing to sell the building if a buyer is identified. You may have noticed a new website design. While it’s not perfect yet, it goes a long way toward enabling the roll-out of a plastics wiki tool, developed as “plastipedia”. The new website also furthers SPE’s electronic capabilities around conference registration, etc. The goal is to become more internet-centric to push technical information to members as well as to support inter-member technical exchange. Imagine “attending” an SPE conference in Europe via the SPE website. Or browsing through an expanded technical library of information. At this Council meeting, we’ll struggle with how to fund these important developments while avoiding significant increases in dues. We’ll also continue our discussion of how we grow globally, recognizing the growth of the plastics industry outside North America and Western Europe. Another personal interest for me is how we link members with emerging technology.

SPE is intent on attracting new members in the <35 age bracket. But the tiny font on the new website is a glitch--not a technique to eliminate those of us who require magnifiers! If you have ideas for attracting and retaining this next generation of plastics professionals, we’d like to hear them.

On all of these activities, I’ll appreciate your input. You can email me at donna.s.davis@exxonmobil.com

Thanks for your continuing support of your professional society; and let’s work to make it even better for all of us.

Donna Davis

A Six-Sigma Approach for Investment Plans
in a Plastics Production Plant

Gabriel Ventura, Ranganath Shastri, Miguel Ángel Vega CIATEQ Unidad SLP – UDIT

Abstract
It is possible to demonstrate that QFD (Quality Function Deployment) within a norm space permits to realize gap
analysis and investment plans for a complex plastics production plant, using its process capability in the last Quality house.

For the use of the same metric: DPMO, it is possible to compare man power, materials, maintenance, machinery,
environment and methods. In these terms it is feasible to benchmarking the investment plans.

Introduction
For a proper analysis, a thorough understanding of the layout of the specific plastics production plant is essential and this may require several site visits (Phase 1). In parallel the Voice of the customer (VOC) was obtained along with his CTQ´s.

For the Phase 2 the partition of the plants in master nodes and sub-nodes was possible: by taking into account the variation inherent to technology for the sub-nodes. A defect explosion was confined to allow a stable estimate of the mean and variance where a defect is any event that doesn’t fulfill or satisfy the specifications of the customer’s voice. Due to larger subgroups providing a greater sensibility to process changes.

This above information helps to apply the QFD for the 22 sub nodes. Master nodes and sub-nodes in this case are: 1. Raw Material Handling System 2. Polymerization Reaction System 3. Finishing Operations 4. Pelletization System 5. Packing/Filling 6. Warehousing 7. Order Shipping/Railcar System 8. Production Scheduling 9. Order Management 10. Supply Chain Management/Materials Handling 11. Process Water & Water treatment 12. Process Steam & Power Plant 13. Principal Electrical System 14. Instrumentation & Control System 15. Engineering & Plant Maintenance 16. Quality Control/Six Sigma 17. Environmental Hygiene & Safety 18. Administration (Executive, Marketing, Business Research, Communication, etc.) 19. Technology Center & Customer Technical Support 20. Product Sales & Sales Support 21. Training 22. Support Services (HR; Medical; Firefighting; Security; Cafeteria, Janitorial services, etc.) but in the last Quality house it was necessary to use a “lost function” [2], [3] in order to have the same scale instead of the weak form (basics steps for the present proposal.

Site Visits
During the site visits (Phase 1), a registration format was employed, which included considerations of technical aspects all equipments, systems, processes, environmental conditions, operation and maintenance conditions, training, etc. The results of these registrations would be applicable to a large extent on the subsequent stages. Table 1 contains only a representative sampling of the guide registration format applied.

In addition to the technical registrations, during each visit, the customer’s preference in relation to “customer requirements” was evaluated through the quality houses of the QFD studio, required for phase 2 of the project. The priority ranking of each node was carried out by the customer according to the following criteria:

    a. consistent product quality
    b. low operational cost
    c. low maintenance cost
    d. ease of maintenance
    e. reactor efficiency > 95%
    f. reactor down time < 10%

Depending on the node, the applicable criteria was ranked in priority, assigning the highest value to the one with the highest priority and number lowest value of 1 corresponding to the one with less relevance. However, the ranking criterion also allowed considering two or more criteria with the same priority numeric value. In this way, the “voice of the customer” was incorporated into the QFD case study, as an important input.

Reliability Study Applying The “Quality Function Deployment” Methodology (QFD)
The gathered information on defects by node and sub-node was stratified to assess the process capability on six-sigma deployments.

Quality Houses
As previously mentioned, in phase 1 of the project, the customer’s preference was obtained for each of the 22 nodes in terms of: low operation cost, reliability, efficiency, long life of the equipments , ease of maintenance, ease of detection and correct, performance, maximum power, calibration, availability and accessibility as relevant. In a QFD studio, each one of these terms of preference receives the keyword: (what).

On the other hand, for each sub-node) a list of attributes was developed. These attributes were denominated with the keyword: (how). Each (how) received a weight according to its contribution to each term or priority (what), building in this way, a matrix of importance denominated Quality “House 1”.

For the node 2 - Polymerization Reaction System – three main defects were identified:

1. Inconsistent quality of the polymerization reaction product with large variability in the degree of polymerization, often resulting in products out of production specification.
2. Unpredictable down times of the reactor, due to frequent unexpected shutdowns of the reactor
3. Unpredictable operational and maintenance costs leading to varying production cost

As node 7 is constituted of 3 sub-nodes, a total of 3 Quality “Houses 1” were built for this node. The same reasoning applies to all nodes.

The product of the priority assessment or “what” by the attributes or “how”, allows understanding the specific weight of each attribute, as shown on the last line of the matrix numbers of the Quality “House 1”. The attributes or “how” of the Quality “House 1” with the most weight are carried over as the “what” of a second Quality House 2. Now the “how” of at the Quality Houses 2 consist of the number of the flaws found by sub-node. Once again, as many Quality Houses 2 may exist by node as depending on the number of sub-nodes or associated components for each node.

Stratification of Defects by Node
The compiled information on the registrations was stratified according to the defects found by, node and sub-node. Where defect is defined as any event that doesn’t fulfill or satisfy the specifications of the customer’s voice . An explosion of defects associated with each of the 22 nodes and sub-nodes the list of flaws, totaled questions around technical aspects of: equipment, systems, processes, operation and maintenance practices and training.

Each defect was valued according to its impact on the reliability, receiving a grade of 1 for little importance, 2 for medium importance and 3 for high importance. The averages of defects by node were obtained by dividing the sum of the valuation of each defect present by the number of potential defects [2].

The very high level of defects for node 18 can be attributed to the following reasons:

1. High overhead cost
2. High marketing costs because of competition
3. High cost of product promotion at shows
4. High cost of outsourcing for business research

In the last house the weak form was replaced by “lost functions”, then the simples operations mentioned above are transformations to defects functions, into a norm space 0 < R < 5, in effect:

Given a space L: V_h x V => R [2], (1)

Where the vectorial space “V” has one internal product and it is the mean solution,

V_h is a subset of V,

Therefore there is just one vector v c V ,

Thus L(u)=k(u_n + c) = <u,v> (2)

With 0 ≤ u ≤ 1 (3)

u c V_h is the mean of standard deviation

k is 1,2 or 3 (grade of defect)

n is the node number

c is a real constant

The last Quality house now has the same scale and it is possible make comparison with the nodes; Corresponding
analysis included a Microsoft Excel Macro that allows the variation in evaluation criteria for a new defect mean attainment. At the same time, the program allows a calculation updating of the means by node once a defect is corrected.

Capacity of the Process Based on Sub-grouped Defects According to Limits
The centering and little dispersion of defects is fundamental to considering the adequate. For this, the capacity of the process, whose metric is based on the rationally sub-grouped defects, can be used.

The above mentioned list presents common nodes in that require attention of the highest priority. It is shown by these graphics the discrepancy between the favorable and unfavorable cases. This permits to envision the existence of the differences inside each net, either in used technology, or speaking about operative and maintenance practices. After we have obtained its defects per million of opportunities, a transformation within norm space is applied.

It is necessary that customer efforts focus first on the dispersion reduction and then improve the centering. However, where the best benefits are obtained by economic investment has to be verified in detail. Obviously, the necessary investment in infrastructure is much higher than the required in the therefore, a good option would be to start with an investment to obtain the most benefits at the bar mentioned before in particular. A lower investment that would yield yet higher benefits is without exception, presents opportunities for improvement in different nodes.

Because of that, each one deserves an individual inspection on the quantity and concentration of defects per node.

Definition Of Ideal A Plastics Production Plant And Investment To Escalate To World Class
Investment Fixed Cost per a Plastics Production Plant to escalate to world class. It is possible to define an ideal as the necessary estimated investment to escalate to world class. To achieve this end, the necessary acquisition expenses were investigated for the commercial equipment recommended on the technological studio performed in Phase 3 for the gap elimination. The costs indicated in this format don’t include engineering hours, consulting, installation or transportation.

Nevertheless, reaching the idealized conditions requires an evolutionary process, and an investment strategy in adequate technology. With the purpose of defining such investment strategy, each particular plant case was studied, to research which flaws are more convenient to eliminate with respect to the cost/benefit relationship.

And so, each plant process capacity graphics were analyzed, to obtain the nodes with the least investment provided the biggest benefit with respect to reliability.

Conclusions
It is possible to demonstrate that Quality Function Deployment (QFD) within a norm space permits assessment of investment plans in a Plastics Production plant, using its process capability (defects per million of opportunities, DPMO) in the last Quality house.

References
[1] Brun K. , Smalley, A., 2003 , “10071.01.203 PEMEX Final report”, Southwest Research Institute project, TX,
EEUU, pp. 6-22.
[2] Ventura, G., 2001, “Six Sigma project: A 10 33.5 piping GEK loads analysis”; e-Design Record Book, General
Electric, HP-IP volume, NY, EEUU, pp. 4-22.
[3] Taguchi, G., 1986, “Introduction to Quality Engineering”; Asian Productivity Organization; EEUU.