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Issue 1 2012
IN thIs Issue
Trends
Market treNds
Improving on Excellence: North American Adhesive Dispensing Production, Planning for the Future . . . . . . . 2 Nordsons Real World Lab Provides Application Development and Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Expanding Horizons . . . . . . . . . . 3 New Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Product Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 OptiBond Solutions for Nonwovens Optimum Bonding . . . . . . . . . . 5 Employee Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . 5
Welcome to the first issue of the Nordson Nonwovens Trends newsletter. For those with a long history in the disposable hygiene industry, you may remember Nonwovens Trends from the 1980s and 1990s. As our industry continues to be more and more dynamic and global, the intention of this publication is to provide you with information about the nonwovens market in general as well as Nordson Nonwovens innovations and capabilities that may help you improve your production and product quality. We appreciate our business relationship and wish you and your organization much success now and in the future.
Polyolefins have been identified as an alternative to SBS and SIS rubber compounds used to manufacture adhesives. While resins are still required, the need is cut nearly in half. Note that adhesives used in disposable hygiene product production are generally PSAs (Pressure Sensitive Adhesives), which typically comprise a higher portion (5060%) of resin, so demand is still high. Polyolefin-based adhesives process differently. For example, the viscosity is generally higher so temperatures may need to be adjusted upward to process them properly. The Signature process, for example, has been tested with a sampling of these materials and a 5-10 C temperature increase was needed. Contact slot applications, which generally have a wider operating window, appear to not require this adjustment. continued on page 2
Improving on Excellence: North American Adhesive Dispensing Production, Planning for the Future
Nordson recently opened new North American manufacturing operations in Swainsboro, GA and John Creek, GA to support ongoing growth and enhance its leadership in global markets the company serves. The new factories will absorb manufacturing of products formerly produced in the Norcross and Dawsonville (Georgia) factories, which have been closed. This 24-month project was completed in May 2012. According to Chris Brooks, director of operations & engineering, The U.S. factory consolidation creates greater operational efficiencies and improves customer response times for Nordsons Adhesive Dispensing Systems business. Its a win-win for Nordson and our customers. The expanded and relocated Swainsboro facility will focus on higher volume, standardized systems and products. These products include ProBlue adhesive melters; ProBlue Fulfill automated fill systems; Blue Series dispensing guns, modules and hoses; and Saturn nozzles and solenoids.
swainsboro, ga
Johns Creek, ga
Additional manufacturing in the Johns Creek facility will be for lower volume, more highly-engineered and customized systems and products. Explains Jeff Skimel, Johns Creek factory manager, Most applicators and spray nozzles used for the nonwovens market will be produced here, as well as the sophisticated VersaBlue XN and XC PLC melters. These product lines in particular will benefit from being produced in the same facility where development labs, engineering and product management are located. Also, constructing a new facility has given us the opportunity to update processes and infrastructure such as electrical systems and space allocation for an expanded system staging area. Nonwovens has adopted a Strategic Deployment Process (SDP) which will lend structure and focus to activities supporting the long-term health and prosperity of our businesses. For the Nonwovens business we are tasked with developing a roadmap in support of next generation developments. A global marketing team is being assembled to support activities associated with this effort. The focus is on understanding the global market today and where it is heading in the future. These findings will serve as the foundation of developments intended to improve Nordson competitiveness through alignment of a next generation of equipment offerings with the needs of our customers. We are excited to have an opportunity to focus on developing a long-term strategic vision including business and system level developments, rather than product enhancements. These system level developments will leverage Nordsons portfolio of existing technology elements as well as new technologies to raise the bar and differentiate Nordson from the competition through customer recognized value.
Material Shortages, cont. Special precautions are advised when transitioning to polyolefinbased adhesives, as these materials are generally not compatible with traditional material formulations. A thorough, methodical purge of the adhesive delivery and dispensing system is advised to reduce likelihood of issues arising due to material changes. Poorly managed material transitions may lead to material gelling, and compromised adhesive system function. It has been reported that a major European adhesive supplier attempted to source adhesive from the U.S. to supplement European supply, which led to major issues. Noteworthy is that changes to adhesive formulations have been generally focused on construction adhesives, though some adhesive suppliers are working on polyolefin-based formulations for elastic attachment. Usage of elastic attachment adhesives is far lower and thus the reward of changing material is not as great.
rosin-ester Based adhesives
have been low cost, however today they are at near parity with hydrocarbon-based materials; a poor crop harvest in China led to shortages and increased price. The increased cost has further increased demand for the hydrocarbon-based materials, compounding the shortage. Rosin-ester based adhesives have been at the root of issues reported with adhesive dispensing equipment. Corrosion of melter pump gear sets and dispensing module needle stems has resulted in vastly reduced equipment life in some cases. Nordson has made adjustments to materials used in the construction of the affected equipment to increase corrosion resistance and provide acceptable life. Examples include the PR-series pumps used in VersaBlue and AltaBlue melters and SpeedCoat material dispensing modules. Nordson continues to work closely with material suppliers to understand changes affecting our equipment and appropriate steps to take proactively to avoid issues impacting our customers productivity.
Rosin-ester based adhesives, historically used in tape and label applications, are crop based. In China, for example, they are extracted from the gum tree (tapped). Historically rosin-ester based adhesives
Nordsons Real World Lab Provides Application Development and Technical Support
Nordson was built on a foundation of technology investment, innovation and development which continues to this day. Nordson Nonwovens enjoys unparalleled support from a dedicated application and development lab in the Johns Creek, Georgia facility. Nordson is uniquely positioned to support our innovative nonwovens customers, says Ed Presley, Nordson adhesive lab manager. A fully-equipped, dedicated lab allows us to identify the equipment and materials that deliver the best results for diverse application requirements, finding the optimum balance between output and efficiency while maintaining high quality. The centerpiece of the Johns Creek nonwovens lab is the highspeed winder, a CTL-4600 designed and manufactured by Nordson Engineering in Luneburg, Germany. With a maximum line speed of 650 meters per minute; two unwinds and one rewind; four strand elastic unwind; and, a maximum substrate roll size of 800 mm diameter and 380 mm width, the winder can be set-up to simulate the vast majority of nonwovens applications. Nordson applicators, modules and nozzles can be tested in various configurations and with a variety of adhesives, nonwoven and poly films, as well as elastics to determine what will work best in the real world without wasting valuable, expensive production time on experimentation. Advanced tools such as a high-speed video can be used with the winder to capture a revealing view of adhesive dispensing not visible to the naked eye.
Having such a well-equipped, real world lab benefits everybody in the nonwovens supply chain...
Additionally, a vision system from AccuSentry supports elastic strand adhesive attachment testing and trials. This vision system improves efficiency in setting up and optimizing elastic attachment applications. This adhesive profiling system includes a specialized camera and UV light. It monitors presence/ absence of adhesive, verifies adhesive position, profiles adhesive add-on rates, and models process settings which are reported as a dashboard consisting of up to twelve process parameters. We have also invested in specialized tools and instrumentation to support performance testing such as peel strength, retractive force and creep resistance. And, our test capabilities are supplemented by material analysis capabilities provided by Nordson corporate, including: Acid value (ASTM D-465) Lubricity (ASTM D-2266) Heat age testing (@350 F for 48 hours) Brookfield viscosity Differential scanner In addition, Nordson has relationships with leading universities in Germany and the U.S. to expand our analytical and test capabilities. Having such a well-equipped, real world lab benefits everybody in the nonwovens supply chain, says Deland Bragg, lead Nordson nonwovens lab technician. Nordson, equipment co-suppliers, material suppliers and end customers can see exactly how each combination of equipment and materials will interact in a real world scenario. Additional technical support comes from general and nonwovensspecific application adhesive development and testing labs in Johns Creek, Georgia; Luneburg, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China. Future Trends publications will highlight the capabilities of these labs as well.
Deland Bragg,
expanding horizons
Nordson is always in search of new opportunities to expand both the knowledge and products we bring to our current and future customers. A recent series of acquisitions gives us a solid platform of critical plastic processing equipment components that serve the plastic extrusion and injection molding markets for plastic packaging and a variety of other end markets. Acquisition of Belgium-based Verbruggen in mid-2011 and U.S.based EDI Holdings and Xaloy Superior Holdings in second quarter 2012 expand our core strengths to include slot coating and flat dies as well as melt delivery components for film and sheet extrusion and injection molding machinery. Conversion of thermoplastic pellets into sheets, films and coatings is complementary technology to our existing hot melt adhesive dispensing products. Combining the knowledge and expertise of these various companies will yield a better understanding of customer needs and a stronger product offering to those customers.
New ProduCts
ProduCt uPdates
Speed-Coat Modules
The Speed-Coat Generation II module was released earlier this year. The new module improves overall performance, reliability and service life by eliminating sources of variability. The new design reflects enhancements to improve the durability of components, improve resistance to corrosion and wear, and simplify assembly/ rebuild. These updated Speed-Coat modules were qualified through extensive lab- and field-based testing and are fully compatible with existing applicator installations.
OLD Versa filter could release adhesive and contaminants when removed
As the trend in disposable absorbent hygiene products is toward thinner, more feature-rich products produced at ever increasing speeds, effective management of variation in adhesive delivery and placement has become a necessity rather than an option. The time is right for Nordsons OptiBond solutions. More information about OptiBond solutions will be detailed in future issues of Trends.
eMPloyee sPotlIght
Hubert Kufner, application development engineer in Luneburg, Germany, is wellknown by many customers. He should be as he has been with Nordson for 28 years and focused on nonwovens for more than 20 of those. Hubert started with Nordson in 1984 as a field application engineer for all the adhesives markets. A few years later, with the acquisition of Meltex, Nordson had a full line of nonwovens products available necessitating Hubert to focus strictly on nonwovens. Initially assigned as a nonwovens field engineer in south Germany, Hubert started becoming more and more involved in nonwovens product development projects. This culminated with his co-creating the nonwovens development lab in Luneburg where, in addition to development work, the final staging and testing of nonwovens systems is conducted. Hubert has worked on numerous nonwovens development projects, including EP 11, Speed-Coat and Signature nozzles. In fact, Dr. Shim Plate (so dubbed by nonwovens customers) has been issued more than 15 patents with at least 10 still being active. In his free time, Hubert restores all manner of transportation vehicles. His past projects included Harley-Davidson and BMW motorcycles, and his current one involves an Airstream trailer. Thank you Hubert for your years of dedicated service to ensure the success of the Nordson nonwovens team and our customers; we look forward to many more!
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Nonwovens Trends is a publication of Nordson Corporation. Please submit any feedback or suggestions to: Co-editor: Alan Ramspeck, aramspeck@nordson.com Co-editor: Elizabeth Jordan, ejordan@nordson.com 2012 Nordson Corporation