InterPlas Thailand holds successful post-pandemic edition

After two years of cancelled editions, InterPlas Thailand opened on June 22 in a post-pandemic era and under a new normal where health protocols were strictly practiced. As part of the Manufacturing Expo, ASEAN’s biggest industrial exhibition, InterPlas Thailand showed manufacturers new possibilities to strengthen their businesses and maximise market opportunities despite today’s many challenges. Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 threat, ASEAN’s industrial sector has shown renewed optimism as reflected by the vast range of exhibits and the enthusiasm by visitors. 

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of different industry associations in Thailand, as well as government officials. The ceremony was led by Mrs. Varaporn Dhamcharee, Managing Director of RX Tradex Co., Ltd (formerly Reed Tradex Asia); Mr. Pisit Rungsaritwutikul, President of Thailand Automotive Institute who gave the keynote address; and Mr. Panuwat  Triyangkulsri, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry who talked about carbon neutrality as the turning point of the future mobility. 

This year, more than 300 brands of latest machinery, recycling technologies, raw materials, and services were presented and these attracted visitors’ attention at InterPlas Thailand alone. InterPlas Thailand was held concurrently with other specialised events displaying mould and die, auto-parts, industrial automation, and surface and coatings technologies. Manufacturing Expo 2022, according to RX Tradex Co., is designed for heavy industry professionals and trade visitors to discover and experience cutting-edge industrial machinery, materials and equipment. This year’s expo had special features worth noting: It is the one and only event that hosts up to 9 major shows under one mega event that covered 4 exhibition halls; Special zones where visitors can discover new innovations, ideals and inspiration were presented; Over 30 seminars on relevant topics from experienced speakers were arranged for the visitors and industry professionals. 

The exhibition presented seminars and networking opportunities aimed at informing attendees of the many issues and production solutions to increase productivity while ensuring environment-friendly operations.  Automation took a special position among the exhibits as companies showcased their robotic and other automation solutions. Smart manufacturing, digitalisation, circular economy were among the leading trends and these were targeted to a growing number of Southeast Asian companies who are searching for the right solutions towards increased productivity and improved end-product quality.  

Exhibitors’ optimism of the region’s recovery

At InterPlas Thailand 2022, the Piovan booth promoted its dosing and blending technologies, according to Federico Scapellato, Area Manager for Oceania, Malaysia & Singapore and Indonesia of Piovan Asia Pacific LTD. The dosing and blending technologies include volumetric dosers designed to dose masterbatch, additives and regrind into the plasticilization screw and are typically mounted on the feed throat of the machine. These dosers are able to satisfy the requirements of high precision and utmost flexibility in the applications on injection moulding machines and extruders. The company’s volumetric masterbatch blenders for PET applications designed for dosing masterbatch materials including low melting point micro granules and additives can also handle liquid colourants.

Mr. Federico Scapellato, Area Manager for Oceania, Malaysia & Singapore  

and Indonesia, Piovan Asia Pacific LTD. (right) 

The Piovan gravimetric batch blenders are another equipment where all materials are metered by weight in order to create the desired blend keeping the correct ratio between the different materials on each batch. A series of highly performing color touch screen panels combined with an accurate graphics design ensure excellent visualization and user-friendly.  The equipment are Winfactory 4.0 ready. Winfactory 4.0 is a standard supervisory software that can self-configure to accommodate any application needs, with no specific tasks needed for customizing. It’s able to host all Piovan machines and exploit interaction between them; they are no longer stand alone units, becoming a system.  “Our products are mostly made in Italy, China and the United States but in Southeast Asia, we have sales and services through our local partners in this region,” Mr. Scapellato explained.  

THK hailed the success of its presence at Thailand’s mega event Manufacturing Expo where InterPlas Thailand is a concurrent exhibition. THK" stands for "Toughness," "High Quality" and "Know-how".  The Japanese-headquartered company was the first in the world to develop the linear motion (LM) system, which is based on an original concept and innovative technology. Today, linear motion systems have been adopted for a variety of industrial applications as machine components vital to the mechatronics sector. At the exhibition, THK promoted its portfolio which covers a broad range of LM bearings, ball screws, actuators, and other LM parts.  Mr. Ohkubo Wataru, General Manager of Sales Department at THK LM System Pte. Ltd., mentioned that THK is headquartered in Japan but it operates representative offices around the world and its production facilities can be found in many countries in Southeast Asia, China, North America, as well as in Europe. “This ensures that we provide the best products and services to our customers, no matter where they are,” Mr. Wataru commented.

THK team at InterPlas Thailand/Manufacturing Expo

THK supports customers in general industrial machinery, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, automobiles production, machine tools and industrial robots, among others. “THK in Thailand is represented by THK Rhythm (Thailand) Co., LTD., with office in Bangkok where we serve customers in this region,” according to Nantawan Pharakarn, Assistant Sales Manager of THK Rhythm (Thailand) Co., LTD.  The company has one factory in Thailand supporting automotive parts production and robots. 

Ascend Performance Materials presented its broad portfolio of engineered materials and growing manufacturing footprint at InterPlas Thailand. Among the exhibits were Starflam® , Vydyne® XHT and AVS technologies, which push the performance of polyamide 66 to meet the increasing demands in automotive powertrains and auxiliary systems. The Starflam portfolio is a broad collection of UL yellow card-certified flame-retardant materials for electrical and electronic applications. Vydyne® XHT is a heat-stabilised PA66 designed to withstand prolonged exposure to extremely high temperatures from 170° C to 230°C, without sacrificing processability or mechanical performance. Vydyne® AVS is a newly launched material for e-mobility solutions.  

Mr. Kevin Wu, Managing Director & Senior Vice President, Ascend Asia Pacific

“Those technologies solve critical challenges for design engineers and allow them greater flexibility,” said Dr. Kevin Wu, managing director and senior vice president of Asia for Ascend. “They improve vehicle reliability by reducing the need for more complex solutions.”  Ascend also highlighted its expansion throughout Asia. Over the past two years, Ascend has grown its global footprint to serve its customers.  

Another exhibitor is StackTeck, with industry leading experience in building moulds for speciality caps, closures, PET preforms, food containers, all consumer goods, housewares, personal care, medical, pharmaceutical and other applications. Mr. Suthipote (Win) Limpiviroj, Authorized Sales Representative-South East Asia of StackTeck, represents StackTeck in Thailand where he provides sales and other customer services support.  

Mr. Suthipote (Win) Limpiviroj, Authorized Sales Representative-South East Asia

Mr. Limpiviroj is optimistic of the Southeast Asian market being on the road to recovery. “Post-pandemic, we are now receiving a lot of inquiries from customers and it’s getting better as customers are now interested in investing in new moulds, new machines so they are looking for a partner who can provide the right solutions,” Mr. Limpiroj states. This is in contrast to the previous two years where most countries in Southeast Asia were hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic that affected their operations and purchase of machines. “We now see that customers are starting their investment into new machines and StackTeck looks forward to supporting their needs with our innovative solutions,” according to Mr. Limpiroj. StackTeck IML Robot is the ideal solution for containers and lids with machine compatibility from 300T to 600T and singulation solutions for efficient vision inspection.  

The presence of Fu Chun Shin Machinery Manufacture Co., Ltd (FCS) at InterPlas Thailand highlighted the benefits of the company’s portfolio of injection moulding machines that meet the requirements of customers in the region. Mr. Ben Hsu, Area Manager of FCS, emphasized that FCS has several models of injection moulding machines developed to meet the need for efficient and energy-saving operations. For instance, the HT Series of Servo Power-Saving Injection Moulding Machine makes it applicable for the production of a wide range of products such as housewares, electronic product casings, automotive parts, lens and frames. This series may apply a semi-closed loop system for more intricate products like optical or handset devices. This hydraulic model features modularized mechanical components for low maintenance. It is user-friendly with improved carriage design for easy nozzle alignment, maintenance and management.

FCS FA Series of Advanced Servo IMM

Another model promoted is the FA Series of Advanced Servo Hydraulic Toggle Injection Moulding Machine. This series delivers unmatched efficiency with its energy-saving servo hydraulic toggle machine. The clamp and injection unit specifications have also been increased to allow customers more flexibility in the range of mould they can run in the machine. The KEBA control now offers an enhanced capability to integrate the FCS iMF 4.0 system to assist in transforming the facility into a smart injection moulding machine plant.

Toyobo (Thailand) Co., Ltd. is part of the Toyobo Group, an advanced material manufacturing company in Japan. With 140 years of experience, Toyobo Group offers a broad range of high performance materials for various industries. At InterPlas Thailand, the company is represented by its subsidiary in Thailand. According to Mr. Kitti Saechua, who represents the Engineering Plastics Department of Toyobo Thailand, Toyobo’s high performance engineering plastics and elastomers are applied in the production of automotive parts, machines, home appliances, and other consumer products. Toyobo also offers QuickForm, a high performance fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite sheet with outstanding impact resistance.

Mr. Kitti Saechua, Engineering Plastics Department, Toyobo (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

“Toyobo’s materials are excellent weight reductive solution, and serve as alternative to metals,” said Mr.Saechua. For instance, the Glamide Vylopet is Toyobo’s high performance moulding materials that are good alternative to metal because of their superior impact strength.

Flying Tiger from Taiwan is represented by Mr. Siegfried Wiedemann, General Manager of ITS Industrial Technical Support Ltd. Flying Tiger offers auxiliary equipment and turnkey solutions for the plastics industry. “Among the auxiliary equipment available from Flying Tiger are the range of mould temperature controllers and industry chillers. We also offer dryers & crystallizers, material & powder loaders, central material conveying equipment as well as blenders. These are made in Taiwan and in Thailand, we provide customer and services to customers of Flying Tiger,” Mr. Wiedemann explained.

Mr. Siegfried Wiedemann, General Manager, ITS Industrial Technical Support Ltd.

Flying Tiger has been developing and promoting energy-saving and eco-friendly products. The equipment and turnkey solutions are CE approved with over 80% of Flying Tiger products exported worldwide, either on OEM basis or under the Flying tiger brand.

In Southeast Asia, Flying Tiger offers a highly competitive range of equipment that are of good quality and reasonably priced. Majority of its customers are in the plastics industry.