All eyes will be again on the ball when 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia kicks off on Thursday, 14 June 2018. The Telstar 18 continues the series of Official World Cup Balls adidas has produced since 1970, when the original Telstar with its iconic 32 black and white panels was first introduced.

Atom Lab, the research and innovation business unit of shoe machinery manufacturer Atom has presented a fully-automated process for shoe production at the Simac Tanning Tech 2018.

Among the many highlights that chemical company Lanxess presented at Chinaplas 2018 were some products that are beneficial for use in thermoplastics elastomers. The halogen-free phosphoric acid ester Disflamoll 51092 has a low odour and can be used in many plastics, e.g. plasticised PVC, flexible PU foams, TPU, PC-ABS and NBR-PVC blends.

After two years of fine preparations and a year of trial operation of ISO17025 system, Arlanxeo’s Rubber Technology Center (RTC) passed the expert evaluation of China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) in November 2017, and obtained Laboratory Accreditation Certificate issued by CNAS in January 2018.

API and ICM (Industria Chimica Mediterranea) have announced their collaboration in the development of innovative and sustainable technical fabrics.

Every three years elastomer experts from Germany and abroad come together in Nuremberg on occasion of the German Rubber Conference (Deutsche Kautschuk-Tagung, DKT). This key event for professionals along the complete supply chain of elastomers is a unique combination of a trade show and a conference. The exhibition offers a multitude of opportunities to network and to get profound insights into the current state of this dynamic industry and to get informed about latest developments in materials and processing technologies. The four-day conference is a podium for top-level speakers from science and industry. The event is a unique opportunity for OEMs to get a comprehensive overview of the innovative strength and technological leadership of the elastomer industry as a reliable partner for their current and future requirements. Organiser of this meeting point for the rubber industry is the German Rubber Association (Deutsche Kautschuk-Gesellschaft, DKG).

The specialist for extrusion equipment Davis-Standard has partnered with compounder Teknor Apex to produce a medical tubing in a live demonstration of Industry 4.0 technology at NPE2018.

A new tremor spoon attachment offered by Ornamin enables users to eat confidently and independently despite shaky hands and hand cramps. Food stays on the spoon despite tremors thanks to a small part made of Provamed TPE compound by Actega DS.

At Chinaplas 2018 Kraiburg TPE showed two new applications of grades from the Thermolast K series.

Huntsman has showcased several new TPU technologies at Chinaplas 2018, which can be used to engineer film and sheet products: Krystalgran TPU is a family of aliphatic-based resins that can be extruded to create durable, light stable, protective films and barrier layers.