The year 2020 will be an anniversary year in three respects for the IKV – Institute for Plastics Processing in Industry and Craft at RWTH Aachen University: The RWTH Aachen University celebrates its 150th anniversary, IKV will celebrate its 70th birthday and it will be the 30th time it stages the International Colloquium Plastics Technology – on 11 – 12 March 2020 in the Eurogress Aachen. The day before the Colloquium, on 10 March 2020, IKV will mark its anniversary by holding the International Symposium on Plastics Technology in the VIP area of the Tivoli soccer stadium. While the Colloquium will present the broad range of IKV research and will target primarily the plastics industry with its practice-oriented research, the Symposium will feature papers from scientists from 14 countries, and aims to arouse lively discussion between scientists and industry.

Patrick Popp has been appointed as Faurecia Interiors Executive Vice-President. Effective from 2 January 2020, he will succeed Jean-Michel Renaudie.

Adidas announced that production at its two Speedfactories in Ansbach, Germany, and Atlanta, GA, USA, will be discontinued by April 2020 at the latest. The company will continue to develop, improve and test manufacturing processes in Germany. Process innovations will be bundled and driven forward at the production site in Scheinfeld, the so-called adiLab. Starting at the end of 2019, the company will use its Speedfactory technologies to produce athletic footwear at two of its suppliers in Asia. Adidas said that it expects this to result in better utilisation of existing production capacity and more flexibility in product design.

On 5 November 2019, Grammer AG signed an agreement with Changchun FAWSN Group Co., Ltd., Changchun, China, an affiliated company of FAW Group Co., Ltd., one of the largest automotive manufacturers in China, to establish a joint venture for automotive interior components. Grammer will be holding 50 % of the new joint venture Grammer FAWSN Vehicle Parts Co., Ltd. The other 50 % will be held by Changchun FAWSN Group Co., Ltd.

Tracy Garrison, President Hexpol Compounding Americas and Hexpol TP Compounding, has decided to leave the company for a position outside the group. He will leave end of December 2019 and thereafter CEO Mikael Fryklund will be acting President Hexpol Compounding Americas and Hexpol TP Compounding until a successor has been appointed. According to Fryklund, Garrison has been instrumental in the successful growth strategy to considerably expand the Rubber Compounding business in Americas.

The specialist exhibitions and conferences organiser Smarter Shows announced that Foam Expo Europe 2019, Europe’s largest trade fair dedicated to the technical foam industry, expanded its scope this year to welcome more participants from related sectors and recorded a significant increase in attendee numbers. Running in parallel with the event, Composites Europe, organised by Reed Exhibitions, offered synergies for the joint application industries such as automotive, aviation, the construction sector and the sports and leisure industry.

The Indian compounding specialist Technovinyl Polymers India (“The Little Giant”) is on expansion course. The company with registered office in Mumbai and compounding facilities in Silvassa (ca. 150 km north of Mumbai) has announced a name change and plans for a new compounding unit.

PolyOne has completed the sale of its Performance Products and Solutions (PP&S) business to SK Capital for USD 775 million in cash. The company said that proceeds from the sale will be used to strengthen its balance sheet and fund future growth initiatives, including investing in sustainable solutions and specialty acquisitions.

Actega DS has introduced a new, patented generation of TPE dispersions at K 2019 for a wide range of coating solutions for packaging materials and substrates. The company said that the technology makes it possible to combine various specific features in a single dispersion. Accordingly, maximum customer benefits are offered through individualized application solutions.

Effective 1 October 2019 Shruti Singhal is new President of DSM Engineering Plastics. He succeeds Roeland Polet, who will retire mid-2020. Shruti, a US national, joined DSM in July 2018.