Davis-Standard expands extrusion business.

Davis-Standard, Pawcatuck, CT, has acquired the extrusion systems business of Kunststoff-und Kabelmaschinenbau (KU-KA-MA), located in Haan (near Dusseldorf), Germany. The acquisition includes certain assets of KU-KA-MA. Davis-Standard will continue to manufacture and supply the complete line of KU-KA-MA's extrusion products. KU-KA-MA's Austrian sales office has also been retained as part of the acquisition.

Leonard Enterprises, Inc., Corona, CA, a supplier of deflashing equipment, has purchased the assets of Airmac and C-MEC.

Goodyear Chemical's $144 million solution polymer plant, under construction in Beaumont, TX, will have broad product flexibility to meet future tire and rubber product requirements, according to company officials. Polymers manufactured at the plant from a variety of raw materials, including butadiene and styrene, will address specific performance attributes, such as tire rolling resistance, traction, wear and run flat capability, without sacrificing others, according to the company. Potential capacity expansions have been factored into the plant design. Combined facilities will produce more than 1 billion pounds of polymers annually. Plant start-up is scheduled for August 2000.

Montell Polyolefins and Thrace Plastics S.A. have signed an agreement in principle for the sale of Don & Low Ltd. to Thrace Plastics. Don & Low is a wholly owned Montell company which makes woven and nonwoven polypropylene textiles in Forfar, Scotland. The agreement in principle is for the sale to Thrace Plastics of 80% of Montell's shareholding in Don & Low, with Montell initially retaining the remaining 20%. The transaction is subject to completion of definitive agreements and is expected to be completed in August.

Industrial Rubber Innovations, Bakersfield, CA, is moving into a 30,000 sq. ft., $1.7 million facility in southwest Bakersfield where it will produce its newly developed rubber compound, Veraton. The plant will be fully operational by October and will be capable of producing 5,000 pounds of product per day. Employee numbers at the plant are expected to rise from an initial 15 to approximately 60 within a year.

Air Products and Chemicals, Allentown, PA, will expand triethylenediamine (TEDA) catalyst capacity at its Paulsboro, NJ manufacturing facility by 20%. The expansion, which is slated to come on stream in early 2000, is said to be driven by worldwide demand for this product and catalyst blends containing this product. TEDA catalyst is used by polyurethane foam manufacturers to produce rigid, flexible and molded foam for use in interior automotive parts, insulation, appliances and furniture.

Lescon, an independent multi-line manufacturers sales representative for products and services for the cast elastomer, liquid resin, urethane and rubber industries, is moving its corporate offices to Stonington, ME.

French Oil Mill Machinery, Piqua, OH, has merged its Oilseed Division, Hydraulic Machinery Division and Polymer Machinery Division staffs into a combined Market and Process Development organization.

DSM, Heerlen, the Netherlands, an international group that is active in chemicals, biotechnological products, and plastics and rubbers, opened a sales office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which will serve the entire South American market. The company, DSM South America, will initially represent four DSM business groups, including DSM Engineering Plastics, DSM Polypropylenes, DSM Resins and DSM Elastomers. DSM Engineering Plastic Products and Parker Hannifin, Cleveland, OH, have reached an agreement on the transfer of DSM's Nylaflow Europe activities to Parker Hannifin. Nylaflow Europe manufactures and sells thermoplastic pressure hose and tubing for a number of mainly industrial markets. The Nylaflow Europe activities are based in Almelo, the Netherlands, and annual sales are around NLG 20 million. The Nylaflow operation and its 75 employees will become part of Parker's Polyflex Division-Europe, a unit of the Fluid Connectors Group.

Union Carbide, Danbury, CT, has started up a 300 million pound butanol unit at its Taft, LA petrochemicals complex. The company's total butanol capacity at Taft and Texas City, TX, is now 1.2 billion pounds. Union Carbide also confirmed the opening of a bulk liquid chemical terminal in Chester, SC to serve its customers and distributors in the southeastern U.S. Operations at the facility include tank truck shipments of the company's solvents, intermediates, commodity surfactants and amines product lines.

Poly-Nova Technologies, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, broke ground for a 13,000 square foot expansion of its facility in Guelph.

After being nominated by a major global automaker for $21 million in brake hose business, Freudenberg-NOK, Plymouth, MI, will establish operations in North America to produce brake hose assemblies.

C.A. Litzler, Cleveland, OH, announced that PSC, a manufacturer of radio frequency and dielectric heating systems, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Litzler Group.

Sealant Equipment & Engineering has opened a certified ISO 9001 technical center adjacent to company headquarters in Plymouth, MI. The 15,000 square foot technical center is said to feature state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and accessories, along with advanced application processing capabilities and material testing capabilities.

Shamrock Technologies, Dayton, NJ, said to be the world's largest processor of recycled polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), moved its corporate headquarters to Dayton, NJ from the company's active manufacturing site in Newark. The 15,000 square foot headquarters facility will house corporate management, sales, marketing, communications, accounting, purchasing and customer service.

Quality registrations

Draeger Safety, Pittsburgh, PA, has received registration of its business management system to the requirements of ISO 9001.

Poly-Nova Technologies, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, a manufacturer and supplier of elastomer-based products for the North American appliance, automotive and industrial markets, has been registered to the QS-9000/ISO 9002 quality standards.

H.M. Royal, Trenton, NJ, has received ISO 9002 certification from SGS International.

United Minerals, a producer of silane surface modified fillers, a provider of toll processing of custom products and a seller of alumina trihydrate, wollastonite, silica and magnesium hydroxide, has been certified to ISO 9002 standards by American Certification.

U.S. Silica's Kosse, TX plant received ISO 9002 certification. The plant produces high purity silica sands, and hydrous and calcined kaolin clays.