This enables processors to increase throughput by 15-25 percent, the Pawtucket company claimed. The firm said at Plast-Ex that typical processing temperatures of new Apex compounds are about 300° F, about 50° F lower than earlier profile extrusion products. Meantime, Teknor Apex debuted flexible vinyl profile compounds that can be run at lower temperatures. Teknor of Pawtucket, R.I., chose the system because of its accuracy and inter-instrument agreement, noted John Wood, Teknor's technical manager. The system comprises a ColorEye 700A laboratory bench, XTH hand-held spectrophotometers and a NetProfiler Internet-based application for remote management of a spectrophotometer network, according to GretagMacbeth LLC of New Windsor, N.Y, installed a GretagMacbeth Enterprise Color Management program to speed turnaround time and provide real-time customer support. The Arburg option is the latest in PlantStar interfaces compatible with a range of injection press brands. South Bend, Ind.-based Syscon claims the system provides data collection for up to 50 process variables per shot and downloads stored machine setup parameters from the PlantStar data server to the Arburg machine controller. Syscon-PlantStar announced it now has a host interface option for Arburg injection presses. PlantStar interface available for Arburgs The Canton, Mass., company also showed its 3300 series cost-effective mechanical tester for tensile, compression and flexural properties. Four major tabs separate testing, test method definition, reporting and system administration, thereby improving test productivity. New features allow the user to cut and paste graphics and results. The fully integrated, modular system has a Weblike design for an easy-to-use interface. Instron featured its new Bluehill testing software. Plastics News correspondent Michael Lauzon reported the following items from the Plast-Ex 2004 trade show, held May 3-6 in Toronto.

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