PlastiComp buys PushtrusionSM technology

PlastiComp LLC (Winona, MN) has bought the rights to a technology it says can reduce manufacturing costs, as well as improve the appearance and performance of manufactured parts.
With the PushtrusionSM Technology from Woodshed Technologies (Melbourne, Australia), molten polymers are continuously reinforced with fibre, creating fibre-reinforced compounds during molding. It can be used in conjunction with numerous processes including injection, compression and transfer molding, PlastiComp said.
Before the acquisition, PlastiComp was the only company worldwide with a license to market the technology. Additionally, PlastiComp is the sole provider of the PushtrusionSM Direct Long-Fiber Thermoplastics (D-LFT) process. The company is also the only vendor of Complet composite pellets, which are complementary to the PushtrusionSM process, it said.
Because the pellets’ composition is determined by a customer’s requirements, the need for pre-compounded composite pellets is eliminated, PlastiComp explained.
“At a time when there is increasing downward pressure on manufacturing costs and a simultaneous and dramatic increase in raw materials costs, the benefits of PushtrusionSM technology are quite attractive to manufacturers and end-users of both long and short fibre-reinforced plastics,” said Roger Jones, chairman of PlastiComp.