OWAnews OWAnews - Rowa Group

OWAnews
Issue 2/04
OWAnews
AKTUELLES AUS DER ROWA GROUP
Dear Business Partners,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is already six months since publication
of the second ROWA Newsletter and
nearly three years since the last Plastics Trade
Fair in Düsseldorf.
Preparations for the world’s leading Plastics
Trade Fair are now complete and you are all
no doubt wondering what has changed, what
have we got to prepare ourselves for as suppliers
and what is in store for our customers?
One fact is clear in advance - both suppliers
and customers are faced with a new
challenge. Oil has become scarce and expensive.
Prices of oil derivatives, the so-called
feedstock of the chemical and plastics industry,
are rocketing and have, in some cases,
doubled within the space of a few months.
This means that not only the big chemical
manufacturers but also the medium-sized and
smaller ones will have to raise the prices of
the relevant products. Although most customers
appreciate this, it is often necessary to
give careful consideration to the way in which
price adjustments are imposed. Whereas
some multinationals may even go as far as
reneging on contracts and refuse to continue
supplying unless the customer accepts the
new prices, the smaller companies frequently
adopt a rather different approach.
The ROWA Group has met all its contractual
commitments and will continue to do so, even
though this means that some contracts can
only be honoured at considerable loss to ourselves.
Once this has been done, our group
will inevitably and regretfully have to adjust its
prices to market conditions, but only where
absolutely necessary and without any extortionate
increases.
Our main concern is to satisfy our customers,
because we regard them as our future. I hope
that you feel in good hands as a customer of
our group and that you appreciate the delicate
touch with which we handle unavoidable price
adjustments in these difficult times.
We look forward to welcoming you on our
stand in Düsseldorf,
Yours sincerely
Udo Müller
ROWA acquires
Colortek
With the purchase of Colortek Farbsysteme GmbH of Karstädt, ROWA has
acquired one of Europe’s most modern plants producing liquid dyes and
additive concentrates.
Our group was faced with the choice of either making significant extensions
to its Pinneberg plant, where production capacity is no longer adequate, or
expanding capacity by acquiring a competitor - as it has now done.
The 20,000 m2 site and the more than 3000 m2 of production facilities offer
adequate room for expansion (see photo).
ROWA is now planning to manufacture its range of liquid dyes and additive
concentrates (ROWASOL products) at the Karstädt plant in Brandenburg
and has formed a new subsidiary ROWASOL GmbH with premises in
Ringstrasse, 19357 Karstädt for this purpose. All orders and enquiries
will continue to be handled by ROWA GmbH in 25421 Pinneberg
(Tel. 04101-706-112) for the time being.
ROWASOL liquid
concentrates are
widely used to
colour bulk material
and also as
additives to extrusion
profiles,
edgings, foils,
fibres and yarns.
Our customers
prefer our liquid
systems to other
conventional
dyestuffs, especially
when colour
changes have to
be completed Production plant in Karstädt
quickly and when
precise, homogenous results are needed with the smallest possible amount
of colourant. This applies, in particular, to the colouring of PET for preforms
and bottles, of transparent and translucent foils and of injection-moulded
articles of all kinds. (Page 5).
OWA GROUP
Rowa · Romira · Tramaco · Müller

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Welcome to the
K 2004
The ROWA Group has a warm welcome
awaiting all visitors to its stand J 12 in Hall 8
at the K 2004 in Düsseldorf.
Come and say hello!
ROWA’s lacquer development
team has been working hard over
recent months - with the focus on
lacqueres and topcoats for digital
printing. The latest edition of the
Print Flyer contains details of the
full range of ROWA products.
We are looking forward to
presenting two new products
to you at the K 2004.
OWAnews
News of the K 2004 Trade Fair
Textile Coating
This new, canvas-like sheeting is becoming
increasingly popular for indoor
advertising. Our new range of products
can be applied to various types of
fabric and has a number of interesting
properties like
➔ suitability for printing with solvent
inks
➔ flame resistance
➔ textile feel and appearance.
Visit our stand at the K 2004 to obtain
further details.
Protective Film
Also called liquid laminate by some
users, this topcoat protects all permanent,
printed flat surfaces against
➔ dirt (simple to clean)
➔ damage
➔ light and weather
and gives printed digital images
➔ enhanced brilliance
➔ uniform sheen and
➔ optimal adhesion.
OWA GROUP
Gisela Lange succeeds
Christian Kirchhof
As already announced in the last issue of
ROWA News, our star salesman Christian
Kirchhof will be going into well-earned retirement
at the end of this year. He will be
succeeded by Gisela Lange, who has spent
the last few months acquiring detailed knowledge of the wide
range of ROWA, ROMIRA, TRAMACO and MÜLLER plastics.
Based in Greiz, she will be responsible for the territories of
Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
After qualifying as a materials engineer at Merseburg Technical
University, Gisela worked in the plastics industry for many
years in the fields of applications engineering, after-sales service
and quality assurance. This experience has prepared her
well for her new responsibilities in the field of technical sales of
Rowa Group products. She can count on strong support from
her experienced team.
This flexible new water-based,
air-drying, sprayable 2K lacquer has
been developed by the ROWA team.
We look forward to presenting this
novel product, which can also be used
for side curtains, at the K 2004 and will
be glad to let you have trial material for
your own practical tests. These two
new developments round off and
complete our range of print products.
Why not try our new personalised
service. We will be happy to run
coating or lacquering tests with you on
our technical equipment and on your
own printer. Experience shows that this
quickly produces convincing, marketable
results.
Impressions from the K2001 Trade Fair

Tramaco –
TRAPYLEN ® :
A primer for
printing inks
The last ROWA Newsletter
contained a report on
applications in the field of
moulded parts and foils. In this issue
we and Rowa-Lack want to give you a
glimpse of our activities in the field of
printing inks.
Many printing ink systems have unsatisfactory
adhesive properties when
applied to polyolefin foils (e.g. PP,
OPP). TRAPYLEN ® can be used in
most applications as an additive to
enhance printing adhesion. Our solidresin
products TRAPYLEN ® 186 S and
TRAPYLEN ® 196 S have been producing
excellent results in combination
with conventional, solvent-containing
printing ink systems for many years
now.
Printing ink manufacturers have made
great efforts over recent years to
develop and market environmentally
compatible, low-VOC and VOC-free
products. Water-based printing inks
are now available as an alternative to
solvent-based inks. Our CPO dispersions
TRAPYLEN ® 6800 W and
TRAPYLEN ® 6965 W, and our chlorine-free
APO dispersion TRAPYLEN ®
9200 W are compatible with a large
OWAnews
number of water-based printing inks
and are ideal as additives for enhancement
of print adhesion to polyolefin
plastics.
Water-based printing ink systems take
considerable longer to dry than solvent-based
systems. This means that
processes require higher drying
temperatures and longer drying times.
Water-based systems also fail to
achieve the necessary mechanical film
properties and degree of chemical
stability in some applications.
This is the reason why great effort has
gone into development of UV-curable
printing inks. These liquid products
contain no organic solvents and
dry much more quickly when
exposed to UV or electron radiation.
The films formed by
them have higher chemical
stability and are more resistant
to physical wear-and-tear.
The downside is that even UV
systems have adhesion problems
on polyolefin substrates.
This prompted us to take a
closer look at the problem with
the result that we are now the
only manufacturer offering a
liquid CPO adhesion additive
for UV printing inks.
We have developed a TRAPYLEN ® UV
product group based on the monofunctional
reactive diluent isobornyl
acrylate (IBOA). These products are suitable
for a large number of printing ink
applications. They are also designed as
additives for enhancement of the ink’s
adhesion spectrum and contain no
photo-initiators.
The main products in our IBOA series
are:
➔ TRAPYLEN ® 5500 UV-
A Standard CPO Primer with good
adhesion properties and good
compatibility with other oligomers.
➔ TRAPYLEN ® 5550 UV-
Better adhesion properties than
5500 UV but less compatible with
other oligomers.
OWA GROUP
Sabine Kroll charms
the customers
Sabine Kroll is a qualified forwarding
agent with nine years’
experience in industry, five of
them with Tramaco. She is now
working as an assistant in the
Resins and Waxes Section of the
Commercial Division responsible
for customer service and production
coordination.
With a knowledge of foreign
languages acquired whilst
working in Brazil, she also helps
out at Tramaco with procurement
of products from Portugal and
Spain. Music plays an important
role in her private life. She plays
and sings in operettas as a
member of an amateur operatic
company. The next production is
A Night in Venice.
➔ TRAPYLEN ® 5650 UV-
Somewhat lower adhesion properties
than 5500 UV bur better
compatibility with other oligomers.
Our development division is now
working on additional TRAPYLEN ® UV
formulations with the following target
specifications:
• use of reactive diluents with higher
functionalities
• use of chlorine-free APO´s
• quick-curing adhesion enhancer
Future issues of the Newsletter will
keep you informed on these new
developments.
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Price pressures continue to affect the market
for coloured plastic foil and our customers are
continually looking for ways of improving their
foil quality, especially as regards colour homogeneity,
sheen and freedom from specks, whilst at the same
time cutting down as far as possible on colourant consumption.
To satisfy this demand, ROWA has now developed some
novel liquid colour concentrates (ROWASOL liquid colours)
based on polyolefins specially designed for use in plain and
bubble foils.
OWAnews
TRACEL Nucleation Agent
for physically gassed
polymer foams
The Tramaco product range
is extremely versatile and includes
additives suitable for
use in physical foaming processes.
Typical applications include directly
gassed thermoplastic foams used
in the building industry (insulation panels,
decorative profiles) and packaging materials
(e.g. food trays, lid seals).
Physical blowing agents like
carbon dioxide, butane or
pentane can be used to
produce to produce
polyethylene, polypropylene
or polystyrene
foams with
densities which chemical
agents can only
achieve when these polymers
are cross-linked.
It is essential to add nucleation
agents during extrusion of
directly gassed foams in order to
obtain a fine, homogenous cell
structure. The nucleation agent
enables the blowing gases emerging
from the melted polymer to form a
large number of uniformly growing cells
and prevents coalescence into a coarsely
porous structure.
Whereas passive nucleation agents like
talcum only function as heterogeneous
nuclei, active nucleation agents like the
TRACEL products also release carbon
dioxide, thereby improving the foaming
properties and also enabling the use of
lower doses than with talcum. Actively
nucleated foams are also easier to reprocess
as waste. Passive nucleation
agents can cause adverse effects like
plate-out when recycled.
TRAMACO GmbH offers a wide range of
products in powder or granule form for
improving the properties of polystyrene
and polyolefin foams. The ingredients
used in the nucleation agents and also
their degradation products are physiologically
safe.
Novel, e.g. computerised dosage techniques, either
volumetric or gravimetric, can be used to inject these liquid
colour systems into the extrusion process. One significant
benefit offered by this new dosage technology is that it
reduces rinsing and conversion times to a minimum when
colours are changed. This in turn diminishes the amount of
waste. Another benefit is that uniformly coloured foils can
be produced with liquid colour injections from 0.25% upwards.
If requested, we can also offer our ROWASOL liquid colours
with FDA and BfR clearance.
OWA GROUP
In addition to its TRACEL INC nucleation
agents, TRAMACO also supplies other
additives for use in the production of
physically blown foams. These include
antistatic agents, fireproofing agents and
also special products, e.g. for absorbent
foams. These concentrates can be used
selectively to give the final products
specific properties.
Reinforcement in the
French market
After opening its own sales office in
Paris in 1994, the ROWA Group is
now planning to become more active
in the city of Lyon and the surrounding
region. Yves Champion, a
salesman with long experience in
the plastics sector, took over
responsibility for this territory, which
is of considerable importance for
the plastics industry, on 01 September
and now offers customers
support and advisory services.
ROWASOL liquid systems available for colouring foil

Playmobil is a well-known manufacturer
of high-quality children’s toys. It uses sophisticated
production techniques to manufacture
parts made of several different plastics in a single,
fully automatic process. It has recently gone over to using
more soft plastics in its toys, firstly, to improve their func-
tionality, secondly, to make pointed protuberances
less dangerous for children. The layman does not
always appreciate the high levels of mechanical
stress to which the toys are exposed during play.
They are thrown, dragged across tables and along walls.
Some children chew them to test their edibility. This means
that any soft plastics used in toys need to have good abrasion
resistance and survive exposure to high tensile forces,
as well as being easy to clean. They must also be capable
of bonding with mass-production plastics using 2-K
techniques. We are talking about TPU, which fulfils all these
requirements.
The specification was very precise. Easy to process, physiologically
safe, inexpensive, high physical stability, short
cycle times and 2-K-compatible. This example refers to the
use of TPU to make the feet of a dragon. The special
OWAnews
Playmobil opts for LIFOPRENE PU
from Müller Plastics
TPU appeared to
cause too many
problems for use in
production.
Playmobil’s good
experience in working
with Müller
Plastics on TPE, of
which Playmobil
uses large quantities
for tyres, encouraged
it to overcome
its doubts
and test the suitability
of a TPU compound
from Müller.
problem in this case is that approx. 85 Shore A of soft TPU
have to be pre-sprayed in the process and then have to bond
with the ABS when the hard components are sprayed on.
This is no easy task, because TPU’s cycle time is critical for
the whole of the cycle in the manufacturing tool. Another
Playmobil investigated TPU several years ago
and came to the conclusion that standard
TPUs are too unstable for use in automated
manufacturing processes. This demonstrates
the importance of LIFOPRENE PU’s broad
processing band width, which helps to eliminate
problems of caving in and overspraying.
problem is that the pre-sprayed parts have to withstand a
melting temperature of approx. 230°C. But the dragon is
now in serial production. It stands firmly on its LIFOPRENE
feet which remain undamaged even when young users get
really aggressive.
LIFOPRENE PU’s excellent
properties, plus the good
business relationship with
Müller Plastics, have
encouraged Playmobil to
check whether similar solutions
could be used in
new products or to solve
other problems.
Customer service from Beate Stobbe
OWA GROUP
Content of sales pack
Beate Stobbe has been backing up the ROWA sales team in the Masterbatch
area since 01 April 2004. Her many years of experience in sales comes in very
useful. She formerly worked as a Customer Relations Officer for a bank, both
behind a desk and in the field. Her hobbies include skiing, the theatre and taking
part in old-timer rallies.
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Hardness DIN 53505
Shore A after 3 sec.
Density DIN 53479
g/cm 2
Tensile strengh DIN
53504 longit. N/mm2 Breaking tension DIN
53504 longit. %
UV Flam UV Flam UV Flam UV Flam
60500-1 70500 85500 90500
60 70 86 90
1,09 1,08 1,05 1,05
3,5 5,5 6,3 6,3
700 600 450 470
OWAnews
LIFOFLEX – TPE with fireproofing
For several years now, Müller
Plastics has been developing special,
modified TPEs which conform
to present-day specifications for fire-resistance categories.
New legislation has in recent years introduced
more and more restrictions on the use of fireproofing
additives for this purpose. Although the
most frequently used expressions these days are
“halogen-free“ and “bromine-free“, many other fireproofing
substances have come under attack and
Flaming a
cable distributor
Compliance with UL 94 VO V1 VO (internal) VO (internal)
UV stability Very good Very good Very good Very good
are now no longer approved for use in plastics.
Alternative products containing high proportions of
fillers like magnesium hydroxide present problems
because of their physical properties or their effects
on product surfaces. This is the reason why we have
opted for a solution that presents no problems when
added to our TPEs, causes no processing problems
for our customers, possesses good to very good
mechanical properties and also complies with UL 94
functionality standards.
OWA GROUP
Compliance with UL 94
UL 94 originated in the USA as a
standard for testing plastics used in
electrical appliances. It is now used
globally for classifying the fireproofing
ratings of plastics.
UL 94 fireproofing categories
V-2 Self-extinguishing within not more
than 30 seconds, burning droplets
permitted.
V-1 Self-extinguishing within not more
than 30 seconds, burning droplets
not permitted. Afterglow lasting not
more than 60 seconds.
V-0 Self-extinguishing within not more
than 10 seconds, burning droplets
not permitted. Afterglow lasting not
more than 30 seconds.
Colours for
fireproofed products
Special Colourmasterbatches
manufactured to colour standards
guarantee the functionality of coloured
TPEs. The carrier material has
been tested for compatibility with the
fireproofed grade of TPE. Ask us if
you need more details.

Since its acquisition of BASF’s
LURANYL ® business in 2002,
ROMIRA has been busy on further
development of this range of products.
ROMIRA can now offer a full spectrum of halogenfree
systems in V0 quality, including the new, PA/PPEbased,
high-temperature blends, available in unfilled
and fibreglass-reinforced versions, and also the new,
pure PPE version with between 10% and 30% fibreglass
reinforcement.
The products have an extremely low smoke gas density
and produce less toxic smoke gases. The products
have, in general, retained the physical properties
of the original, untreated formulations.
In order to complete the range of halogen-free, fireproofed
products, we have developed entirely new
PC/ABS and PC/ASA blends and also an ABS especially
suitable for use in electrical applications
exposed to high temperatures. They have excellent
processing properties and dimension stability, and
OWAnews
also cause significantly
less tool corrosion
than halogen-containing
fireproofing
systems. Another
advantage is that they
are not listed in the
WEEE as substances
requiring separate
recycling.
Halogen-free fireproofing
now available for
LURANYL ® , ROMILOY
and ROTEC formulations
The PC/ASA and
PC/ABS blends have
relatively high impact
strength. The ASA
blend also possesses
good weather resistance
properties.
An application for
listing of the PC
blends has been filed
with Underwriter
Laboratories Inc.
No raw materials
purchased without
Thomas Murawski’s
consent
ROMILOY ROTEC LURANYL ® HT LURANYL ® HT LURANYL ®
PC/ASA & PC/ABS ABS PPE/PA PPE/PA 30% GF PPE 30% GF
Vicat (B 50 in °C) > 110 > 90 > 200 > 200 > 140
Tensile strength (MPa) ca. 60 ca. 50 ca. 60 ca. 110 ca. 100
Zug-E module (MPa) 2500 2300 2300 9000 9000
Impact strength (rel.) ++ + + 0 0
V0 (1.6 mm) + + + + +
V0 (3,2 mm) + + + + +
Summary of properties of halogen-free, fireproofed products
OWA GROUP
Thomas Murawski, a native of
the Schleswig-Holstein town
of Elmshorn, took over responsibility
at Romira in July for
international procurement of
raw materials, most of which
come from Europe and Asia.
Thomas holds a commercial
qualification and brings with
him more than 12 years’ experience
as a purchasing
officer in the paint and lacquer
industry. His leisure hours are
taken up with voluntary service
in the Red Cross Emergency
Rescue Team, interspersed
with relaxation in the form of
jogging, cycling - and playing
with his 6-yearold son.
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ROWA GmbH
Siemensstraße 1-3
25421 Pinneberg
Tel.: +49 4101 706 01
Fax: +49 4101 706 201
Info@rowa-gmbh.de
www.rowa-group.com
Romira GmbH
Siemensstraße 1-3
25421 Pinneberg
Tel.: +49 4101 706 03
Fax: +49 4101 706 300
Info@romira.de
www.rowa-group.com
OWAnews
Always a step ahead
The success of ROWA’s Lacquer Division is largely
attributable to the innovative talents of its
development team and highly efficient
quality assurance. It is here where the versatile
lacquering and coating systems marketed under the ROWA name
are created. Its laboratories work systematically to satisfy
customers’ needs and wishes for high-grade lacquering systems.
Customers are an important source of ideas and suggestions
which assist us in our unceasing efforts to improve the quality of
our products. Indeed, many of our new developments were generated
in close cooperation with the development departments of
customer companies. If you feel that you could benefit from closer
contact with our resources and know-how, we will be glad to
discuss a joint development project with you.
We would like to start by introducing some of the people responsible
for development of our products.
Marcel van Moerkerk was born in the
Netherlands and has been a member of
the ROWA lacquer team for five years.
His main interest at present is protective
lacquering of digitally printed advertising
materials and light, printable textile
coatings. He is an enthusiastic motorcyclist,
likes dancing and cooking, and
also plays bass guitar.
Frank Nagel is Deputy Laboratory Manager
and responsible for the lacquer lab’s
smooth functioning. He also supervises
operation of our coating and lacquer plant
and our large-scale printer. His main interest
at present is fluoropolymer lacquer
systems and lacquer systems for vehicle
interiors. Formerly a member of the German
Rugby Football team, he now spends
some of his leisure time training that team.
Matthias Walenda is a qualified paint
and lacquer specialist working on various
new developments, for example,
the new, fluoropolymer-based, anti-UV
primer and water-based lacquer
systems for treating furniture veneers
made of coated paper. A dedicated
cyclist, he has scaled many an alpine
pass on his bike, but also enjoys a
leisurely bicycle tour with his family.
Katrin Dörfling joined ROWA in April last year and is now
working mainly on refinement of existing lacquer formulations.
Her main interest at present is to improve the image quality produced
by our print lacquers. She likes to relax with a good book
in her leisure time.
Tramaco GmbH
Siemensstraße 1-5
25421 Pinneberg
Tel.: +49 4101 706 02
Fax: +49 4101 706 200
Info@tramaco.de
www.rowa-group.com
Holger Bremer is the longest-serving
member of our lab team. His main job
is creation and coordination of samples
for customers. Whenever you pick
up a ROWA product sample, you can
be (pretty) sure that Holger Bremer
had something to do with it. He is a
keen swimmer in his spare time.
Markus Stoltenow is responsible for everything to do with weathering
tests, including the QUV test apparatus, the xenon tester and
the 150-space, open-air weathering stand. He also supervises
quality assurance of the company’s pigment preparations. His
hobby is aquariums and he breeds miniature coloured perch.
Quality has a name.
Gabrielle Raddatz has been responsible
for quality assurance at our Seevetal
production plant for 14 years now.
All incoming raw materials and finished
products emerging from production are
subjected to her meticulous examination.
In her leisure time she keeps in
touch with retired ROWA staff and organises
regular pensioners’ meetings.
Sandra Rücker holds an engineering qualification and joined the
ROWA team on 1 May 2004 with responsibility for the entire field
of instrumental analysis. Together with Gabrielle Raddatz, she
performs gas chromatographic and IR-spectroscopic tests on
raw materials and finished products.
Published by: Rowa Group
Siemensstraße 1-3
25421 Pinneberg
V.i.S.d.P.: Udo Müller
Edited by: Menyesch Public Relations
Graphic design: Winneberger & Haacker
Horst Müller Kunststoffe GmbH & Co. KG
Grünewaldstraße 13
96215 Lichtenfels
Tel.: +49 9571 95180
Fax: +49 9571 3655
info@mueller-kunststoffe.com
www.rowa-group.com