Archive for the 'ceramicx' Category

Chinaplas 2012 – infrared heating quality like never before

May 10, 2012 by Cathal Wilson

Now that the dust has settled it seems as good a time as any to unpack a few thoughts from the Ceramicx exhibition experiences at Chinaplas 2012 exhibition at the end of last month.

For sheer volume of visitors and for human traffic the Chinaplas show is a coming force. Ceramicx has re-affirmed its presence at Chinaplas in its Guangzhou location next year and all expect this year’s footfall of 110,000 to be exceeded. The show – and the Chinese plastics industry – will continue to grow.


All in all Ceramicx had an excellent first exhibition. We were looked after well in Hall W1 as an independent supplier by our Chinese agents and distributor. In addition to Chinese business we also made several important connections with plastics industries in Indonesia, India and the Philippines. As Chinaplas grows so will the involvement of countries outside Chinese borders.

95% of success, they say, comes from just showing up. It was a very good move indeed to make ourselves present for Ceramicx at the show, front and centre. We were able to show our first hand product knowledge and able also to walk our Chinese visitors through all the IR technical ins and outs. Nothing beats showing up.

In some ways Chinese industry has now become the most demanding and quality conscious in the world. At Chinaplas 2012 we confirmed for ourselves that the Chinese market has a huge and growing appetite for applications engineering and for knowledge on how our infrared heat emitters can be applied and used to better effect across a multitude of processes.

To date ceramic-based IR emitters have been the stable diet in China.  Ceramicx is now fielding a growing interest in Quartz and Quartz Halogen/Tungsten IR technology and how the different sources of infrared are suitable for different applications.

All in all the Ceramicx Chinaplas experience and our follow through was well worth the learning curve and the time taken. We shall be back again next year with many further improvements and innovations.

Posted in ceramicx, Chinaplas, Infrared, infrared heaters, IR development | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Back to the shop floor

April 17, 2012 by Patrick Wilson

Right now Frank and Cathal Wilson will hopefully be assembling all the pieces of the Ceramicx booth in readiness for the Chinaplas show, which opens in Shanghai tomorrow.

It hardly seems possible that as soon as one large exhibition is processed by Ceramicx another is opening for business on the other side of the world. Here in Ireland I’m still adjusting back from the change in Florida time and from the ebb of some of the enquiries and order processing received at America’s biggest and best plastics exhibition, NPE, April 1-5.

NPE 2012 was a huge learning curve for me. Not only did I have to leave my production manager role behind for a whole week – trusting that all would be well! – it was then in at the deep end in terms of the dynamism at the show; the large variety of enquiries, interest and visitors of all shapes and sizes.

Sure enough, my Spanish and Portuguese language skills came in handy with visitors from Columbia, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and other parts of South and Central America. There is no doubt that the manufacturing industry is expanding greatly in those parts of the world – and plastics technologies with it. It’s a territory that we shall be cultivating and returning to in the coming months and years. Among the things brought back in the suitcase were several months worth of South American leads, opportunities and new relationships to be cultivated over the short and medium term.

In truth, the NPE show also taught me that most nearly every customer, large and small, sophisticated and beginner still has a whole new world of knowledge to explore when it comes to the particular language of Infrared Heating (IR); the issues and the benefits to be learned there.

In conversations about IR I often found myself spending a good deal of time on the groundwork; general and educative aspects. Once that was done you then move into getting great insight into what customers are actually looking for – it’s not always the same as you imagined! And then you start talking to them about solutions to their problems and actual needs. That gets everyone excited. And at the end of the day, we get much closer to our customers, which is the purpose of the show and where we need to be. Job done!

Well not quite. There’s the small matter of that week taken out from your normal job which now needs making up. New business or not, existing orders still need getting out the door. However, as Frank often says, it’s a high-grade problem to have. Ceramicx is looking forward to expansion on all these fronts as we go forward.

Posted in ceramicx, Chinaplas, Infrared Heating, Infrared Heating Experts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Orlando here we come!

March 23, 2012 by Cathal Wilson

When NPE opens its doors on April 1, Orlando Florida, the Ceramicx Wild Geese, Patrick Wilson and Tadgh Whooley will have flown in and helped set up shop.

Patrick is one of the newest recruits to our team and Tadgh is one of longest standing employees and both have a different set of skills that will complement each other and service the NPE show perfectly.

Patrick’s schooling and education has seen him track the fortunes of the oil and gas industries across three continents and languages are high up in his skill set. It’s most likely that they’ll be needed since this year’s premier American show is expected to see a big upswing of visitors from Central and Southern America.

Brazil recently overtook the UK as the 6th largest world economy. The boom in South American manufacturing is embracing plastics – no doubt about it – and Ceramicx hopes and intends that many such business take advantage of all that our infrared heating solutions have to offer.

The Ceramicx Wild Geese also offer IR applications engineering know-how in depth: Tadgh Whooley, Technical Sales Engineer, and veteran of a number of international shows, most recently the K 2010 in Dusseldorf – will also be on hand for all matters of technology and applications engineering.

Tadgh will be able to advise on heat characteristics and performance parameters for various kinds of plastics – especially in sheet version for thermoforming needs.

Tadgh’s recent work in all aspects of custom built IR applications engineering, including technical certification; system design and installation will also be available for visitors to the US triennial show.

Expert in electrical engineering, AutoCad and other aspects of IR heating system design, Tadgh also oversees all halogen tungsten heater sales for Ceramicx – also available in the US via Weco International.

You can read all about Ceramicx at NPE in this month’s HeatWorks issue. Contact Ceramicx direct to get your free copy.

Posted in ceramicx, Heatworks, infrared heaters, Infrared Heating, Infrared Heating Experts, IR development, Thermoforming, Weco International | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What a difference a year makes

March 5, 2012 by Frank Wilson

Anyone doubting the ability of US manufacturing to pick itself up and get stuck into business through 2012 could do worse than read our forthcoming edition of HeatWorks magazine where we devote some eight pages to the issue.

Today’s trade winds are a funny thing. Only in the past couple of weeks has it been comfortable to recognise the US situation, come out and name it. That’s how fast things change globally and that’s how sensitive the international trading barometers are set these days.

Putting our US material together has reminded me of the critical importance of that country’s infrared heating needs for Ceramicx. The US remains our number one market and Ceramicx is fortunate enough to have a partner there in Weco International whose watchwords include persistence, determination and integrity. In truth it is these qualities that are now seeing US manufacturing through. That, together with a new leap of imagination that sees US manufacturers finally taking the energy-saving message on board.

This latter news certainly gladdens my heart: If US manufacturing is finally being provoked into realising how much energy it puts through its processes then there surely is hope for the rest of the world. Not measuring, not caring how much your plant spends on energy, is questionable business sense to say the least.

The new agenda sees our infrared heating technology and our energy monitoring systems taking market share and growing in reputation. The triennial Amercian plastics exhibition in Orlando Florida, April 1-5, will give us added opportunities to prove it to that sector. Already we are servicing US plastics thermoformers and blow moulders who have bought new machines but who realise that the energy performance needs to be even better, both for energy monitoring and for energy effectiveness in heat work.
Brett Wehner will therefore lead his Weco/Ceramicx team onto the Orlando Florida showground on April 1 knowing that increased manufacturing optimism; increased demand for quality engineering and increased demand for energy efficiency all point in favour of great business at NPE 2012.

The US market is now ready to buy a quality and efficient heater -  not just on price, but also on performance and energy measurement. There has been a shift in attitude. Infrared heating ideas and solutions are coming up further in the mix. It’s time for capital investment once again, and it’s also time for US manufacturing to invest in its future.

One short year has made all the difference – and Weco/Ceramicx is ready for the business, with IR products and services to match.

Posted in ceramicx, Infrared Heater Manufacturer, infrared heaters, Infrared Heating, Infrared Heating Solutions, Infrared Heating Technology, IR development, Weco International | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

New year – new partnerships – new business

February 17, 2012 by Frank Wilson

Ceramicx is currently in the middle of preparing our marketing materials and strategies for the upcoming big plastics exhibitions in the US and China this April.

left to right, Ted Rosingana ( Weco International ) Bob Davis ( P.C.S. ) Frank Wilson ( Ceramicx ) Brett Wehner ( Weco International )

Every week the count down brings yet more positive and new elements into the mix: This week I want to thank Brett Wehner, Director of our US partner Weco International, who has reached a technology and distribution deal with a very dynamic and enterprising company, Process Control Technologies.

 

 

Thanks to the gentle arts of partnership and negotiation, the US infrared heating market just got a little bigger and better for all of us:

Process Control Solutions (PCS), founded in Portland Maine 34 years ago, is a distributor, manufacturer’s representative and integrator of heaters, controls and sensors.  The PCS team supports sales for New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and its focus is on selling technical products through superior product knowledge, application experience, project management and customer and technical support.

PCS facilities include a new and modern 2,000 square foot office with conference room, 4,500 square feet of warehouse and workshop, a box truck for system deliveries and installations and service vans for on site technical support. PCS also has in house 3D CAD software, fabrication and assembly and even equipment testing and acceptance within our facility.

Like ourselves, and like Brett’s business, Process Control is a family-owned company. I guess that’s partly how the deal goes down quicker. Across the world it sure enough helps the commerce when like minds and like values can speak with like.

One direct consequence of our new set-up is that the expert Process Control know-how will now be a welcome part of the the Weco/Ceramicx range of wares and expertise on show from April 1-5 at the NPE 2012 show.

We’ll tell you all about it in our next issue of HeatWorks magazine, out next month. Our own Patrick Wilson and Tadgh Whooley will be part of the teamwork in Orlando, Florida. We expect good business from all corners.

I said at the beginning of the year that the theme of partnership was already looking like a theme for 2012. Sure enough, the proof of the pudding is coming through already.

Slainte!

Our NPE 2012 preview and USA infrared heating update will be featured HeatWorks magazine – sixth edition – out next month. If you want to get onto the circulation or have a story for our next issue – just order up from Ceramicx direct and get yourself on the mailing list.

Posted in ceramicx, Infrared Heating, Infrared Heating Solutions, Uncategorized, Weco International | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment