Extrusion International USA 2-2021

29 Extrusion International 2/2021 Aftermarket Services in the Age of COVID „ Doing business in the COVID era has required a great deal of creativity and flexibility. With evolving protocols and safety requirements, businesses have had to adapt quickly and with prudence to ensure success. To support customers, Davis-Stan- dard’s teams have rallied to provide an exemplary aftermarket response in regard to parts, rebuilds, equipment upgrades and emergency breakdown services. Anagram International of Min- neapolis, Minn., and Synovos of Radnor, Penn., are two exam- ples of customers who have experienced this top-tier service. The Anagram (www.anagramballoons.com ) project was two- fold with an extruder rebuild and controls upgrade. The ex- truder rebuild occurred first to complement the company’s recently reconditioned feedscrew and extrusion die. Typically, Davis-Standard holds pre-installation meetings on-site at the factory, but due to COVID, held a detailed pre-install meeting virtually. Davis-Standard shipped the parts to Anagram and a regional service engineer (within driving distance) did the instal- lation in-person. The extruder was back in full production faster than expected, which decreased downtime. This was important for Anagram as the world’s leading foil balloonmanufacturer. Anagram’s second phase required upgrading an Integrator-C controller to a faster PC system. As with the extruder rebuild, a virtual pre-installation meeting outlined specifics. It was decid- ed Davis-Standard could do the upgrade remotely via the DS5 Davis-Standard, LLC www.davis-standard.com/aftermarket secure network access system. The remote upgrade went well with the only in-person contact being from a gauge technician who installed new gauge application software and provided operator training. Within 24 hours, the line was back up and running. In both cases, in-person contact was minimized and timelines were met. Synovos (www.synovos.com ) benefitted from Davis-Standard expediting parts on a regular basis. This has been critical during COVID as Synovos provides comprehensive MRO supply chain management services for customers in a range of industries, including medical and health. Davis-Standard has supplied all types of extrusion parts this year including spare parts, rupture discs and band heaters.When needed, Davis-Standard has been able to overnight parts for early morning delivery to mitigate downtime. In cases where parts were not in stock, Davis-Stan- dard has been successful in getting them to Synovos within a week. The ability to serve customers with speed and efficiency is a reflection of Davis-Standard’s planning strategy early on in the pandemic. This included keeping parts well-stocked, maintain- ing a healthy network of suppliers, establishingmultiple produc- tion shifts, and prioritizing employee safety. All without sacrific- ing 24/7 customer accessibility on a global scale. „ The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) announced its strong opposition to the Break Free FromPlastic Pollution Act, in- troduced in the U.S. House of Representatives andU.S. Senate. “This legislation would be absolutely devastating to manu- facturing jobs and America’s overall economy just as we begin to rebound from the effects of COVID-19,” said PLAS- TICS President & CEO Tony Radoszewski. “This bill is a direct threat to the nearly one million men and women who work in the domestic plastics industry. Additionally, this misguided legislation could have the unintended consequence of lead- ing to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.” “The Break Free From Plastics Pollution Act poses serious danger to America’s economy, particularly the manufactur- ing sector,” said PLASTICS Chief Economist Perc Paneda, PhD. “It puts the over $7.0 billion capital expenditure spend- ing in plastics material and resin manufacturing in serious jeopardy. Importantly, for every dollar spent in manufactur- ing another $2.74 is added to the economy.” The plastics industry is one of America’s largest and is critical to the overall performance of America’s economy. Most plas- tics are used in manufacturing, although the use of plastics in services, such as healthcare, is becoming increasingly im- portant. The “Break Free Act” would destroy manufacturing jobs and put America’s supply chains into chaos. The “Break Free” Act targets plastic for use in a variety of applications, which would incentivize the production of less energy-efficient materials, such as glass, tin, aluminum, and paper. Life-cycle analysis indicates that compared to these older materials, plastics result in lower greenhouse gas emis- sions. PLASTICS will continue to support commonsense, bipartisan legislation to incentivize sustainability through recycling. Measures like the RECOVER Act to improve recycling infra- structure and other efforts like the RECYCLE Act and the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act provide better approaches than those offered in the “Break Free” Act. Response to “Break Free” Act Tony Radoszewski Perc Pineda The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) plasticsindustry.org