To explore the new trends and technologies that shape the future of mobility, the 11th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Automotive Conference and Showcase kicked off today (17 Nov) at Radisson Collection Hotel, Yangtze Shanghai, China.

Professionals from the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain gathered to share the latest technologies and their insights under the theme "Cool Design, Eco-Friendly Plastics, Green Trends".

"Click" to watch the video!

The organizers also arranged more than 100 one-on-one business matching sessions, and the atmosphere of information exchange was enthusiastic.

1-on-1 onsite business matching activities were organized successfully. 

Due to the prevention and control of the pandemic, some participating enterprises were unable to attend the Conference. The organizers thereby specially organized online business matching sessions, meeting the purchasing demand from them.

Online business matching sessions were specially organized, meeting the purchasing demand of enterprises that could not physically attend the Conference due to pandemic prevention measures.

The 1.5-day conference is hosted by Adsale Plastics Network, China Plastic & Rubber Journal (CPRJ) & CPRJ International. It is also co-organized by OE qiche and supported by CHINAPLAS, CZZ, Sino-Pack and SHANGHAI MU RUI.

Morning Session

Yuancong Liang, General Secretary of Shanghai Society of Automotive Engineers

Yuancong Liang, General Secretary of Shanghai Society of Automotive Engineers, remarked that China’s automotive industry is facing unprecedented changes in his welcome remarks. In addition to the supply chain disruption and poor sales channels caused by the epidemic, the wave of anti-globalization brought about by international political confrontation and trade conflicts is still continuing, he said.

At the same time, the pressure of resources and environment as well as the increasing user requirements have also accelerate the transformation of automotive product technology. Electrification and hydrogen energy utilization, intelligent connection and new travel modes are becoming new development directions, added Yuancong Liang. 

Joyce Ye, Deputy Project Director at Adsale Publishing Ltd. (Adsale Group)

In her welcome remarks, Joyce Ye, Deputy Project Director at Adsale Publishing Ltd. (Adsale Group), mentioned that China's passenger vehicle market has been recovering rapidly, showing the trend of "the off-season is not slow, and the peak season is reappearing".

The demand for aesthetics, health, lightweight and sustainable development of automobiles continues to increase, bringing new growth opportunities for the plastics and rubber industry, especially pure electric vehicles, she said.

From January to September 2022, the production and sales of passenger vehicles in China increased by 17.2% and 14.2% year-on-year respectively. Meanwhile, the production and sales of new energy vehicles increased by 120% and 110% year-on-year, with the market share reached 23.5%.

Jianlai Yan, Secretary-General of Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers

Commenting on the new development trend of the automotive industry, Jianlai Yan, Secretary-General of Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers, believes that even higher energy efficiency, environmentally friendliness and safety are key.

In his opinion, China has great advantages and works to be a leading participant when it comes to the development of new energy vehicles.

He suggested the automotive industry to strengthen technological research and development, accelerate digital transformation, and to contribute to carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality of their products.

David Huang, Strategy & Partnership Director, Faurecia Seating China

David Huang, Strategy & Partnership Director, Faurecia Seating China, discussed that development of cockpit systems for the era of intelligent connection. He emphasized that automotive electronics, which connects the hardware components in the vehicle, will be at the top of agenda in the future.

Faurecia explores the concept of "the third space" through multi-modal interaction, intelligent connection and other forms. The company has introduced the cockpit, with a welcome mode, which can meet the user's sense of ritual and personalized needs.

Pan Yong, Head of China R&D, Shanghai Mann+Hummel Filter Co., Ltd.

In his presentation, Pan Yong, Head of China R&D, Shanghai Mann+Hummel Filter Co., Ltd., explained that fuel cell is an important technical means in the transformation of energy cells. The fuel cell reaction is a kind of "cold combustion" with a relatively low reaction temperature, but it needs the help of noble metal catalysts, mainly Pt, to help realize the reaction process.

Therefore, the manufacturing cost and application cost of fuel cell are very high, which has become an obstacle for it be widely used. However, Pan Yong added that fuel cell is more environmentally friendly and also has high application potential.

Mann+Hummel provides better protection for fuel cell system, protecting the catalyst in the reaction process as well as filtering harmful gases through the activated carbon filter.

Peter Peng, Technical Director of Two-Platen Injection Molding Machine Market Development & Auto Industry Line at Yizumi

Peter Peng, Technical Director of Two-Platen Injection Molding Machine Market Development & Auto Industry Line at Yizumi, shared the trends of automotive lighting and innovative molding technologies. He also introduced the innovative application of the intelligent front face system for new energy vehicles - the integration of car light grille that realizes "added value and intelligence".

Yizumi's thick-walled light guide layered molding technology for car light has the advantages of reducing the yellowing rate of material degradation and improving light transmittance, reducing product shrinkage and improving product precision, as well as shorter cooling time and increasing production capacity.

Jiong Fu, Associate Professor Design Dept. of Shanghai Jiaotong University Design Trends Institute

Jiong Fu, Associate Professor Design Dept. of Shanghai Jiaotong University Design Trends Institute, gave a presentation under the topic of “Age of Differentiation and Automotive Design Countermeasures”.

He mentioned that lifestyle, aesthetic, automotive brand positioning and color and fashion trends are determining factors of car design. He studied these factors through surveys, methodology and analysis. Also, he brought up women have unique aesthetics for cars.

Yonggang Wang, General Secretary of Recycled Plastics Division, China National Resources Recycling Association, shared via online platform

In 2021, about 1 million tons of automotive plastics were recycled and 3.012 million motor vehicles were recycled, representing a year-on-year increase of 20.02%. The recycling of automotive plastics is facing the challenges of high-value conversion, complex materials, and high sorting costs, said Yonggang Wang, General Secretary of Recycled Plastics Division, China National Resources Recycling Association.

Yonggang Wang added that the direction of sustainable development of automotive plastics is green design and recycled material applications. The China National Resources Recycling Association will continue to promote the cooperation project of easy recycling design and evaluation of automotive products, as well as the cooperation project of standardizing use of recycled plastics for automobiles.

Latest innovative products and solutions showcased at the Conference. 

Parallel Sub-Forum: Lightweighting and Interior and Exterior

Dr. Jitao Du, Chairman at National Molded Plastic Eco-Alliance

Dr. Jitao Du, Chairman at National Molded Plastic Eco-Alliance, pointed out that the urpose of reducing cost is to improve products’ competitiveness and profitability. Batteries, motors and electronic controls are the focus of cost reduction and efficiency increase.

He commented that the development trends of new energy vehicles are sense of technology, high-end, lightweighting, shorter delivery time, and higher explicit and implicit requirements, which have brought challenges to the molding industry. The industry needs to further promote cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.

Bryce Chen, R&D Director of Chen Hsong Group in China region

Bryce Chen, R&D Director of Chen Hsong Group in China region, introduced that the company has developed different injection molding machine series in order to offer a full range of solutions fit for the automotive industry.

For example, Chen Hsong’s TP two-platen machine series, which is equipped with Mitsubishi’s technology, features patented inter-locking mechanism and a variety of cutting-edge technologies.

It delivers high injection weight precision, short dry cycle time, and its clamping force is independent of temperature. It is applicable for automobile parts like interior and exterior decorations and the functional ones. 

Junxian Li, Environmental Performance Technical Expert / Senior Manager of Baic Motor Corporation Limited Automotive Research Institute, shared via online platform

In his presentation, Junxian Li, Environmental Performance Technical Expert / Senior Manager of Baic Motor Corporation Limited Automotive Research Institute, stated that as a consequence for the pandemic, automotive manufacturers and material suppliers have jointly launched several anti-pandemic technological solutions. China has also carried out “healthcare technology certification”.

There are therefore new opportunities for healthcare materials and the related processing technologies. For instance, low-odor and low-VOC technology has been paid increasing market attention. Anti-mildew, anti-allergic materials and filter-sterilized anti-virus materials have also gained increasing interest.

Bruce Hsu, Sales Director at Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

Dandan Gao, Business Director at Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

The bio-based plastics of Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd. are mainly derived from waste oil that is cracked and modified for high performance comparable to virgin materials. The PCR content of this material can be as high as 85%, the VOC content is about 6ug/, and the carbon emission reduction can be as high as 74%.

Compared with the new material produced by the company, the price of the bio-based plastics is 10-37% higher, and they have lower odor (3.0). Depending on the PCR content, the properties of the final material will also vary, explained Bruce Hsu, Sales Director and Dandan Gao, Business Director.

Dr. Surong Zhou, Technical Director at Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd.

Dr. Surong Zhou, Technical Director at Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd., the long-fiber reinforced polymer composites produced by the company, such as long glass fiber, long carbon fiber and long basalt fiber, can strengthen PP, PA6 and PA66. They allow producing lightweight parts and replacing steel parts with plastics.

Due to its high and stable performance, the long glass fiber reinforced PP is suitable for automotive components. They can also be made partially from recycled materials.

Zhi Li, Senior Expert at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., shared via online platform

The presentation topic of Zhi Li, Senior Expert at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., was “User-oriented Interior and Exterior Design in the Age of Aesthetics”. He mainly introduced the design concept focused on user experience and the typical applications of Geely's trendy interior and exterior design.

According to Zhi Li, user experience is not limited to appearance, and emphasis on experience is an inevitable trend. The key factors of user experience design are users, scenes, vehicles, materials and methods. He also discussed the practical applications of aerospace cockpit technology and intelligent technology design.

Parallel Sub-Forum: Automotive Electronics and Intelligent Driving

Youtang Luo, Mold Specialist at Leading Global Automotive Electronic Components Company

Youtang Luo, Mold Specialist at Leading Global Automotive Electronic Components Company, talked about the latest automotive thermal management systems from three aspects, including fuel vehicle thermal management system, new energy electric vehicle thermal management system, calculation and development goals of thermal management system.

It is introduced that the thermal management system of a fuel vehicle is mainly divided into a powertrain cooling system and an air conditioning system. And for new energy electric vehicles, the motor is the main power source. Therefore, in addition to the air conditioning system, new energy electric vehicles also have motor modules and battery cooling systems.

Besides, he said that technical development goals of thermal management systems are precision, high efficiency and low energy consumption.

Richard Li, Business Development Manager of Automotive Division at Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd.

Richard Li, Business Development Manager of Automotive Division at Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd., put emphasis on the company’s multi-component injection solutions. He said that multi-component processing technology is more beneficial when compared to traditional injection molding process in terms of product quality, yield rate, and production efficiency.

The application advantages of multi-component injection include availability of integrated molding to improve production efficiency, high flexibility of design freedom to enhance vehicle comfort, and reduction of cost and emissions. Multi-component injection applications are expected to be more extensive, he concluded.

Jun Tang, Technical Support Engineer at Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Jun Tang, Technical Support Engineer at Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., introduced AIRMOULD, the company’s patented gas-assisted injection molding process, and CELLMOULD, the company’s light weight technology for the production of very light and highly rigid parts without sink marks.

Advantages of AIRMOULD application include quality improvement, weight reduction, plastic material savings, reduction of component unit costs, prevention of sink marks, reduction / prevention of warpage and design freedom. 

Advantages of the CELLMOULD application are weight reduction, plastic material savings, reduced component costs, prevention of sink marks, reduction of warpage, narrower tolerances, higher rigidity with the same weight, longer maximum flow paths due to reduced viscosity, new scope for design, reduction of cycle time and lower clamping forces.

Zhe Liang, Sales Manager of Injection Molding Machine at SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co., Ltd.

Zhe Liang, Sales Manager of Injection Molding Machine at SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co., Ltd., said that the company has realized manufacturing robot using robot at its headquarters in Japan. FANUC’s injection molding machines feature high molding performance, high operating rate and high ease of use.

FANUC also has technologies of countercurrent calculation, precise metering and precise clamping force control to ensure accurate and stable measurement in the production process.

Tracy Zhang, Senior Technical Marketing Manager at BÖHLER Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Tracy Zhang, Senior Technical Marketing Manager at BÖHLER Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., highlighted tool steel selection for reinforcement plastic forming in automotive.

She remarked that wearing and abrasion may cause serious losses in plastic processing. The company’s tool steels for special steel reinforced plastics, such as the M340/M368/M390/W360 grades, perform high wear resistance. They are suitable for products such as gears, brake pedals, and plates for electronic components.

Parallel Sub-Forum: New Energy Vehicles: Lightweighting and Battery Safety

Haibo Shen, Engineering Manager at Tederic Machinery Co., Ltd.

Haibo Shen, Engineering Manager at Tederic Machinery Co., Ltd., mentioned that the company provides professional solutions for automobiles with a rich product lineup. For example, it offers CoinSure injection compression molding technology with advantages of addressing the issue of pressure changes, performing high production precision, reducing 40% of weight when compared to glass and so on.

Apart from that, Tederic’s DecoSure in-mold decoration technology allows high economic benefits, high-quality production, automated turnkey solutions and flexible production.

Shen added that the advantage of the company’s MultiMold technology is that different modular injection platform structures can be flexibly combined with over 30 ways, and the layout is far more flexible.

Hui Zhao, Manager at Star Charge, shared via online platform

Hui Zhao, Manager at Star Charge, shared the emerging requirements for structural materials from charging piles and charging guns. Taking the target mileage of 350km as an example, if the vehicle’s power is about 55kWh and it needs to be charged to 80% in 15 minutes, the charging current needs to be increased to 600A and the high-voltage platform need to be boosted to more than 400V, which is a big challenge for high-power charging.

He also introduced high-power liquid-cooled charging guns and charging modules. As explained, the high-power water-cooled rectifier module mainly adopts advanced high-frequency SiC MOS module technology and temperature-controlled water-cooled heat dissipation method, which offers the benefits of high power density, low noise, high reliability, and long life.

Haimeng Cao, Product Manager at LKIMM

Haimeng Cao, Product Manager at LKIMM, introduced the applications of LK multi-component molding technology in automotive parts sector. As explained, multi-component molding is used in a wide range of industries and can improve product performance, reduce production costs, increase product appeal, reduce human error, and increase product durability and toughness.

Multi-component molding injection molding equipment can be divided into rotary two-component machine, rotary shaft two-component machine, color-mixing two-component machine and through-shot two-component machine. The machines of LKIMM adopt modular design, which can be matched with injection components of different sizes to meet the different needs of products. They can achieve product repeatability ≤ 0.3.

Ke Xiao, Injection Molding Machine Business Manager, JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

JSW Machinery possesses the leading technologies in the plastics molding industry, as well as technological skills in screw design, ultra-durable machinery and high rigidity mold closing device.

Compared with the company’s 850t injection molding machine, the power consumption of JSW Machinery's electric injection molding machine is just one-third of that of the hydraulic machine, according to Ke Xiao, Injection Molding Machine Business Manager, JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Razer Ge, Marketing Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials Asia of Avient Corporation

Razer Ge, Marketing Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials Asia of Avient Corporation, shared the company’s innovative materials design for new energy vehicles.

Ge pointed out that Avient provides a wealth of solutions and products focusing on eight aspects, which are lightweight, recyclability, volatile compounds (VOC) reduction, energy consumption reduction, bio-based polymers, environmental awareness, sustainable infrastructure, healthcare and safety.

Concurrent solutions and products showcase

The conference is also supported by a number of sponsors who showcased their innovative solutions concurrently, including:

Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery Co.,Ltd.

Avient Corporation

SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co.,Ltd.

Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd.

JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd.

LKIMM

Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

Tederic Machinery Co.,Ltd.

Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

CHEN HSONG

Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd.

Böhler Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Synventive Molding Solutions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

ARBURG (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd

Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Microban International Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

Rosti Integrated Manufacturing Solutions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

To explore the new trends and technologies that shape the future of mobility, the 11th Edition CPRJ Plastics in Automotive Conference and Showcase kicked off today (17 Nov) at Radisson Collection Hotel, Yangtze Shanghai, China.

Professionals from the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain gathered to share the latest technologies and their insights under the theme "Cool Design, Eco-Friendly Plastics, Green Trends".

"Click" to watch the video!

The organizers also arranged more than 100 one-on-one business matching sessions, and the atmosphere of information exchange was enthusiastic.

1-on-1 onsite business matching activities were organized successfully. 

Due to the prevention and control of the pandemic, some participating enterprises were unable to attend the Conference. The organizers thereby specially organized online business matching sessions, meeting the purchasing demand from them.

Online business matching sessions were specially organized, meeting the purchasing demand of enterprises that could not physically attend the Conference due to pandemic prevention measures.

The 1.5-day conference is hosted by Adsale Plastics Network, China Plastic & Rubber Journal (CPRJ) & CPRJ International. It is also co-organized by OE qiche and supported by CHINAPLAS, CZZ, Sino-Pack and SHANGHAI MU RUI.

Morning Session

Yuancong Liang, General Secretary of Shanghai Society of Automotive Engineers

Yuancong Liang, General Secretary of Shanghai Society of Automotive Engineers, remarked that China’s automotive industry is facing unprecedented changes in his welcome remarks. In addition to the supply chain disruption and poor sales channels caused by the epidemic, the wave of anti-globalization brought about by international political confrontation and trade conflicts is still continuing, he said.

At the same time, the pressure of resources and environment as well as the increasing user requirements have also accelerate the transformation of automotive product technology. Electrification and hydrogen energy utilization, intelligent connection and new travel modes are becoming new development directions, added Yuancong Liang. 

Joyce Ye, Deputy Project Director at Adsale Publishing Ltd. (Adsale Group)

In her welcome remarks, Joyce Ye, Deputy Project Director at Adsale Publishing Ltd. (Adsale Group), mentioned that China's passenger vehicle market has been recovering rapidly, showing the trend of "the off-season is not slow, and the peak season is reappearing".

The demand for aesthetics, health, lightweight and sustainable development of automobiles continues to increase, bringing new growth opportunities for the plastics and rubber industry, especially pure electric vehicles, she said.

From January to September 2022, the production and sales of passenger vehicles in China increased by 17.2% and 14.2% year-on-year respectively. Meanwhile, the production and sales of new energy vehicles increased by 120% and 110% year-on-year, with the market share reached 23.5%.

Jianlai Yan, Secretary-General of Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers

Commenting on the new development trend of the automotive industry, Jianlai Yan, Secretary-General of Chinese Society of Automotive Engineers, believes that even higher energy efficiency, environmentally friendliness and safety are key.

In his opinion, China has great advantages and works to be a leading participant when it comes to the development of new energy vehicles.

He suggested the automotive industry to strengthen technological research and development, accelerate digital transformation, and to contribute to carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality of their products.

David Huang, Strategy & Partnership Director, Faurecia Seating China

David Huang, Strategy & Partnership Director, Faurecia Seating China, discussed that development of cockpit systems for the era of intelligent connection. He emphasized that automotive electronics, which connects the hardware components in the vehicle, will be at the top of agenda in the future.

Faurecia explores the concept of "the third space" through multi-modal interaction, intelligent connection and other forms. The company has introduced the cockpit, with a welcome mode, which can meet the user's sense of ritual and personalized needs.

Pan Yong, Head of China R&D, Shanghai Mann+Hummel Filter Co., Ltd.

In his presentation, Pan Yong, Head of China R&D, Shanghai Mann+Hummel Filter Co., Ltd., explained that fuel cell is an important technical means in the transformation of energy cells. The fuel cell reaction is a kind of "cold combustion" with a relatively low reaction temperature, but it needs the help of noble metal catalysts, mainly Pt, to help realize the reaction process.

Therefore, the manufacturing cost and application cost of fuel cell are very high, which has become an obstacle for it be widely used. However, Pan Yong added that fuel cell is more environmentally friendly and also has high application potential.

Mann+Hummel provides better protection for fuel cell system, protecting the catalyst in the reaction process as well as filtering harmful gases through the activated carbon filter.

Peter Peng, Technical Director of Two-Platen Injection Molding Machine Market Development & Auto Industry Line at Yizumi

Peter Peng, Technical Director of Two-Platen Injection Molding Machine Market Development & Auto Industry Line at Yizumi, shared the trends of automotive lighting and innovative molding technologies. He also introduced the innovative application of the intelligent front face system for new energy vehicles - the integration of car light grille that realizes "added value and intelligence".

Yizumi's thick-walled light guide layered molding technology for car light has the advantages of reducing the yellowing rate of material degradation and improving light transmittance, reducing product shrinkage and improving product precision, as well as shorter cooling time and increasing production capacity.

Jiong Fu, Associate Professor Design Dept. of Shanghai Jiaotong University Design Trends Institute

Jiong Fu, Associate Professor Design Dept. of Shanghai Jiaotong University Design Trends Institute, gave a presentation under the topic of “Age of Differentiation and Automotive Design Countermeasures”.

He mentioned that lifestyle, aesthetic, automotive brand positioning and color and fashion trends are determining factors of car design. He studied these factors through surveys, methodology and analysis. Also, he brought up women have unique aesthetics for cars.

Yonggang Wang, General Secretary of Recycled Plastics Division, China National Resources Recycling Association, shared via online platform

In 2021, about 1 million tons of automotive plastics were recycled and 3.012 million motor vehicles were recycled, representing a year-on-year increase of 20.02%. The recycling of automotive plastics is facing the challenges of high-value conversion, complex materials, and high sorting costs, said Yonggang Wang, General Secretary of Recycled Plastics Division, China National Resources Recycling Association.

Yonggang Wang added that the direction of sustainable development of automotive plastics is green design and recycled material applications. The China National Resources Recycling Association will continue to promote the cooperation project of easy recycling design and evaluation of automotive products, as well as the cooperation project of standardizing use of recycled plastics for automobiles.

Latest innovative products and solutions showcased at the Conference. 

Parallel Sub-Forum: Lightweighting and Interior and Exterior

Dr. Jitao Du, Chairman at National Molded Plastic Eco-Alliance

Dr. Jitao Du, Chairman at National Molded Plastic Eco-Alliance, pointed out that the urpose of reducing cost is to improve products’ competitiveness and profitability. Batteries, motors and electronic controls are the focus of cost reduction and efficiency increase.

He commented that the development trends of new energy vehicles are sense of technology, high-end, lightweighting, shorter delivery time, and higher explicit and implicit requirements, which have brought challenges to the molding industry. The industry needs to further promote cost reduction and efficiency enhancement.

Bryce Chen, R&D Director of Chen Hsong Group in China region

Bryce Chen, R&D Director of Chen Hsong Group in China region, introduced that the company has developed different injection molding machine series in order to offer a full range of solutions fit for the automotive industry.

For example, Chen Hsong’s TP two-platen machine series, which is equipped with Mitsubishi’s technology, features patented inter-locking mechanism and a variety of cutting-edge technologies.

It delivers high injection weight precision, short dry cycle time, and its clamping force is independent of temperature. It is applicable for automobile parts like interior and exterior decorations and the functional ones. 

Junxian Li, Environmental Performance Technical Expert / Senior Manager of Baic Motor Corporation Limited Automotive Research Institute, shared via online platform

In his presentation, Junxian Li, Environmental Performance Technical Expert / Senior Manager of Baic Motor Corporation Limited Automotive Research Institute, stated that as a consequence for the pandemic, automotive manufacturers and material suppliers have jointly launched several anti-pandemic technological solutions. China has also carried out “healthcare technology certification”.

There are therefore new opportunities for healthcare materials and the related processing technologies. For instance, low-odor and low-VOC technology has been paid increasing market attention. Anti-mildew, anti-allergic materials and filter-sterilized anti-virus materials have also gained increasing interest.

Bruce Hsu, Sales Director at Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

Dandan Gao, Business Director at Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

The bio-based plastics of Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd. are mainly derived from waste oil that is cracked and modified for high performance comparable to virgin materials. The PCR content of this material can be as high as 85%, the VOC content is about 6ug/, and the carbon emission reduction can be as high as 74%.

Compared with the new material produced by the company, the price of the bio-based plastics is 10-37% higher, and they have lower odor (3.0). Depending on the PCR content, the properties of the final material will also vary, explained Bruce Hsu, Sales Director and Dandan Gao, Business Director.

Dr. Surong Zhou, Technical Director at Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd.

Dr. Surong Zhou, Technical Director at Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd., the long-fiber reinforced polymer composites produced by the company, such as long glass fiber, long carbon fiber and long basalt fiber, can strengthen PP, PA6 and PA66. They allow producing lightweight parts and replacing steel parts with plastics.

Due to its high and stable performance, the long glass fiber reinforced PP is suitable for automotive components. They can also be made partially from recycled materials.

Zhi Li, Senior Expert at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., shared via online platform

The presentation topic of Zhi Li, Senior Expert at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., was “User-oriented Interior and Exterior Design in the Age of Aesthetics”. He mainly introduced the design concept focused on user experience and the typical applications of Geely's trendy interior and exterior design.

According to Zhi Li, user experience is not limited to appearance, and emphasis on experience is an inevitable trend. The key factors of user experience design are users, scenes, vehicles, materials and methods. He also discussed the practical applications of aerospace cockpit technology and intelligent technology design.

Parallel Sub-Forum: Automotive Electronics and Intelligent Driving

Youtang Luo, Mold Specialist at Leading Global Automotive Electronic Components Company

Youtang Luo, Mold Specialist at Leading Global Automotive Electronic Components Company, talked about the latest automotive thermal management systems from three aspects, including fuel vehicle thermal management system, new energy electric vehicle thermal management system, calculation and development goals of thermal management system.

It is introduced that the thermal management system of a fuel vehicle is mainly divided into a powertrain cooling system and an air conditioning system. And for new energy electric vehicles, the motor is the main power source. Therefore, in addition to the air conditioning system, new energy electric vehicles also have motor modules and battery cooling systems.

Besides, he said that technical development goals of thermal management systems are precision, high efficiency and low energy consumption.

Richard Li, Business Development Manager of Automotive Division at Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd.

Richard Li, Business Development Manager of Automotive Division at Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd., put emphasis on the company’s multi-component injection solutions. He said that multi-component processing technology is more beneficial when compared to traditional injection molding process in terms of product quality, yield rate, and production efficiency.

The application advantages of multi-component injection include availability of integrated molding to improve production efficiency, high flexibility of design freedom to enhance vehicle comfort, and reduction of cost and emissions. Multi-component injection applications are expected to be more extensive, he concluded.

Jun Tang, Technical Support Engineer at Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Jun Tang, Technical Support Engineer at Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., introduced AIRMOULD, the company’s patented gas-assisted injection molding process, and CELLMOULD, the company’s light weight technology for the production of very light and highly rigid parts without sink marks.

Advantages of AIRMOULD application include quality improvement, weight reduction, plastic material savings, reduction of component unit costs, prevention of sink marks, reduction / prevention of warpage and design freedom. 

Advantages of the CELLMOULD application are weight reduction, plastic material savings, reduced component costs, prevention of sink marks, reduction of warpage, narrower tolerances, higher rigidity with the same weight, longer maximum flow paths due to reduced viscosity, new scope for design, reduction of cycle time and lower clamping forces.

Zhe Liang, Sales Manager of Injection Molding Machine at SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co., Ltd.

Zhe Liang, Sales Manager of Injection Molding Machine at SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co., Ltd., said that the company has realized manufacturing robot using robot at its headquarters in Japan. FANUC’s injection molding machines feature high molding performance, high operating rate and high ease of use.

FANUC also has technologies of countercurrent calculation, precise metering and precise clamping force control to ensure accurate and stable measurement in the production process.

Tracy Zhang, Senior Technical Marketing Manager at BÖHLER Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Tracy Zhang, Senior Technical Marketing Manager at BÖHLER Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., highlighted tool steel selection for reinforcement plastic forming in automotive.

She remarked that wearing and abrasion may cause serious losses in plastic processing. The company’s tool steels for special steel reinforced plastics, such as the M340/M368/M390/W360 grades, perform high wear resistance. They are suitable for products such as gears, brake pedals, and plates for electronic components.

Parallel Sub-Forum: New Energy Vehicles: Lightweighting and Battery Safety

Haibo Shen, Engineering Manager at Tederic Machinery Co., Ltd.

Haibo Shen, Engineering Manager at Tederic Machinery Co., Ltd., mentioned that the company provides professional solutions for automobiles with a rich product lineup. For example, it offers CoinSure injection compression molding technology with advantages of addressing the issue of pressure changes, performing high production precision, reducing 40% of weight when compared to glass and so on.

Apart from that, Tederic’s DecoSure in-mold decoration technology allows high economic benefits, high-quality production, automated turnkey solutions and flexible production.

Shen added that the advantage of the company’s MultiMold technology is that different modular injection platform structures can be flexibly combined with over 30 ways, and the layout is far more flexible.

Hui Zhao, Manager at Star Charge, shared via online platform

Hui Zhao, Manager at Star Charge, shared the emerging requirements for structural materials from charging piles and charging guns. Taking the target mileage of 350km as an example, if the vehicle’s power is about 55kWh and it needs to be charged to 80% in 15 minutes, the charging current needs to be increased to 600A and the high-voltage platform need to be boosted to more than 400V, which is a big challenge for high-power charging.

He also introduced high-power liquid-cooled charging guns and charging modules. As explained, the high-power water-cooled rectifier module mainly adopts advanced high-frequency SiC MOS module technology and temperature-controlled water-cooled heat dissipation method, which offers the benefits of high power density, low noise, high reliability, and long life.

Haimeng Cao, Product Manager at LKIMM

Haimeng Cao, Product Manager at LKIMM, introduced the applications of LK multi-component molding technology in automotive parts sector. As explained, multi-component molding is used in a wide range of industries and can improve product performance, reduce production costs, increase product appeal, reduce human error, and increase product durability and toughness.

Multi-component molding injection molding equipment can be divided into rotary two-component machine, rotary shaft two-component machine, color-mixing two-component machine and through-shot two-component machine. The machines of LKIMM adopt modular design, which can be matched with injection components of different sizes to meet the different needs of products. They can achieve product repeatability ≤ 0.3.

Ke Xiao, Injection Molding Machine Business Manager, JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

JSW Machinery possesses the leading technologies in the plastics molding industry, as well as technological skills in screw design, ultra-durable machinery and high rigidity mold closing device.

Compared with the company’s 850t injection molding machine, the power consumption of JSW Machinery's electric injection molding machine is just one-third of that of the hydraulic machine, according to Ke Xiao, Injection Molding Machine Business Manager, JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Razer Ge, Marketing Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials Asia of Avient Corporation

Razer Ge, Marketing Manager, Specialty Engineered Materials Asia of Avient Corporation, shared the company’s innovative materials design for new energy vehicles.

Ge pointed out that Avient provides a wealth of solutions and products focusing on eight aspects, which are lightweight, recyclability, volatile compounds (VOC) reduction, energy consumption reduction, bio-based polymers, environmental awareness, sustainable infrastructure, healthcare and safety.

Concurrent solutions and products showcase

The conference is also supported by a number of sponsors who showcased their innovative solutions concurrently, including:

Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery Co.,Ltd.

Avient Corporation

SHANGHAI-FANUC Robomachine Co.,Ltd.

Hongrita Precision Component (Zhongshan) Ltd.

JSW Machinery Trading (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd.

LKIMM

Star Advanced Materials (Shandong) Co., Ltd.

Tederic Machinery Co.,Ltd.

Wittmann Battenfeld (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

CHEN HSONG

Suzhou Sunway Polymer Co., Ltd.

Böhler Special Steels (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Synventive Molding Solutions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.

ARBURG (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd

Cold Jet Dry Ice Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Microban International Trading (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

Rosti Integrated Manufacturing Solutions (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.