AkzoNobel Performance Coatings, headquartered in Amsterdam, is investing around $3.4 million to expand its research and development facilities in Houston.

The upgraded facility will support the company’s Protective Coatings, Marine Coatings and Specialty Coatings businesses. Completion is due in early 2016.

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MOCAP LLC, of Park Hills, Mo., through its subsidiary of MOCAP Ltd., has successfully completed the acquisition of William Beckett Plastic Packaging of Sheffield, England, a manufacturer of specialized protective plastic packaging & containers for applications including cutting tools, DIY, technical and consumer/retail. This step by MOCAP, a leading manufacturer of quality plastic and rubber products, allows for expansion in their already current packaging division, known as Cleartec Packaging, which manufactures a full line of transparent semi-rigid plastic packaging tubes and containers.

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Nordson Corporation has partnered with Junior Achievement (JA) of Georgia to enhance Gwinnett County students’ financial literacy and professional skills. Specifically, Nordson is providing a grant of $170,000 to support the development and implementation of JA BizTown®, one of two interactive venues within the Junior Achievement (JA) Discovery Center at Gwinnett. The center opened in August 2015 in time for the 2015-2016 school year and serves more than 25,000 sixth and eighth grade students.

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Four and a half years after it was proposed and one year after a federal judge demanded a decision, a rule to determine the disposal fate of coal waste has finally been published. In a decision widely viewed as a victory for the coal industry, the US Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a final rule that classifies coal combustion residuals (CCRs) as solid—not hazardous—waste.

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Extending the useful life of your finishing system and preventing annoying equipment breakdowns is the primary function of preventive maintenance. The alternative choice is to operate the equipment without prudent and timely intervention making emergency repair a reality instead of just a feared rare occurrence. Trusting the reliable operation of your powder coating equipment to luck is not only a poor business practice, it can also make profitability impossible.

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Industry analyst firm n-tech Research (formerly Nanomarkets) reports that the demand for smart coatings will grow from an estimated $610 million in 2015 to a whopping $5.8 billion in 2020. That’s an impressive compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 50 percent. This burgeoning market encompasses applications as diverse as automotive, marine, aerospace, military, construction, textiles and electronics.

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As one of my initial addresses to the PCI® membership, I must begin by telling you how honored I feel to be in this executive director role. I’ve been a part of the powder coating industry for more than 20 years and am thrilled to now be serving in this capacity. Many of you may know me from my years with DuPont and then Axalta. One thing that has most definitely been a high point for me in my career is helping others in the industry be more successful. And that’s my No. 1 goal as executive director of The Powder Coating Institute.

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HazCom 2012 in the United States technically changed nothing in the transportation regulations. The Hazardous Materials Regulation (HMR), as most recently amended by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), transitioned “harmonized” U.S. standards with International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and similar international standards.However, when OSHA aligned with the UN GHS (United Nations Global Harmonized System) Version 3 hazard communication approach, a number of foundational practices changed, causing collateral impact in the transportation arena that is still being discovered. As a result, some are now experiencing the need to classify products as hazardous when using ingredients that were previously considered non-hazardous.

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Powder has taken some giant steps forward recently as it strives to be a legitimate contender in the chemical agent resistant coating (CARC) ring. While powder primers have been used for years in CARC systems, only recently has powder stepped up to challenge liquid paints in the more demanding role of CARC top coats.

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