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CANADIAN PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

2TABLE OF CONTENTS

PLASTICS: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

Pages 1-6 TEACHER’S NOTES

ACTIVITY CARDS

Card N0 THE STRUCTURE OF THE PLASTIC BUSINESSMB-1 Plastics Business WebMB-2 Plastics in Our LivesMB-3 Why Plastics?MB-4 Major Plastics MarketsMB-5 Where Do Plastics Come From?MB-6 From Fossil to ResinMB-7 From Resin to Product

MANUFACTURING A PRODUCTMB-8 The Heart of the BusinessMB-9 Casting a PlasticMB-10 Extrusion MachinesMB-11 Vacuum Barrier FilmMB-12 ThermoformingMB-13 Blow It Up!MB-14 A Mould That SpinsMB-15 Injection MouldingMB-16 Be a Machine DetectiveMB-17 Go and See It!

THE PLASTICS BUSINESS IN CANADAMB-18 How Canada is Doing: Resin Market SharesMB-19 Doing Business in Canada: Balance of TradeMB-20 Analyzing Data

SETTING UP A BUSINESSMB-21 Plastics DataMB-22 What Sector, What Products?MB-23 People in Your BusinessMB-24 Produce Your Product

3PLASTICS: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

THE STRUCURE OF THE PLASTIC BUSINESS

Card MB-1 — Plastics BusinessWebStudents will need some suggestions as to howto get started. On the one hand, it is meant to beopen ended — whatever the students think theywould need to know is valid. On the other hand,some of their questions will be too broad totackle or too specific to provide much learning.You might guide them toward some of the areasthat will come up as they work through the unit.

If you used the Introductory Web described atthe beginning of this resource, you may alreadyhave established the points about business thatare raised in this card.

Here are some questions:Are plastics made in Canada?What do plastics resins cost?Where can you buy resins?Would I have to be a chemist to run a plasticsbusiness?Would I have to hire a chemist?How can resins be manufactured (moulded) intoa product?Is there a plastics manufacturer near me that Icould visit?What are the fastest growing markets?Where would my competition come from?How much would I need to start a business?Could I get a summer job at a plastics plant?Is plastics recycling a good business to get into?What would be the best product to make?

Many of these types of questions can be investi-gated by working through the cards.

Card MB-2 — Plastics in Our LivesA careful look around the home will reveal alarge number of objects made entirely or partlyof plastics. You may want to glance at Card MB-21 for some ideas about what to look for. Thiscard is very similar to Card S-1.

Card MB-3 — Why Plastics?This card is similar to Card S-3. In the sciencesection, emphasis was placed on developing instudents the thinking skills that enable them tomake the links between the properties of materi-als and their application. This type of thinkingis also an essential business skill for entrepre-neurial activity.

Card MB-4 — Major Plastics Markets

The order of major sectors corresponds to theirranking of market share from largest to smallest.

The exercise is meant primarily to get studentsthinking in terms of markets, and about thekinds of products that would make up eachmarket. Mathematics and graphing skills areinvolved.

Market Share (%)Market Sectors (1998 figures)1. Packaging 342 Building and Construction 263. Transportation 184. Home and Commercial Furnishings 55. Agriculture and Environment 16. Communications and Electronics 57. Institutional and Retail Serviceware 18. Recreation 19. Apparel, Accessories and Personal

Care Products 110. Housewares 111. Advertising and Publications 112.Other 6

4Card MB-5 — Where Do Plastics

Come From?This topic is also covered in Card S-8.

Card MB-6 — From Fossil to ResinCrude and refined oil and natural gas are movedby tanker trucks, ships, railway tankers andpipelines. Students might want to identify someroutes and methods of transportation.

The information in cards MB-6 and MB-7supports aspects of geography studies, and maybe integrated with them. Some of the plantsreferred to in these cards may be able to offer atour of their facilities.

Card MB-6 looks at the plastics business fromthe perspective of factors that determine wherevarious components of the plastics industry arelocated. Teachers who wish to give attention tothis aspect, perhaps to support this type of study

in geography, may wish students to combine thistype of information with their treatment of CardsMB-6 and MB-7.

Card MB-7 — From Resin to Product

This exercise will challenge the students’ abilityto link what they read to the flow chart. Onestudent made the following comment duringfield-testing of this resource:

I thought that this activity was goodbecause you had to figure out whatdifferent parts or processors of theplastic industry did before you couldfigure out what parts depended oneach other. Now I’m sure if one partslows down — then it affects all theother processors as well.

-Grade 8 science student

This student learned how dependent industriesare on each other.

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NOTES ON THE CHARTThe major structure of and relationshipswithin the Canadian plastics industry areshown on the chart. Resin manufacturersare one source of material. The other sourceis the material manufacturers that supplythe additives — fibreglass, carbon andothers — used to modify the properties ofplastics for special purposes. Both types ofmaterials can be used directly by the proces-sors or they can be sent to compounderswho blend them for the processors.

Another important element in the Canadianplastics industry is the machinery manufac-turers. They make the processing equip-ment and dies and moulds used by theprocessors. At the next stage, there are twocategories of processors, those who makeproducts that they can market themselves(captive processors), and those who makeproducts for other businesses under con-tract (custom processors). The productsfrom both of these sources are sent into themajor markets for plastics products. Youcan see by the diagram that there are a lot ofactivities going on between these varioussectors of the Canadian plastics industry.

Resin ManufacturersIn Canada, most crude oil and natural gasare moved to eastern Canada via pipelines.Since plastic resins are manufactured frompetrochemicals, resin suppliers will belocated close to large petrochemicalfacilities.

Manufacturers of plastics resins serve bothdomestic and international markets. Resinsare usually shipped in bulk to these mar-kets, mainly by rail cars, and by ship. Shorthauls to nearby plastic processors are usu-ally accomplished by truck.

Machine and Mould MakersProcessing machine manufacturers musthave access to suppliers of steel. The avail-ability of up-to-date plastics processingmachinery is important to plastic proces-sors.

Countries with an indigenous processingmachine manufacturing industry have anadvantage over those that don’t. In Japan,for instance, there is a major machinemanufacturing industry, and new machinedesigns are sometimes made available onlyto Japanese processors for periods of up tofive years. This exclusive access to innova-tive machines gives Japanese processors acompetitive advantage. Japan, the UnitedStates, Germany, and Italy all have well-developed processing machine industries.Canada, too, has a well-developed plasticsmachinery industry, particularly in certainspecialized machinery lines. Plastics proces-sors tend to locate in regions with readyaccess to machinery suppliers so that parts,service, and technological support from themanufacturer is quickly and economicallyavailable. In addition, transportation costsfor these large machines are lower when themanufacturer is nearby.

Dies and moulds are relatively small andlight and their transportation costs are nothigh. However, a new mould must be de-signed for each job, so convenient access tothe mould maker for consultation at thedesign stage is important.

Plastics ProcessorsMany plastics products have an interna-tional market, so that the location ofprocessing plants is often determined byaccess to international markets.

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MANUFACTURING A PRODUCTCard MB-8 —The Heart of the

BusinessThis card is an introduction to the nextseven cards, which introduce the majorforming and moulding techniques that areused in the industry. This card is meant toencourage students to be creative in design-ing their own devices, which cover the keymanufacturing processes necessary. Thiscould develop into a project for some stu-dents.

Cards MB-9 — MB-17You may want to divide the class into sevengroups to work with these techniques sepa-rately, and have each group report on theirprocess to the rest of the class. The mainobjective of these cards is to introducestudents to manufacturing processes. Youmay want to use just one or two of thesecards. See card MB-17. If you are consider-ing a field trip to a plastic processor in yourarea (which we strongly recommend), de-termine what process is used, and tailoryour choice of card to cover this process.This section is good for establishing sci-ence/technology/society linkages.

Card MB-10 — Extrusion MachinesSome of the most common extruded prod-ucts, and those most commonly found inclassrooms are floor and wall mouldingsand floors. Plastic mouldings replacedwood in institutions because of their dura-bility, resistance to harsh floor cleaningcompounds, and range of potential coloursand shapes.

Card MB-11 — Vacuum Barrier FilmThis article provides a perspective on foodwrap films from the science , environmen-tal, and business points of view. Someteachers may wish to assign the readingafter students have done card S-16(Properties of Food Wraps).

Card MB-13 — Blow It Up!Blow-moulded automotive gas tanks illus-trate the incredible weight and space-savingpotential of plastics in automotive design.Automotive designers can design the tankto follow every nook and cranny of theunderbody without concern for problems ofrattle and rust that accompany metal tanks.The use of fluorination in blow mouldinggives plastics extra barrier properties, acritical consideration in the prevention of “panelling” (permeation) in packagescontaining oils and solvents. The gasescause a chemical reaction in the inner sur-face layer that hardens and seals it againstpermeation, rather like cauterizing a woundwith heat.

Card MB-14 — A Mould That SpinsA particular advantage of rotational mould-ing (commonly called roto moulding) is thevery low cost of the mould. Because thereis no pressure on the mould such as youfind in injection, extrusion or blow mould-ing, the mould can be made from light-weight aluminium rather than steel. Theycan even be made from sand, plaster, woodand fibreglass. Drums that might be awk-ward or uneconomic to transport to remotelocations (e.g.,septic tanks for prairie farms)can be moulded a few at a time in ruralcommunities nearby. This also allows forcreativity and innovation as the investmentin moulds is minimal. Students coulddesign moulds for information kiosks at thezoo or aquarium in the shapes of animalsand fish.

7THE PLASTICS BUSINESS IN CANADA

Card MB-18 — How Canada is Doing: Resin Market Shares

You might want to point out to students thata career in plastics offers many opportunitiesfor travel, both to research and technical labsin the United States and Europe, and to theprocessing plants around the world. Manyengineers and technicians who learned theirtrade in Canada are managing and servicinginstallations in Mexico, Venezuela, SaudiArabia, Nigeria and other countries.

When doing this activity, some students

Card MB-17 — Go and See It!Processors are usually very aware of envi-ronmental issues (sometimes as a result ofprodding from school-age children.) Theymust have MSDs (Material Safety DataSheets) for all of the materials in theirplants. Suggest to students that they askabout this information. The studentsshould ask what the processor does withthe plastic scrap. In almost every case ,scrap is reused or collected and sold toplastics scrap dealers.

come to appreciate, perhaps for the firsttime , the size of the United States relativeto Canada. Generally, the market sharesreflect the populations of the two countries.

Card MB-19 — Doing Business in Canada: Balance of Trade

Most exporters started in business as im-porters. They gradually evolved into full-scale manufacturers. One particular advan-tage of Canadian plastics processors is theirreadiness to buy and adapt foreign machin-ery and technology. Without that Canadawould simply be duplicating, on a smalland uneconomic scale, what other countriesare doing. Also, in buying the best machin-ery the world has to offer, Canadian proces-sors can produce higher-quality and lowercost products that are easier to export. Allthis importing keeps Canadian machinerymakers on their toes, and as many as 80 percent of Canada’s machinery makers are alsoexporters.

The balance of trade graphs for machineryand moulds look like this:

800

600

400

200

0

-200

Trade Balance: Plastics Macinery & Moulds

Machinery Moulds

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

8Card MB-20 — Analysing DataThis activity requires skills in selecting theappropriate graph, obtaining informationfrom it, and doing simple mathematics

based on the information. It is also in-tended to help students develop a “feel” forthe size and characteristics of an industry.

SETTING UP A BUSINESSCard MB-21 — Plastics DataThe tables in this card give students theinformation they need to complete activitiesin Cards MB-22 and MB-24.

Card MB-22 — What Sector, What Products?

Students are asked to choose a marketsector by surveying expected growth ratesfrom various sectors and products. Stu-dents are free to choose the sector thatappeals to them, but we suggest they iden-tify those having a large expected growthrate. It is one way of giving a focus to theirsurvey of products.

Card MB-23 — People in Your Business

Students need to consider the human andorganizational components of a business.By matching people with tasks, studentsgain an appreciation for the importance ofhuman resources.

Card MB-24 — Produce Your Product

This can be an open-ended activity. Youmay wish to have students create a majorreport. Such a report would require stu-dents to use much of the knowledge andskills they gained through the entire unit. Itwould consolidate learning in science, andenvironmental and business studies.