Andrew Schunk

Cuyahoga Falls

Diligent reporter with Crain Communications and Rubber & Plastics News and keen observer of all things polymer and thermoplastic.

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Articles

Rubber in automotive opportunities also bring new challenges

1 week ago | crainscleveland.com | Andrew Schunk

The automotive market today remains a mix of internal combustion engines and a range of powertrains for EVs, from plug-in hybrids to battery powertrains to fuel cell options, like hydrogen. “Given the predominance of internal combustion engines still in the market, increased global demand for EVs has driven a greater need for a variety of specific applications,” Guilliams said.
Rubber in automotive opportunities also bring new challenges

1 week ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

AKRON—With a global value of about $57.4 billion in 2024, the automotive rubber market’s future is as bright as the challenges are daunting. Rubber use in both tire and non-tire automotive applications is expected to rise through 2030, with tire rubber set at 2.5 percent CAGR over the next five years; and EV tire rubber set at 13.5 percent through 2030, according to a recent report from Smithers, a global testing and consulting firm based in Northeast Ohio.
Gert Heinrich, 2025 Charles Goodyear medalist, recounts holistic journey to tires

2 weeks ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—Attaining a worldly perspective was a difficult proposition for an aspiring academic in East Germany in the 1960s, the height of the Cold War. From the Soviet Union's perspective, that's exactly what the Berlin Wall was designed to do: prevent top scientific minds from fleeing to the West. Conversely, the wall isolated the East.
Simtec innovates around HCR, LSR for medical components

2 weeks ago | plasticsnews.com | Andrew Schunk

Anaheim, Calif. — Compared with 2023, the last year has been "quite stable" for Simtec Silicone Parts LLC, a niche, high-volume high consistency rubber (HCR) and liquid silicone rubber (LSR) injection molder based in Miramar, Fla. Representatives from the 100-person company traveled to Southern California in February for MD&M West, a gathering of nearly 2,000 firms that work in medical technology and parts industry.
Simtec focuses on silicone, driving growth for Rico Group

2 weeks ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Compared to 2023 and 2024, the last year has been "quite stable" for Simtec Silicone Parts L.L.C., a niche, high-volume HCR and LSR firm based in Miramar, Fla. Representatives from the 100-person company traveled to Southern California in February for MD&M West, a gathering of nearly 2,000 firms that work in medical technology and componentry. "It was a rough market last year," Daniel Polster, Simtec managing director, told Rubber News Feb. 5.
H.B. Fuller: Organic sales grow, net sales drop slightly in first quarter

3 weeks ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Positive organic growth was tempered by sluggish overall market demand and higher raw material costs for H.B. Fuller Co. in the first quarter of this year. Net sales for the world's largest pureplay adhesives firm came in at $788.7 million for the first three months ending March 1, down 2.7 percent against the first quarter of last year. Organic revenue was up nearly 2 percent year-over-year, H.B. Fuller said in a March 27 investors call.
Danfoss Power Solutions ready to roll with Eaton Hydraulics integration

4 weeks ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

HAMBURG, Germany—In cyclical industries like fluid conveyance and industrial hydraulics, the ebbs and flows of business are determined by broader demand, subject to the highs of prosperity and lows of economic downturns. While 2024 was a down year for Danfoss Power Solutions and its five divisions, the 16,000-person segment of the Nordborg, Denmark-based Danfoss Group is reorganized, fully integrated with its Eaton Hydraulics additions and poised for recovery in 2025 and beyond.
Parker Lord: Finding cause of Pa. explosion, fire 'will take more time'

1 month ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

SAEGERTOWN, Pa.—The investigation continues into a Feb. 9 fire and subsequent explosion that caused major damage to a Parker Lord Corp. building in northwest Pennsylvania. "We are very pleased to say that Parker team members are back at work at our Saegertown facility," Christopher Farage, vice president of international HR and external affairs for Parker Lord, told Rubber News March 20. "The facility is back in operation with the exception of the building that was damaged in the incident.
ACS Rubber Division honors rubber chemistry pioneers at spring meeting

1 month ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.—The Science and Technology Awards issued annually by the ACS Rubber Division represent the pinnacle of academic honors within the rubber product and tire manufacturing world. Indeed, the intellectual luminaries awarded at the group's 2025 Spring Technical Meeting March 5 have contributed foundational research to the understanding of polymer materials, processes and properties.
R.D. Abbott, Arburg, ACH Solution set up demo injection molding cell at MD&M West

1 month ago | rubbernews.com | Andrew Schunk

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Partnerships are key to custom designing parts for manufacturing, especially in the medical technology and biopharmaceutical spaces. Conversely, medical OEs in many ways are driven by the eye test, demonstrations that prove that a particular custom design process is the right choice for them. With a complete high-consistency rubber injection molding cell, R.D. Abbott Co. Inc., Arburg GmbH and ACH Solution did just that at the recent MD&M West show.