Download Digital Version - Composites Manufacturing Magazine

36 Pages·2012·3.73 MB·English

Composites
November/December 2012
Manufacturing
The Official Magazine of the American Composites Manufacturers Association
P P
8 hoto 22 hoto
C C
red red
it: U it: ©
nited Lau Solar Im
nch Alliance/Pat Co pulse/Francis Dem
rkery ange
Industry Segments
Aerospace ..................................8 Flight of Fancy ...............................................................22
The Juno Mission
A solar-powered airplane completed the first intercontinental flight last July, traveling
Military .....................................12
thousands of miles by day and night without fuel. The plane’s carbon fiber structure helped
Hybrid Airship
make the voyage possible. By Susan Keen Flynn
Sports & Recreation ................14
A New Dimension for Aerospace ...................................27
Protective Padding
University .................................21 3-D woven composite parts are poised to transform the aerospace industry. Last summer,
Vascularized Composites
CFM International unveiled a new engine featuring advanced textiles that’s lighter and
Departments & Columns stronger than other aerospace engines. By Angie McPherson
President’s Message .................2
Business Marketing ..................4 Online Exclusives www.compositesmanufacturingblog.com
CGI Update ..............................30
Composites are everywhere. So is Composites Manufacturing. Visit
Inside ACMA ...........................30
Ad Index ...................................34 www.compositesmanufacturingblog.com for exclusive content, including C
Marketplace .............................34 Q&As with industry leaders, new product round-ups and up-to-date news. M
Postcure Chatter ......................36
RFID Enhances Composites Manufacturing
About the Cover: As the rate of composite manufacturing increases, RFID technology (radio frequency iden-
tification) is helping to drive process efficiency and product quality. Under the “Online Ex-
Cover photo courtesy of Lockheed
clusives” tab, learn how aircraft and component manufacturers are beginning to use RFID to
Martin.
track composite materials and tooling through its life cycle to manage perishable materials
and duty cycles.
Sustainable Plastic Research at the Ford Motor Company
Composites Manufacturing met Deborah Mielewski – chemical engineer and technical leader
of the plastics research group at Ford – during a symposium for renewable plastic research
at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. She shared insight about
sustainable automotive materials, including the first soy-based foam developed at Ford.
Learn about Mielewski’s research at “CM Interviews.”
President’s
Composites
Message Manufacturing
Volume 28 | Number 6 | November/December 2012
Make Your Voice Count
Official Magazine of the
I
t is that time of year when you have the opportunity to American Composites Manufacturers Association
stand up and let your voice be heard. By the time this Publisher
Tom Dobbins
issue of Composites Manufacturing magazine is published,
[email protected]
there will be some changes underway in our govern-
Director of Marketing & Communications
ment. There will be new faces in Congress, state capitols, Mary E. Johnson
[email protected]
city halls and perhaps even the White House. Whatever
the outcome, I hope you were part of the process. Editorial
Managing Editor
We are fortunate to live in a country where we have Susan Keen Flynn
the right to vote for our leaders. We have a duty to stand up and voice our [email protected]

opinion and if we don’t, then we really can’t complain about the outcome. Communications Coordinator
Terin Bufford
Who we vote into office on Election Day makes a difference for our nation’s
[email protected]
future and determines the direction our country takes regarding its legisla-
Advertising Sales
tive agenda. Naylor, LLC
770-576-2614
If you feel it won’t affect your livelihood or quality of life then you should
[email protected]
reconsider that thought. I have seen the difference first hand, especially when
Editorial Design & Production
it comes to regulations. Policies that encourage more manufacturing invest-
Keane Design, Inc.
ment and jobs in the United States will benefit you and our industry. [email protected]
keanedesign.com
The leader of the United States has the benefit and responsibility of ap-
All reprint requests should be directed to
pointing the heads of agencies that oversee and direct regulation. In recent
The YGS Group at 717-399-1900.
years, federal regulations are on the rise, requiring businesses like ours to
do more to adhere to these guidelines. This inevitably takes time away from
focusing on your core business and impacts the bottom line. I encourage you American Composites Manufacturers Association
to learn where elected officials and candidates stand and vote for people who 3033 Wilson Blvd., Suite 420
Arlington, Va 22201
understand that manufacturing should remain at the center of our nation’s Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected] Online: www.acmanet.org
legislative and economic agenda.
Composites Manufacturing (ISSN 1084-841X) is
Thanks to generous contributions to the Composites Advocacy Fund,
published bi-monthly by the American Composites
ACMA has been successful in fighting these regulations. But ultimately, the Manufacturers Association (ACMA), 3033 Wilson
Blvd., Suite 420, Arlington, Va 22201 USA. Subscrip-
people running regulatory agencies affect how successful we can be. If you tion rates: Free for members and non-members in the
have the chance to talk with your elected officials, you should. They want to U.S., Canada and Mexico; $55 for international non-
members. A free online subscription is available at ac-
hear from you. Telling your company’s true story goes a long way toward manet.org/cm. Periodical postage paid at Arlington, VA
and additional mail offices.
showing them what it is actually like to live with the rules developed by our
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Composites
government. Elected officials can make more informed decisions when they
Manufacturing, 3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 420, Ar-
are empowered with information and the opinions of their constituents. lington, VA 22201. The magazine is mailed to ACMA
members and is also available by subscription. Canada
I hope you voted on November 6 and continue to vote in upcoming elec- Agreement number: PM40063731
tions. It is one of the most important civic activities you can participate in. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Station
A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5, Email: returnsil@
It only takes a minute and goes a long way in making a difference for your
imex.pb.com. Copyright© 2012 by the ACMA. All rights
company and your life. Don’t waste the opportunity you have been given. reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted
without permission from the publisher. The ACMA, a
Voting is a gift: Make sure you use it!
nonprofit organization representing the composites
industry worldwide, publishes Composites Manufactur-
ing, circulation 10,000, as a service to its members and
other subscribers. The reader should note that opinions
or statements of authors and advertisers appearing in
Lori Luchak C Composites Manufacturing are their own and do not
Miles Fiberglass & Composites, ACMA President necessarily represent the opinions of statements of the
M
[email protected] ACMA, its Board of Directors or ACMA staff.
2 Composites Manufacturing

Business
Marketing
Building a Successful Marketing Strategy
By Todd Hockenberry tactics very well but lack a coherent • Where do you make the most
strategy. This is frequently the case profit?
Simply put, with small and medium-sized busi- • What are common characteristics
a marketing nesses. Companies may have a web- of your most profitable client?
strategy deter- site, attend trade shows and run a few
• What customers are you and your
mines direc- ads but lack an overall strategy to win
team most passionate about?
tion; tactics in the marketplace. What’s more, by
deliver results. failing to implement a strategy, com- • Who are your repeat customers?
More specifi- panies often fail to attract and retain • What customers are raving fans of
cally, a strategy the best, high-margin customers. your company and why?
tells how you You must clearly define why you • Which customers refer you to
are going to deliver value to your target customer, other high-value prospects?
win in the marketplace and tactics how you communicate that promise
• Which ones will tell you why you
implement and execute the strategy. and what needs to happen to facilitate
were chosen?
Winning in the marketplace is defined the buying process.
as identifying prospects, converting If your prospects can’t differentiate
them to customers and keeping them Targeting Your Ideal Client between you and your competitors,
long term. Tactics are plans devised Define your ideal client by answering they will select a partner using the
to roll out your strategy, including the these questions: one criterion they can compare –
details of your offering, communica- • What makes you different from price.
tion channels, messaging and timing. their perspective – what do they Be very specific about your target
Often companies execute marketing value that you do? market and who you want to work
Ready, Reliable
and Responsive.
For more than 30 years, leading cast-polymer and solid-surface
professionals have turned to North American Composites (NAC) for
knowledgeable service, a comprehensive selection of products and
on-time delivery.
NAC has 26 locations nationwide to provide you with friendly local
service and high-quality, consistent materials, equipment and
accessories. Our industry-trained representatives keep pace with product
enhancements and innovative solutions to help meet new challenges.
For the best selection, call on the national leaders in local service.
800.434.8830 | 651.766.6892
[email protected] | www.nacomposites.com/service
NORTH AMERICAN
© 2007 North American Composites.
COMP O SI T E S
All rights reserved.
4 Composites Manufacturing
Industry Insight. World-Class Laboratories. Exceptional Value.
Whether you’re manufacturing large and expensive composite
parts like wind blades and boat hulls, or complex items like
intricate aircraft parts, quality, cost and efficiency depend
on successful removal from the mold.
Each year, we spend thousands of hours on the floors of composite
processing shops, giving our technical and manufacturing experts
unmatched insight into the toughest production challenges. In our
world-class, industry-dedicated laboratories, we apply this insight
to developing solutions that improve part removal and your
operational efficiency.
Our products make it a solution.
Our insight and technical knowledge make it a value.
ChemTrend.com
Composites Manufacturing 5
35632 MSO 4.75x7.25_Res Infusn Gnrl half Final 11/16/11 2:16 PM Page 1
calling, referral generation and net-
working. A good marketing strategy
incorporates all three tactics.
The key with marketing tactics is
to test small and scale up with what
EXCELLENCE IN
delivers the best prospect leads. De-
CORE SOLUTIONS
termine the key metrics to measure
for each tactic and hold your team

accountable for results – generating
revenue.
For today’s vacuum infusion, use
Converting Leads to Customers
today’s choice cores.
A big part of a successful marketing
strategy is understanding how your
ideal customer buys your product or
service.
• How do they consume informa-
tion about solutions like yours?
Where? When?
• How long do they take to make
decisions? Who is involved? How
are resources budgeted?
• How do they interact with sales-
people?
• What encourages prospects to
move through the buying process?
What slows them down?
• Do they require demos, samples,
Innovative building methods infusion applications. The result:
tests, independent opinions?
contribute to a cleaner environment, No voids and highly-efficient use of
higher-quality laminates and faster materials. • What is the best way to present
production. Our advanced GPS-type For detailed information on resin
your solution, pricing, delivery,
AIREX®foams and BALTEK®balsa infusion methods and compatible cores
cores, as well as Lantor SORIC®and as well as technical support, contact service?
FINISHMAT®materials have been the experts at 3A Composites • How do they view your competi-
specifically designed to enhance all Core Materials.
tors?
In essence, how will they get to know
North America / S. America: Europe / Middle East / Africa: Asia / Australia / New Zealand: you, develop confidence in you and
Baltek Inc. Airex AG 3A Composites (China) Ltd.
High Point,N. Carolina 27261 U.S.A. 5643 Sins, Switzerland 201201 Shanghai, P.R. China then decide to invest in you?
Tel. [phone] Tel. [phone] Tel: [phone]
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Marketing success is not only about
customer acquisition. A good strategy
also depends on delivering enough
www.corematerials.3AComposites.com
value that existing customers buy
more often and buy more per trans-
action. Your strategy should contain
a detailed understanding of who is
with. You may focus on a particular outbound marketing and sales pros-
buying from you, how often, how
technology, industry and product pecting tactics. Inbound marketing
much and when.
or on solving a specific problem. tactics are those that attract prospects
Developing a successful marketing
Choose a focus or your customer, using your website, search engine
strategy hinges on knowing your tar-
market and competition will choose optimization, blogging and social
get market and focusing your efforts
it for you. media in conjunction with email
on the right prospects. This will give
list building. Outbound marketing
Generating Leads encompasses tactics such as pay-per- you the best chance at winning in the
marketplace.
Targeting the ideal client will un- click, direct mail, trade shows, trade
cover your messaging, while lead journals, advertising and public rela- Todd Hockenberry is a frequent contributor
generation activities communicate tions. Sales prospecting covers ac- to Composites Manufacturing magazine and
that message. tivities that your sales team engages the president and CEO of Top Line Results.
Use a mix of inbound marketing, in to generate leads, including cold Visit www.top-line-results.com/acma.
6 Composites Manufacturing

Industry
Aerospace
Segments
Juno Explores
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to
be on his team. Out of more than 20
Jupiter,
proposals the team’s proposal won.
The specific goals of the Juno mis-
Protected by
sion are to understand the origin and
evolution of Jupiter. With its array of
Composites
instruments, scientists will use Juno
to investigate the existence of a solid
S
pace tourism to the relatively planetary core, map the planet’s
close areas of our solar system magnetic field, determine the water
may be trending on the vacation- content of the atmosphere and moni-
package end, but a team of research- tor the northern and southern auro-
ers led by NASA is pushing the ras. “Other missions that have gone
boundaries of both science and loca- entists and industry partners come to Jupiter have looked at surfaces
tion to explore the interior of Jupiter. up with projects to solve certain and cloud structures but not much of
To aid in this quest, the group used science questions. In the case of the the interior,” says Suraj Rawal, prin-
carbon composites and – for the first Juno mission, Scott Bolton from the ciple research scientist at Lockheed
time – implemented carbon nano- Southwest Research Institute based Martin Space Systems. “Whereas in
tubes (CNT) in order to make the in San Antonio, Texas, wanted to the past they were only seen from
Juno spacecraft a successful mission. understand the interior and vari- a distance, for the first time we will
The Juno mission is part of NASA’s ous interactions within Jupiter and also study the poles.”
New Frontiers Program where sci- approached Lockheed Martin and However, going where no machine
has gone before required careful
P
h
oto planning by the team. One hurdle
C
re they had to overcome was protecting
d
it: L the spacecraft from the electrostatic
o
c
kh discharge (ESD) while near Jupiter’s
e
e
d atmosphere. To do this, the team uti-
M
artin lized carbon composite components
and CNTs. “We used already proven
materials like composites to make
the overall structure, so we were
simply building on methodology
we’d already done. Specifically, car-
bon composites were chosen in order
to reduce weight, increase stiffness
and lower the overall mass,” says
Rawal. “Launchers can only carry
specific weight – a lot of it in the
form of fuel. And from an engineer-
ing standpoint, the lighter the space-
craft, the more instruments we can
include to collect valuable data.”
While the use of composites in cre-
ating Juno was not new, some of the
problems they solved using compos-
ites were unique. “For example, it’s
the first solar-powered mission this
far from the sun, so the solar panels
Composites and carbon nanotubes were implemented in four components on needed to be uniquely designed to
the Juno spacecraft: the rocket engine tubes, the engine cover and the outside fit in the spacecraft but large enough
and inside face sheets.
to absorb the sun’s rays. Many
8 Composites Manufacturing
Connecting Forward
COMPOSITES is THE premier event for composites professionals
seeking strategic and operational solutions to meet today’s
business challenges. It connects top industry business leaders,
engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators, educators and policy makers to
the full spectrum of composites market segments and components
of the value chain.
COMPOSITES is North America’s most diverse,
dynamic convention and trade exhibition
for all users of composite materials.
Make the COMPOSITES Connection
Register Now
and Receive
Early Bird Rates!
www.compositesshow.org
Produced by
Composites Manufacturing 9
EXHIBITS | DEMONSTRATIONS | EDUCATION | NETWORKING | BUSINESS | INNOvATIONS
Composites2013 ad for CM.indd 1 10/15/12 11:07 AM
2011 2017
Launch Deep Space Earth Flyby Jupiter End
Date: Maneuvers Gravity Arrival: of
August 5, (DSM): Assist (EFB): July 2016 Mission:
2011 August-September October 2013 October 2017
2012
Timeline of Juno’s Path
Juno’s
Orbit Path If a five-year plan seems like too much for you, planning a research mission around Jupiter
might seem a bit overwhelming. After years of research and development, manufacturing
A
AS and testing Juno was launched in 2011 but isn’t expected to reach Jupiter until 2016. In
N
dit: fact NASA’s website has a tracker counting days, hours, minutes and seconds from the
Cre
o time it launched on August 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
ot
h
P
important parts also needed to be “Composites usage is an industry replacement for aluminum foil for
protected from the strong magnetic practice now but we wanted to in- electromagnetic (EMI) shielding.”
field around Jupiter,” says Rawal. sert nanotubes as a new technology “We were approached to provide
protection against ESD for several
critical components of Juno, such as
the thrusters and the main engine
cover,” says Peter Antoinetti, presi-
Where Innovation, Trust, Service & Partnership meet
dent of Nanocomp Technologies,
Composites Distribution Merrimack, N.H. “When Juno ap-
proaches Jupiter it has to slow down
to be pulled in by the planet’s gravi-
tational pull. Part of that process
means traveling through Jupiter’s
extremely strong radiation belts.”
At that point the main engine will
have been sitting untouched for
five years; and it has to open and
fire successfully. Coupled with that
challenge was the need to protect
Juno’s electronics, controls and
motors from the ESD. To protect
them, the group used a dry sheet
nanotube, which was made into a
prepreg and co-cured around the
honeycomb core.
Rawal’s team at Lockheed Martin
was involved in the development
of an alternative ESD solution to
the traditional aluminum foil that
is typically bonded to the surface of
Make HORN Your First Choice
composites. According to Antoinetti,
www.ethorn.com | 800.442.HORN(4676)
the benefit of CNTs are their ability
to be incorporated directly into the
carbon composite. The group evalu-
10 Composites Manufacturing