Plug assists are used in thermoforming to provide a more-uniform wall thickness for products. Instead of using just a vacuum to form the product, a plug assist helps guide sheeting into the form.
"We continue to enjoy strong growth for copolymer and thermoplastic plug materials as the global plastics packaging market continues to evolve and grow throughout the world," said Conor Carlin, sales and marketing manager for CMT Materials.
CMT Materials will have their plug-assist materials at thermoforming machine manufacturers Illig, Kiefel and Gabler, all based in Germany; Wrapping Machinery and OMG based in Italy; and Sencorp., Brown Machine Group, and Irwin Research & Development, based in the United States, the company said.
This year's NPE comes at a time for growth at CMT Materials, which opened a new facility in Shenzhen, China, called CMT East Asia Co., in January.
This location provides an inventory of the company's HYTAC brand plug assist materials as well as sales and customer service personnel. That site provides same-day shipping to countries in the region, including China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
The company also has expanded production at its Attleboro facility by 30 percent to help meet demand for its HYTAC syntactic foam products.
The company's increased growth includes food packaging applications in Europe and Asia as materials shift from polystyrene to polypropylene and new multilayer films, Carlin said.
"These more complex polymers require more sophisticated plug assists beyond our basic epoxy-structured materials," he said.
Growth in ready-to-eat meals and more disposable income, as well as evolving consumer habits, are helping drive change in Asia.
North America growth includes sectors such as large bakery items, tamper evident clamshells and medical device packaging, the company said.