One year made all the difference. The auto industry faced one of its most challenging years ever in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the game in both the short and long term, forcing shutdowns and slowdowns and altering the course for the years ahead. Today, the industry is moving forward, changed, but in many ways for the better. At 2 p.m. EST March 23, Bruce Meyer, Rubber & Plastics News editor, and Managing Editor Erin Pustay Beaven will moderate a panel discussion that focuses on where the auto industry has been, where it’s going and how it has changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors that made 2020 such an unusual year. Panelists include Matt Portu, president of Freudenberg NOK’s North American operations; Patrick Clark, vice president and chief global manufacturing officer for Cooper Standard Automotive Inc.; Kristin Dziczek, vice president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research; and Mike Jackson, executive director of strategy and research at the Original Equipment Suppliers Association.

Diversity is more than a buzzword. In the last year, companies and organizations throughout the tire and rubber industries have made commitments to their employees and communities, pledging to engage in thoughtful discussions about diversity, social justice and inclusion, while adopting practices that not only encourage diversity within their organizations but do so in a way that fosters empathy. Following up on a special report that examines these efforts, Bruce Meyer, Editor of Rubber & Plastics News, and Managing Editor Erin Pustay Beaven will extend the conversation about diversity and inclusion. As part of the livestream discussion planned for 2 p.m. Feb. 23, Meyer and Pustay Beaven will share insights from sources and lead a discussion that includes professionals and experts who can offer perspectives, thoughts and ideas about how the rubber and tire industry’s commitments to diversity best can be achieved.

Sponsored by Uncountable

Scientists are the literal lifeblood of new product development and innovation, but they often spend much of their time simply pulling together data to conduct analysis in hopes of key learnings. The biggest lever that R&D leaders have today is to implement tools that make this learning process faster and easier, through better data tools. This Webinar will focus on the benefits of implementing a true data infrastructure, and the challenges that organizations will face along this journey.
 

Join Bruce Meyer, editor of Rubber & Plastics News, and RPN Managing Editor Erin Pustay Beaven,  as they review the highlights of the IEC with Lakisha Miller-Barclay, Executive Director & CEO of the American Chemical Society’s Rubber Division, and Brian Barkes, Business Development Manager, GFL Americas, and Rubber Division chair this year.  This wide-ranging discussion will include how the IEC did as a virtual event for the first time, what feedback the division heard back from participants and   what were some of the highlights of the show.  Don’t miss this recap of one of the year’s most important events for the rubber industry.  

Sponsored by ARDL

This webinar will be an overview of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and fatigue testing methods and will give examples of non-tire applications (including silicone applications) where these test methods are relevant. The DMA overview will discuss strain, temperature, and frequency sweeps performed in tension, compression, or shear. It will also review the data generated by those sweeps including storage modulus, loss modulus, tan delta, Payne effect and Mullins effect. Fatigue testing methods that will be discussed will include Demattia crack growth, Monsanto fatigue-to-failure, Ross flex crack growth and Goodrich flexometer (heat buildup and blow out).
 

Will Bridgestone retain its title as the world’s No. 1 tire maker in terms of overall sales? Or will this be the year that Michelin vaults to the top spot? How much did tariffs and other duties affect sales globally? How has the tire market been impacted by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic? What was the latest from the virtual International Tire Exhibition & Conference (ITEC)?

Join Rubber & Plastics News Editor Bruce Meyer, Tire Business Special Projects Reporter Bruce Davis and Editor Don Detore, and as they dissect results of the comprehensive annual Global Tire Report. See how the tire makers ended 2019 --- just months before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world as we know it.

Sponsored by HEXPOL Compounding. In this Livestream, Rubber & Plastics News will put a spotlight on activities in the silicone market and how the COVID-19 pandemic is shaking up an already turbulent market.

In this webinar you will learn how to improve mechanical properties and increase recycled content of rubber parts. Today recycled rubber is used in in many applications; however use of recycled rubber comes with challenges such as processing of high recycled rubber compounds, sharp-drop in mechanical properties, and manufacturing defects in final end products.

Find out how to combine better processing and superior performance by incorporating an additive technology that has proven itself in the last 20 years. Together we will explore 3 main strategies to bridge the performance gap when using recycled rubber: type of rubber, particle and surface size, and surface modification with and without using VESTENAMER® transpolyoctenamer (TOR).

Join us in this informative webinar where Alexander Paasche, Business Development and Ankur Kant, Business Development Manager, Evonik Industries will address an effective way to evaluate your process, increase recycle content, reduce costs, and take part in a more sustainable economy.

Topics covered:

• Sources of recycle rubber
• Improvement in wear and abrasion
• Gain technical benefits such as viscosity reduction and green strength
• Achieve better processing with higher recycle content and lower scrap rate
• Reduction in costs

Who should attend?

• Rubber chemists and managers interested in incorporating recycled rubber in compounds
• Product and business managers looking to increase product profitability by increasing recycle content
• Sustainability and environmental stewardship managers

Sponsored by Endurica. This Livestream will bring viewers up to date on what the coronavirus outbreak means to the automotive market and the companies that supply it. There also will be discussion on the ongoing evolution in the market toward electric and autonomous vehicles.

VESTENAMER® transoctenamer (TOR) has been used as an additive in the rubber industry for many years. By virtue of its properties, the versatile transoctenamer (TOR) can solve a variety of problems in the compounding and processing of rubber. It can also improve the dynamic properties of the vulcanized material and as well be used to recycle waste rubber.
 
In this webinar, you will learn about the benefits of transoctenamer (TOR) in all areas of rubber manufacturing – from mixing to shaping to better finished properties of your final rubber part. In addition, recipes with transoctenamer (TOR) covering rubber goods such as hoses, rubber rollers, and rubber mats made out of recycled rubber will be discussed to highlight product benefits.