Afera's new digital newsletter
More of the latest news, improved distribution, great ad rates 

This is the first issue of Afera’s bi-quarterly digital newsletter containing the latest Association and industry news and information most useful and interesting to Afera’s Membership and the self-adhesive industry.  Afera News topics cover industry developments, market trends, public affairs, environmental and standardisation projects and issues, and educational and networking events and meetings.  By popular demand, Afera is pleased to offer special ad rates to Afera Member Companies per 2, 4 and 8 editions.  You will receive more information about Afera media advertising opportunities shortly, or feel free to contact Afera’s Secretariat.  The first edition of Afera Review, the Association’s annual hard-copy sum up of self-adhesive tape issues, projects and events, is set for distribution in January 2014.
 

Attend Afera's Technical Seminar 2013 this month
Last-minute tickets still available 

It isn’t too late to register to attend Afera’s 6^th Technical Seminar, which will take place at the Brussels Marriott Hotel (Belgium) from Monday, 15^th April through Wednesday, 17^th April.  Open to all tape industry professionals, the 3-day TS is aimed at updating participants on the cutting-edge technical issues driving the tape industry.  The event offers participants the latest in scientific innovation, hot technical topics and trends, and the opportunity to meet with key players and to make use of the networking platform powering today’s PSA tape global market.  The content, and even the structure of the TS, offers anyone in the tape industry the chance to learn about new ideas and issues in order to expand his/her technical knowledge of tapes.

• Programme
• Registration Form

'Early bird' rates for Afera's upcoming Annual Conference in Sicily in October 2013 Reduced by €250 per person!  Enjoy discounted rates for attending the Annual Conference, which will take place at the Atahotel Capotaormina in Taormina, Sicily (Italy), from Tuesday, 1st October through Friday, 4th October.  Afera’s Conference Programme Committee is currently finalising the Working Programme, which is focussed on looking toward growth in a post-crisis economy.  The Social Programme is set to include visits to Catania, Ortigia Island, Syracuse and Mount Etna.  Registration information will be available shortly.  Early-bird registration rates will apply until 15th June 2013. Become a Sponsor   Afera and MKVS merge technical events  Afera’s Technical and Steering Committees are moving forward with a plan to merge future Association Technical Seminar events with the Munich Adhesives and Finishing Symposium (MKVS) October conference.  The resulting event would focus on tapes and probably take place every two years in Munich.  Both organisations would benefit from the mutual exchange of information and other resources.  Technical Committee Chairman Chrétien Donker is currently working with Dr. Michael Gerstenberger of MKVS GbRon this new project..

Growing the tape market online

Afera is preparing for the launch of an online social media campaign which will ‘grow the pie’:  Extend the market for tapes by appealing to hundreds of thousands of engineer and designer end-users  who do not yet know about the use of tape as a fixing and joining method.  Afera has been aware of the possibilities, opportunities—even necessity—of developing its online presence for quite some time.  

After numerous strategy brainstorming sessions and interviews with top industry professionals and PSTC counterparts, Afera’s management have developed a social media marketing action plan with the primary goals of raising the profile of ‘tape as a functional sheet’ in industry, growing the market for tapes, continuing to add value to Afera’s Membership and embracing the range of interests of the entire tape value chain, including tape manufacturers (including SMEs), OEMs, raw materials suppliers, converters, etc. 

The Association is currently gathering critical online information regarding professional and trade networking groups, bloggers, events and publications.  The next step is creating a content marketing governance council, a content network and a co-ordination and execution team.  In addition to the content marketing activities, the project also includes a re-launch of afera.com.  As always, the factors of cost and time are being monitored for the greatest of efficiency with regard to this project.

Think Tape

The Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (North America) has created two You Tube videos about tape which can be found at www.thinktape.org.  The creation of the website and videos are part of an outward reach campaign to promote the use and application of tapes in North America to grow the industry.  Afera Members may use these videos in consultation with clients, taking care to credit PSTC when doing so.  Contact Afera’s Secretariat for more information.

Afera's co-operation with FEICA

Afera and FEICA, the Association of the European Adhesive and Sealant Industry and their national trade associations, enjoy free mutual memberships:  Afera holds a seat on FEICA’s European Technical Board (ETB) through TC Member Hubertus von Voithenberg (ChemQuest Group, Inc.)  Conversely, Hermann Onusseit’s successor, Nick Lehman (HB Fuller Germany) holds a free seat on Afera’s TC on behalf of FEICA.  Both associations have been meeting regularly to determine the issues and areas of overlapping competencies and interests.  These are set to include sustainability, standardisation, REACH, hazardous products, recycling, EU projects and nanomaterials.  At Afera’s upcoming 6^th Technical Seminar, be sure not to miss Afera TC Sustainability WG leader Evert Smit’s (Arizona Chemical) presentation “How Tapes Aid Sustainability”, which will introduce Afera’s new ‘sustainability toolkit’ initiative with significant input from FEICA’s Sustainability Taskforce led by Eva Griessbach (Dow Corning).
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Afera Technical Committee leadership to change hands

After years of service to Afera’s Technical Committee (TC), Chairman Chrétien Donker (Eastman Chemical Middelburg B.V.) recently announced that he plans to retire from Eastman Chemical as from 1^st January 2014.  Christophe Küsters (Afera TC Vice-Chairman, 3M Laboratories Europe GmbH) was recently appointed as his successor.  TC leadership will change hands during the next TC Meeting on Wednesday, 2^nd October 2013 (9.00-12.30) at the Atahotel Capotaormina, Taormina, Sicily (Italy), directly preceding the Annual Conference. 

Improving Steering Committee representation

Afera's Steering Committee (SC) are researching and discussing amending Afera’s Statutes regarding SC composition with the goal of better representing Afera’s Membership base.  The following breakdown of five Regions and Committees (with indicated numbers of representatives) will be presented for voting at the Afera General Assembly on 3^rd October 2013:

• Western Europe including the U.K., Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Scandinavia (1)
• Central Europe including Germany, Austria and Switzerland (1)
• Southern Europe including Italy, Spain and Portugal (1)
• Eastern Europe including countries from the Baltics, Turkey and Israel (1)
• The Technical and Marketing Committees (2).

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New Members since October 2012

Ulmac Tapes, Macedonia (Active)
Frimpeks GmbH, Germany (Associated).

CEN TC 253 and 193 merge

Following voting which closed on 10^th December 2012, TC 253 (Self-Adhesive Tapes) merged with CEN TC 193 (Adhesives), which is active and has mirror committees in most European countries.  As Chairman of the former TC 253, Afera’s Lutz Jacob, a former ExxonMobil global tape industry executive and current consultant, has been put forward as the convenor of WG 7 (Self-Adhesive Tapes) within TC 193.  The Spanish standards institute, AENOR, acts as the secretariat for TC 193.  Mr. Jacob is currently recruiting a national organisation to serve as secretariat for WG 7.

New SAFT Test Method development

Upon learning that the PSTC had created a new SAFT test method, Afera’s TC decided that before adding the PSTC’s version to the Afera Test Methods Manual, Afera’s TC member companies would perform a series of Round Robin Tests in order to ensure that the TM was harmonised with European standards.  As the first series proved inconclusive, Afera TC company delegates from 3M, BASF, Dow, Henkel, Lohmann and tesa are currently conducting a second series of RR Tests on the proposed new SAFT TM.  Lohmann has provided a new, high shear, single-sided tape to each participant, while tesa’s double-sided tape is being reused for evaluation, both sides being tested with a two-kilogram weight.  All results are due in to Afera by 31^st May 2013, after which tesa’s Jϋrgen Kahl will run the statistical analysis of both sets of RR Tests, and the results will be distributed by Mr. Jacob to Afera TC participants ASAP.   Meanwhile, at the Global Test Methods Committee Meeting (GTMC) which took place in Taiwan on 19^th November 2012, Japan, China and Taiwan agreed to discuss the possible global standardisation of PSTC’s SAFT TM internally and return with their feedback by the end of May.

New Climate Change TM development

Under the leadership of Fraunhofer Institute IFAM’s Uwe Maurieschat, Afera’s Test Methods Working Group, which includes Lutz Jacob (RJ Consulting), Ralf Rönisch (Coroplast Fritz Müller), Reinhold Domanski (Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG)and Thomas Christ (BASF Aktiengesellschaft), is working on the development of a Climate Change TM.  The WG is currently circulating an email questionnaire among the TC and has asked that they return it to Mr. Maurieschat by 31^st July 2013.

Rolling Ball Tack TM will not be globally harmonised

At the GTMC Meeting which took place in Taiwan on 19^th November 2012, Mr. Jacob presented the final results of the three series of Round Robin Tests performed on the Rolling Ball Tack TM.  The TM will continue to exist as a PSTC TM but will not be adopted by Afera.  Companies may use it as an internal TM, but it is not considered reliable enough to make a harmonised version of it, as the RR Tests have proved.  All GTMC Members present at the 19/11/12 Meeting agreed with this conclusion.

New Loop Tack TM development
No new Unwind TM 

Following discussions which took place at the recent Taiwan GTMC Meeting, Afera has decided to take the lead in developing a Loop Tack TM, organising Round Robin Tests.  Afera’s TC has decided, however, not to pursue developing an Unwind TM.  Mr. Jacob is in contact with Afera’s TC and the other Global Tape Forum (GTF) Members regarding moving forward with new TM development.

Global harmonisation of Width & Length and Thickness TMs

All GTF Members have agreed to the content of the Width & Length and Thickness TMs (except for JATMA, which would like to change the layout of the Width & Length TM).  These TMs will be the first ‘GTF-Harmonised Test Methods’.  Instead of seeking the CEN/ISO certification route for future TMs, GTF Members are moving forward with developing internationally-recognised standards among the six GTF Members in order to save time and money.  Any regional or national tape organisation may apply for ISO status for a TM on its own account.  Any future ISO-initiative among the GTF Members, however, will be funded in equal parts by the Members.  The GTF Members are eager to see how this new GTF-harmonisation status is accepted by tape industry customers.  The GTMC agreed not to develop more than two new TMs at a time.

Fraunhofer's Accelerating-Ageing TM development

The Fraunhofer Institute IFAM’s ‘Accelerated ageing test of pressure sensitive adhesives, tapes and joints’ Project (AiF Project, IGF, Nr. 17087) has obtained financing (~€240,000) from the German government.  This test will be extremely useful in shortening ageing from 5,000 to 15 minutes.  The Project’s first meeting took place in mid-October 2012.  No non-German tape producers have been recruited to participate in this project thus far.  Contact Mr. Maurieschat at IFAM to obtain more information, including a list of participants, sample shapes, materials and ageing conditions.  The next meeting is scheduled for 23^rd April 2013 at Henkel in Düsseldorf.  

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Recent News:

• The 3^rd Global Tape Forum and Global Test Methods Committee Meetings were hosted on 19^th November by our Taiwanese counterpart association, TAAT, prior to their Technical Seminar on 20^th-21^st November 2012.  Read more
• Themed “Sustainability:  Hype or Your Chance Now?,” the Association’s Annual Conference held from 2^nd-5^th October 2012 at the Hotel Hesperia Madrid, Spain, was a great success.  Read more
• Afera conducted a Member satisfaction survey among 110 current Members, ~15 former Members and a large number of potential Members in June 2012 via SurveyMonkey.  Read more

Although this newsletter has been compiled with all reasonable care, Afera declines all responsibility for the completeness of the information contained, and for any use made of the information provided.