Ticona Polymer and Processing Expertise Helps Rodon Deliver Successes, Including K'NEX® Toys


Florence, Ky., Sulzbach, Germany, Shanghai, PR China – Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, and The Rodon Group, a 57-year-old custom injection molder, are marking 30 years of cooperation that has resulted in successful products, including the K'NEX® building toy system made with Celcon® acetal copolymer (POM).



"We started with Ticona in the early '80s," says Lowell Allen, Rodon's senior vice president of Manufacturing. "Ticona has put forth a tremendous amount of time — material selection, part design, tooling design and processing expertise— to help achieve peak material performance. This really helped to forge a bond that has lasted over the last three decades."



Since the 1950s, Hatfield, Pa.-based Rodon has produced plastic molded parts for a variety of applications in a variety of industries, including consumer, medical, construction and pharmaceutical. The Rodon Group and the construction toy company K'NEX are operating units of K'NEX Brands L.P., which develops product ideas and specifies the polymers used in the applications.



"Ticona has a long history of providing know-how and process technology to an extensive list of products molded by Rodon," said Eric Howe, account manager – Ticona. "Through the years, we've worked together on material selection, part and tooling design, and processing technology."



For example, Rodon still uses the original K'NEX construction toy molds created in the 1990s, based on Ticona mold-flow analysis that artificially balanced the runner systems while maximizing the cavitation. This helped ensure part quality in high volume production runs, which makes K'NEX more profitable in a very competitive industry.



"This enduring relationship with The Rodon Group clearly demonstrates how we deliver total solutions in not only high-performance materials, but also part design and processing," said Phil McDivitt, Celanese vice president and general manager - Advanced Engineered Materials. "We are recognized around the world for providing customers with innovative materials and technical know-how that deliver high quality, high performance and value."



The K'NEX world-renowned construction sets are manufactured with Celcon M90™, which gives the signature plastic connector building pieces the resiliency to snap and unsnap over and over into multiple toy configurations. This creep-resistant, high-performance thermoplastic manufactured by Ticona is a general purpose, unreinforced POM that provides an excellent balance of toughness and fatigue strength, as well as:

• Lubricity (slipperiness)

• Resilience

• Creep resistance (resistance to distortion under a sustained load)

• Wear resistance

• Tensile strength



"Each Ticona team member we've worked with over the years has not only been outstanding, and technically proficient, but also a friend," Allen said. "In addition to material expertise, Ticona has provided exemplary technical help with several metal replacement opportunities, from one in the early 1990s for a major baby products company that involved the Celstran® long fiber reinforced thermoplastics product line to today with an all-plastic spring for the window industry.



"There are not too many companies that can boast of a 30-year relationship — one that has endured several generations of salespeople, engineers and managers and one that continues successfully in 2013. Pretty amazing stuff …"



About Celanese and Ticona

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. With sales almost equally divided between North America, Europe and Asia, the company uses the full breadth of its global chemistry, technology and business expertise to create value for customers and the corporation. Celanese partners with customers to solve their most critical needs while making a positive impact on its communities and the world. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2012 net sales of $6.4 billion. For more information about Celanese Corporation and its product offerings, visit www.celanese.com or our blog at www.celaneseblog.com.



Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, is part of the Advanced Engineered Materials segment with net sales of $1,261 million in fiscal 2012. It produces and markets a broad range of high performance products, and employs more than 1,500 individuals at production, compounding and research facilities in the USA, Germany, Brazil and China. For more information, please visit www.ticona.com or www.ticona.cn (Chinese language).



About The Rodon Group

The Rodon Group is an ISO 9001:2008 certified landfill-free, plastic injection molder. In business since 1956, The Rodon Group makes billions of parts each year in its 125,000 square foot facility. With over 105 injection molding presses, Rodon is one of the largest family-owned and operated plastic injection molders in the United States and serves a diverse group of industries including consumer products, medical, construction, pharmaceutical and toys. We are a third generation family business located in Hatfield, PA and are proud to be a part of the local community supporting American manufacturing. Since 1992, Rodon has manufactured over 31 billion parts for the K'NEX building toy system, and is a subsidiary of K'NEX Brands, L.P. For more information, please visit www.rodongroup.com or contact Jill Worth at 215-822-5544, jworth@rodongroup.com.



About K'NEX Brands

Founded in 1992, K'NEX Brands, the world's most innovative construction toy company, was established to make and sell what has become one of the world's leading integrated construction systems for children and is America's STEM building solution. Winner of over 250 international awards and recognitions, K'NEX, America's building toy company, is focused on Building Worlds Kids Love and encourages youngsters to "imagine, build and play." From the living room to the classroom, K'NEX has building toys specially designed for every age group and skill level. The K'NEX family of brands includes K'NEX Building Sets, K'NEX Thrill Rides, K'NEX Education, Lincoln Logs®, Tinkertoy®, NASCAR®, Angry Birds™, Mario Kart Wii™, Mario Kart 7™, Super Mario™, PacMan™ and more. Since 1992, The Rodon Group, a subsidiary of K'NEX Brands, L.P., has manufactured over 31 billion parts for the K'NEX building toy system. Join us as we help build the leaders of tomorrow. For more information, please visit www.knex.com or contact Kate Loffio, 215-996-4209, kloffio@knex.com.



Celcon® and Celstran® LFRT registered trademarks are owned by Ticona or its affiliates.

M90™ is a trademark of Ticona.

K'NEX® is a registered trademark of K'NEX Brands L.P.



Ticona and The Rodon Group are marking 30 years of cooperation that has resulted in successful products, including the K'NEX® building toy system made with Celcon® acetal copolymer (POM).



Contacts:

Americas:

David Perilstein

Press Relations

+1-518-479-7632

Dperilst@nycap.rr.com



Americas:

Stephen Cushard

Global Marketing Communications Manager

+1-859-372-3164

Stephen.Cushard@ticona.com



Europe:

Henning Küll

Public Relations Manager

+49-69-45009-1797

Henning.Kuell@Ticona.de



Asia:

Amber Zhao

Marketing Communications

+86-21-3861-9222

Tong.Zhao@ticona.com


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