Source: Bret Lanz, 785-532-7473, blanz@amisuccess.com
Web site: http://www.amisuccess.com
News release prepared by: Mollie Winter, 785-532-7044.

Monday, Aug. 31, 2009

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE AT K-STATE HELPS MCPHERSON COMPANY WITH LAUNCH OF NEW PRODUCT

MANHATTAN -- The Advanced Manufacturing Institute at Kansas State University has assisted HG Engineering, McPherson, with the launch of Flextrusion, a tooling system that increases process control in plastic extruders for the tubing and profile industries.

"Plastics extrusion is a manufacturing process in which raw plastic material is melted and formed into a consistent profile. This process produces numerous plastic items used for a variety of applications including plumbing, electrical, irrigation, building materials and many others," said Bret Lanz, commercialization manager at the Advanced Manufacturing Institute, which also known as AMI.

"The Flextrusion Tooling System was developed to help plastic extrusion producers increase quality and production rates of the products they are manufacturing, in addition to reducing costs," Lanz said.

"Our challenge was to develop a product launch strategy and create marketing materials to promote the Flextrusion," Lanz said. "AMI defined the value statement, developed the pricing formulation guidelines and created a brochure and poster display."

"With the help of AMI, we made a successful transition from developing our product to marketing it," said Hans Groeblacher, president of HG Engineering. "The materials AMI created did an outstanding job differentiating our system from other products and explaining its features and benefits. We are very pleased with their work."

More information on the Flextrusion Tooling System is available at http://www.extrudenow.com

The Advanced Manufacturing Institute is a part of K-State's College of Engineering and a Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation Center of Excellence that provides engineering and business services to develop products and processes. More information on the institute is available online at http://www.amisuccess.com