  Click Image to Enlarge  Honeywell's Aclar fluoropolymer film
gets better moisture barrier from MD orientation, making it a
clear alternative to aluminum foil.  Black Clawson's center-
opening vertical MDO unit is self-threading and easy to
reconfigure, even with different roll sizes.  Marshall &
Williams' unusual lab line is capable of three different draw
modes. Similar flexibility is being built for both in production
and R&D.  Addex is introducing "MDO Light," a four-roll MDO
system that reheats blown film and stretches it just enough to
flatten it for faster downstream converting.  Stretching film in
the machine direction magnifies its properties—not just a
little, but a lot. MD orientation of blown and cast films,
whether off-line or in-line with extrusion, enhances barrier,
stiffness, flatness, tensile strength, and porosity. It reduces
stretchiness and, of course, makes two or three times more
product with the same amount of plastic. Because MDO films are
also very flat, they run many times faster in