ElectriPlast

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Location: Bavaria, Germany

I am a retired US Government analyst, currently residing in Germany. I am also a shareholder in the company called Integral Technologies (OTCBB: ITKG), and have a desire to enlighten and share its great and still emerging story. I am well read, focused and appreciate challenging interactions which spark creativity and develop enlightenment. That is why I created the ElectriPlast Blog, and the reason I am here.

December 23, 2008

ElectriPlast: When “Green” is Also Golden









By Vince S.
ElectriPlast Blog Editor








( Editor’s Note: This article was inspired by email from a long-term Integral shareholder. )


When “Green” is also Golden

If anyone still harbors doubts about the interconnectivity of global financial markets, I suggest they focus on how Wall Street, the banking sector and the mortgage industry produced a ‘perfect storm’ that has severely impacted financial and credit markets around the world. Moreover, this crisis has reduced corporate and individual wealth by several trillions of dollars, a calamity that will have consequences for many years to come. One of the sidebars to the market turmoil is the dire situation in which the Big Three automobile manufacturers find themselves. Yet, despite the doom and gloom, and the real promise of a bleak 2009 for many, this financial crisis represents a dramatic opportunity for Integral Technologies and Jasper Rubber to turn “green” into gold.


Around the World and Back to Detroit

Now that gasoline prices have been whacked nearly two-thirds, and car dealers are overstocked with output from Detroit, the credit meltdown has frozen out all but a few consumers. Moreover, some who can afford to buy are concerned about the availability of parts and service, if the Big Three are forced to reorganize or consolidate. The bottom line of all this turmoil is that Detroit is facing the biggest transformation since Henry Ford’s assembly line nearly 100 years ago. Yes, you heard that right! When oil was near $140 a barrel last July, car sales went through the floor; now, a barrel of crude is below $40 and US auto sales remain on life support, but for different reasons. And Detroit, as we know it, will be changed forever. Be that as it may, there is a silver lining behind this very dark cloud.

In a recent email, Jay ( his nom de plume ) wrote, “I’m very pleased that EP material is ready and is poised to launch just as a new administration with strong environmental commitments is about to take over. If plans go as expected, there will be huge investments, government and private, in solar, wind, hybrid, electric innovation and products. Any product, especially environmentally constructive ones, that can help reduce dependence on foreign oil will be funded and encouraged. Along with investments in infrastructure, the intention is to make the switch, irreversibly, away from internal combustion engines and the toxins they produce. That will be a major cultural shift.”


Green to Golden

Speaking of toxins and carbon footprints, let’s apply the rules of logic to the following premise: ElectriPlast is reported to be 40 percent lighter than aluminum, so imagine the weight reduction if ElectriPlast replaces aluminum in a substantial number of automotive parts. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average US car was a scale-busting 4400 pounds in 2003, the last time those figures were available. Knock 40% of the poundage off of your 2009 four door V6 Blubberbutt and you’re burning a lot less fuel to move that badboy down the interstate, friends!

And consider the environmental implications; when a pound of aluminum replaces two pounds of iron or steel in a car, circa 20 pounds of CO2 emissions are reduced over the typical lifetime of that vehicle. Now factor ElectriPlast into that formula! My, my, but we are looking mighty “green,” which equates to a “golden” bottom line for Integral and JARCO. This scenario will be consistent with the expected environmental and energy conservation efforts during the next administration.

My friend Jay has whacked it straight down the fairway with his "green" connection. Moreover, he concluded that in the near future, there will be great opportunities for new technologies, particularly those that have a beneficial impact on the environment. How prescient, Jay! It seems that several major players in the auto parts and battery sectors are so impressed with ElectriPlast and the clean “green” connection that they are ready to close deals for ElectriPlast. And it goes without saying that whatever is left of the US auto industry after congressional and/or Oval Office mandates will clearly look for lightweight materials that translate into better fuel efficiency. ElectriPlast will play an important role in that area.


ElectriPlast is the Future

“ElectriPlast,” according to Jay, “is where Jasper Rubber sees the future. To that end, they have made a sizeable investment in money and effort, and they have dedicated a production line and staff to produce EP for client prototyping. EP is where they have put their money and their efforts. It is the future of JARCO. Somehow that makes me smile.”

We at the EP Blog couldn’t agree more, Jay. Once the marketing effort ramps up and the world focuses on the “5,000 uses for ElectriPlast,” per Tom Aisenbrey’s recent comments in the May 2008 issue of Medical Product Manufacturing News, JARCO will have to add more machinery and staff to keep pace. All three of the Boyz in Bellingham have two million plus shares of this badboy--no telling how much is owned by the folks at Jasper--so there is plenty to motivate both companies to double their efforts to close deals.

So, it is not a matter of "if," but "when" the first contract is inked. And despite the fact that we missed the much vaunted “go-to-market-year,” as publicly predicted by Messrs. Robinson and Mathias, that will be soon!

Bring on 2009!

From the ElectriPlast Blog, Season’s Greetings to all and a Happy and Prosperous$$$ New Year!




22 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who is Jay?

December 23, 2008 5:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK -
altho I have some optimism left I don't understand the following in your piece..."ElectriPlast is reported to be 40 percent lighter than aluminum, so imagine the weight reduction if ElectriPlast replaces aluminum in a substantial number of automotive parts. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average US car was a scale-busting 4400 pounds in 2003, the last time those figures were available. Knock 40% of the poundage off of your 2009 four door V6 Blubberbutt and you’re burning a lot less fuel to move that badboy down the interstate, friends!"

How is ep going to replace aluminum? How could using ep possibly take 40% off the weight off a car? I think you might be imbibing a bit of holiday cheer too early??? But happy holidays, regardless...

December 23, 2008 6:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Season's Greetings and Happy New Year to the Electriplast blog staff and to all who read!!!

Cheers to a much better New Year...the last couple have pretty much kicked my a$$...JB in AZ

December 23, 2008 9:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nom de plume (nom di PLOOHM) French for “pen name”; an invented name under which an author writes. Mark Twain was the nom de plume of Samuel L. Clemens.

December 23, 2008 10:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Vince, thanks for the uplifting piece - who's your source? Can I talk to them? Believe me when I say I hope "soon" comes quickly. I don't know how much longer I can hang in there. Not only do I feel like Rocky getting his face rearranged in the ring, but I feel like I'm paying Apollo Creed to do it.
Another frustrated LL

December 24, 2008 1:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You raise a good point. Did ITKG management go on a permanent vacation once they had an agreement in place with JARCO? Did they say, "let JARCO take care of the rest"? According to Scott in investor relations that agreement was not an exclusive agreement. Therefore, ITKG management SHOULD still be pounding the pavement. In other words, actually earn your salary and look for additional avenues to commercialization.

December 30, 2008 6:01 PM  
Blogger PK... said...

To the last Poster: AGREED...

You commented similar sentiments in the Better Angels article -- so twice I note: Agreed.

This is one of the primary reasons that I have--over the past dozen or so articles posted--praised Jasper Rubber and their CEO Doug Mathias, while casting a dour light on the antics of Bill Robinson and the Bellingham crew.

In that regard, you are absolutely correct, the company secured a manufacturing angle--from that point, they (in my arm chair quarterback view) should have either begun assisting the JARCO sales team by releasing more information regarding the tested capabilities and tolerances of the ElectriPlast material, or in developing a ElectriPlast-based product promotion/placement game plan.

I mean, think on it this way ---

What if Bill Robinson had somehow negotiated with Apple engineers and management to test and possibly place their ElectriPlast material, with its advertised superior enhancing properties, within something like the (then still under development) iPod Touch.

Talk about product placement and self-promotion.

True, it is not the iPhone we're talking about, but what it is is the hottest PDA in creation and a tool where you can play games, listen to music, watch movies, surf the Internet and check on E-mail using the built-in Wi-Fi.

More importantly, a working ElectriPlast product would then be on the streets, touchable, proven, and real.

Think how easy it would have been for the JARCO sales teams to then garner contract after contract with such notoriety supporting the ElectriPlast name.

While I think JARCO will make such a play happen on their own accord, without Bellingham's support or intervention, I tend to think that it should have, would have, could have happened long ago. That is, if Bill Robinson and team Bellingham did not drop the ball and lose sight of the real goal.

So for the third time, all I can say is: Agreed...

Here's to a New Year with the promising promise of Change in the air...

PK sends...

December 30, 2008 10:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK - no news for how long, and yet the share price increases. what gives?

January 08, 2009 12:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anyone know if ITKG or JARCO presented at the consumer electronic show this week?

January 09, 2009 5:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it's a really safe bet to say 'no.' Their appearance in 2007 was heavily promoted and they would very likely have done so for any future presentations.

January 10, 2009 1:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just returned from the smallest attended CES show that I have seen in the 12 years I've been attending. I immediately looked for Integral & Jasper when I received the exhibitor book.Neither company was there. I believe that Jasper is concentrating 1000% on obtaining the first few contracts. Once EP has been publicly proven to work and has some real orders from some real companies, perhaps that would be the time to exhibit.

January 11, 2009 4:31 PM  
Blogger PK... said...

Just as a side-note:

Sources at Jasper and elsewhere have told that this "1000%" focus will indeed bear fruit in a substantial manner.

An IMO recommend - If you have stock hold, if you don't--even realizing this company's recent past and risks--you may want to consider getting. Not a "stomp, stomp, stomp" definate recommend, but a suggestion based on rumored insights...

PK sends...

January 12, 2009 5:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I’m amazed you continue to rely on “rumors” & “whispers” from sources that have such an abysmal track record over the last few years. In 2008 alone, you stated that “sources” indicated a big pop was to occur in Q1 2008 and wrote about “MAJOR” deals “very close to fruition” in a June piece (now 8 months old).

It’s difficult not to conclude that your sources are either incredibly misinformed or that they purposely mislead you. And yet, though you’ve got to be aware more than anyone of their atrocious record over the years in projecting deals that never materialize, you continue to parrot their latest rumor multiple times a year. It makes me wonder if you’re not complicit in the misinformation that has been dispensed for years now regarding supposed imminent deals…

January 23, 2009 3:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fool me once....shame on you.

Fool me twice...shame on me.

That works on many levels.

January 23, 2009 7:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK - maybe you can help me on this. According to certain individuals out there, there is significant interest in EP. If EP is the game changer that some declair, shouldn't there be a rush by the companies who are interested in EP to lock up the limited capacity that exists, not to mention beat the competition to the punch. Understanding the economic situation, surely management of the "interested companies" must realize that sometimes risks must be taken to gain a competitive edge. Hard to reconcile the hype and the reality of what's going on with ITKG.

January 27, 2009 6:31 PM  
Blogger PK... said...

Anonymous --

In regards to your last, I agree, there should be a rush to glom onto this "game-changing" technology. Some say that the rush is tempered by the limiting risk factor that the EP material has not yet been installed in a mass produced fashion, and so, its capabilities are not yet known or trusted by the masses... As such, this might limit the willingness of some companies from being the first to step into the breach, to take a chance on a new technology, no matter how innovative, or migrating the technology may be, or might become.

Then there is the checkered mixed message offered by the folks at Integral. Where logic would say, it is in their best interest to get behind this product and encourage its growth by caring and feeding into its development and discovery. Instead, we have a management which seems incapable of managing or in moving the ball down the field.

In fact, here we see the substitute coach (Jasper Rubber Company, and its CEO) doing all of the heavy lifting to promote EP's future--and in-turn his own company's future... Here we see the substitute coach molding the potential of ElectriPlast while the team's true coach resigns itself to the role of a mute shadow of its former self, watching the game as a spectator from a darkened, hidden-away corner formerly reserved for Vice President Chaney.

In my view, therein lies a major problem--the Mixed Message.

Should a substitute coach be running the plays during the Homecoming game? Worse, should he/she be doing it alone while the true coach watches on ineptly?

ElectriPlast has real potential -- this is not the party line in play, but a reality. Jasper has worked long and hard to garner the interest by a host of companies in this material's potential. At great expense, they have set themselves up as the producer/manufacture of choice, literally bankrolling a chunk of their future capital on this prospect.

Times are tough, but JARCO is committed, and remains committed towards this end. Their message is clear. It is the message out of Bellingham that is of concern.

This is one of the reasons for my constant clarion call for the installment of a Board of Directors. New faces--responsible and accountable to the investors--bringing forth transparency and respect. Likewise, there should be a willingness to engage as professionals, those companies that they have direct relationships with.

So, there you have it -- in this regard, I too find it hard to reconcile the hype and the reality of what's going on with ITKG...But...I do believe in the commitment that JARCO has invested towards making ElectriPlast into a valued potential and a marketplace reality.

If the folks at Integral can get their act together, then I think that this action alone would do more to resolve the questions marks hovering like a cloud over ITKG and EP's momentum.

PK sends...

January 27, 2009 11:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"its capabilities are not yet known or trusted"?

Isn`t that what the NDA`s are all about? Isn`t that what the "Client Specific Application Development Process" is all about? Isn`t that what Jaspers A2LA Accredited Laboratory all about?(there are whole books written about the many ways to measure electricity)

Bear in mind all that is new about Electriplast is that it claims to produce polymer based product that are capable of conducting electricity.

Plastic is not new.
Rubber is not new.
Electricity is surely not new.
Metal is hardly new.

Metal, in fact, hes been conducting electricity since Man first learned how to generate it, and....every single application that Electriplast has been patented for already exists in a metal form.

Hey, How is it that a small group of investors.....some living as far away as Bavaria, Germany know so much about Electriplasts capabilities, yet companies that signed NDA`s and licensing agreements over two years ago are still unsure?

Please, tell me that American capitalism is really not that dead.

January 28, 2009 3:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK --the Mixed Message?

While it may or may not be a factor in the actual marketing of Electriplast, aren`t there some assumptions being made here? While Robinson may not be exactly forthcoming with his shareholders, how is it so clear to you that he treats his customers with the same lack of respect?

And even if it were proven to be so, why did it take Doug Mathias over two years to figure it out? And what does he think he is going to do about it?

Robinson has it his way. Why would he change it? A board of directors looking over his shoulder? Having to ask for raises and bonuses? Why would he give that up. And why hasn`t Doug Mathias figured that out? It`s Bill`s ball and it`s Bill`s game. Mathias is a sub contractor....nothing more.

Jasper is employee owned. How does
Mathias in his role as CEO and President, explain the ROI for all those capital expenses considering the box (you claim) Robinson has put him in?

And then there is the why. Is Robinson that dumb? I don`t think so. Does he like having to round up funding every few years while delibertly roadblocking his very own proven, technology? Roadblocking the revenue stream that it would surely produce....at no expense to either him or Integral. Remember, to Integral it`s only IP. No factory, no machines, no materials, and no employees.

Is he so out of touch with reality that he doesn`t realize it is himself that is standing between this innovative product and it`s commercial success?

Nah, I think you have let your assumptions get away with you.

January 28, 2009 4:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK, I think your living in la la land if you believe that the Bills will install a BOD based on their desire to be “responsible and accountable to the investors--bringing forth transparency and respect.“ When have any of their past actions even hinted that that was one of their concerns? to the contrary, they’ve proven over & over again that they're all about what they can extract in the way of compensation & bonuses. No BOD gives them free rein to do as they please.

There have been a number of convincing reasons put forth by various folks as to why the Bills won’t install a BOD until absolutely forced to do so. Whereas, stating that they’ll put in a BOD because they said years ago that they would or because it’s the right thing to do (and what most company’s would do) completely ignores the lack of integrity & self interest the Bill’s have displayed since day one.

February 02, 2009 1:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

PK -
as I've said a few times - the only possible way to shed light on this is to talk to Doug Mathias to get an (somewhat) objective view of the entire enterprise. Can you do that? The fifty-six or so viewers of this blog would appreciate it...

February 02, 2009 6:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is anyone out there familiar with private equity placements? As we all know by now (calling IR) additional equity funding was obtained. As a long time shareholder I have several questions about this but will limit them to the following:

1) Why hasn't there been a public announcement about it?

2) There is no way given the history of this company any sane person would invest the minimum to participate in the private placement without hard evidence that purchase orders were infact going to occur. Question is, why are they deemed to be qualified to share such information with and we are not as common shareholders. What happened to fiduciary duty?

3) has anyone spoke to IR recently? If so, what did they say?

I have not been able to reach anyone since the end of the year, which doesn't bode well for shareholder confidence......

February 04, 2009 6:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I suspect management had a different idea of what the market reaction would be with regard to their statements in the latest filing...

February 18, 2009 7:53 PM  

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