February 28, 2012
Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc.
Fowlerville, Mich., Feb. 28, 2012 – Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. of Fowlerville, Michigan has licensed Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH (PCW), of Eilenberg, Germany to manufacture and distribute its Thermylene® brand of specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylenes (PP). PCW will market Thermylene® to their customer base and develop new business for the brand throughout Europe from their three strategically located divisions in Eilenburg, Straelen and Bingen am Rhein, Germany. “Licensing Thermylene® to Polyplast greatly enhances our reach towards the globalization of our Thermylene® family of products,” said John Moyer, Asahi Kasei Plastics president.
“Asahi Kasei Plastics wants to work with companies that share our dedication to quality and customer enlightenment and Polyplast shares this philosophy,” continued Moyer. PCW has over 50 years of compounding experience, ISO 9001 certification and an established line of specialty compounded products including Decelith® and Ongrolit® (PVC-Compound), Saxene® (PP-Compound), and Saxomer® (TPE-Compound). “Thermylene® offers our customers proven options for reducing weight and improving performance as a cost-effective alternative to Nylon and long glass reinforced polypropylene (LFT) in automotive and other applications,” said Matthias Hildenbrand, Polyplast Muller Group chief financial officer.
“Our customers will appreciate the product design flexibility and process enabling benefits Thermylene® provides,” continued Hildenbrand. Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH focuses on R&D and production of tailor-made compounds. A team of experienced engineers and technicians are on hand for development of products for specific applications. Thermylene® characteristics can be expertly adjusted to meet the performance requirements of a customer’s particular application for maximum benefit. In order to meet the future demands and development of the plastics processing sector, further investment in plant manufacturing optimization including new equipment and technology and construction of additional highly productive compounding facilities is underway. Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH, located in the richly traditional town of Eilenburg, Germany, is part of the Polyplast Muller Group of companies also including Polyplast Muller GmbH in Europe, Colortech Inc. (Canada) and Colortech, Inc. (USA) who provide masterbatch products and services worldwide.
Automotive, Industrial and Pool & Spa Applications Drive Thermylene® Growth
“Asahi Kasei Plastics had another strong year and global demand for our products continues to grow,” said Ramesh Iyer, vice president commercial operations. Automotive OEMs and Tiers use Thermylene® P7 as a replacement for Nylons (6 and 6/6), PBT and long fiber technology (LFT) in automotive applications such as sun roof frames, door modules and shifter bases.
Thermylene® – Chemically Coupled Polypropylene
Thermylene® is a proprietary specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylene (PP). When a chemical coupling technology is applied to glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, significant improvements are seen across a number of key physical attributes. The enhanced properties of these polymers yield an extremely attractive cost/performance balance when compared to traditional engineering thermoplastics. The enhanced adhesion between the glass fiber reinforcement and the polypropylene matrix results in a material that exhibits the following:
Key Attributes:
Flexural Modulus:
As Thermylene® improves the ability of molded parts to resist distortion under load, it enables a reduction in the glass fiber loading for a given flexural modulus requirement. Improvements in flexural modulus are particularly desirable in structural applications and pressure vessels where dimensional control under load is critical. This leads to:
Heat Deflection Temperature:
Thermylene® provides a pronounced improvement in elevated temperature performance when compared to non-chemically coupled polypropylene products.
“We are looking forward to adding ‘Award Winning’ high performance Thermylene® to our product line giving our customers more options for product development” said Hildenbrand. Asahi Kasei Plastics was recently named to the SPE® Innovation Award for their Thermylene® P9 and Thermylene® P6 materials developed for the Dodge RamBox® storage container. The Thermylene® grades provided a weight savings projected to save $3 million USD over the life of the program vs. alternative technologies (long-glass thermoplastics polypropylene (LFT-PP), short-glass nylon (polyamide, PA) 6/6, sheet-molding compound (SMC), and bulk-molding compound (BMC).
Polyplast Compound Werk (PCW) of Eilenburg is a state-of-the art 700,000 sq. ft. facility providing production capacities of 105 million pounds, with 100 employees. In 2008, the company completed a large-scale expansion program including the addition of new technologies, equipment and R&D for continued sustainable growth in the compounding markets.
PCW parent company, Polyplast Muller Group in Europe specializes in compounds and masterbatches for diverse industries throughout Europe and masterbatches in North America. The company was founded in 1981 and has grown its business internally and through several acquisitions in three principal product areas including compounds for diverse applications, wire and cable compounds and masterbatches. Polyplast Muller Group has grown to a size of $300 million revenue USD, employing over 500 employees in four companies at five locations worldwide. Its total annual global capacity at the five plants is currently in excess of 440 million pounds.
About Asahi Kasei Plastics
This Michigan based subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation boasts one of the largest manufacturing facilities for the company outside of Japan. Additionally, Asahi Kasei Plastics is the largest glass reinforced polypropylene manufacturer in North America. With sales growing globally, their unique product portfolio is solving complex engineering problems.
Asahi Kasei Plastics provides customized resin solutions globally. Their product lines include THERMYLENE® (polypropylene), LEONA™ (nylon), THERMYLON® (nylon), TENAC™ (acetal) and XYRON™ (modified polyphenylene ether – mPPE).
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