Clariant Masterbatches expands US, UK facilities

Clariant Masterbatches expands US, UK facilities

Additives for Polymers July 2004 speed delivery times and allow it to offer solutions customized to regional requirements through closer contact wit...

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Additives for Polymers

July 2004

speed delivery times and allow it to offer solutions customized to regional requirements through closer contact with customers and increased understanding of their needs. The company also has a regional supply centre in Dubai and an additional warehouse in Egypt as well as affiliated offices in Cairo and Tehran.

In the UK, Clariant has invested around £500 000 (750 000) at its Wigan masterbatch plant in a project to improve flexibility and focus on valueadded production. The investment includes two new 50-mm Maris twin-screw extruders with computerized controls and Brabender Flexwall feeders as replacements for old, single-screw extruders.

Contact: Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Klybeckstrasse 141, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland; tel: +41-61-636-4444; fax: +4161-636-3019; URL: www.cibasc.com

The new lines, which are now in operation, will increase colour masterbatch production capacity at the site by approximately 1000 tonnes/year. In addition, the new equipment improves consistency in the masterbatch size and reduces scrap rates, the company says. The investment also included the purchase of two new systems from underwater pelletizing specialist Gala Industries.

Clariant Masterbatches expands US, UK facilities Clariant Masterbatches has opened its latest ColorWorks™ Design & Technology Center in Holden, MA, USA. The division is also expanding production at its Wigan, UK masterbatch plant. The new design centre, located in an expanded section of Clariant Masterbatches’ Holden production site, features more than 110 m2 (1200 ft2) of new and renovated space and offers customers specialized services for a wide variety of polymer-based consumer goods. The site focuses on the interdependence of design and technical expertise to help customers create functional products that are manufactured by the most efficient, cost-effective process available, Clariant says. This new facility is the sixth and last of the planned global ColorWorks centres to be opened in strategic locations worldwide since 2002. The others are in Jurong, Singapore; Taoyuan, Taiwan; Frankfurt, Germany; McHenry, IL and Manhattan, NY, USA. Global ColorWorks facilities provide colour trending, colour education and training, design tools, rapid prototyping, polymer technology consulting and colour management services to customers in multiple markets and disciplines. Each regional centre has specific services available for their customers and related industries. According to Bill Blasius, Director of Technology at Clariant Masterbatches, one of ColorWorks’ goals is to educate the engineer or designer about the benefits of working with colour at the very beginning of the process. “Colour is an aesthetic, but it is also a chemical variable that must be planned for and formulated for in order to insure predictable, reliable performance,” he says. 6

Contact: Clariant Masterbatches Division, Rothausstrasse 61, CH-4132 Muttenz 1, Switzerland; tel: +41-61-469-6170; fax: +4161-469-6597; URL: www.clariant.masterbatches.com

Chroma Corp, Riverdale Color, Maguire Products form strategic alliance US firms Chroma Corp, Riverdale Color and Maguire Products have formed a three-way strategic alliance for the manufacture and supply of liquid and solid colorants. Under the terms of the agreement, manufacturing and formulating of Chroma’s liquid Injecta Color® range will be moved to Riverdale’s new 63 000 ft2 (5850 m2) state-of-the-art, high dispersion facility in Perth Amboy, NJ. Chroma’s McHenry, IL plant will focus on the formulation and production of all pelletized concentrates, and will also be a liquid colour distribution centre for US Mid-West and West Coast customers. According to the partners, the alliance allows both to focus on their core competencies and broaden their customer reach, while ensuring an effective technological exchange. Maguire Products completes the alliance with its innovative colour and additive delivery systems. Both Chroma and Riverdale prepare their custom liquid formulations from single pigment dispersions produced on high dispersion mills. The similarity of their respective manufacturing operations assures the customers of tight tolerance colorants and a virtually invisible transition, the