Songwon Industrial Co. (Ulsan, Korea) is by its own reckoning the global number two supplier of polymer additive behind German giant BASF (Ludwigshafen) and it is demonstrating its intent to move up to focus more intensively on specific industry segments to meet tough application needs at the upcoming international VDI Conference Plastics In Automotive Engineering in Mannheim, Germany (March 21-22.

Songwon's High Heat OPS (One Pack Systems) range is said to offer customers a complete toolbox for designing tailor-made solutions to meet the requirements of longer service life and/or durability under harsh conditions. OPS products combine several additives into an integrated dust free, pellet form. In 2011, Songwon acquired Additives Technology Greiz (ATG; Kerpen, Germany), one of Europe's largest manufacturers of one pack systems products for the polymer industry. Songwon can be found at booth 24B at the VDI conference.

No other industry than automotive can set such exacting challenges; specifications are some of the toughest known and competition is fierce on all levels according to Songwon. The Songwon High Efficiency OPS range on the one hand is aimed at base stabilization and enables lower concentration levels in PP resins through more efficient stabilization packages. On the other hand, this new range also provides formulations targeting lowered emissions of VOC and/or smell/odor during service life. In addition Songwon offers stabilization concepts for achieving superior UV protection, both for exterior and interior automotive PP applications. The Songwon UV OPS range has been designed in particular for protection of surface properties like gloss and surface crazing under severe weathering conditions.

Joachim Bayer, Director of Global Technical Service and New Product Commercialization at Songwon, who will be present in Mannheim, says: "We are working with OEMs and their tier suppliers to define the needs of new models and we are pushing the boundaries in a number of directions. Heat and UV are areas of development; at the same time we understand the pressures of today's market place. A significant step forward is the use of OPS and recently we have acquired ATG, which has one of Europe's largest OPS manufacturing facilities and has produced dust free polymer additive packages at the plant since 2006."

According to Elena Scaltritti, Manager Main Accounts in Europe, and also present at the show: "Songwon can add value in many ways; we are a global player with capacity to meet the needs in locations where it is needed. We also take on specific challenges such as weight reduction to stabilize products at lower wall thickness as well as providing recycle security throughout the waste stream. OPS allows greater flexibility to the processor and greater control of economics and we will be delighted to demonstrate this at VDI."-[email protected]