PolyOne launched new specialty materials and announced expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in India

PolyOne has announced that it is adding new specialty engineered materials’ production at its facility in Pune, India. The company said it expects to begin local production, in January 2017.  

Initial production will include specialty engineered polymer materials used in high performance applications that have the need for flame retardant properties, high strength and durability, stiffness, chemical resistance, or weatherability. Manufacturers of automotive applications, for example, will be among those benefitting. In addition, PolyOne has hired sales and technical resources based in India with expertise in specialty engineered materials to increase speed to market and collaborate with local customers.

PolyOne already produces color and additive concentrates - speciality solid masterbatch, liquid colour and additive formulations - domestically at an existing facility in Pune, which opened in 2014. These products mainly go into the sectors transportation, healthcare, wire and cable, electronics and electrical, and packaging. Specialty engineered materials manufacturing capability is currently being installed within the facility, and production trials begin later this year.

The interest in specialty engineered solutions in on the rise in India, according to Holger Kronimus, vice president Europe and general manager, Specialty Engineered Materials, at PolyOne. “Making these materials available locally highlights our commitment to collaborate more effectively with customers in India,” he said.

Vikas Vij, managing director for PolyOne in India, said: “India offers many growth opportunities for our customers, and this facility provides room for expansion as well. Based on customers’ high level of interest, future additions may include Therma-Tech thermally conductive formulations and LubriOne wear-resistant materials.”

New versions of these latter compounds, which are specially formulated to be self-lubricating and to improve wear resistance properties, were introduced at the recent K Show, in Düsseldorf (Germany), which took place just after PolyOne’s announcement of its expanding manufacturing capability. The new specialty engineered material formulations extend use and durability in applications such as gears and bearings, eliminating the need for oil and other external lubricants. Also at K, the company also showcasing its new M3D Surface Imagery Technology, launched in collaboration with Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany). It is a single-step process implemented with standard tooling, which creates depth and texture on surfaces where none in fact exists. The technology created an immediate stir, with packaging experts from around the world flocking to the stand and in some cases, sitting down “to talk serious business”, as one PolyOne employee put it. Finally, PolyOne also launched its new Impress High Gloss, Metallic Effect Concentrates, which give packaging an attention-grabbing look with an ultra-glossy metallic effect.