Through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide business, BASF has enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.
“Pursuing innovation in new products and applications is our goal. We will leverage the extensive know-how of the combined business to develop advanced customer-oriented material solutions, as well as to drive more projects with our customers,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President of Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “Our offering will be further supported by additional production capacity and a more extensive product portfolio, which includes new high-temperature grades.”
With the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide business, BASF now has its first UL certified lab in Asia, adding to BASF’s existing labs, which have an ISO 17025 accreditation. As such, test data obtained from UL accredited labs can be used directly to apply for UL’s Yellow Card which is a globally recognized certification on quality, safety, and performance of plastic products. This UL certified testing capability can significantly shorten the verification process, and thus the time-to-market of flame-retardant products.
The new lab, located in Shanghai, will be part of the company’s comprehensive global R&D network and complement BASF’s existing flame-retardant grade polyamide testing service, mainly for electronic and electrical solutions.
BASF has expanded its part testing capabilities with eight new tests in Shanghai, including electrodynamic shaker, burst, glycol circulation, oil separation, and stone impact. In the future, all related parts can be tested directly in Shanghai, which will make product development more efficient.
Additionally, BASF can now evaluate final parts with its expanded testing expertise. By validating the performance of the final parts with the new testing capabilities, BASF can help increase its customers’ product development success rate and speed-to-market.
The enhanced facilities can enable in-depth analysis and evaluation of some unique features, such as aging resistance to heat, oil, and coolant. BASF’s expertise provides a deep understanding of test specifications, which have a significant impact on the results, empowering material development for the future of the automotive industry.
“The strengthened capabilities in R&D will help us give a quicker response to customers in Asia Pacific, speed up the time to market and be more competitive in the engineering plastics market,” said Postlethwaite.
