Milliken & Company has launched a new state-of-the-art pilot plant in Pune, India, marking a major expansion of its polymer solutions capabilities and sharpening its push to accelerate innovation for global customers.
The facility is built to replicate full-scale manufacturing conditions, supporting end-to-end processing across powder, dough, paste, and liquid systems. By simulating real-world production environments, the pilot plant enables faster, more precise development of scalable solutions—helping move products from concept to commercialization with greater speed and reliability.
"The opening of this pilot plant reflects Milliken's continued investment in innovation and customer focused capabilities," said Joseph Varghese, VP Operations & Country Manager for Milliken in India. "By bringing advanced processing and testing capabilities together in one location, we can accelerate development timelines and deliver solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers globally."
Equipped with advanced pilot-scale machinery and flexible systems, the Pune site supports a wide spectrum of processing operations including mixing, extrusion, granulation, drying, and milling.
It is engineered to handle everything from fine powders to high-viscosity liquids, allowing teams to recreate diverse industrial environments and validate formulations under variable conditions. High-grade contact materials and integrated safety systems further ensure consistent, efficient, and safe operations.
Specialized units at the facility extend its capabilities into extrusion, particle size reduction, controlled granulation, and temperature-managed liquid blending. These tools allow Milliken to rapidly explore new applications while ensuring formulations are robust enough for scale-up.
With this investment, Milliken is aiming to compress development timelines, speed up commercialization, and respond more quickly to shifting customer demands. The facility also strengthens its presence in consumer-packaged goods and adjacent sectors, reinforcing its focus on innovation, speed, and close customer collaboration across global markets.
