Teknor Apex Establishes European Company for All of Its Compounding Businesses and Outlines Plan for Expansion
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Teknor Apex Europe Will Provide 'Local, Customized Service and Global Capabilities'
OLDBURY, WEST MIDLANDS, UK, March 6, 2008: Teknor Apex Company has established Teknor Apex Europe Ltd. as a holding company for its custom compounding units in Europe and formed the first of these units, Teknor Apex UK Ltd., to serve customers in all of the countries of the region. The initiative, effective April 1, 2008, is the latest step by Teknor Apex in an extensive program of international expansion and diversification, according to Bertram M. Lederer, executive vice president of the parent company.
Teknor Apex UK will begin small-lot manufacturing of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) during the first half of this year, with startup of a new compounding line at a Teknor Apex facility in Oldbury, UK that is already used for engineering thermoplastics (ETPs). Also under way is a program to expand representation through a network of agents ultimately covering all of Europe.
Teknor Apex UK is based in Oldbury and headed by managing director Simon Hubbard (see accompanying news release). He will oversee all Teknor Apex activities in Europe, including businesses involving vinyl, TPEs, ETPs, and other custom compounds. While the ETP operation has been known as Chem Polymer, that name will be phased out, but the well-known ETP trade names Chemlon® and Beetle® will be retained.
"Teknor Apex is in Europe for the long run and has established this new organization to carry out a program of expansion that will include new production capacity, comprehensive sales service and technical support, and, quite probably, strategic acquisitions," said Lederer. "We intend to make the Teknor Apex brand as familiar in Europe as it has long been in the United States and is rapidly becoming in Asia and Latin America."
Other Teknor Apex initiatives in recent years include the acquisitions of Singapore Polymer Corporation and Chem Polymer and the establishment of Teknor Apex Suzhou, with a new grassroots manufacturing facility in China.
"Teknor Apex UK will provide customers with a valuable combination of local, customized service and global capabilities," said Hubbard. "We are and have always been a custom compounder that works closely with customers, but we now draw on technical, manufacturing, and marketing resources on three continents. One benefit is that a globalized company based in Germany or Italy can count on us to supply identical formulations anywhere in the world."
Hubbard cited plans for these product ranges:
Engineering thermoplastics (ETPs). Teknor Apex produces ETPs in the UK, the U.S., and Singapore and plans to do so in China. "Teknor Apex UK will focus on our core strengths in reinforced, filled, and specially modified compounds of polyamide 6 and 66, PBT, and specialty grades of PET for automotive, appliance, electrical and electronics, and other industrial applications," said Hubbard. The company has appointed the IMCD Group, headquartered in Rotterdam, to represent its ETP products throughout Europe, with the exception of Scandinavia. The Finnish firm Aspokem Oy has acquired a longtime distributor for Chem Polymer in Scandinavia and will now also represent Teknor Apex ETPs in the Baltic countries.
Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). The establishment of TPE production in the UK will add to capacity already in place in the U.S., Singapore, and China. "Drawing on supplies warehoused at Chem Polymer's UK facility, Teknor Apex TPEs have been moving into the European market and are represented by distributors in a number of EU countries," Hubbard said. "Our product range is the most diversified available from a single compounder." The range includes Elexar, Monprene, and Tekron; styrene block copolymer-based products, Telcar; thermoplastic olefins, Tekbond® compounds for over-molding onto rigid substrates, and Uniprene thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs).
Vinyl. Teknor Apex produces flexible and specialty rigid PVC compounds in the U.S., Singapore, and China. Its chief product ranges are for Apex® flexible vinyl, Flexalloy® elastomers based on ultra high molecular weight PVC, and Fireguard® highly flame retardant, low-smoke compounds for plenum cable. "Teknor Apex UK will likely concentrate on two longtime areas of specialization for Teknor Apex's vinyl business, medical devices and wire and cable," said Hubbard. "Our thousands of wire and cable compounds are now available in RoHS-compliant versions, and we will focus on helping customers comply with the new Construction Product Derivative (CPD) standards expected to be adopted by EU countries in the next few years." Companies now part of the IMCD group have long represented Teknor Apex's vinyl compounds in much of Europe, and IMCD will now distribute these products in the Baltic countries and Russia as well.
TEKNOR APEX UK LTD is headquartered at Tat Bank Road, Oldbury, West Midlands B69 4NH, UK. Tel: 44-121-665-2105. Fax: 44-121-544-5530. Email: etpsales@chempolymer.co.uk.
Founded in 1924, TEKNOR APEX COMPANY is a privately held company with seven business units and 2,000 employees. It is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S.A., manufactures at 13 locations in the U.S. and overseas, and sells in 86 countries. Visit the web site: www.teknorapex.com.
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