Asahi Kasei Plastics Licenses Thermylene® to Polyplast in Germany

FOWLERVILLE, Mich., Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. of Fowlerville, Michigan has licensed Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH (PCW), of Eilenberg, Germany to manufacture and distribute its Thermylene® brand of specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylenes (PP).  PCW will market Thermylene® to their customer base and develop new business for the brand throughout Europe from their three strategically located divisions in Eilenburg, Straelen and Bingen am Rhein, Germany.  "Licensing Thermylene® to Polyplast makes our products available globally," said John Moyer, Asahi Kasei Plastics, President. 

"Asahi Kasei Plastics values partners like Polyplast who share our philosophy to produce quality products and are committed to delivering a high level of customer satisfaction," continued Moyer. 

PCW has over 50 years of compounding experience, ISO 9001 certification and an established line of specialty compounded products including Decelith® and Ongrolit® (PVC-Compound), Saxene® (PP-Compound), and Saxomer® (TPE-Compound).  "Thermylene® offers our customers proven options for reducing weight and improving performance as a cost-effective alternative to Nylon and long glass reinforced polypropylene in automotive and other applications," said Matthias Hildenbrand, Polyplast Muller Group chief financial officer. 

"Our customers will appreciate the product design flexibility and process enabling benefits Thermylene® provides," continued Hildenbrand. 

Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH focuses on R&D and production of tailor-made compounds.  A team of experienced engineers and technicians are on hand for development of products for specific applications.  Thermylene® characteristics can be expertly adjusted to meet the performance requirements of a customer's particular application for maximum benefit.  In order to meet the future demands and development of the plastics processing sector, further investment in manufacturing optimization includes new equipment, technology and the construction of additional highly productive compounding facilities is underway.  

Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH, located in the town of Eilenburg, Germany, is part of the Polyplast Muller Group of companies also including Polyplast Muller GmbH in Europe, Colortech Inc. (Canada) and Colortech, Inc. (USA) who provide masterbatch products and services worldwide.   

Automotive, Industrial and Pool & Spa Applications Drive Thermylene® Growth

"Asahi Kasei Plastics had another strong year and global demand for our products continues to grow," said Ramesh Iyer, Vice President of Commercial Operations.  Automotive OEMs and Tiers use Thermylene® as a replacement for Nylons (6 and 6/6), PBT and long fiber technology (LFT) in automotive applications such as sun roof frames, door modules and shifter bases.

Thermylene® - Chemically Coupled Polypropylene

Thermylene® is a proprietary specialty chemically coupled glass reinforced polypropylene (PP).  When a chemical coupling technology is applied to glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, significant improvements are seen across a number of key physical attributes.  The enhanced properties of these polymers yield an extremely attractive cost/performance balance when compared to traditional engineering thermoplastics.  The enhanced adhesion between the glass fiber reinforcement and the polypropylene matrix results in a material that exhibits the following key attributes:

• Superior knit line strength and stiffness
• Improved elevated temperature performance
• Higher creep resistance
• Enhanced toughness
• Excellent Chemical Resistance
• Enhanced Tensile Strength (nearly twice that of non-chemically coupled polymers)

Flexural Modulus:

As Thermylene® improves the ability of molded parts to resist distortion under load, it enables a reduction in the glass fiber loading for a given flexural modulus requirement.  Improvements in flexural modulus are particularly desirable in structural applications and pressure vessels where dimensional control under load is critical.  This leads to:

• Reduced part weight
• Improved surface appearance
• Reduced tool wear

Heat Deflection Temperature:

Thermylene® provides a pronounced improvement in elevated temperature performance when compared to non-chemically coupled polypropylene products. 

"We are looking forward to adding 'Award Winning' high performance Thermylene® to our product line giving our customers more options for product development '"said Hildenbrand.  Asahi Kasei Plastics was recently named to the SPE® Innovation Award for their Thermylene® P9 and Thermylene® P8 materials developed for the Dodge RamBox® storage container.  The Thermylene® grades provided a weight savings projected to save $3 million USD over the life of the program vs. alternative technologies (long-glass thermoplastics polypropylene (LFT-PP), short-glass nylon (polyamide, PA) 6/6, sheet-molding compound (SMC), and bulk-molding compound (BMC).

Polyplast Compound Werk (PCW) of Eilenburg is a state-of-the-art 700,000 sq. ft. facility providing production capacities of 105 million pounds, with 100 employees.  In 2008, the company completed a large-scale expansion program including the addition of new technologies, equipment and R&D for continued sustainable growth in the compounding markets. 

PWC parent company, Polyplast Muller Group in Europe specializes in compounds and masterbatches for diverse industries throughout Europe and masterbatches in North America.  The company was founded in 1981 and has grown its business internally and through several acquisitions in three principal product areas including compounds for diverse applications, wire and cable compounds and masterbatches.  Polyplast Muller Group has grown to a size of $300 million revenue USD, employing over 500 employees in four companies at five locations worldwide.  Its total annual global capacity at the five plants is currently in excess of 440 million pounds. 

Asahi Kasei Plastics provides customized resin solutions worldwide to multiple markets.  Their brands, including LEONA™ and THERMYLON® nylons, THERMYLENE® polypropylenes, TENAC™ acetals and XYRON™ modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) and more are specially formulated to solve complex engineering problems.  Their markets include automotive, commercial transportation, furniture, pool and spa, water treatment, electronics, lawn and garden, and power generation including performance polymers for electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and wind energy applications. 

With 200,000 square feet, almost 200 employees and 280 million pounds of annual compounding capacity, Asahi Kasei Plastics ranks as one of North America's largest compounders.  The firm has annual sales over $200 million USD with more than half of that in the automotive market.   The Michigan based company is one of the largest Asahi Kasei facilities outside of Japan and is expanding sales globally, in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, India and Europe.  "Today, we have a unique product mix, between our engineering resins and glass filled polypropylenes, that no other compounder in the world has," said John Moyer, president Asahi Kasei Plastics.  Go to www.asahikaseiplastics.com.  For latest news and updates, follow Twitter www.twitter.com/asahi_kasei_inc.

Asahi Kasei Plastics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation (AKCC).  AKCC is a leading producer of high performance engineered thermoplastics, petrochemicals and monomers and performance chemicals.  Their product portfolio serves a diverse range of markets including energy, consumer products, home construction & materials, health care and many others.  Internationally, Asahi Kasei has over $19 billion in annual sales USD and nearly 30,000 employees.

For more information contact:
Ramesh Iyer, Vice President Commercial Operations, Asahi Kasei Plastics North America Inc.
248.895.0135, [email protected]
Asahi Kasei Plastics North America Inc., 900 E. Van Riper, Fowlerville, MI 48836 USA, 517.223.5221

Matthias Hildenbrand, Chief Financial Officer, Polyplast Muller GmbH
+49 (0) 2834/706-172, [email protected]
Polyplast Muller GmbH, An der Bleiche 51, D-47638 Straelen, Germany

Thermylene®, and Thermylon® are registered trademarks of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc.
Leona™, Tenac™, and Xyron™ are trademarks of Asahi Kasei Inc.
RamBox® is a registered trademark of Chrysler LLC
Decelith®, Saxene®, Saxomer® and Ongrolit® are registered trademarks of Polyplast Compound Werk GmbH

SOURCE Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc.