„Investments continue to be made in almost every part of the world, allowing the company to have an integrated global network to aid in capacity, speed and service, as well as build close relationships with local customers to serve their specific needs,“ said Tony Lanchak, Vice President of the Urethane Additives (UA) division at MPM.
Fully committed to its legacy 50-year Niax* line of products, MPM moved its polyurethane additives headquarters to Pudong Shanghai. The new headquarters location in Pudong Shanghai is an integrated site that includes the business unit‘s sales, marketing, and technology for China. Other similar sites are located around the world and collectively form the UA global business unit, which continues to stretch the bounds of innovation, leading the way in polyurethane foam additive technological advances.
Further, the company continues to increase manufacturing capacity and expand the types of urethane additives manufactured at Nantong, all of which facilitates greater speed and supply to customers, specifically those in the Pacific and Europe.
The company has also expanded the manufacturing facility in Leverkusen, Germany. The expansion is an investment for the polyurethane additives product line as it increases manufacturing capacity and improves capabilities of both intermediates and finished goods. This investment is yet another step in shortening lead times and reducing the expense of shipping products across continents.
Early in 2013, the company opened a new application development center (ADC) in Termoli, Italy, which can provide slab and slab additives solutions to customers‘ advanced technical issues that meet the needs of today‘s end users. ADCs are critical to the innovation pipeline, as they allow MPM to continually transform scientific vision and advanced materials into competitive advantage and commercial success for its customers both locally and globally.
The company has expanded its breadth of products in Chennai, India, mainly focusing on slab and rigid foam production, again adding expanding capabilities to another corner of the world and the global network.
In Itatiba, Brazil, the company has added manufacturing capabilities that can specifically support the automotive industry, a critical need due to continued growth of this industry in Brazil and other emerging markets. With the ability to manufacture a wider array of products and a deeper mix of intermediates, the expansion at Itatiba allows for more local manufacturing, as well as a shorter supply chain and improved service levels globally.
(dw)
