Packaging
Rohm and Haass Technical Service Centers focus on needs of Packaging and Converting customers
Thursday 15. May 2008 - Specialty Materials Company Rohm and Haas (NYSE ROH) announced today that sustained investment in its global technical service and research centers is significantly boosting competitive success for packaging and converting customers using the companys adhesives.
These customers – many of whom will attend Drupa 2008 – increasingly encounter price pressure, market shifts to lower-cost regions and demand for highly specialized flexible packaging products. Rohm and Haas is strategically locating and uniquely equipping its technical service and research centers to support customers as they meet these rapidly changing priorities.
The company maintains four technical service and research centers in areas close to its customers: Bremen, Germany; Mozzate, Italy; Shanghai, China; and Elgin, Illinois in the United States. Rohm and Haas has invested USD $30 million on the first phase of its newest center, the China Research and Development Center in Shanghai, with a total planned investment of USD $60 million.
The centers specialize in developing and modifying adhesives to customer specifications, performing application testing, generating qualifying data, troubleshooting, and jointly developing new applications with customers and suppliers. “Tests may include determining coat weight, bond strength, product resistance, primary aromatic amine levels or many other important facets of lamination,” explains Hans-Gunter Schetschok, development and technical service manager at the Bremen Technical Center. Center staff members employ sophisticated equipment like pilot coaters and gas chromatographs as well as extensive knowledge to exactly reproduce conditions or specifications. Schetschok says company specialists evaluate parameters for the very newest materials like ceramic-coated barrier PET and advanced ink formulations as well as the most recent innovations in retort pouches and packaging for popular ready-to-eat meals.
The centers also provide a high level of support for Rohm and Haass water-based and solventless laminating adhesives, which are rapidly gaining market share in all regions as customers strive to meet stricter regulations and consumer expectations. The companys specialists visit customer sites as necessary to supply services such as operator training, troubleshooting and process scale ups. “Consistent and knowledgeable on-site support is particularly critical in the rapidly growing Asian markets,” says K.K. Teng, technical service manager for Adhesives and Sealants, Asia. Environmental and food packaging regulations implemented since 2006 in China, for example, are spurring many customers there to supplant solvent-based bonding agents with water-based technology. Aqueous applications and machinery often are new to customers and operated by personnel with short-term experience, Teng explains, and as the worlds technology leader in emulsion adhesives, Rohm and Haas has been instrumental in spearheading their effective use in China through intensive technical support.
Collaborative development work with customers, suppliers and machinery manufacturers at each of the centers also enables Rohm and Haas to recommend complete solutions for new packaging and converting market needs. “Jointly developing new processes helps customers qualify applications without interrupting their production and implement them faster while increasing productivity and managing costs,” says Francesco Talamonti, technical service and development manager, Packaging and Converting, Europe. “In a very competitive marketplace, advantages like these make big differences for our packaging and converting customers.”
Drupa 2008 will be held in Dusseldorf from May 29 to June 11 as a world stage for game-changing flexible packaging technologies. Rohm and Haas will be located in Hall 11 at booth D76 with their outstanding line-up of environmentally advanced adhesives and technical service staff to assist customers and visitors.