plastics - The customer magazine from BASF 2/2007

K 2007
A launch pad for innovations
BASF has a cornucopia of ideas in store for the K 2007
When the gates open to the K
2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany
from October 24 to 31, one
question will be cropping up time and
time again: “What’s new?” One of the
main attractions for visitors will certainly
be the BASF stand in Hall 5, Stand B21.
This is where BASF will be showcasing
many innovations from the fields of
styrenics, foams, engineering plastics
and polyurethanes. But the product line
doesn’t stop there; finishing chemicals
and plasticizers will also be on display at
the stand. The numerous novelties are
living proof that the potential of polymeric
materials is far from being exhausted.
To see new things, to experience new things
– people’s appetite for novelty seems to be
unquenchable. And companies are aware
of this: the cycles of concept, development,
market preparation and market introduction
are getting shorter and shorter. There is no
question about it, anyone who wants to be
a contender has to be one step ahead. But
all this fuss about innovation; is it simply old
wine in new bottles? No, certainly not, and
BASF can prove it: its three plastic divisions
will show up with many smart ideas – a launch
pad for innovations.
Ingenious
product ideas
A launch pad for innovations – which forum
would be better suited for such an ambitious
undertaking than the by-far largest
plastics trade fair in the world? This is where
BASF can show a broad audience the latest
flashes of inspiration from its researchers
and developers. The pride and joy of the
company: the numerous solutions for greater
energy efficiency. These include foam raw
materials like the novel granules for Neopor ®
insulating products and clever polyurethanebased
applications such as the Elastopor ®
rigid-foam system or Elastocool ® , the solution
for refrigerators. Plastic contributes to climate
protection and, at the same time, is more
cost-effective, since new plastic applications
in the automotive sector make cars lighter and
thus more fuel efficient, while in the packaging
sector, their light weight helps to save fuel
during the transportation of goods.
Another strength of BASF manifests itself in
the topic of plastics and design. After all, designs
are quite frequently the decisive factor in
the sale of products and experts are now talking
about design-driven innovations. Reason
enough for BASF, with its designfabrik, to
offer product developers an innovative service
where they can test the material properties of
plastics and take their inspiration from them.
Moreover, BASF will stage the world premiere
of the new design chair, MYTO, made of Ultradur
High Speed.
To develop innovations in cooperation with
customers – this notion is alive and well at
BASF. Visitors to the stand can get information
about PermaSkin, a complete system
for finishing three-dimensional construction
elements, or about Dolphin, a joint project of
four companies for processing plastics used
for automotive interior parts.
There are many more novelties for the automotive
sector, for instance, the new Ultramid ®
TOP 3000, a plastic specialty for parts that
can be coated online, or polyamides that have
been optimized specifically for crash applications
and that are offered along with a comprehensive
collection of material data relating
to the crash simulation of car parts.
But there is also a lot going on in the realm of
bioplastics: researchers at BASF are the first
to have succeeded in creating a novel foam
based on renewable raw materials. In the
future, this newcomer could play an important
role in the packaging market; a prototype will
be shown at the K 2007. Likewise making an
appearance is the new Lupranol ® BALANCE
50, a polyol based on castor oil, a renewable
raw material. It offers the advantage that it can
replace conventional polyols as a so-called
drop-in, in other words, it can be used directly
without a change in the formulation.
When it comes to the engineering plastics,
BASF will be presenting the bio-based polyamide
6.10 Ultramid ® Balance. This material
can be employed especially in cases where
low moisture absorption and the associated
high dimensional stability are crucial such as,
for example, in automotive construction, in
the electronics sector as well as in precision
engineering and machine construction.
Clear strategic
orientation
Innovations are indeed the focal point of
BASF’s strategy. John Feldmann, responsible
for the plastics division on the Executive
Board, explains the expansion strategy
being pursued in the plastics business,
“When it comes to plastics, by 2010, we
intend to have raised the sales percentage
of innovative products and specialties for
individual sectors and customers from the
2006 level of about 25% to over 40%.” He
prescribes the following strategic guidelines
to achieve this goal:
• concentration in fields that have sufficient
potential for differentiation on the market;
• continuous improvement in the efficiency,
effectiveness and innovative strength of
all businesses;
• unrelenting pursuit of the growth potentials
of new applications and of new
customer groups;
• fully utilizing the product and service
portfolios, and
• positioning plastics as energy-efficient
materials.
In October, visitors to BASF’s stand will
get a glimpse of the future of plastics and
will have a chance to be part of it. Be it
laypersons, plastic experts or specialists
in other fields, anyone can challenge the
chemical giant with a technical problem,
precisely in cases where plastic has not
yet been used as a solution. Who knows,
perhaps the next innovation will result from
this cooperation?
Further information:
www.k-online.de