For more than 150 years, BASF has been synonymous with innovation and collaboration, working closely with customers to develop and create application-specific solutions for their industries. Now, BASF’s Wire & Cable Solutions aims to continue that reputation with the new Elastollan® TPU Development Center in Wyandotte, Michigan.
“Our Wyandotte site is a world-class manufacturing facility and now with the opening of the Elastollan® TPU Development Center, it’s a leading global innovation space for developing thermoplastic polyurethane solutions,” said Gulay K. Serhatkulu, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials North America.
Once inside the new development center, customers will experience a more innovative approach to testing and developing TPUs in a space that encourages creative thinking. Customers will have the freedom to test boundaries and discover TPU limits alongside BASF experts without having to interrupt their own production. For Jeffrey DeGross, Technical Service Representative, BASF Performance Materials, this newfound freedom offers incredible value to BASF’s TPU customers.
“This kind of close collaboration typically shortens development timelines. Our customers will be able to come in, brainstorm with us and then go from the boardroom straight to the lab to test out ideas on our state-of-the-art equipment. As a result, our customers will find solutions faster, reduce their development time and leave the Elastollan® TPU Development Center with confidence and high-quality samples backed by BASF chemistry.”
The Elastollan® TPU Development Center is equipped with everything BASF customers will need to test out ideas in a variety of formats and dimensions to help them discover the best possible solution. The new facility will offer state-of-the-art equipment dedicated to blown and sheet film extrusion capabilities, co-extrusion capabilities, tube extrusion capabilities in multiple dimensions and thicknesses and plaques for testing and analysis.
“Our customers expect us to move at their pace and on their timelines and thanks to our pilot scale equipment, we’re making that a smooth process. The Elastollan® TPU Development Center is designed to be our customer’s single source for high-quality samples that can be produced faster, are more reliable and can scale up better to production. Ultimately, we want to get our customers to market faster and lower the cost of new product development and we’re achieving both here,” said Ray Keevins, North American Sales Manager, BASF Performance Materials.
The Elastollan® TPU Development Center is just another example of how BASF is committed to the success of its TPU customers by being the partner of choice to innovate with.