Stahl (Waalwijk, The Netherlands), a leading provider of surface treatment and coating solutions for flexible materials, has opened a center of excellence for performance coatings in Suzhou, China.
Customers, original equipment manufacturers, brands, and other partners came together for a festive opening event in November 2018 at the Suzhou center. The environmentally friendly center, which is the company’s ninth worldwide, is designed to focus on performance coating solutions.
For environmental benefits, the lab is equipped with solar panels providing part of the electricity that is consumed there. Other features include a motion-detective lighting system to save electricity; green plants on the rooftop to enable temperature control during hot weather; investment in a high-efficiency air filter system to ensure clean air emissions; and low-VOC [volatile organic compound] boards for partitions and recurring construction materials
“China occupies an important position in the world as a driver of more sustainable development,” says Hagen Chen, the company’s managing director for the Greater China region. “We strive to make coating solutions with the lowest possible impact in terms of people’s health and the environment. Over the last few years, our performance coatings business has been growing enormously in China, especially in the automotive industry. The requests for applications for seat and trim, elastomer coatings, and flock adhesives are growing on a daily basis.”
“Besides the automotive industry, the new facility anticipates the growing demand in China for packaging film and paper, synthetic materials, coated fabrics, textiles, and specialty applications like medical and supportive gloves,” Chen adds.
With the ongoing addition of new centers of excellence, Stahl says it is strengthening its position as a technology leader. At each center, the company’s experts work side by side with partners to meet the growing demand for products and solutions with reduced environmental impacts. According to the company, the Suzhou center puts it in a stronger position to combine its strengths with those of local partners to create solutions for the automotive, apparel and accessories, and interior industries.
Guests at the opening event were treated to a “highway to excellence” experience, according to the company, with guests and speakers including industry experts and members of the local government.
Source: Stahl, www.stahl.com.