(MENAFN Press) ORLANDO, Florida (USA). - April 2, 2012 - As host of NPE's largest booth from any resin manufacturer (booth #29000), SABIC is showcasing its unmatched commitment to the plastics industry “ underscoring its focus on helping to power the competitive advantage of its customers around the globe. The booth brings to life the company's ever-evolving understanding of its customers' businesses coupled with its world-class technology expertise to demonstrate how SABIC listens, collaborates and jointly solves problems to help fuel their customers' market success. Specifically, the company is highlighting game-changing case studies that demonstrate how it helps customers address current trends and unique challenges across key global industries including automotive, consumer, energy, infrastructure, healthcare and transportation.
"At SABIC, we devote an enormous amount of time working to deeply understand our customers' industry and business challenges. These detailed insights help to fuel our ability to translate our industry commitment into real action “ ultimately making the right long-term strategic investments that are relevant and impactful to our customers' future success," said Keith Smith, SABIC executive vice president, Innovative Plastics. "Whether it's expanding our capacity in key product lines, strengthening our presence in vital growth regions, or taking technology and application development to new levels “ we work to ensure that our actions speak louder than our words."
In the last year alone, the company has made a number of announcements that demonstrate SABIC's "actionable" commitment to the industry and to its customers. They include:
Strategic technology investments in polyurethane, POM, MMA, PMMA, and carbon fibers “ all designed to help SABIC better meet the growing and unmet needs of existing and future customers.
Vital polycarbonate capacity investments: from the commissioning of Saudi Kayan's polycarbonate plant, to SABIC and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation's (SINOPEC) joint production complex featuring SABIC-owned polycarbonate production technology (the ground breaking ceremony is April 3, 2012), to a new engineering thermoplastics compounding facility in Chongqing Xiyong Micro-electronics Industrial Park. These expansions enhance the ease of doing business with SABIC by strategically positioning global capacity where customers need it most.
Establishment of two new Technology Centers in China and India. These research and development facilities are expected to be operational after the second quarter of 2013 and end of 2012, respectively. Both centers will spearhead research and development of new engineering thermoplastic and petrochemical materials that can be used in a wide range of industries that include automotive, personal electronics, alternative energy, among others.
"We use our customer and industry knowledge coupled with our unparalleled technology expertise to constantly improve our product portfolio both in breadth and customer relevance," said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC vice president, Low Density and Linear Low Polyethylene, Polymers. "Our innovative material solutions, design assistance, processing support, and delivery solutions enable us to proactively address our global customers' evolving needs."
The SABIC exhibit features material solutions from SABIC's Innovative Plastics and Polymers businesses. A major highlight of the distinctive 8800 square feet booth is its construction using lightweight Lexan* Thermoclick* and Lexan Thermoclear* sheet products, which reduce the environmental impact of transport and installation. Adding to the high value of the exhibit, SABIC is offering attendees a series of complimentary, 45-minute seminars on timely topics, including designing for sustainability, trends in healthcare, high-performance polyethylene films, high-pressure pipe solutions and new product innovations. Technical experts are on hand to discuss application development questions.
Another important facet of SABIC's involvement at NPE 2012 is its leadership at the Society of Plastic Engineers' co-located ANTEC conference (April 2-4). SABIC is the exclusive sponsor of the opening reception, and its team will present 11 talks on a range of topics, including composites, advances in medical plastics, thermoplastic materials and foams and alloys and blends.
Further, Thomas O'Brien, global product marketing director, Healthcare, Innovative Plastics, is presenting at SPI's Business of Plastics conference, also co-located at NPE 2012, at 12:00 p.m. on April 5. His topic is "Special Effects in Thermoplastics for Patient Safety."
Innovative Solutions on Display
SABIC's Polymers and Innovative Plastics businesses are showcasing a number of new high-performance, light weight and sustainable materials solutions and applications in the following industry sectors:
Automotive
Weight reduction for Range Rover Evoque: SABIC's materials “ including Noryl GTX* resin for the front fenders, Xenoy iQ* resin for the pedestrian energy absorber and STAMAX* long glass fiber polypropylene (LGFPP) for the instrument panel and inner door modules “ contributed to approximately 35 percent overall weight reduction in the Evoque compared to the 2010 Range Rover Sport model. The Evoque is on display in the South Building, Level 2.
Lexan EXL copolymers for new-generation steering wheels: Replacing traditional designs with injection-molded Lexan EXL materials yields benefits including weight out, high performance, manufacturing ease, styling freedom and parts integration.
Weight-out in hybrid and electric vehicle batteries: SABIC's Noryl* and Valox* resins can replace steel in components such as frames and housings to compensate for the heavy weight of vehicle batteries and deliver exceptional chemical and temperature resistance, dimensional stability and flame retardance.
Advanced technology for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tape extrusion: SABIC and Starlinger developed advanced technology for PET tape extrusion lines for applications such as carpet backing, coated tarpaulins and self-reinforced composites for automotive and transportation.
Consumer
Reduced eco impact of Canon's scanner housing: Canon selected SABIC's high-performance Xenoy iQ* ENH resin with up-cycled PCR content for the "imageFORMULA DR-M160" high-speed document scanner. Xenoy iQ ENH resin also features non-halogenated flame retardance.
Lexan CFR copolymer for sustainable electronics: Lexan CFR advanced copolymer fills an unmet market need by giving consumer electronics manufacturers a clear material with superior flame resistance at very thin gauges compared to competitive products.
Exceptional clarity of Polypropylene (PP) Qrystal random copolymer for thin-wall containers: A new-generation clarifying agent improves the aesthetics of SABIC's Qrystal polypropylene. This material also provides high flow for high cavitation and reduced temperature processing to cut cycle times.
Energy
A display featuring a variety of energy storage solutions: including those for battery packs, voltage inverters, lithium ion batteries and motor and generator insulation.
Sustainable solutions for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations: Valox* iQ resin which incorporates up-cycled post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from water bottles and offers molded-in color to avoid secondary painting “ significantly enhances the environmental benefits for the Leviton Evr-Green„ electric vehicle cord set, a portable charger for EVs.
Infrastructure
Reusable concrete forms featuring LNP Verton* composite: Corrosion-resistant composite molds for construction, developed by SABIC and Meccano de Mexico, provide a lightweight replacement for heavy, multi-piece steel forms and also slash cycle times.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) bimodal high-pressure pipe: Polymers' HDPE bimodal high-pressure pipe for municipal water distribution offers improved thickness control and balanced mechanical properties.
Lexan Thermoclick sheet for energy savings: Lexan Thermoclick sheet systems in
40 mm thickness features a unique, insulative, 5-wall X structure that delivers an excellent U-value and high impact resistance for cladding and faades of buildings.
Lexan Thermoclear sheet for years of weatherability: Treated with a proprietary ultraviolet (UV) resistant technology, Lexan Thermoclear sheet products maintain color, impact and light transmission. They are ideal for roof glazing, offering high impact strength and light weight.
BritePointe's light emitting diode (LED) luminaires featuring Lexan and Cycoloy resins: BritePointe chose SABIC's resins over traditional aluminum for its extreme brightness LED downlights to achieve integration of a thermal management system, light weight and outstanding performance.
New Lexan LUX grades for LED lighting: SABIC's expanded Lexan LUX product line features three new transparent grades for covers of LED bulbs and tubes. They offer improved initial color, color stability and light transmission during heat aging vs. standard polycarbonate (PC).
Healthcare
PWB Health's Breastlight: This award-winning design uses Lexan and Cycoloy* healthcare grade resins in the housing and lens. Both materials provided PWB with design freedom to answer today's healthcare trends of portability, greater aesthetic appeal and patient safety, without sacrificing impact resistance and durability.
Transportation
Major firsts for Volvo Trucks North America: The trucking industry's first injection-molded roof fairing, featured on all 2013 Volvo heavy-duty trucks, is produced using SABIC's Cycoloy* resin and CK Technologies' proprietary in-mold coating (IMC) technology. Another breakthrough is the first use of post-consumer recycle (PCR) material in a heavy truck. SABIC's Valox iQ* polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) resin, which incorporates up-cycled water bottles, is used for the brackets of the side air deflection system for all seven models in the 2012 Volvo VN platform of heavy-duty trucks.
New hood for Apache agricultural sprayers: Allen Extruders' Alextra-MV sheet “ a material made with SABIC's Lexan SLX resin coextruded over Cycoloy resin “ has slashed the weight of this major part by up to 140 lbs vs. previous fiberglass hoods.
LNP* Thermocomp* compounds for aluminum replacement in airline tray table arms: These lightweight, high-strength carbon-fiber-reinforced materials cut weight by up to 46 percent vs. aluminum in tests by Vaupell and SABIC.
For additional information on SABIC's high-performance material solutions, please go to www.sabic-ip.com. For technical product inquiries, please contact us at
www.sabic-ip.com/prtechinquiry.
For additional information on SABIC's Polymers products please go to www.sabic.com/me/en/productsandservices/plastics/default.aspx. For technical inquires please contact Noel Barrera nbarrera@americas.sabic.com
