Americhem Europe Redesigns Manufacturing Plant to Benefit Customers

 

MANCHESTER, U.K. (20 APRIL, 2017)–Americhem Europe Ltd., a global provider of colour and additive solutions, is completing a plant-wide renovation and redesign of the factory's workflow. This endeavor represents an investment in the company's customers and the industry, and the renovations are designed to give the plant a lean, first-class workflow that increases productivity and product quality.

“The work at our plant is the result of a desire to serve our customers and position ourselves for growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region,” stated Thomas Weigl, vice president and managing director, EMEA. “These renovations will allow us to better control efficiency from product design through manufacturing to end-product quality control. We want customers to visit to see the difference for themselves.”

Part of the work involved combining two factories located across the street from one another. The manufacturing process went through a lean overhaul before any of the work began. The refurbishment will benefit the company?s nonwovens customers but also customers from the automotive, synthetic fibres, packaging, and film and sheet industries.

Due to increased demand for its products, Americhem has installed a new extrusion line in the renovated production hall. A second extruder has been ordered. These new lines will be capable of producing any of the company's masterbatch products, but they are especially adept at creating polymeric additive masterbatch, which can contain one or more additives such as nDuramax® ultraviolet stabilizers, nShield™ antimicrobials, mBrace™ softening additives, hydrophilics, hydrophobics and more.

The plant has been undergoing the renovations since 2016. It is part of Americhem's continuous improvement philosophy, which extends to improvements in inventory management and strategy. The renovation and expansion will result in a significant increase in the plant?s manufacturing capacity, and there is room for future expansion, including the soon-to-be-installed production line. The renovations also included a complete rebuild of the company's existing production equipment, ensuring the highest quality products for Americhem's customers.

In addition, the Manchester plant's laboratories are being expanded and fitted with new equipment, including a new high-speed spin line and a polymeric film line. Other manufacturing pilot lines in the lab include injection molding, extrusion and blow molding.

For more information about Americhem's European plant improvements, contact Scott Blanchard at sblanchard@americhem.com.

About Americhem
Celebrating its 75th year, Americhem is a global organization that delivers custom color and additive solutions for customers seeking superior performance and batch-to-batch consistency for their polymer products. Americhem is a global organization that delivers custom color and additive solutions for customers seeking superior performance and batch-to-batch consistency for their polymer products. The company specializes in color and additive masterbatches, and single pigment dispersions, all backed by complete technical support that ensures quality, reliability and value. Americhem operates 10 manufacturing plants and also maintains representative sales offices around the globe. Central Research & Development facilities and headquarters are located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. For more information visit Americhem.com or call 800.228.3476.