EVERBERG, Belgium — February 12, 2019 — Global chemical company Huntsman today revealed that it has completed a series of equipment investments to boost the research and development (R&D) services it offers to footwear producers and their manufacturing partners, worldwide.
Huntsman is a leading developer of innovative polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) materials for the footwear industry. Throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe, the business has a number of technical centers that can provide specialist support to the footwear industry. Part of a much larger global network of Huntsman innovation and customer care centers, these footwear hubs offer design, prototyping, testing and technical support services to some of the world’s most well-known footwear brands.
To enrich its work across the entire footwear value chain and create fully equipped testing and prototyping environments in all three regions, Huntsman has recently purchased machines that give it extra technical support capabilities in the field of polyurethane casting; direct-on production; multi-section injection molding; and TPU injection molding. In the last year the business has also set up a Technical Service and Development Center in Vietnam to complement its existing facility in Thailand, which supports customers in South-East Asia.
Jim McCloud, Americas Footwear sales manager at Huntsman, said: “Many of the footwear companies we work with are big global brands. These companies want their material suppliers to have a similar geographic footprint – not just in terms of people, production and supply, but also for the delivery of innovation services and technical support. Our recent investments have been made with the needs of these customers in mind. Standardizing the equipment we have in place, across all three regions, gives our customers – large and small – peace of mind that we can replicate their manufacturing set up anywhere in the world and get new collaborative projects up and running, quickly and efficiently.”
Details of Huntsman’s equipment investments were announced ahead of the company attending SIMAC – the international exhibition for footwear machinery and materials. If you’d like to meet the Huntsman team at SIMAC, head to Booth A44 in Hall 14 at Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy, from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 February. ”
Posted February 12, 2019
Source: Huntsman
