HANS GUNS IS POLYCARBONATES MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FOR DSM ENGINEERING PLASTICS

Hans Guns has been appointed manager, market development for polycarbonates (PC) and PC blends for DSM Engineering Plastics. He will focus on market growth for DSM’s Xantar® PC and the new Xantar® C PC/ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) blend, primarily in the interior automotive and transportation sector, where the new generation high purity Xantar® C blends provide benefits over traditional materials.

“Hans brings the solid scientific and applications depth required to extend our polycarbonate business,” said Karl Hautekiet, General Product Manager Xantar. “He will help DSM grow our polycarbonate markets in Europe with his experience in providing customers with highly targeted solutions and his solid scientific and engineering background. His appointment underscores our confidence also in the strong fit DSM’s Xantar materials have for key application areas like automotive interiors.”

Mr. Guns has been with DSM since 1988, most recently as application development manager for PC and PC blends. Prior to that, he worked for DSM Engineering Plastics as a technical service engineer and as product and processing engineer, and for DSM Research as an associate scientist. He holds an HTS diploma from Hogeschool Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

DSM Engineering Plastic’s Xantar® C is the latest of the Xantar® family of PC and PC blends, supplied mainly in Europe. Xantar® applications include moulded and extruded components for automotive, rail and bus interiors, instrument panels and exterior trim; banking equipment and appliance housings; mobile phone housings; building & construction, electrical cable trays, electronic components and connectors; and sports and medical equipment applications.

Automotive interiors benefit especially from the high purity blends of Xantar®, which minimise fogging of windows. Xantar grades take a wide range of colourants, modifiers and reinforcing additives.

The Xantar line consists of general-purpose, flame-retardant, reinforced and stress crack- resistant modified grades, as well as specialty grades. Blends provide the means to fine-tune properties. Fire retardant, halogen-free formulations help manufacturers meet regulatory mandates while at the same time benefiting from overall process savings, thanks to Xantar’s high flow and ease of moulding.

DSM takes a vertical approach to formulating Xantar by producing the key raw materials for polycarbonates—noted for their transparency, thermal and dimensional stability and toughness—and directly manufacturing its polycarbonate compounds. This approach helps ensure quality, availability and competitive cost.