12 Nov 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics Jazzes Up Auto Window Glazing with New Exatec* E900 Grafx Technology for Very Cool, Eye-Popping Graphics
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – November 12, 2008 – The graphical potential of automotive windows has always tempted designers – who have seen glazing as a blank canvas – to let their creativity flow. Now, SABIC Innovative Plastics offers a completely new approach to decorating windows that opens up fresh, new colorful designs with brand styling differentiation possibilities. Exatec* E900 Grafx technology, which features Lexan* polycarbonate (PC) film, allows for the creation of unique styling colors and effects like today’s trendy chrome- and metallic-look body color paints. SABIC Innovative Plastics offers global automotive OEMs and tiers the broadest glazing portfolio, the highest standards of quality, and unmatched innovation.
7 Nov 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ New Lexan* Thermoclear* Sheet Offers Superior Thermal Insulation for Glazing, Helping Customers Reduce Energy Costs
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – November 7, 2008 – The cost of heating and cooling is reaching new levels, causing builders to look for new alternatives to increase the energy efficiency of residences and commercial buildings. A traditional route is installing multi-pane glass windows. However, besides being heavy, breakable and challenging to install, glass is falling behind in the drive for higher insulation values. To address these drawbacks, SABIC Innovative Plastics has developed a new 9-wall Lexan* Thermoclear* sheet as an excellent candidate for applications such as flat glazing of sunrooms, conservatories, and rooflights, shopping centers, office buildings, and factories. This new glazing solution can not only help customers reduce heating and cooling costs, but also cut energy usage and CO2 emissions to benefit the environment. SABIC Innovative Plastics’ high-performance Lexan Thermoclear sheet products give the building and construction industry new ways to meet demands for increased energy efficiency in living and working environments.
6 Nov 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics Expands Investment in Fluid Engineering Center to Develop High-Performance Materials for Water Systems
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – November 6, 2008 – Growing concerns about health and safety risks and increasingly high costs of metal in fluid handling systems are prompting the use of plastic pipes, faucets, valves, boilers and other components. Plastics offer the potential to build cleaner, safer and more cost-effective water systems; however, each material must undergo extensive testing. To provide the most rigorous and sophisticated evaluation of its engineering thermoplastics, SABIC Innovative Plastics has invested in enhancements to its Fluid Engineering Center of Excellence in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. The research center, which opened in 2005, now gives global customers access to a wider array of testing equipment, more extensive and longer-term tests, and expanded scientific resources to help them develop highly advanced, innovative fluid handling solutions.
5 Nov 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics Announces Production Cutback
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – November 5, 2008 – As a result of significantly softening resin demand caused by the global economic slowdown, SABIC Innovative Plastics announced today that it will reduce production across its engineering thermoplastics portfolio by up to 20 percent, effective immediately.
30 Oct 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ High-Performance Lexan* XHR Sheet for Aircraft Interiors Now Available with Decorative Surfaces from Boltaron
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – October 30, 2008 – In an effort to improve the air travel experience for customers, designers are looking for new ways to enhance comfort and ambiance in aircraft cabins. Boltaron Performance Products, LLC has collaborated with SABIC Innovative Plastics to create new aesthetic choices for Lexan* XHR6000 sheet, under the brand Boltaron 9915 FSTH¹ sheet. Because the sheet products are constructed using SABIC Innovative Plastics’ high-performance material, they are ideal for aircraft interior components that must comply with flame, smoke and toxicity (FST) requirements and the Ohio State University (OSU) 65/65 standard. Decorative effects and textures – such as metallic, wood-grain, pearlescent and carbon-look surfaces that are offered by Boltaron – complement the cost-effective, standard colors and textures of Lexan XHR6000 sheet available from SABIC Innovative Plastics.
28 Oct 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Valox iQ* Resin Provides a “Green” – and Blue, Yellow & Pink – Alternative to Wooden Chopsticks
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – October 28, 2008 – Everyday across Japan millions of disposable wooden chopsticks are discarded after every meal in office lunchrooms, schools, and other eating venues. Now, Sanshin Kako, one of the country’s leading professional-use tableware manufacturers, is using SABIC Innovative Plastics’ high-performance Valox iQ* 420 HP resin to deliver a more environmentally responsible product contributing to the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. Not only do Sanshin Kako’s plastic chopsticks conserve natural resources, but each kilogram of this resin uses up to .87 kilograms of post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, which would otherwise sit in the landfill. These chopsticks are available in vivid, custom colors, offer a smooth surface as compared to easily splintered wood, and represent SABIC Innovative Plastics’ commitment to the global development of new technologies that help their customers overcome today’s environmental challenges.
21 Oct 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Exatec* Team Releases New Research on Part Design for Best-in-Class Surface Quality in Automotive PC Glazing
Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands – October 21, 2008 – As automakers move towards the broader adoption of lightweight polycarbonate glazing materials to assist with fuel economy improvement and CO2 emissions reduction, SABIC Innovative Plastics has the answers to new design and manufacturing challenges facing automotive engineers. Through its Exatec automotive glazing organization, a range of custom solutions are available which provide OEM’s and Tier-1 suppliers with the broadest range of automotive glazing technologies. This includes new research into the best part design approach for optimum coating performance. A study recently completed at the Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, Glazing Center of Excellence revealed the effect of different transition profiles (where the clear polycarbonate window meets the opaque “black-out” material) on the surface quality of silicone hard-coated parts. The results were generated using a new panoramic roof prototype tool (shown here) and indicated the best transition designs for suppliers to implement, which will achieve higher quality appearance and better manufacturing yields for wet-coated and plasma-coated exterior surfaces.
6 Oct 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Ultem* Foam Offers Lower Weight and Unmatched FST Performance to Aircraft Interiors
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – October 9, 2008 – In the quest to reduce fuel costs, airlines are scrutinizing every component of a plane for potential weight reduction. Now, with today’s launch of Ultem* foam from SABIC Innovative Plastics, aircraft designers can leverage the best-in-class flame, smoke, toxicity (FST) performance of Ultem polyetherimide resin in a new product that is 10 - 20 times lighter than traditional plastic components. Ultem foam is an ideal core material for composite structures such as luggage bins, galleys and lower wall panels (also known as dado panels). The development of Ultem foam demonstrates the company’s global leadership in engineering thermoplastics, strong market insight and long history of breakthrough ideas.
29 Sept 2008
SABIC Demonstrates Leadership in Innovative, Lightweight Composites for Automotive Industry
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – September 29, 2008 – SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC PP Automotive are introducing SABIC’s expansive, world-class portfolio of lightweight, high-performance thermoplastic composites for automotive applications. These reinforced materials range from LNP* Thermocomp* and LNP Verton* specialty compounds for demanding interior and underhood applications, to the global introduction of SABIC® STAMAX resins for door modules and instrument panel carriers, to the newly introduced AZDEL IXIS® 157 composite for vehicle hoods and roofs. SABIC’s broad portfolio of composites enable the use of technologies such as in-mold decoration for special effects, and heat and cool molding for improved surface finish. The company is a global leader in thermoplastic composites with strong insight into the future needs of the automotive industry.
19 Sept 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics and Azdel, Inc. Launch IXIS® Automotive Composites that Skimp on Weight, Not Performance
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – September 22, 2008 – In the ongoing search for new ways to reduce vehicle weight, automotive OEMs and tiers have been looking for a better alternative to steel, aluminum and thermosets for large, aerodynamic, horizontal body panels. Now, SABIC Innovative Plastics and Azdel, Inc. have launched their new hybrid thermoplastic composite grade, IXIS® 157 composite, a continuous glass-fiber-reinforced sandwich composite for automotive horizontal body panels.
16 Sept 2008
SABIC Launches SABIC® STAMAX Light Weight Composites Worldwide for the Global Automotive Industry
BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands — September 17, 2008 — To meet increasing demand from the automotive industry for lightweight, high performance long-glass-fiber (LGF) composites, SABIC Innovative Plastics and SABIC PP Automotive today announced the worldwide availability of SABIC® STAMAX polypropylene (PP) LGF resins. SABIC® STAMAX resins, which are used extensively by European automakers to replace steel in such key components as front-end modules and door modules, offer light weight solutions for improved fuel efficiency and emissions reduction, together with system cost savings through design optimization and more efficient production cycles.
9 Sept 2008
SABIC Innovative Plastics' Thin-wall Sheet for More Compact Medical Equipment Helps Hospitals Optimize Space & Enhance Patient Experience
BERGEN OP ZOOM, Netherlands – September 11, 2008 – As hospitals strive to accommodate greater volumes of patients and services and compete for patients and staff, they are looking to innovations in medical equipment to address these challenges. SABIC Innovative Plastics’ technologies are enabling development of smaller, lighter-weight, and more-attractive devices that leverage existing facility space and overhead, are easier to operate and service, and are more patient-friendly. In one example, SABIC Innovative Plastics’ thermoformed Cycoloy* sheet is used for thin-wall exterior panels in GE Healthcare’s BrightSpeed and BrightSpeed Select series of smaller computed tomography (CT) scanners.
