BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, is investing in further strengthening its plastic additives plant in Kaisten, Switzerland. A new distributed control system will be the base for a broad range of new digital technologies, which increase both capacity and efficiency, enabling BASF to serve customers even better.

The plastic additives market in Europe is expected to grow at a rate of around four percent per annum over the next five years driven by the growing consumption of polymers across the globe. The expansion will enable the Kaisten site to meet the increasing demand for plastic additives.

“With the new digital technologies we are investing in the future,” says Alberto Giovanzana, Vice President, Plastic Additives Europe, Africa and Middle East. “Higher asset effectiveness will significantly increase capacity. Among many other enhancements, vertical integration will enable real-time connection of various systems from production shop floor to the planning platform and logistics systems. This is an important step in strengthening our Kaisten site and is part of our long-term commitment to ensuring modern, state-of-the-art operations for our European customer base. Customers will benefit by increased product availability, enhanced flexibility and leading supply reliability.”

From 2017 on, Kaisten will also be the headquarters for the plastic additives’ Global Competence Centers Automotive, and Films & Tapes, as well as the European Technical Center. “With the relocation from Basel to Kaisten we strengthen the development and technical centers. Together with closer collaboration between product development and production, the installation of smart innovation units and intelligent labs will foster even shorter lead times, as well as further simplify processes and structures,” explains Dr. Volker Bach, Head of the Global Competence Center Plastic Additives.

In addition to the Kaisten plant, BASF’s plastic additives unit has manufacturing sites in the USA, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Bahrain, China and Singapore.

 

Source : plastic-additives.basf.com

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