Heerlen, 17 April 2009 – In a recent presentation, Sarlink Business Unit Director and President David Huizing gave a brief overview of the company’s current positioning and future prospects.
“Sarlink TPV is a true elastomeric thermoplastic. It is produced in a complex proprietary and patented process by blending large quantities of EPDM rubber into a small continuous phase of plastic, whilst at the same time chemically crosslinking the rubber phase and controlling the morphology. Lot-to-lot consistency over the lifetime of applications and across all production locations is key. The result is a unique and extremely versatile product that has rubber properties yet can be processed like plastics.
“In our industry, five macro trends are emerging: sustainability, cost-out, simplicity of process and design, plastic converters entering the traditional rubber world and finally players in the value chain are increasingly pushing development activity to the TPV supplier. To be successful in converting markets from other materials to Sarlink TPV, we know that strong product and application development in line with these macro trends is absolutely essential. It is for this reason that Sarlink plays a vital role in the development of new applications. We work in close cooperation with all players in the value chain, we understand their needs and processes, and actively support the design of a functional part based on Sarlink TPV. A unique element in this support is our prototyping capability. We will continue to make significant investments in our ability to produce real parts for the scale-up phase as more and more of these activities are shifting from the value chain to us as material supplier.”
A growing market
“The market for TPV is growing, and Sarlink is taking significant steps to support – and drive – this growth. Sarlink has more than doubled its global capacity by bringing on-stream a new, highly automated, plant in Genk, Belgium. In addition, Sarlink continuously invests in expansion of its global organization.
“We understand that our customers demand high quality and consistency as well as global supply and support. We believe that our products are able to deliver value for customers today. By making ongoing investments in production facilities and global customer support, we will be able to continue to do so in the future.
“Our key message is that there are plenty of applications that demand to be converted to Sarlink TPV and we are making continued and continuous investments in our products and our resources to help make this happen. And to make sure that the market gets the message, we have launched a new brand awareness campaign to highlight Sarlink’s position as technology leader.”
About Sarlink
Sarlink is a global brand of premium quality pelletized thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). A specialist in developing and manufacturing high quality TPVs to offer customers the material properties they need. Sarlink adds value by being a specialist in high quality TPV solutions and offering a support structure based on close partnership. Sarlink is a truly global company with production operations and laboratories in Leominster MA (USA) and Genk (Belgium), and sales/marketing and technical support offices in Detroit MI (USA), Leominster MA (USA), Sittard (The Netherlands), Shanghai (China), Singapore and through business partner Toyobo in Japan. More information: www.sarlink.com.
