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How Bayer MaterialScience solutions make the world greener
By Fu Chenghao |
October 3, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S accelerating urbanization provides enormous business opportunities for companies like Bayer MaterialScience, a key maker of high-tech polymer materials that are used in a range of areas from planes to shoes - while making the world a greener place.
And the company, a unit of German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer AG, knows well that it has to be quick in responding to clients' requirements in this rapidly changing business environment to maintain its leadership in the Chinese market, which remains central to its global strategy.
Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has been bringing its R&D and innovation capacity - something Bayer AG Management Board Chairman Dr Marijn Dekkers calls part of the firm's DNA - closer to its local customers in China, where the government has pressing demands for innovation in sustainable construction, transportation and renewable energy.
"As many of our target industries are shifting to Asia, particularly China, Asia Pacific has become the No. 1 growth region for BMS. For Bayer, China is not just a market in which we produce products, but also a part of our global R&D community," said Dr Ulrich Liman, senior vice president for R&D, Asia Pacific, Bayer MaterialScience.
The company's activities are focused on the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas ranging from automotive, electrical and electronics, to construction and the sports and leisure industries.
In June, Bayer MaterialScience broke ground for the expansion and upgrading of its Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, which is slated to become one of the company's three global R&D centers upon completion in the second half of next year.
Global R&D center
After the expansion, the number of employees at the PRDC will nearly double from about 130 currently. And the center's R&D activities will be reprioritized to focus on distinct industries, enabling it to provide industry-specific solutions.
"With the expansion of the PRDC in Shanghai to one of our three global R&D centers, we intend to strengthen our capability as a provider of world class innovative solutions on a global scale and strive to be closer to customers with tailored solutions. Our innovation in the expanded PRDC will concentrate on areas in which China plays a leading global role, such as wind turbines and solar energy plants," Dr Liman told a delegation from Germany's influential Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation last month in Shanghai, where the delegation was on a fact-finding tour for a report on innovation by German companies.
Bayer and several other multinational companies will continue to be well positioned and should benefit from their strong focus on niche sectors and high-end specialty chemicals, according to recent KPMG report.
"Bayer MaterialScience sees advantages in the Chinese market too, with a steady expansion of the automotive, construction and railway sectors," the KPMG report said. "Bayer, which operates from Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park, has built world-scale facilities with low production costs for its material science division in the area of polycarbonate and polyurethanes."
The site is the company's largest single investment outside of Germany.
In July, the company decided to move the main business of the Bayer MaterialScience polycarbonate global headquarters from Germany to Shanghai where it intends to substantially expand its polycarbonate portfolio.
Last month, at this year's UTECH Asia/PU China 2011 in Shanghai, the country's most important polyurethane trade fair, Bayer MaterialScience presented its latest achievements.
From inspirational projects like the Solar Impulse Plane that can fly around the world without using any fuel, to cold chain solutions to help rural farmers generate more disposable income, Bayer MaterialScience is offering solutions and technology to meet future needs in the fields of climate protection, technology, mobility, living and health.
For the Solar Impulse project, the company is taking its material science knowledge to the limit. With a wingspan of a large airliner, the weight of a midsize car and the engine power of a scooter, the solar-powered plane uses an ultra light rigid polyurethane foam developed by Bayer MaterialScience in the cockpit cladding, the engine cowling and the wings to reduce the prototype's weight. Additionally, a lightweight automotive glazing with Makrolon? - Bayer's polycarbonate product that weighs up to 50 percent less than traditional glazing - helps reduce the plane's weight to less than 1,600 kilograms.
Not only do large-scale projects benefit from Bayer MaterialScience's know-how, but the company's products can also be found in small things like shoes.
The company has developed the EcoTrekker green shoe concept to address the issues of finite resources, rising consumer awareness about the environment as well as concerns about workers' health and safety. Every year, the footwear industry consumes about 10 million tons of soling material, of which the majority uses petroleum as feedstock.
And the company, a unit of German pharmaceutical and chemical giant Bayer AG, knows well that it has to be quick in responding to clients' requirements in this rapidly changing business environment to maintain its leadership in the Chinese market, which remains central to its global strategy.
Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has been bringing its R&D and innovation capacity - something Bayer AG Management Board Chairman Dr Marijn Dekkers calls part of the firm's DNA - closer to its local customers in China, where the government has pressing demands for innovation in sustainable construction, transportation and renewable energy.
"As many of our target industries are shifting to Asia, particularly China, Asia Pacific has become the No. 1 growth region for BMS. For Bayer, China is not just a market in which we produce products, but also a part of our global R&D community," said Dr Ulrich Liman, senior vice president for R&D, Asia Pacific, Bayer MaterialScience.
The company's activities are focused on the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas ranging from automotive, electrical and electronics, to construction and the sports and leisure industries.
In June, Bayer MaterialScience broke ground for the expansion and upgrading of its Polymer Research & Development Center (PRDC) in Shanghai, which is slated to become one of the company's three global R&D centers upon completion in the second half of next year.
Global R&D center
After the expansion, the number of employees at the PRDC will nearly double from about 130 currently. And the center's R&D activities will be reprioritized to focus on distinct industries, enabling it to provide industry-specific solutions.
"With the expansion of the PRDC in Shanghai to one of our three global R&D centers, we intend to strengthen our capability as a provider of world class innovative solutions on a global scale and strive to be closer to customers with tailored solutions. Our innovation in the expanded PRDC will concentrate on areas in which China plays a leading global role, such as wind turbines and solar energy plants," Dr Liman told a delegation from Germany's influential Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation last month in Shanghai, where the delegation was on a fact-finding tour for a report on innovation by German companies.
Bayer and several other multinational companies will continue to be well positioned and should benefit from their strong focus on niche sectors and high-end specialty chemicals, according to recent KPMG report.
"Bayer MaterialScience sees advantages in the Chinese market too, with a steady expansion of the automotive, construction and railway sectors," the KPMG report said. "Bayer, which operates from Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park, has built world-scale facilities with low production costs for its material science division in the area of polycarbonate and polyurethanes."
The site is the company's largest single investment outside of Germany.
In July, the company decided to move the main business of the Bayer MaterialScience polycarbonate global headquarters from Germany to Shanghai where it intends to substantially expand its polycarbonate portfolio.
Last month, at this year's UTECH Asia/PU China 2011 in Shanghai, the country's most important polyurethane trade fair, Bayer MaterialScience presented its latest achievements.
From inspirational projects like the Solar Impulse Plane that can fly around the world without using any fuel, to cold chain solutions to help rural farmers generate more disposable income, Bayer MaterialScience is offering solutions and technology to meet future needs in the fields of climate protection, technology, mobility, living and health.
For the Solar Impulse project, the company is taking its material science knowledge to the limit. With a wingspan of a large airliner, the weight of a midsize car and the engine power of a scooter, the solar-powered plane uses an ultra light rigid polyurethane foam developed by Bayer MaterialScience in the cockpit cladding, the engine cowling and the wings to reduce the prototype's weight. Additionally, a lightweight automotive glazing with Makrolon? - Bayer's polycarbonate product that weighs up to 50 percent less than traditional glazing - helps reduce the plane's weight to less than 1,600 kilograms.
Not only do large-scale projects benefit from Bayer MaterialScience's know-how, but the company's products can also be found in small things like shoes.
The company has developed the EcoTrekker green shoe concept to address the issues of finite resources, rising consumer awareness about the environment as well as concerns about workers' health and safety. Every year, the footwear industry consumes about 10 million tons of soling material, of which the majority uses petroleum as feedstock.
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