PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) opened the doors of a state-of-the art Innovation Center at its Avon Lake, Ohio headquarters on May 12. “The Innovation Center bridges the gap between concept and commercialization for our customers, and enables them to cut development time while boosting their profitability,” said Stephen D. Newlin, PolyOne chairman, president and chief executive officer.
This facility will support PolyOne’s Global Specialty Platform customers with leading-edge capabilities for application development, testing, process optimization and color matching. The new facility is a significant extension of the Company’s customer-focused resources, and represents a first-phase investment of over $3 million.
“The combined financial investment and technological expansion underscores our commitment to deliver specialized services and material solutions that create value for customers,” said Dr. Cecil C. Chappelow, vice president, innovation, sustainability, and chief innovation officer.
Part of a network of ten customer-focused facilities around the world, PolyOne’s Avon Lake Innovation Center was designed to provide an environment that facilitates creativity and supports customers in co-developing solutions to the challenges they face. Customers will interact with PolyOne’s dedicated engineers and scientists in real time to streamline the product development cycle and foster innovation.
While the Center will also add new capabilities for long-term product-related research and process development and enhance technical collaboration between PolyOne business units, its most important purpose is to support collaboration with customers. To facilitate an interactive experience, it features modern, comfortable areas where customers can relax, brainstorm, and work; a showroom area to help generate ideas; and a color chip display room to help explore possibilities in color and special effects.
Customers will be able to obtain real-time color matches, complete with sample chips, during their visit to the Center. The operations area includes:
* Three extruders with multiple pelletization and feeding options
* Three injection molding machines
* Select application capability – sheet, film, bottles
* Measurement capabilities – color, limited properties, composition
* A ‘clean room’ / FDA development area
The interactive visitors area includes:
* Showroom for chips and display areas for parts
* CAD/ Moldflow® demonstration capability
* Creative collaboration area
* Two equipped customer offices
* Conference room with a view to the operations area
Customers can explore possibilities in color and special effects and obtain real-time color matches at PolyOne’s new Avon Lake Innovation Center.
Further, the new Center supports PolyOne’s sustainability goals. All furniture and seating are GREENGAURD™ certified, which means that products have passed rigorous tests and emissions standards for reduced chemical exposure and improved indoor air quality. All laminate work surfaces have a “green” core of recycled wheatboard, while task chairs have a Cradle to Cradle® Gold rating based on their use of environmentally safe materials, recycled materials, and renewable energy in manufacturing. Carpeting includes PolyOne Geon™ materials and up to 72% recycled content (post-consumer and post-industrial). Wall coverings are made with recycled materials, and the main wall covering is GREENGAURD™ certified.
PolyOne
http://www.polyone.com
Filed Under: Green engineering • renewable energy • sustainability, Materials • advanced