Bow-based custom profile extruder Keller Plastics is exploring new materials with the addition of a 1½-inch extruder from Davis-Standard.
Keller is using the line to research and develop new technologies and formulations, including wood composites, anti-microbial compounds, nanocomposites and glow-in-the-dark compounds. Officials hope to tap new markets including trim, fascia and decorative profiles that will be used in furniture trim and components, office partitions and window blinds.
Chief Operating Officer John Hudson said the markets want a material that feels like wood, accept nails and screws and can be sanded and painted.
``We're really looking for the innovation out there,'' Hudson said in a June 8 telephone interview. ``What we're trying to do is offer profile customers more.''
Officials added the line March 1 at Keller's extrusion technology center, reassigning staff at its 50,000-square-foot facility in Bow. The company employs more than 100 in extrusion.
Keller Plastics is owned by Keller Products Inc. of Manchester, N.H., whose holdings also include a wood division.