BASF Corp. veterans Roger Huarng and Stephane Morin have formed Alliance Polymers & Services LLC, a distribution firm offering thermoplastic polyurethanes and other elastomer materials.
The first product to be distributed by the Romulus, Mich.-based company is BASF's Elastollan-brand TPU. Both Huarng and Mor-in worked with that product line during their careers at Florham Park, N.J.-based BASF.
Alliance is aimed at supplying TPUs and elastomers to small-to-medium-sized designers, marketers and processors, officials said in a Sept. 30 news release. The firm opened for business Oct. 1.
“We had seen BASF cutting their inventories back and seen their lead times getting low,” Huarng said in a recent phone interview. “They're trying to control what they can, but it takes time and they need support.”
Alliance will target shipments of less-than-truckload amounts of about 40,000 pounds or less.
The firm's 15,000-square-foot warehouse will be sourced by TPU produced at a BASF site in Wyandotte, Mich., about 10 miles away.
“We'll be able to optimize manufacturing schedules, warehousing, freight and technical support,” said Huarng, who had been with BASF for 18 years. He co-owns the new business along with Morin, who had been with BASF for 17 years.
BASF has provided Alliance with a number of accounts, primarily in the industrial injection molding and wire and cable markets. Its initial customers are spread across the U.S., with a concentration in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
The five-employee firm also plans to add other elastomer materials, such as thermoplastic vulcanizates and styrenic block copolymers, by the end of 2010.
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