Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 23, 2013 02:00 AM

PolyOne designs and colors its global strategy

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    PolyOne Corp.
    PolyOne, Xindao and XD Design worked together to create the Sunshine Solar Charger, a flower-shaped array of five solar cells that can charge cell phones and digital tablets.

    GUANGZHOU, CHINA — PolyOne Corp. officials at Chinaplas launched a new color and design services business, highlighted recent applications of some of its products — from biopolymers to PET packaging additives — and discussed the firm's two recent major acquisitions of ColorMatrix Corp. and Spartech Corp.

    Design once again is providing a cornerstone for strategic development for the $2.99 billion compounder and specialized polymers provider. At a May 20 media event, PolyOne unveiled its new InVisiO color and design services, which the firm said aims to help brand managers and designers evaluate color and design alternatives to accelerate the product development process. Tailored to private labels and brand owners, the service also can "strengthen brand equity and build marketplace excitement," according to Fernando Sanchez, [Luxembourg-based] global marketing director for PolyOne Color and Additives.

    The name InVisiO is drawn from three components. Sanchez described the following aspects of those elements:

    • Insights — color forecasts and trend predictions, market studies, and design possibilities with different materials, colors, textures and forms;
    • Vision — the interaction of color, texture and special effects within a product's design, color portfolio management, and color consulting and development expertise;
    • Intelligent operations — help with finding the best liquid or solid colorant for a given application, and design development via 3-D prototyping, tooling, testing, process optimization and operational support.

    The company launched a related website (www.invisiocolor.com) the week prior to Chinaplas, and also rolled out a new, downloadable iPad application. It said InVisiO services are designed to support markets from packaging and electronics to appliances, consumer goods, and building and construction.

    And it noted that customers who use these new services also will have access to the 12 PolyOne Innovation Centers around the world. One of those — at the company's headquarters in Avon Lake, Ohio — invested last year in 3-D printing capabilities, and the firm intends to install 3-D printers in more of its innovation centers going forward, according to Mark Crist, PolyOne's Asia vice president.

    PolyOne's design centers and InVisiO service fit in nicely with the IQ PKG (www.iqpkg.com) group it acquired via the Spartech purchase. An integrated, in-house design service, IQ PKG aims to create innovative package designs that enhance the price-value relationship of customer's products, with a focus on aesthetics, functionality and sustainability.

    In another design-focused effort, PolyOne highlighted its global collaboration with the Dutch firm Xindao and its Shanghai-based design studio XD Design. The three companies worked together in China, Europe and the United States to boost the content of renewable resources within the new XD Design Sunshine Solar Charger — a flower-shaped array of five solar cells that can charge cell phones and digital tablets.

    The team ended up developing all the molded casing components for the charger from a custom-developed reSound biopolymer, which Xindao estimates will reduce the carbon footprint for the product by as much as 35 percent compared with alternative materials. The firm previously used ABS resin for the casings.

    Ryan McSorley, head designer at XD Design, said: "We want our end users to have fun interacting with these products. We also want the chargers to be long-lasting, and as sustainable as possible." Based in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, Xindao has won seven of Germany's Red Dot design awards, and maintains design and manufacturing resources in China.

    Also on May 20, PolyOne's ColorMatrix subsidiary launched AmoSorb Plus, a high-performance oxygen-scavenging additive for PET packaging. The product is said to enhance container clarity with the aim of helping customers achieve aesthetic and recyclability goals. Because it is based on a previously approved technology, AmoSorb Plus does not require the regulatory approvals of a completely new material.

    The product is a crystallized PET-based concentrate with a built-in catalyst to promote oxidation. Colormatrix says it offers product protection for non-carbonated foods and beverages such as teas and fresh fruit juices for up to six months or longer, depending on the container design.

    Speaking to the $486 million acquisition of liquid colorants specialist ColorMatrix in late 2011, Crist said the operations were "easy to integrate" into PolyOne. He noted that the two firms had only about a 5 percent overlap in customers in the color business, between ColorMatrix's liquid colorants and PolyOne's color masterbatches. The transition was eased by the fact that ColorMatrix was "truly global," even before the deal, Crist said.

    He also commented on PolyOne's $393 million purchase last fall of compounder and sheet extruder Spartech Corp. That business, which brought $1.2 billion in revenue to PolyOne's top line, has been rebranded as Design Structures & Solutions (DSS). The former Spartech was primarily a North American business before.

    "With PolyOne's global footprint," Crist noted, "we see an incredible opportunity to take their [… solutions …] and exploit them on a global scale." That said, there is still much work to be done in North America, he said, before the DSS technologies can be aggressively expanded abroad.

    The Spartech deal officially closed only in mid-March, so Crist — who also is PolyOne's VP of global key accounts – said they have had to wait before they could start addressing demands from customers outside of North America for access to the unit's thermoformed sheets.

    As for the perception that acquiring a sheet thermoformer would vault PolyOne into competition with some of its processor customers, Crist acknowledged that "conventional wisdom" would lead one to believe that such a deal would be fraught with conflicts of interest. But, in fact, he said, "we found very little overlap, and more synergies than conflict."

    Finally, Crist hinted, PolyOne is not done being the aggressor. "We are not stopping our acquisition hunt after Spartech," he said. "This is an attractive area."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Pretium to pay $252,700 in sex discrimination settlement
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Texas Injection Molding expands again
    2
    Germany's Stratec buys medical molder Natech to boost US presence
    3
    Plastics treaty urged to include EPR for flexible packaging ‘to make it work'
    4
    Phillips-Medisize closing Medford, Wis., plant, cutting 83 jobs
    5
    Resin Prices
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified