Materials makers A. Schulman Inc. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. each recently won awards for their customer service and for the quality of their materials.
Fairlawn, Ohio-based Schulman received the 2016 Global Supplier Award from Robert Bosch GmbH. In a news release, Schulman officials said the firm received the award in recognition of its "worldwide contribution to Bosch's success as an outstanding supplier of raw materials and components for the past two years."
It marks the 12th time that Schulman has received the honor from Bosch, an industrial conglomerate based in Stuttgart, Germany. Heinrich Lingnau, Schulman senior vice president, said in the release that winning the award "rewards and confirms our efforts in the areas of customer focus and innovation."
Sabic, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with North American headquarters in Houston, has been named a winner in two categories at the 2107 European Plastics Innovation Awards ceremony organized by the Society of Plastics Engineers and trade association PlasticsEurope.
In a news release, Sabic officials said that the awards acknowledge the work of companies that have used plastics to develop a new idea, a new method, a new product or technology that responds to a societal need, while respecting the "3 Ps: of Sustainability — People, Planet, and Profit.
Sabic picked up the top award in the Best Plastic Application Design category for a prototype 3D printed aircraft seat, designed by Studio Gavari and produced by Stratasys using its Fused Deposition Modeling and filament made from Sabic's Ultem-brand polyetherimide resin.
Sabic also won first place in the Intelligent and Smart Plastics category, with a Thin 3D In-Mold HMI (human-machine interface). The interface was developed with and produced by TactoTek, using an innovative injection molding technique incorporating advanced in-mold labelling. TactoTek used Sabic's Lexan-brand clear polycarbonate molding resin as well as Lexan thermoformable hard-coated polycarbonate film.
Ernesto Occhiello, Sabic's executive vice president of specialties, said that the awards "are an important recognition of Sabic's work in enabling industrial designers and manufacturers to create innovative solutions, which address significant challenges across numerous industrial and consumer sectors."