Plants: BASF opens footwear centre in Taiwan; MonoSol opens US$72 mn facility in US

German chemical firm BASF has opened its global Footwear Innovation Centre in Taiwan, a key footwear manufacturing hub in Asia. Located within the footwear manufacturing site of its strategic partner Longterm Concept (LTC) in Changhua, Taiwan, BASF says the 7,000 sq ft centre will bring footwear professionals, manufacturers, and designers together to co-create new-generation footwear.

Combining LTC’s latest footwear manufacturing technologies with BASF’s material expertise in footwear, the centre will test and refine material innovations within a shorter timeframe, as well as evaluate concepts on a global scale. It will also house a biomechanics lab, where scientific tests will be conducted to develop new footwear solutions. The centre also includes footwear design software, in-house mould-making Computer Numerical Control machines, automated PU injection machines, and upper knitting machines.

A previous collaboration between BASF and LTC on X-Swift – an athleisure shoe that showcases five BASF’s materials – was also made possible through a fully connected footwear manufacturing facility from LTC.

It has the following zones:

BASF has three other Footwear Development Centres, located in Italy, the US and Thailand. It will also complement the expertise and competences of the product development centre in China’s Shanghai and Nansha.

Meanwhile in other news, US manufacturer of water-soluble and biodegradable films MonoSol recently commemorated its US$72 million production facility in Lebanon, Indiana. In late June, it also broke ground on a new manufacturing plant in southern Poland, in its continued business growth and production expansion.

MonoSol, a division of Japan-based Kuraray, says it originally planned to host a week-long, grand opening ceremony for the Lebanon facility in May and an in-person groundbreaking in Poland in June. However, due to Covid-19, MonoSol shifted both events online.

Speaking at the new factory outside of Indianapolis, MonoSol President/CEO P. Scott Bening said, “Safety is the cornerstone of everything that we do and finding a way to celebrate these important moments in a safe way is really important to us and the community.”

Commercial production of MonoSol’s water-soluble films began at the facility in February, just before shelter-in-place orders took effect in March. The company credits its early adoption of stringent health and safety measures for its ability to start-up a new factory amid a pandemic.

After two years of construction, the 150,000-sq-ft facility in central Indiana will employ up to 90 staff. It is the company’s fourth factory in the state and sixth globally.

MonoSol’s plant in Poland is being built in Zimna Wódka, Ujazd Commune, located in the Katowice Special Economic Zone. When completed in late 2021, it is expected to create about 90 jobs, as well.

At the virtual groundbreaking event, Hubert Ibron, Mayor of Ujazdu, said, “MonoSol is an extremely important investor for us. They not only provide new, good jobs, but also bring modern technology that contributes to eliminating plastics and improving the natural environment in the commune of Ujazd and Poland.”

MonoSol makes water-soluble films for single-unit-dose laundry and dishwasher detergents, personal care, food ingredients and agriculture products as well as films that are used to improve manufacturing processes. Its films are made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), a biodegradable, non-toxic film that dissolves in water.

(PRA)

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