PTS and FPL undertake technical collaboration for high-tech compounds

A new technical collaboration and licensing agreement between two compounding companies, Formulated Polymers Limited (FPL) in Chennai, India and Polymer Technology & Services LLC (PTS) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, US, will expand the availability of PTS compounds in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. The agreement was signed in April by FPL Joint Managing Director Sekar Venkateswaran and PTS President Tom Hooper. PTS compounds are already manufactured in China.

"With this collaboration, FPL will have the capability to offer processors supplying the electrical and electronics industry in India and across Southeast Asia an expanded range of Underwriters Laboratory-approved flame retardant products," says Hooper. "This is an important step in our strategy at PTS to reach those processors around the world demanding high performance UL-compliant flame retardant (FR) compounds." PTS now has its own or licensed manufacturing operations in the US, Europe, China, and India.

PTS specialises in the supply of innovative FR compounds-all featuring UL Yellow Cards-based on polycarbonate (branded as TRISTAR), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), PC-based blends, and ABS. These compounds are already used around the world, most frequently in electrical devices, by many key players in the field. Under the agreement with FPL, PTS will transfer its technology for over 40 UL certified products.

FPL develops application-specific engineering plastic compounds. It has developed over 400 compounds based on a wide range of polymers (branded as Formpoly). With these products, FPL is already supplying several important OEMs. "Collaboration with PTS makes a lot of sense for these OEMs, since they will now have a wider choice of materials from a single, local, source," says Hooper. "In fact, some of them even encouraged it."

Both FPL and PTS also have technical collaboration agreements with Eurostar Engineering Plastics in Fosses, France, under which they produce and distribute Eurostar's range of Starflam flame retardant polyamides; this encompasses over 120 UL-certified products.