Aug 9 2010
PCC (Plastics Color Corporation) a leading supplier of color concentrates and additive masterbatches for the plastics industry, today opened its new customer Solutions Center, a state-of-the-art research and development facility at their campus in Asheboro, North Carolina.
The lab is equipped with the latest analysis and testing equipment and is staffed by scientists and technicians with a combined 53 years in the plastics industry. “This is much more than a testing lab,” says PCC Director of Development Tim Workman. “It is at the heart of our new emphasis on working with customers at the very beginning of their product development process.”
“Our new facility allows us to better serve existing and future customers by providing new product development and testing services, that we could not offer at this time last year,” said David Witt, who heads R & D for PCC’s North Carolina operation. “It helps us fulfill our commitment to deliver standard-setting products today and to develop market-changing products for tomorrow.”
Technical Engineer David Witt in PCC's new Customer Solutions Center.
The opening of the PCC Solutions Center comes on the heels of accreditation of PCC’s lab in Calumet City, Illinois by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). “We’ve been working toward accreditation for quite a while,” says Illinois Lab Manager Linda Ramsey. “It’s a great honor to achieve this recognition and it provides an extra level of confidence for our customers.” A2LA tests a lab’s quality control measures, record keeping, equipment calibration and conformity to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 requirements. The certification takes the bias out of lab results, thus ensuring accuracy for any test approved within the scope of the accreditation.
In addition to North Carolina and Illinois, PCC also operates a lab facility at their Nanjing, China plant.
PCC performs custom color formulations for many end-users in a wide range of resin types. The world-class color-matching lab in Asheboro uses the latest color-matching technology. “The opening of the new lab is just the beginning of our new investment in a state-of-the-art development and customer support center in which new-age resins can be developed upon request, said PCC President Doug Borgsdorf. “We have more equipment on order already that will keep us at the leading edge of industry technological capabilities.” The North Carolina plant produces a wide range of colorants and additives for customers in the food packaging, construction and other industries. The state-of-the art clean compounding or “plant-within-a-plant facility gives PCC new capabilities to increase its penetration in North Carolina’s growing pharmaceutical and medical sector.
PCC’s recently announced California plant, planned for a Q4 2010 opening, extends the clean compounding model to a modern facility that is focused on new business from Western food and pharmaceutical packaging and medical device manufacturers.
Another focus of research that PCC is proud of is its commitment to develop more bioplastics compounds and other eco-friendly products and additives that help customers meet their own or their end-customers’ sustainability goals. “PCC is an industry leader in this category and our recent and planned investments in the best people and equipment will keep us on top of eco-friendly plastics,” said Workman