Mar 30 2007
WACKER SILICONES, a division of Wacker Chemie AG, is expanding its capacity for ready-to-use silicone rubber compounds, which it markets under the tradename “SILMIX® - compounded competence.” The expansion involves the company setting up a new finishing plant in Plzeň, under the management of its Czech subsidiary, Wacker Chemie s.r.o. With demand growing for ready-to-use silicone rubber, WACKER intends to satisfy its customers’ needs even more flexibly than before.
“Our customers want us to deliver silicone-rubber compounds fast,” says Dr. Fridolin Stary, head of the Elastomers business unit at WACKER SILICONES. “At the same time, they demand plenty of flexibility when specifying individual product parameters,” he continues. The new plant targets these two key customer requirements. “To best serve our market, with its focus on low-volume orders, we needed a good alternative to the large-scale operations at the Burghausen and Nünchritz sites.”
The new Plzeň-based plant is scheduled to start up in the next few weeks. With about 20 employees, it will produce an increasing share of the compounds previously manufactured in Burghausen. WACKER SILICONES plans to raise capacity gradually, thereby ensuring the high quality of its ready-to-use silicone rubber grades.
Silicone Rubber Compounds
Silicone Rubber Compounds
SILMIX® heat-curing silicone rubber compounds are ready-to-use products. They are manufactured in a complex finishing process called “compounding,” where the crosslinker, pigment and other additives are mixed into the rubber base. Typical applications range from automotive gaskets, through cable insulation, to the rubber-coated rolls in photocopiers.