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Have we got innovations? You bet!
It's not hard to figure out what Michael Erkelenz does everyday. His office at the Krefeld-Uerdingen site is full of all things Makrolon®: innumerable tiny lenses in various colors and dozens of transparent chips and rods. You can't miss the transparent tower filled with colorful plastic granules standing in one corner.
"Even though this plastic was developed over five decades ago, it has still lost none of its fascination. The needs of our customers repeatedly result in new applications," Mr. Erkelenz explains. The fact that this polycarbonate can fulfill (almost) any requirement is attributable to its amazing range of properties.
Take temperature resistance for example. "From minus 60 to plus 120 degrees Celsius – Makrolon® withstands an impressive range of temperatures," Mr. Erkelenz says, adding with a grin: "Windshields for snowmobiles in the Antarctic would not be a problem for our product."
Then there’s flame retardance. This property is a major safety factor, particularly for electrical and electronic components, which normal consumers hardly ever see because they're hidden inside things like computer housings. No universal solutions exist. "We precisely tailor our polycarbonate to the respective application," Erkelenz says.
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| Production of a Makrolon® compound at the Uerdingen Chemical Park |
Long-term performance is yet another example – and it's a breeze for Makrolon®. The material is virtually indestructible. Even sharp blows have virtually no effect on it at all. And should it ever rupture under extreme load, it displays another major advantage: Makrolon® doesn't splinter, making it the material of choice for producing lenses for sunglasses, safety goggles and sports eyewear.
Michael Erkelenz is one of 16 experts in the Technical Product Management department of the Polycarbonates Business Unit of Bayer MaterialScience. To optimally fulfill customer requirements, the team works closely with the Thermoplastics Testing Center, the Color Competence Center and the production plants where the material is manufactured. This form of cooperation offers a significant competitive advantage, according to Michael Erkelenz. Together, they search for answers to questions such as, "Does the material conform to the specified test standards?", "How can mechanical protection be improved?", or "How can the final product be manufactured for less?" Above all the last question is an increasingly common issue today. "What good is a technically impressive solution, if the customer can't or won't pay to implement it?"
Mr. Erkelenz is rather pragmatic in his ideas and actions. The Krefeld team is usually busy fulfilling specific customer requests. "The great thing about my job is that I don't work in an ivory tower, far removed from the real world," he says. "The things we develop here turn up later in everyday objects." In a light switch on the wall, in the outer shell of a bicycle helmet, in the protective visor of a motorcycle helmet, in the front lenses of car headlights.
Some job orders can be handled just by taking a quick look at an existing folder. Other customer demands, however, require Erkelenz and his teammates to spend months tinkering on material modifications. "Every day brings new challenges," Erkelenz says. And he knows there will be plenty more down the road, because the number of Makrolon® applications will continue to rise. And that's a reliable fact, as reliable as the material itself.
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