DuPont sets up India R&D centre

Chemicals and plastics manufacturer DuPont Engineering Polymers, a business unit of DuPont, announced the creation of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in India on February 5. This research facility is expected to help DuPont tap into the growth opportunities in the country, including the development of automotive systems and enhancing high-performance parts while also reducing costs for various applications. The CoE would also help the company drive its growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which is among the fastest growing markets for the company.

The Centre will also support the development and extension of the latest engineering polymer technologies and share this knowledge among regional application and industry teams. DuPont says this new facility will also enable the use of the latest technology and advanced engineering software to support the design and application development needs of customers in India.

According to Philippe Hanck, regional director, Engineering Polymers, Asia Pacific, “Technical services are fundamental to the delivery of innovation and value to our customers and we will continue to create new solutions that meet the needs of the markets we serve in our pursuit of rapid growth. We are confident of the growth of the engineering polymers market in India, especially in the area of specialty materials and this new centre is a testimony to our commitment to strengthen our resources in growth markets, in line with our global strategy of ‘go where the growth is’”.

Commenting on the new centre, V Venkatesan, India business leader of DuPont Engineering Polymers, said “India is one of the important growth markets for DuPont Engineering Polymers so it is important that DuPont continue to play a leading role in the market and invest to support customers for further growth. The purpose of setting up this centre is to be able to support our customers with more reliable and accurate technical solutions within a shorter timespan and help them grow profitably and sustainably. This will improve the speed-to-market of many of our applications and help us serve our customers better in India. When our customers win, we win.”

With this centre, DuPont becomes the first resin supplier to provide the full spectrum of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) capabilities in India. The CAE staff also has strong connections with DuPont design teams around the world and are equipped with state-of-art software and facilities to provide 3D surface CAD, mould-flow, warpage, structural, impact and NVH analysis.

According to the company, the use of its specialty engineering polymers such as Zytel HTN, Hytrel TPE and Zenite LCP by Indian manufacturers has grown significantly in the last few years. This reflects a gradual shift towards high performance materials from conventional ones and commodity plastics in order to improve product performance. DuPont Engineering Polymers’ recently launched products include Delrin 300CP high impact-modified and high viscosity polyacetal resin that optimises impact performance, flow and cost efficiency as well as allowing for greater design flexibility and is ideal for automotive components as well as mass-produced articles like fasteners, clips or spring elements.

With the new super-fast grades of Crastin PBT thermoplastic polyester, DuPont says moulders can cut cycle time for PBT parts by up to 30 percent and deliver cost savings of upto 20 percent. Super-fast resins are particularly advantageous in moulding thin-wall parts such as connectors and large parts such as structural housings.