ESLON TIMES | SEKISUI CHEMICAL

Established New Factory for High Performance Plastic Sheets
in United States

The Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company (President : Hajime Kubo) of Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. (President: Teiji Koge, hereinafter called “Sekisui Chemical”) has been producing thermoforming plastic sheets applicable for Aviation and Mass Transit Interiors, Housing of Medical Components, Exterior Materials of Vehicle and Construction Equipment, etc. through its affiliate company, SEKISUI Polymer Innovations, LLC. (hereinafter called “SPI”) .
SPI has decided to establish the 3rd factory in Pennsylvania to increase production capacity of PVC sheets to meet the steady increase in demand from the Aviation Industry and to expand business in Mass Transit Interiors. The production at the 3rd factory is scheduled to start in June, 2016.

Forming Plastic Sheet
・Thickness : from １ to 15mm
・Width ： from 1,000 to 2,500mm
Used for multiple application

１.History of Thermoforming Plastic Sheet Business in the U.S. and its Business Development

（１） History

March 1990	Acquired PVC sheet manufacturer, Kleerdex Company, LLC. (hereinafter called "Kleerdex") to start plastic sheet business in the U.S.
April 2007	Acquired ABS sheet manufacture, Allen Extruders, Inc.（hereinafter called "Allen"） and established Allen Extruders, LLC.
January 2009	Changed company name from Kleerdex to KYDEX, LLC. (hereinafter called "KYDEX")
September 2014	Combined KYDEX and Allen to form SPI
June 2016	Start operation at The 3rd factory（Plan）

（２） Business Development

SPI is conducting business mainly with two brands, "KYDEX^TM Thermoplastics" and "ALLEN^TM Thermoplastics".
Acrylic modified PVC sheet products under the KYDEX^TM Thermoplastics brand are used in high end applications including aviation and mass transit interiors, housing materials of medical components, etc. and have a good reputation because of the product's attributes: fire retardancy, environmentally sensitive, chemical resistant and highly durable. ABS sheet products under the ALLEN^TM Thermoplastics brand are used in external materials such as recreational vehicles, construction equipment, and farming vehicles because of its superior mechanical properties including durability, heat and weather resistance. Both brands have good reputations and are well known in the market.
Those two companies were combined in September 2014 and became SPI to gain synergy between the two companies. SPI has two factories, one in Pennsylvania (The 1st factory, which used to be owned by KYDEX) and the other in Michigan (The 2nd factory, which used to be owned by Allen) in addition to the 3rd factory.

２.Outline of The 3rd Factory

Location	4411 Old Berwick Road, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania （Around 3km West from the 1st Factory）
Land	Around 230,000m²
Building	Around 35,000m²
Capital Investment	Around 10 Million US$
Production Item	Sheets for Aviation Interiors
Initial Production Volume	1,000 tons/annum（for high end of Aviation Interiors only）
Time to Start Production	June, 2016 (Plan)

The 3rd Factory

３.Outline of SEKISUI Polymer Innovations, LLC

Name of the Company	SEKISUI Polymer Innovations, LLC.
Line of Business	Production of PVC and ABS Sheet for forming
Location	Headquarters, The 1st Factory 6685 Low Street, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania The 2nd Factory
Establishment	March 30th, 1990
Paid in Capital	30,472,000 US$
Shareholder	SEKISUI AMERICA CORPORATION (100%) ※SEKISUI AMERICA CORPORATION is our affiliate 100% share owned by Sekisui Chemical.
Representative	Ronn Cort（COO & President）
Employees	Around 310 people

Headquarters, The 1st Factory

The 2nd Factory

４.Business Objectives

The target of sales is 175 Million US$ in 2016.

【Reference】

（１）Establishment of Sheet Division）

Sekisui Chemical has newly established "Sheet Division" from April 1st, 2015.
The purpose is to expand the sheet business in Japan and other countries in Asia,
to increase the business in Mass Transit Interiors, Medical Components, etc. and to promote R&D to penetrate into new fields by strengthening the relationship with SPI.

（２）Plastic Sheet for thermoforming

Plastic sheet for thermoforming is large sized sheet material with thicknesses ranging from 1 to 15mm and width from 1,000 till 2,500mm. It is used for small quantity, wide variety or large size plastic, for which it is hard to justify the expense of molds for injection molding. Finished products are made by vacuum or pressure forming.
Application ranges from general use such as furniture, interior walls, devices, equipment housings and housing for ATM to high end applications including aviation and mass transit interiors, recreational vehicles, construction machines and farming vehicles.
SPI has superiority in the area of formulation to make fire retardant material, speedy product development by means of its own testing equipment and its capability to provide high standards in color & design through its designLab^TM where SPI conducts project collaboration and color matching with clients.