The Westlake, Ohio-based facility produces additives for the coatings, inks and adhesives markets and has a comprehensive range of cobalt-free driers, dispersants, rheology modifiers, wetting agents, polymerization catalysts and adhesion promoters.

With the new investment, which it did not quantify, Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Milliken said it now has three state-of-the-art coating additives labs globally, including bases at Langenfeld, Germany, and Shanghai, China.

The newly upgraded US lab has what the company said is an ergonomic work environment designed in part by its workforce, with an open concept tailored specifically for coating additives lab work and organized to increase efficiency and collaboration.

In addition to the workspace redesign, the chemical producer said it invested heavily in lab and test equipment along with expanding its team.  The addition of equipment, staff and an upgraded layout approximately doubles project capacity, it added.

Milliken plans to further expand its coating additives network by establishin labs in other regions such as India and Brazil.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist