Lanxess expertise

Lanxess presented their speciality products for the manufacture of high-quality leathers under the motto 'Energizing Chemistry for Leather'. Dr Bernhard Wehling, head of the leather business unit, stressed: 'Over the past few years, cooperation with our partners in the market in the field of research, production and marketing has already played an important role in enabling us to offer our customers attractive services.' As an example, he cited the partnership with Rohm and Haas Corp of Philadelphia, USA, whereby Rohm and Haas are responsible for the research, development and production of a number of speciality chemicals, which are then marketed by Lanxess. Lanxess also have a sales cooperation agreement with Atlas Refinery Inc, Newark, New Jersey, USA, manufacturers of fatliquoring agents, an arrangement that has already proved successful in several countries. The specialists in the Leather Business Unit have many years of experience and to ensure that customers derive maximum benefit from this collective know-how, it has been decided to pool the company's expertise in the dyestuffs sector and harmonise the product range worldwide. Since February 2004, Gustavo Adrian Defeo has had global responsibility for the technical marketing of leather dyestuffs used in the wet end. A new dyestuff analysis laboratory has been set up in St Croce sull'Arno in Italy to support him in his work. The applications development department in Leverkusen, which is responsible for finishing agents worldwide, will continue to handle dyestuffs from the Levaderm range. Product Development & Application (PDA) is a new organisational unit within the Business Unit which is designed to ensure fast and efficient customer service by combining the know-how of a research and development department with that of the technical marketing and applications development departments. PDA is headed by Dr Wolfgang Wenzel. Only recently, around €400,000 were invested in state-of-the art machinery for the applications development department, including a modern spraying unit with a high-performance dryer, a toggle dryer with expanding frame, a through-feed embossing machine and a buffing line with dust removal machine.