An event in Frankfurt dedicated to performances and appearance in modern cars

Experts from throughout the automotive industry, from molders to OEMs, joined PolyOne for its Automotive Insight Forum on June 8 in Frankfurt, Germany. The event provided an open forum to discuss trends, manufacturing challenges and potential solutions, and to foster continued collaboration.

The automotive event was built around four main themes that addressed challenges facing the automotive industry: lightweighting, aesthetics, electrification and perceived value.

“These Innovation Forums are one of the many ways PolyOne interacts with its customers to achieve win-win situations. The events spur intense discussion about trends in an industry, about the challenges our customers face, and lead to talks about potential solutions to those challenges”, explained Christoph Palm, VP and general manager Europe, Color & Additives, at PolyOne.

Many of the presentations from PolyOne highlighted ways in which specialty polymers could delight car buyers while also solving challenges faced by car manufacturers. For example, one of the Smartbatch solutions from PolyOne includes special additive technology that makes a part’s surface appear to be covered with fabric. For car manufacturers, this specialty from PolyOne enables the design of vehicles at different price points, and so helps the OEM to appeal to a broader audience of potential buyers. PolyOne’s Smartbatch formulations combine a functional additive plus brilliant color in a single concentrate, simplifying customers’ logistics and manufacturing.

Another example highlighted during the Insight Forum is an OnCap anti-static additives solution formulated to deliver anti-dust performance. Thermoplastics tend to attract dust, which is a nuisance to car buyers but also to car dealers, and during manufacturing. Reducing dust collection on interior surfaces can increase consumer satisfaction, save dealers’ time and expense in cleaning the cars on their lots, and reduce or eliminate the additional cleaning steps taken during manufacturing.

This specialty solution from PolyOne adds value throughout the automotive supply chain with an excellent balance of performance, processability, and cost effectiveness. Depending on a carmaker’s requirements, PolyOne offers a medium-term solution formulated to prevent dust collection for up to two years, as well as a solution delivering permanent anti-dust performance in low humidity environments.