By Nina Ying Sun
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
Published: April 24, 2014 2:34 pm ET
Updated: April 24, 2014 3:56 pm ET
Image By: Nina Ying Sun
Mark Crist holding the new solar charger made with PolyOne's reSound biopolymer
SHANGHAI — PolyOne Specialty Engineered Materials is opening an innovation Center in Shanghai's Jinqiao development zone that will serve as its new Asia Pacific headquarters.
Mark Crist, vice president of global key accounts as well as VP of Asia for PolyOne Corp., announced the plan on April 22 at a pre-Chinaplas event and said the center is scheduled to open by the end of 2014.
The facility will consolidate PolyOne's Specialty Engineered Materials' regional business resources, including research, marketing and management, among others in Asia Pacific into one operation center, integrating its existing operations in Suzhou, China, and Singapore.
“We expect the realignment will be seamless from our customers’ perspectives,” Crist said.
Located 7 kilometers from PolyOne's color and additives innovation center in Shanghai, the new center enable PolyOne to better collaborate across business segments in its development efforts for the Asia Pacific market, he added.
To illustrate the type of collaboration PolyOne has achieved with Chinese local customers, Crist showed a solar charger by Shanghai-based XD Design. It's a second-generation model of the Sunshine solar charge PolyOne highlighted at last year's 2013 Chinaplas in Guangzhou.
The new version, inspired by the shape of gingko leaves, contains up to 50 percent bioplastics — with “l(fā)eaves” made with PolyOne's reSound bioresin and a bamboo stem. This new product has now entered the production phase.
Targeting the demand in China to protect brand integrity, PolyOne also is launching its Percept technologies in the Asia Pacific region. A full-spectrum portfolio of formulations and consultative services, the Percept line can help brand owners to reduce potential risks and loss of revenue from counterfeit products in the consumer goods, medical devices, packaging and consumer electronics markets in China and beyond.
Chinaplas 2014 also marks PolyOne's global launch of LubriOne PEEK products for metal-replacement applications in electrical power tools. The lighter-weight, self-lubricated, semi-crystalline formulation of polyetheretherketone also offers excellent mechanical properties. Additional applications include industrial and automotive bushings, bearing cages for multiple industries, and automotive bearing thrust washers.
PolyOne's ColorMatrix business is rolling out its newest liquid color system at Chinaplas this week in Shanghai. The new product can help create and order custom colorants quickly, reducing development and supply turnaround time from weeks to days - or even hours, the company said.
PolyOne currently has nine manufacturing facilities in Asia, eight of which are in China. | 
