Porsche and Michelin support Indonesian rubber plantation farmers

Stuttgart. Porsche and Michelin are committed to the sustainable extraction of natural rubber. The commitment of the sports car manufacturer and the tyre producer to transparency and better working conditions in the extraction of raw materials is demonstrated by the “CASCADE” (Committed Actions for Smallholders Capacity Development) project. The long-term partners Porsche and Michelin want to support small plantation farmers in Sumatra in Indonesia in extracting rubber. Education and training on cultivation practices, biodiversity and work safety all have the aim of achieving long-term improvements in the living conditions and economic situations of the smallholders.

For Porsche, responsibility begins a long way from the factory gates. We take a holistic approach to sustainability. Our supply chain and the extraction of raw materials are important factors here,” says Barbara Frenkel, Member of the Executive Board for Procurement at Porsche AG. “We take responsibility for our impact on the rubber extraction regions in Indonesia. We want to improve people’s lives through projects conducted in the region. Smallholders form the heart of a sustainable supply chain for natural rubber. That's why we are supporting them to achieve a decent standard of living while adhering to good environmental and social practices.”

Indonesia is one of the world’s most important rubber production regions. The rubber extraction region in the Jambi province is very rural. Porsche and Michelin identified risks to the sustainability of the supply chain in rubber extraction using an app specially developed for this purpose and by conducting discussions with market participants in the region. Rubber is used in a great many industrial products as a raw material. As an automotive manufacturer, Porsche also contributes to global rubber consumption through the use of rubber in tyres as well as in a wide range of vehicle parts.

“CASCADE is an example of Michelin’s commitment to a sustainable natural rubber supply chain that protects the environment and improves livelihoods. We are happy to be working with Porsche on this ambitious project. For almost 20 years, we have enjoyed a close partnership in the tyre business, which we are now also expanding to the area of sustainability,” says Hélène Paul, Senior Vice President, Chief Procurement Officer at Michelin.

CASCADE is one of the first support projects in the world to start at the lowest level of the natural rubber supply chain. The scheme will see 1,000 smallholders trained by local partners to make extraction methods more environmentally compatible and efficient. This makes a considerable contribution to the lasting improvement of living conditions of smallholders and their families. Porsche and Michelin are investing around one million euros in the project, which will initially run until 2024.

Further information and photo material can be found in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

About AAS Auto Service 

AAS Auto Service (AAS), the sole authorised importer and distributor of Porsche cars in Thailand, operates from four world-class Porsche sales locations across Bangkok. It is an accredited Porsche Classic Partner, the only one in the Porsche Asia Pacific region. Having 12 Porsche Certified Gold Technicians and nine Porsche Certified Silver Technicians underlines the strong technical and Aftersales competency of AAS, which has been recognised over the last few years with the global Porsche Service Excellence Award. Over 30 years, AAS continues to practice the company policy “AAS Looking After You and Your Car”, in order to achieve the mission of “AAS The Name You Can Trust”.

Dow Thailand announces a 100% acrylic polymer for waterborne pavement markings that offers improved safety, durability, and ease of use

BANGKOK – 22 October 2021 – Dow Thailand Group (Dow), has unveiled in Thailand an innovative, non-flammable, non-hazardous water-based traffic paint technology. FASTRACK™ Technology offers affordable, water-based, quick-drying, durable coatings that improve driver safety, especially at night. FASTRACK™ Technology is now available to the Thai market.

FASTRACK™ Technology is a waterborne traffic paint innovation developed in the overseas research laboratories of Dow. Excellent key features include 100% acrylic polymer technology that offers fast drying even under conditions of high humidity or low air circulation.

FASTRACK™ Technology offers excellent durability and enhanced retention of glass beads that benefits extended reflectivity and night-time visibility. It also offers low volatile content (Low-VOC) that facilitates the formulation of coatings to address stringent environmental standards. FASTRACK™ Technology, as a water-based system, offers advantages in worker health and safety and reduced air pollution. Traditional traffic paint systems have been solvent based and/or hot melt that require high energy needs (200 °C). FASTRACK™ Technology is applied at ambient conditions and spray equipment is readily cleaned with water.

Puay Koon Chia, Asia Pacific Commercial Director for Dow Coating Materials said “At Dow, we see the role of business as a catalyst for change – as a driver of innovation that protects life and the environment, while helping create business growth. In alignment with our 2025 Sustainability Goals, we try to spark sustainable innovation and create shared value by solving social problems through our own technology and expertise.”

Compared to traditional systems, FASTRACK™ Technology offers a reduction in difficult and hazardous on-site work processes. FASTRACK™ Technology is already used in countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. In Thailand, paints formulated with FASTRACK™ Technology is currently used on airport runways, aprons, and aircraft parking lots at some of the major airports of the country. “It’s exciting to see waterbased airport marking paints applied in Thailand… the same innovative technology being used in highway markings which started in the USA 3 decades ago” added Yan Kit Kwok, Southeast Asia Commercial Director

For more details, please go to: www.Dow.com

About Dow 

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility, and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $39 billion in 2020. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.

Dow joins forces with Jaguar Racing to develop next-generation EV for Formula E

Bringing its 100 years of experience in automotive to Formula E, Dow officially joins Jaguar Racing for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. As a partner, Dow engineers will team up alongside Jaguar Racing to help innovate creative solutions for the unique demands of next-generation vehicles.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is a groundbreaking single-seater motorsport competition that uses only electric cars. Alongside partners at Jaguar Racing, Dow is accelerating material development in real time through our MobilityScience™ platform, introducing a wide range of polyolefin, polyurethane, acrylic, specialty chemical and silicone technologies that advance safety, comfort, range and low carbon solutions for automobiles on the track and off.

The Jaguar website reveals that “Formula E remains a key priority for Jaguar Land Rover and the company’s Destination Zero journey. As the only all-electric world championship, Formula E allows us to test and develop new electric vehicle technologies in a high-performance environment. It continues to be the test-bed for our Race to Innovate mission that will help shape our electric future – a future that Jaguar is passionate about, and dedicated to for the benefit of our society, the changing landscape of mobility, sustainability and our customers.”

James Barclay, Jaguar Racing Team Director, said, “This is Jaguar Racing’s fifth season in the world’s fastest-growing global motorsport. The team have worked harder than ever to create the most efficient, state-of-the-art race car and it is fantastic to be able to unveil it to our customers, fans and partners. We’d like to extend a warm welcome to our new partner Dow and look forward to creating a new chapter of success in Formula E together.”

“Great partnerships are based on shared values and vision for the future,” said Jim Fitterling, Dow Chairman and CEO. “The Formula E circuit, and our new relationship with Jaguar racing in particular, aligns with our ambition to bring more sustainable solutions to society through an innovative and inclusive spirit. As a global materials science leader, we look forward to advancing vehicle electrification through our MobilityScience platform on this collaborative journey to a lower carbon economy.”

In Thailand, Dow has developed and introduced various materials and chemicals to the Thai automobile industry for a long time. The main product groups are polyolefin, polyurethane, acrylic, elastomers and silicones for producing various interior and exterior components and inside the engine compartment, such as airbags, seat cushions, electrical and electronic systems, car batteries and so on. Today, Dow is a leading developer of a wide range of innovations for EVs, especially electric vehicle batteries and materials that make the electric vehicle structure lighter. Dow's official partnership to develop electric racing cars with a world-class team like Jaguar is working to bring new technologies and innovations from the track to EVs on the roads around the world and in Thailand.

More information about Dow’s MobilityScience™ platform is available on www.dow.com/en-us/brand/mobilityscience.html

New Geely front end carrier to use innovative lightweight solution from LANXESS

• Modern lightweight design
• High modulus and high flow PA6 base material – Durethan BKV50H2.0 EF
• Focus on material characteristics and optimized costs
• Superior mechanical performance

Smart designed frond end carrier made from the Durethan BKV50H2.0 EF polyamide 6 compound is part of latest-generation automatic structural parts from various carmakers.

Cologne, September 30, 2021 – Chinese car manufacturer Geely has selected specialty chemicals company LANXESS as supplier of choice for an innovative front-end carrier (FE) structural component, which will be used in a coming passenger car model. The component’s design concept is a state-of-the-art hybrid design solution going beyond the traditional square/rectangular form FE structure.

While the lower cooler mounting is in sheet metal, the complex upper member was developed using the highly filled and heat stabilized Durethan BKV50H2.0 EF, a material well suited for structural components that require high stiffness and strength. The full plastic design for the upper section caters to a wide range of requirements of this multi component assembly. The concept not only demonstrates LANXESS’ competence of hybrid solution application in automotive lightweight structures and the advantage of using high modulus thermoplastic material such as Durethan BKV50H2.0 EF, but also provides a cost-effective solution to achieve multiple saving targets.

Challenging competition environment

LANXESS was chosen by Geely as material supplier based on its expertise in handling the part design as well as the suitability of its Durethan polyamide material. “Yet designing a plastic structural component and providing the right material is not enough.

Considering the overall market background, customer expectations, understanding the tasks on hand and preparing different potential design proposals for the FE structure was also key in developing this project,” Add Tsui, project manager at the High Performance Materials (HPM) business unit, said.

High modulus material

LANXESS engineering plastics are designed to support customers in achieving maximum component performance and efficient processing. To meet these objectives, the company established the Pocan and Durethan EF and XF product lines, a broad range of easy-flow polybutylene terephthalates (PBT) and polyamide 6 and 66 grades. “EF” stands for “EasyFlow,” “XF” for “XtremeFlow.” In addition, LANXESS has developed high-modulus thermoplastics with glass fiber contents of 50% and more. These products display unusually high stiffness and strength and, despite their high filler content, can still be processed as easily and efficiently as comparable standard materials. “Smart materials offer attractive advantages for design and manufacturing provide designers with entirely new options”, said Wei Lin, LANXESS key account manager.

LANXESS comprehensive part testing services conclude new application developments to ensure highest safety and reliable performance according to customer specifications and in correlation with LANXESS advanced CAE methodologies.

Support in component design and part validation

Apart from high-tech thermoplastics, LANXESS offers extensive know-how and experience, as well as state-of-the-art design and simulation methods, and part evaluation & testing. Its experts actively contribute their engineering know-how to customer projects. HiAnt, the integrated service package for lightweight solutions, aims to help our customers achieve maximum performance while minimizing weight. To pursue optimized design, mathematical simulation methods are outstanding instruments for the design and optimization of parts, and they deliver fairly accurate statements on part behavior. When it comes to making a definitive statement on the functional capability of parts, however, it is generally still necessary to conduct practice-oriented tests on prototypes.

For this reason, most OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) prescribe stringent corresponding acceptance tests and specifications.

LANXESS has a state-of-the-art test laboratory and the corresponding specialist employees and can offer an extensive range of testing facilities.

Geely Holding Group is a global innovative technology group engaged in the design, R&D, production, sales, and service of vehicles, powertrains, and key components, as well as mobility services and digital technologies. The cutting-edge technologies comprise new energy, shared mobility, vehicle networks, autonomous driving, vehicle microchips, low orbit satellites, and laser communication as it lays the foundation for a future multi-dimensional mobility ecology.

Headquartered in Hangzhou, China, Geely Holding today has more than 120,000 global employees. It owns a number of brands including Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Proton Cars, Lotus, London Electric Vehicle Company. It is also the largest shareholder in Daimler AG and the second largest shareholder in Volvo AB.

About LANXESS
LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.1 billion in 2020. The company currently has about 14,300 employees in 33 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.

LANXESS China
On January 31, 2005, the company was initially listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and LANXESS Chemical (China) Co., Ltd. officially started operations. LANXESS now has 15 subsidiaries, 7 R&D centers and 8 production sites with around 1,500 employees in Greater China. LANXESS works closely with its local partners to develop market-oriented solutions that meet local market needs.