Invista Nylon Chemicals (China) Co. plans to establish its new Asia Innovation Center at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP).
As its first R&D center for nylon 6,6 product development in Asia, the project, with an investment of more than $15 million, marks the company’s next milestone in growing the nylon 6,6 value chain in China. It will also allow Invista to advance innovation to better meet evolving customer demands across the region.
Invista’s lab will be among the first at the Shanghai International Chemical New Materials Innovation Center. The 26,000-square-foot facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art polymer research and development equipment and will include polymer compounding extrusion and injection molding capability, and analytical and mechanical test equipment to characterize polymer resin properties.
The Asia Innovation Center, located near Invista’s integrated nylon 6,6 production facility in SCIP, will promote the company’s comprehensive nylon 6,6 capabilities in China–R&D, production, sales and technical services–to provide customers with high quality nylon products and solutions.
“The markets in China play an increasingly important role in Invista’s global business, and the plan to establish the Asia Innovation Center in Shanghai is a clear example of our commitment to further supplying strong local and regional demand for high-quality nylon products as China is also expected to become the world’s largest nylon consumer,” Pete Brown, Invista’s executive vice president of nylon polymer, said.
Angela Dou, director of intermediates, Asia, for Invista, said innovation continues to be a strong area of focus for the company and its customers as they work together to broaden the possibilities for product development in engineering polymers.
“We anticipate that the Asia Innovation Center will enable us to quickly respond to local customers’ needs and facilitate downstream application upgrades,” Dou said.
Invista will continue to engage stakeholders as plans for the Asia Innovation Center advance and anticipates the lab will be fully operational by the end of 2021.