Teknor Apex Nylon Division to be renamed Engineering Thermoplastics

Responding to the market need for high-performance engineering thermoplastic (ETP) products, Teknor Apex Company has begun the globalization of a broad range of technologies developed in Europe but until now not widely available in the Americas or Asia. Reflecting what will ultimately be an extensive worldwide product line expansion, the company’s Nylon Division has been renamed the Engineering Thermoplastics (ETP) Division.

The new ETP portfolio will leverage over 30 years of technology development from Plastic-Technologie-Service (PTS), a recent acquisition of Teknor Apex, with nine major technological platforms and more than 700 commercial ETP products. The first new ETP products that Teknor Apex will introduce are Creamid® ultra-high performance glass fiber reinforced polyamides, based on different polymer chemistry than widely used nylons like the company’s own Chemlon® products. Teknor Apex will manufacture Creamid products in the United States as well as in Europe.

These compounds will offer designers and processors enhanced capabilities for metal-replacement and other high-specification applications, according to Michael A. Roberts, vice president in charge of the ETP Division. In comparison with standard glass-filled nylons, Creamid compounds provide substantial improvements in physical properties, surface appearance, and moldability.

“These unique nylon materials deliver processing and physical properties that are superior to anything else currently available on a global scale, and dramatically better than typical PA66 compounded materials,” said Mr. Roberts.

Following the Creamid debut will come other PTS-developed engineering materials, including Duramid® polyamides, which exhibit similarly distinct improvements over Creamid products, as well as blends based on other diverse resins, specialized formulations with non-melting properties, electroplating, over-molding with thermoplastics elastomers (TPEs) and PEEK replacement resins.

“By combining unique technologies developed by PTS with those that we have long employed for nylon and other compounds, Teknor Apex is creating a global source of high-performance materials for automotive, electrical, military, and other demanding markets,” said Mr. Roberts. “As with our Chemlon products, the new high-performance compounds will be available worldwide, and we are always prepared to develop custom formulations and responsive customer support.”
Teknor Apex manufactures Chemlon compounds in the U.S. and Singapore.

Founded in 1986, the custom compounder PTS became a Teknor Apex company on March 31, 2016. Its portfolio of ETP compounds includes several types of polyamide plus PBT, polycarbonate (PC), and PC / ABS blends. In addition, PTS manufactures a wide range of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), including block copolymers based on a number of polymer chemistries, TPVs, and polymer blends. The PTS plant is in Steinsfeld, Germany.