Holland Colors Americas Inc. has expanded its plant in Richmond, Ind., to significantly broaden the silicone end of the firm's business.
The company has added about 12,000 square feet to the facility, bringing it to about 72,000 square feet, to handle silicone rubber colorant production, said Mark Abramowicz, silicone industry manager, and Joseph Gleeson, North American sales manager. They discussed the expansion at the International Silicone Conference.
Holland Colors was formed in 1986 and began manufacturing in 1987. It expanded and gravitated to the rubber side with liquid silicone rubber and high-temperature vulcanization colorants and pigments recently, Abramowicz said.
That move ultimately led to the expansion of the Richmond site, he added.
The wholly owned subsidiary of Holland Colours N.V., headquartered in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, primarily had produced pigments and dispersions for the thermoplastics industry and up until three years ago left silicone in the hands of its parent company.
However, customer needs and growth projects spurred the firm to expand into silicone pigment and dispersion production, the executives said.
The officials anticipate that end of the business will grow rapidly because the company has a great deal of expertise in the area of rubber silicones, much of it gleaned from its parent company. Holland Colours has been in business since 1979.
Holland Colors' newest products are aimed at a number of different industries, including building and construction, packaging and elastomers, Gleeson said.
The rubber side of its operation currently is producing Holcosil LSR, aimed at the liquid silicone market, and by the fourth quarter will be making Holcosil HTV for the high-consistency rubber market.
Holcosil HTV is in the final development stage at the parent company's 150,000-sq.-ft. complex in Holland.
``Holcosil HTV will not be a me-too product, it will be a premium product,'' Abramowicz said.
Holland Colours N.V. is made up of three divisions-Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
The Americas unit is based in Richmond and has another manufacturing operation in Mexico. Between the three businesses, the company can service the globe, Gleeson said.
``We're basically all profit centers and separate entities,'' he said. ``We all work together from a technology standpoint'' and all technology is made available for every division, he said.