PADUA, Italy—Tubigomma Deregibus S.R.L. has reached an agreement with Chemours Co.—the DuPont spinoff firm—to use Chemours' Teflon PTFE resin exclusively as a liner in its rubber hose products.
The trademark licensing pact allows the Padua-based specialty hose manufacturer to mark the hoses as using the Chemours material, something that can be used as a competitive advantage, according to Andrea Deregibus, general manager and chief operating officer of Tubigomma, which does business as Tudertechnica.
“This is very good for us because this makes our company important not only in the eyes of the producer, but the distributor of the raw material,” Deregibus said. “We are using only Chemours resin to make our Teflon hose. It's a very important marketing tool for our distributors, especially because it gives warranty that our hose is made with the finest raw material you can get in the market.”
Thus far, Tudertechnica has introduced two Teflon-lined hoses using the Chemours material that are aimed at the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biotechnology and food industries. The products are the result of a joint research and development project with the Dutch firm Fluorotubing B.V.
The Tufluour PTFE Chem-brand offering is designed for the chemical and food industries, and the company claimed it minimizes the potential risk of migration of conveyed substances in chemical and food applications. The second is the Tufluor PTFE Pharm, which has similar attributes but designed for the pharmaceutical sector.
Deregibus said the Teflon-lined hoses are produced with a surface much smoother and with less micro-porosity compared with a pigmented fluoropolymer-lined hose. “The hose guarantees a consistency of purity in the substances that are transported,” he said. “In addition, there is a lower level of permeability and leaching.”
He added that the R&D effort with Fluorotunbin resulted in a co-extruded hose that has a thin tubing, giving the product more flexibility and making it easier to handle.
Tudertechnica introduced them first in Europe and unveiled them for the North American market at the recent NAHAD annual convention in Colorado Springs, Colo. Sales in the NAFTA region will be handled by CRP Industries Inc.'s Industrial Division, a master distributor that handles the Italian hose firm's sales in North America.
“Our mission is to give to our authorized distributors the right product to get in the market and differentiate themselves from the competition,” Deregibus said. “One of the most important value-add is not price; it's innovation and quality. ... We are looking to have the same success in North America that we have had in Europe.”