BASF invests to grow footwear segment across globe

WYANDOTTE, Mich.—BASF recently invested in its global footwear presence, opening new footwear development centers in the U.S. and Thailand.

It also plans to begin operations at a new Footwear Innovation Center in Taiwan in 2020, and expanded the Footwear Development Center in Italy.

The new footwear development center in the U.S. is located in Wyandotte, where the North American business is located. It was commissioned in April.

"It was already a global R&D center for other parts of BASF so it made sense to also include footwear capabilities," said Pete Zorney, BASF business director consumer for North America.

The goal for both footwear development centers is to engage with customers and help them innovate more quickly in footwear.

BASF added two new positions at the footwear development center in Wyandotte. It currently has more than 2,200 employees in Michigan and more than 20,000 in North America, including Central America and the Caribbean.

The company installed two state-of-the-art pieces of machinery in Wyandotte: a Desma low pressure injection machine and a Gusbi low pressure pour machine.

The Desma low pressure injection machine "is the latest in polyurethane injection technology that allows multiple system injects into the same slot, has a color cart for pigment additions, and an additive cart to allow for multiple system development," Zorney said.

"There is also a Gusbi low pressure pour machine. Again, the latest and greatest technology that is designed to make full shoes or boots and includes a plaque mold for parts testing," he said.

In BASF's "Racing to the Future" video, Michael Krupa, technical manager at BASF in Wyandotte, said, "Nothing in the footwear industry stands still. It's a constant race to develop new technologies that anticipate new trends and changing demands.

"We are the partner of choice because of the power of our connections. Technology connected with experience. Knowledge connected with action. Ideas connected with people. These connections will bring exciting innovation to the footwear industry."

He added that in the new footwear development center, BASF can make full shoes so they can test them there and with their customers.

Zorney said Asia is a growth area for footwear and there continues to be a large manufacturing footprint there for the OEMs and tier suppliers.

"We picked Taiwan as the location for our Footwear Innovation Center as we have many highly innovative partners in the country and there is a great ecosystem of designers and innovators," he said.

BASF also has a production site in Chunghwa, Taiwan, which will play a key role in helping it meet the rising demands from the industry.

An example of collaboration with customers is Enchi Shen, a Taiwanese fashion designer, for the New York Fashion Week, Zorney said. BASF helped Shen's Seven Crash bring its futuristic vision to life through eco-fashion, utilizing two of BASF's eco-conscious materials: Freeflex, a thermoplastic polyurethane fiber made out of Elastollan; and Haptex, a sustainable PU for synthetic leather.

"We closely work with customers all along the footwear value chain and as their needs and the industry grows, BASF will be there to grow with them," Zorney said.

Looking into the future, "BASF aims to be the world's leading chemical company and bring our tagline of 'We create chemistry for a sustainable future' to life," he added. "When it comes to footwear—we will continue being the footwear innovation partner of choice for OEMs."