MAERDY, South Wales—United Kingdom rubber compounder SPC Rubber has invested in a new mixing facility at its manufacturing plant in Rhondda Valley, South Wales, which is dedicated to color compounding.
The company has added a new nine-gallon mixer at the Rhondda Valley ultraclean factory, to produce "high quality, superior performance, colored elastomer compounds," SPC Rubber said in a Dec. 21 statement.
With complete cycle and temperature control and full access for cleaning to the mixer chamber, the mixer offers "excellent reproducibility," SPC Rubber said, noting that the equipment was particularly suited to the mixing of low volume compounds for critical markets.
"We continue to expand the production capability within the U.K., despite the challenging conditions in 2020," SPC managing director Paul Hallas said. "Overall the market demand for rubber compounds is strong and the range of applications continuing to rise."
The new mixer bridges the gap between the company's smaller mixing lines and its large one, he said.
"I believe U.K. manufacturing companies must continue to invest," he said. "Following Brexit we will inevitably be faced with new trading conditions next year and U.K. manufacturers must strive to continue to be market leaders in their industries."
The compounder developed several new colored aerospace (AMS) and food industry (FDA) elastomer compounds during 2020.
Opened in 2017, the Wales site accommodates a range of manufacturing orders, supplying batches from just 11 pounds to 680 pounds at a time. The new mixer will provide "intermediate batch volume," enabling cost-effective production level trials of new grades.
The facility also has its own technical development laboratory with both analytical and mechanical testing machines.
SPC Rubber also operates two technical rubber production plants in Bristol, U.K., and Barcelona, Spain.