The Formulated Polymers Blog

Formulated Polymers take steps to ensure continuity of supply despite manufacturing shutdowns in China

Will it happen? Won’t it happen? Will it be an organised deal, or no deal? What on earth is Brexit, and what do we all do about it? At Formulated Polymers, we have a plan. Let’s take a look.

In the closing weeks of 2018, few people can comfortably predict how – in exact terms – Brexit will impact on the normal working regulations of any industry in years to come. The first thing to say is that should the UK secure the implementation period that has been much-vaunted by the government from March 2019, nothing will immediately change. So, this means that anyone who purchases textiles that meet the current EU regulations will be able to do so with full confidence until 2021 at minimum.

Bromine based flame retardants (FR’s) are very efficient and are widely used in coatings for textiles for upholstery manufacture. Combined with other materials (e.g. antimony trioxide) brominated compounds are used on a vast range of textiles to meet the stringent requirements of the UK Fire and Furnishing Regulations. Brominated FR’s make up a significant proportion of textile coating compounds and as a result any fluctuation in the price or availability has a major effect on compound prices.

On the 16th of October 2018, Synthomer announced the closure of Revertex Malaysia. Manufacturing at the Kluang plant will cease at the end of December 2018.

We have recently invested in a new automation system from Spiroflow, one of a series of infrastructure improvements aimed at reducing costs, increasing order flexibility and improving turnaround time. The new system allows us to automate the formulation process, thus reducing the need for manual handling and giving us greater flexibility over our shift pattern.

On a slightly different note, we would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about one of our stalwarts of Formulated Polymers albeit not of the human kind but of the animal kind!

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new website, expected to come online this week. The new site has been extensively expanded and restructured to provide added content, free resources and an improved user interface. You will be able to access all our major products and services from an intuitive navigation menu on the homepage, making it even easier to find the information you need.

Here is a summary of what you can expect from the new website…