Columbus’ ACS Rubber Expo 2004 proved to be a successful venture for Excel Polymer as potential customers learned more about what solutions Excel could provide them.

Excel focused on High Performance Elastomers and state-of-the-art technology at the expo, which also served as an excellent vehicle to announce the name change of Excel Polymers from the former PolyOne Elastomers and Performance Additives Group. Vince Cremona, Development Chemist, said many visitors to the expo were still learning about the acquisition and were excited about the change.

“We used the opportunity to get the word out that we are the largest compounder of HPE materials, and that customer responsiveness was one of our main goals as Excel Polymers,” Cremona said.

The demand for High Performance Elastomers is on the rise, as manufacturers demand reliability and longer service life for rubber components.

“HPE has always been part of our core competency at Excel,” said Vasu Kakulavar, Business Manager of High Performance Elastomers. “We are utilizing our mixing technology, global reach and pull-through marketing to help our customers grow their businesses. The market is looking for solutions beyond just neat polymer formulations to meet the growing demands of new, emerging specifications.”

More than 50 potential customers visited the site, learning more about Excel Polymer offerings. Project requests came from a variety of industries including automotive, aerospace, chemical processing, rolls, electrical/power generation, military, wire and cable and food/pharmaceuticals.

Many of these inquiries were for exciting possibilities for applications of HPEs. For example, potential customers sought solutions to problems such as finding a transformer seal that would prevent extractable materials to leach out into transfer oils, or the adherence of fluorelastomers to flourosilicones in the automotive industry.

Excel hoped to discuss with customers other applications for High Performance Elastomers at the expo. Both Cremona and Kakulavar said they believed the expo was a successful venture.

Two iPods were raffled off to visitors who visited the booth with specific issues regarding HPEs. Winners were Lou Mattina from Garlock Sealing Technologies and Cathy Innes from Hospira.

© 2004 EXCEL Polymers LLC.