Singapore Technical Center
At Home in Southeast Asia
WACKER opened its first Southeast Asian technical center in early 2007. Our Singapore experts help customers optimize products for emerging markets in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. And the center’s creative environment has already facilitated several innovations.
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The construction industry is ASEAN’s biggest growth market. The center’s close proximity to customers enables it to jointly develop tailored solutions wherever necessary.
“Such innovations are possible only if we are, so to speak, in the neighborhood,” argues Jürgen Herein, Wacker Chemicals managing director in Southeast Asia. With technical centers from São Paulo through Moscow and Dubai to Melbourne – Singapore is home to WACKER’s 15th center – joining a worldwide network that is stronger than ever. .
One of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing markets is the construction sector. As for energy efficiency, thermal-insulation requirements in tropical climates drastically differ from those in Central Europe: close to the equator, heat must be kept outside. Solutions developed jointly by WACKER and its customers must therefore be adapted to reflect regional conditions.
Customer Focus
This is Singapore technical center’s mantra for other industries and applications, too. Take, for instance, WACKER’s silicone emulsions for the textile and pulp/paper sectors. The latter industry cannot use the same additives in Vietnam or Indoniesia as in, for example, Canada.
In Southeast Asia, pulp for paper manufacturing is obtained from fast-growing trees, which create a tremendous amount of foam during paper production. In response, WACKER specialists considered these local circumstances while developing an innovative and highly effective foam-control agent.
A further area was added in spring 2008: “We’re redoubling our efforts to work with manufacturers of life-science and consumer-care products,” says Jürgen Herein. Among this sector’s latest innovations are silicone waxes featuring higher melting points. They make it possible, for example, that cosmetic products such as lipstick or foundation do not smear – even at 35 degrees C.
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Opened in early 2007, the Singapore technical center helps WACKER support ASEAN customers.
With its Singapore technical center, WACKER will continue to take the pulse of this increasingly important region – and develop its products to reflect this market’s needs.
In economic terms, Asia is playing an ever larger role: “With high double-digit sales growth, WACKER already generates nearly a third of its sales in Asia,” explained Group CEO Dr. Rudolf Staudigl at the opening of the Singapore technical center.