WACKER Opens International Training Center for Silicone Applications in Japan

Munich and Tsukuba, Mar 24, 2017

Wacker Chemie AG is strengthening its presence in Japan. Today, it has opened a new WACKER ACADEMY training center in Tsukuba, near Tokyo. The center primarily offers seminars on silicone products for the automotive, electronics, sealant and personal-care sectors. At Tsukuba, WACKER manufactures silicone products through its joint venture, Wacker Asahikasei Silicone (AWS). It also operates a silicone-coatings competence center there. With the addition of the WACKER ACADEMY, the site now combines under one roof not only production, R&D and application technology, but also a training center for WACKER’s silicones.

“Our new training center in Tsukuba is another milestone in our growth strategy for Asia, particularly for Japan,” said Christian Hartel of WACKER’s Executive Board during the opening ceremony. The Munich-based chemical company’s new WACKER ACADEMY center will reinforce the company’s leading market and technology position for high-quality silicone solutions and will strengthen its local expertise in R&D, application technology and customer support, added Hartel. The center’s seminar program is specifically tailored to market needs in Japan and Asia as a whole. “Thanks to this unique Japanese facility, we can generate high added value for our local customers and partners and expand our technical expertise in the region.”

Hiroshi Yoshida, Lead Executive Officer of the joint venture partner Asahi Kasei Corporation, is convinced: “WACKER ACADEMY is a highly effective tool for responding to the sophisticated demands of Japanese customers. I anticipate that the facility will boost AWS’s growth.”

Specialty silicones from WACKER are used in products ranging from airbag coatings to skin creams. “WACKER ACADEMY workshops and seminars are ideal for showing how we tailor the versatile properties of our silicones to a customer’s specific needs,” explained the head of WACKER SILICONES, Robert Gnann, in his speech. The center focuses on specialty silicones, he added. They are used for coating technical textiles and as optical lenses in LEDs, for example. The center also offers seminars on personal-care products, release coatings, electronic applications and sealants.

By having production, R&D labs and a training center all under one roof, WACKER is ideally positioned for supporting customers in the region. Seminar participants benefit from being so close to R&D facilities, since they have access to training labs with state-of-the-art equipment. This allows them to perform extensive practical exercises alongside their theoretical sessions. As a result, the WACKER ACADEMY is an ideal, industry-specific platform for networking among customers, distributors and WACKER specialists.

Wacker Asahikasei Silicone

Wacker Asahikasei Silicone Co., Ltd. (AWS) was founded in 1999 by WACKER, the Munich-based chemical group, and by Asahi Kasei Corporation of Japan. At Tsukuba (near Tokyo), the joint venture produces silicone emulsions and solid and liquid silicone rubber for the Japanese market. The 30,000-square-meter production site is also home to the Tsukuba technical center. Founded in 2014, it provides technical support to customers and tailors products to local market requirements.