November 16, 2015 Updated 11/16/2015
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Americhem Inc. Americhem Inc.’s Color Trends for 2016-2017 represents colors and textures it expects to be popular in the next two years.
U.S.-based materials maker Americhem Inc. is growing its presence in Europe and Asia — and also is looking to brighten up 2016 and 2017 with its new colors lineup.
The Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based firm this month is opening a new technical center at its site in Manchester, England. That project is part of “significant investment” that Americhem will make there in the next 12 months, President John Deignan said in a recent phone interview.
Existing lines will be upgraded in Manchester, Deignan said, allowing for a 40 to 50 percent increase in annual production capacity there. “This will be new technology for the European market,” he said. The site makes concentrates for the automotive, fibers and films markets.
The new tech center in Manchester gives customers the opportunity to develop products during a short visit and gives fiber makers access to testing, research and product development expertise.
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The center “features modern equipment designed to meet the rigorous requirements of customers in the synthetic fibers industry,” Europe/Middle East/Africa technical director Michael Frisch said in a news release.
Features of the new center include a fully equipped pigment lab with several extruders and feeders, in addition to dedicated fiber equipment. The center also has two fiber spinning lines, one low-speed spin line for nylon and polypropylene products and a low/high-speed line that covers the same resins, plus PET.
The availability of these lines assists customers in the product development process without interrupting production on their own equipment, officials said. Other color textile capabilities include two knitting machines, spectrophotometers and light cabinets.
The center can turn around customer samples in two weeks’ time or less. Customers can receive samples in several forms including masterbatch, cardwrap, knitted fabric or plastic plaque.
The Manchester facility was founded in 1995 as Americhem’s first plant outside of the U.S.
Americhem Inc. The range of colors in Americhem’s trends forecast.
Americhem also earlier this year doubled the size of its plant in Suzhou, China, to 80,000 square feet. In Suzhou, Americhem now has integrated product technology that it acquired from LTL Color Compounders Inc. in late 2014. LTL’s strength was in color and polymer alloy technology.
The European and Asian expansions are on top of a 3 million pound capacity increase earlier this year at Americhem’s headquarters site in Cuyahoga Falls. The firm accomplished this increase by adding two small lot manufacturing work cells and by making other improvements to the site’s manufacturing area. Americhem has seen increasing demand for smaller lot sizes of its masterbatch concentrate products, officials said.
On the colors front, Americhem revealed its 2016-17 Color Trends in September. It’s the firm’s seventh annual colors release. The new color families were developed by a committee of color trend specialists and are forecast to be popular based on global influences, pop culture and design trends, officials said in a news release.
Americhem worked with a design house in Milan, Italy, on the project. The group of colors also includes textures, finishes and effects. Each has a unique story to convey the emotions and context of the colors, officials added.
This year’s lineup was focused on the theme of a week in everyday life. The new color families are:
• Rush Hour, a bold palette of abrupt chaotic reds with deep dark browns.
• Office Diligence, neutral and dark, warm and traditional tones mixed with teals and bursts of color.
• Casual Friday, bright colors and achromatic hues to remind us of a relaxed atmosphere
• Night Life, dark, romantic accents of a candlelight dinner blended with brushes of the night sky.
• Welcome Distraction, the freedom of the weekend represented with bright colors.
• Sunday Brunch, calming pastels representing the beginning of a relaxing day.
Lead color trends specialist Audrey Barto said in the release that the new colors “will be at the forefront of product design and, therefore, at the leading edge of consumer preferences.” She added that colors in the new lineup “are appropriate for any industry interested in accenting their products with innovative and modern colors.”
Americhem added to its color production in late 2015 when it bought LTL Color Compounders Inc. of Morrisville, Pa. Americhem ranks as one of North America’s 30 largest compounders and concentrate makers, operating seven plants worldwide and posting annual sales of more than $ 250 million.
