REINACH, Switzerland - Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, has officially inaugurated its new Global Center of Excellence for Surface & Coating Technology, which opened on March 15.

The new facility is based in Bradford, UK, at the location of Archroma's application laboratory for deposit control. It hosts the Global Product Manager for Surface & Coating and a team of application experts, all with close links to Archroma's research and development organization and sales teams around the globe. Over the last four months, the existing laboratory facilities have been extended, and state-of-the-art equipment for application development and measurement has been installed.

This investment emphasizes the commitment by Archroma to bring new technologies in the area of barrier and surface coating to the packaging market. At an opening ceremony, Beate Plueckhan, President Region EMEA, commented on the potential offered by this market, “Especially in the area of food packaging, consumers are looking for safe, convenient and sustainable packaging. This offers many opportunities to market new surface and coating solutions. With its technology and application know-how, Archroma is well positioned to participate more intensively in this growing market.”

The new application laboratory will also allow Archroma to quickly run application tests for packaging producers, as well as develop customized recipes for them.