The BASF site in Southfield, MI, hosted a grand opening/ribbon-cutting ceremony in late September for its new Plastics and Coatings Excellence (PACE) technical laboratory. The newly refurbished, 32,000-square-foot building represents an investment of approximately $20 million dollars and can accommodate up to 50 people engaged in research, development and technical service, to serve customers and encourage collaboration.
The laboratory will support the formulation needs for pigments, resins, performance and formulation additives that are used in transportation, industrial, furniture and floor coatings, and plastics applications. It centralizes laboratory operations for the Dispersions & Pigments Division’s Transportation, Industrial Coatings and Plastics (TICP) businesses, which had been operating from three different locations in the United States prior to the lab opening. At the opening ceremony, Greg Pflum, Vice President and General Manager of the BASF Midwest Hub, stated that the laboratory “brings together people, buildings and great solutions for BASF customers.”