Company headlines

BASF Corp., Mount Olive, NJ, said it has been named one of Whirlpool Corp.'s best U.S. suppliers, an award given to the top 2% of the 645 companies that supply materials, components and products to the giant home-appliance manufacturer. BASF said it supplies Whirlpool with coatings, polystyrene for appliance components and polyurethanes for insulation.

Hedwin Corp., Baltimore, announced the launch of a website (Hedwin.TV), offering a blend of video, audio and flash presentations on the company's products and services. The company is a supplier of packaging and liner products.

ICI Paints, Cleveland, announced the launch of a new website for the company's North American business, designed to "establish an anchor for the ICI Paints brand in North America," the company said. The site, located at www.icipaints.com/na, offers link-driven connections to the parent company in the UK and the company's paint brands in the United States and Canada, including Glidden, Ralph Lauren and Dulux.

Keystone Aniline Corp., Inman, SC, opened a 45,000-square-foot production facility in Inman. The facility replaces a smaller plant and houses milling, grinding and high-speed dispersion operations; pilot-scale production equipment; and a quality-control and customer-service applications lab. Keystone Aniline is a manufacturer of pigment dispersions, color concentrates and coatings products.

King Industries Inc., Norwalk, CT, has appointed E.T. Horn Co., La Mirada, CA, exclusive distributor in the western United States. King Industries is a supplier of catalysts; polyether polyols; urethane diols; dispersants; rust and corrosion inhibitors; polyurethane crosslinkers; rheology and surface-control agents; and other additives.

PPG Industries Inc., Pittsburgh, said its PPG Architectural Finishes business introduced "Visions at a Glance," a CD-based software program designed to allow homeowners, painting contractors and architects to preview paints and color schemes and choose colors and combinations. The program allows users to apply paints electronically to digital images of their projects or to a pre-existing digital library of home interiors and exteriors. PPG Architectural Finishes manufactures the Manor Hall, Porter and Olympic brands of paint and stains.

Sud-Chemie Inc., Louisviille, announced a settlement of a patent-infringement suit filed against the company by Southern Clay Products Inc. involving rheological-additives products. Terms of the settlement remain confidential, Sud-Chemie said in the announcement.

Wayne Pigment Corp., Milwaukee, announced the start of operations at the company's new dispersion facility in Milwaukee. The facility, with an annual capacity of 15 million pounds, produces solventborne and aqueous dispersions of strontium and zinc chromate, the company said.

Union Process, Akron, OH, announced the launch of a redesigned website (unionprocess.com) offering updated navigation capabilities and reorganized information on the company's grinding and dispersion equipment, grinding media, attritor-refurbishing services, laboratory testing, and tolling services.