UZWIL, Switzerland – The Grinding & Dispersion business unit (Advanced Materials division) of Bühler is merging its existing applications laboratories in Viernheim (Germany) and Uzwil (Switzerland) and creating an advanced Center of Competence (CoC) in Uzwil.

By merging its existing laboratories and creating a stronger CoC at its location in Uzwil, Bühler is also enhancing its capabilities in new fields of application, such as battery technology, as well as its traditional market segments. In addition, the business unit is adding to its portfolio of analytical competencies in the areas of suspensions and solids.

The merging of development, manufacturing and testing activities at a single site stands to generate a number of synergies. The optimized infrastructure of the new CoC will improve collaboration with the centralized research and development function of Bühler as well as with the organization’s process engineering experts. Interdisciplinary customer projects for developing high-viscosity products as well as low-viscosity dispersions can potentially be conducted simultaneously at a single site. Generally speaking, the merging of the existing laboratories enables the business unit to enhance its flexibility since it can increasingly use its available development, customer service, and sales resources for tests and training courses.

The company’s application center in Wuxi, China, is also being expanded into a CoC to satisfy the needs of the regional market. With its integrated machines, which have been developed at Bühler in Wuxi, products are available at the center that are specifically applied in the Asian market. Customers can expect to benefit from support by the regional application centers in Yokohama, Japan, and Mahwah, NJ.