Benjamin Schäffner, received his PhD in Chemistry at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Germany in 2009. After a postdoctoral stay in the USA, he joined Evonik in 2011 in the central R&D unit. In 2015 he became Technical Manager Comfort Foams for China & Asia in the business line Comfort & Insulation in Shanghai. In 2018 he moved back to Germany to take over the position as Head of Strategy for the business line and later for the newly formed Specialty Additives Division. Since January 2021 he is back in China as Business Director for Comfort & Insulation.
Please see the attached link for video greeting from Mr. Benjamin Schäffner: v.qq.com/x/page/d3263dcgsx0.html.
In July 2021, PUdaily had the honor to interview Mr. Benjamin Schäffner, the Business Director for Comfort & Insulation business line of Evonik Group in Greater China, about the innovation and development achievements of Evonik and its polyurethane business.
1. Q: Please introduce the company briefly. And what kinds of products and services is Evonik providing to the PU industry?
A: Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. We are active in more than 100 countries around the world and go far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for our customers. We are doing this for one common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.
This is also true for our Comfort & Insulation business line. For more than 50 years, we are focusing on additives for the polyurethane (PU) industry. We have a unique additives portfolio providing products ranging from surfactants over metal and amine catalysts to special performance enablers, curatives and release agents. Further, we have a global network of production facilities and our supply and technical services reaches customers in all regions. This makes us an ideal partner for global and regional PU material producers.
2. Q: Evonik continues to deliver strong financial performance in the post-epidemic era. What measures did you take in 2020 to ensure the continued growth of earnings in the context of COVID-19 pandemic?
A: The strategy that Evonik has pursued systematically over the past 20 months is paying off, especially in the present crisis. Thanks not least to the steady portfolio transformation towards more resilient specialty businesses, our company has become more robust. Today, specialty businesses represent around 80% of Evonik’s earnings. Also, with regard to costs, Evonik made good progress. The streamlined organizational set up and high cost discipline is currently helping us to stabilize earnings in the coronavirus crisis.
In the end markets for polyurethanes, we have seen additionally a shift of customers’ buying behavior to invest more into their houses like furniture and appliances during 2020.
Besides the strong impact of the pandemic in our daily life and the health systems, it put a lot of stress on global supply chains. Evonik has been able to dampen this impact and continued to be a reliable partner to customers worldwide with its global production footprint. In Asia we operate plants for silicones & amines in Shanghai and Nanjing, as well as further plants in Singapore and Japan. While doing the daily business, Evonik is paying highest attention to take precautionary measures to ensure best health and safety for our employees globally. This all is rewarded by the good results of the company – also in the first quarter of 2021.
3. Q: How do you anticipate the consumer trends of local PU industry in the following years? And how will Evonik respond to these opportunities and challenges?
A: We see that customers ask for services beyond the product itself. These services are becoming increasingly important for the success of our customers. They range from production and product safety, as well as special solutions for logistics, and support on regulatory and documentation requirements.
In all these areas we have a leading position leveraging our comprehensive portfolio. Our technical experts are in constant exchange with all industry stakeholders. In discussions with associations, customers, and end-consumers we learn about latest trends, regulatory changes and anticipate the need for new products very early. One example are our long-lasting collaborations with leading PU machinery producers. Recently we have invited our customers to visit a joint seminar with Hennecke to inform about latest product and machinery solutions. In the last decades we have shown that constant product innovation helps us to keep our leading position. We are the frontrunner to develop surfactants & amines with very low levels of residual volatiles components. Such rather hidden product and service performance will also play a dominant role in China. We are committed to this development since we can leverage our long global experience and adopt it to the Chinese market requirements.
At the same time, we also see that our Chinese customers are going global. For this they need a reliable global partner who can support them in all regions with supplies and services. With our global business coverage, we welcome these discussions and support our customers in their expansion activities.
4. Q: With a history of more than 170 years, Evonik is a leading global chemical company. How do you promote sustainability and remain innovative in PU industry?
A: We are fully conscious of the impact our activities have on the environment and society. Sustainability aspects are involved within all business decisions and there’s always space for innovative solutions. Evonik generates 35% of sales with products and solutions with a clearly positive sustainability profile that is above or even well above the market reference level, which is called “Next Generation Solutions”.
In the PU industry, sustainability is also a strong growth driver. The use of PU in construction and appliances is a great example. Efficiency in use while providing highest comfort is a goal of many PU containing products. Thus, sustainability has many facets. The replacement of harmful chemicals like plasticizers, heavy metals and others are long lasting goals of the industry. Evonik supports these goals by constantly providing innovative products which fulfill and exceed the regulatory requirements. Additionally, we are supporting industry trends like the replacement of blowing agents for rigid and flexible foams with new compatible surfactants and amines. Finally, we also help to advance sustainable technologies like water-based PU dispersions for artificial leather with our unique ORTEGOL® P series products. All these changes require new developments and adjustments of products in close collaboration with our customers.
We also must acknowledge the big challenges ahead for the PU industry, especially those in the area of carbon dioxide emissions and circularity of PU plastics. Evonik is committed to significantly lowering its own production carbon footprint by 50% until 2025 compared to 2008. Furthermore, we work with partners along the whole supply chain to analyze and realize improvements. Circular economy of PU materials is a challenge for the whole industry and requires innovative approaches for recycling and reuse of materials. We are involved in new solutions which are currently in development, but realization will only be possible by a huge joint effort of polyol and isocyanate producers, additive suppliers and PU material producers.
5. Q: Which products or solutions would you like to highlight for 2021? What kinds of benefits or novel experiences can be delivered to the industry by those innovations?
A: Our TEGOSTAB® & DABCO® NE products have always been most stringent in the residual volatile contents and thrive for performance. With our new technology we can provide surfactants with ultra-low cyclic residual levels like TEGOSTAB® B 8244 to serve the latest industry needs. Our new TEGOSTAB® B 8734 LO is a product with significantly lower odor for the automotive industry. TEGOSTAB® B 84813 is a versatile new insulation surfactant to achieve better energy efficiency. It serves most formulations of appliance and discontinuous panels in various blowing agent systems and provides outstanding flow-ability and insulation properties with less surface voids. Exporting flexible PU foam is becoming a big trend for the industry due to the success of the “bed-in-a-box” concept. Compression set is one challenge for the industry which is addressed with our new ORTEGOL® 70X series. Customers remain fully flexible in the choice of their surfactant to finetune the foam and can add this additive to ensure best recovery after vacuum packaging. This July, we will promote these new products among others at our booth #10 @ PU China 2021 in Shanghai with our new concept “Living polyurethanes”. There will be live-streaming broadcast as well. You are warmly welcome to join us there.
6. Q: After working in Evonik for years, what excited you about the prospect of leading Comfort & Insulation’s commercial team in China?
A: During my first stay in China between 2015 and 2017 as Technology Manager for Flexible Slabstock Foams I have recognized the variety of applications and opportunities in the world largest PU market. In these years we have completed the construction of our new silicone plant in Shanghai. I am very excited that Comfort & Insulation is in a comfortable position to act as a localized supplier for silicones & amines in China with global roots. My new role allows me to support the sales & technical teams in China to expand our market position and build bridges with our global excellence for new innovative product solutions.
Source : PUdaily
