Polykemi invests to strengthen laboratory operations

Polykemi, a Swedish producer of customer-adapted plastic compounds based on virgin and recycled raw materials, has invested nearly 1 million euros ($1.04 million) in approximately 70 new test specimen tools and injection molding machines for its laboratories, in line with the company’s aim to continually elevate its global standards and testing capabilities.

Since 2018, Polykemi has been evaluating and testing the specimen tools to ensure they meet its quality standards. The new tools, which comply with current ISO norms, enable identical testing of specimens at the company’s laboratories in Sweden, China and the United States.

“Both the test specimens and equipment are identical at our five facilities,” says Karsten Vang, a laboratory technician at the company. “We conduct an annual cross-calibration to ensure we achieve the same values for the same tests globally. This provides a high level of security for us and a solid guarantee for our customers.”

The company's new injection molding machines, which feature clamping forces ranging from 50-150 tons, are from Arburg, and the specimen tools come from German company WF Plastic GmbH. During the process, Polykemi collaborated with WF Plastic, which enabled a collection of high-quality testing tools and met customer requirements for specific specimen properties.

“WF Plastics’ expertise and flexibility made it possible for us to create specimen tools for both our internal quality controls and customer-specific test specimens,” says Jörgen Olsson, technical manager, plastic applications and processing specialist at Polykemi. “This collaboration has been a major part of building a global laboratory stationed on three continents.”

Polykemi adds that its new tools and global testing capacity has elevated its quality assurance and positioned it to deliver customized, high-quality plastic compounds to the global market.

The family-owned Polykemi Group consists of Polykemi AB, Rondo Plast AB and Scanfill AB, all located in Ystad, Sweden, Polykemi Compounds Kunshan and Chongqing in China, and Polykemi Inc. in Gastonia, North Carolina. The company’s Chongqing and Gastonia locations were inaugurated during the summer months of 2023.