Polymer research and test house seeks partners

Europe's leading independent polymer research and test house, will be using K 2004 to market its services and seek new partnerships in polymeric collaborative research and contracted-out testing.

Rapra Technology, Europe's leading independent polymer research and test house, will be using this year's K 2004 plastics exhibition to market the company's new strengths and capabilities that have been developed as a result of its Management Buy Out (MBO) of two years ago.

The K 2004 show is one of the world's largest plastics technology exhibitions and takes place in Dusseldorf, Germany from October 20-27.

"Not only will we be using K 2004 to market our expertise and experience as an independent polymer analysis and test-house," says marketing manager Richard Walton, "but we shall also actively be seeking new partnerships and clients in areas such as polymeric collaborative research; contracted-out testing and analysis work; new product design and testing; environmental testing and services and a whole range of polymer user industry interest in areas such as automotive, medical and healthcare and packaging." Rapra Technology expects to hold a number of discussions with many of its fellow K 2004 exhibitors.

"We are aware that the UK is still an attractive and low-cost location for a great number of outsourced technical and scientific services.

We therefore plan to make a strong case for this business at Shawbury and Billingham with a number of US and Continental based materials companies who will be visiting K 2004 - also researchers, OEMs and processors.

A good proportion of these companies will also be exhibiting at the show," says Walton.

Rapra's research projects team will also be represented at Dusseldorf.

It has been increasingly successful of late in creating compelling polymeric research proposals that have attracted financial resources under various EU and UK Government initiatives.

Rapra will therefore use K 2004 to explore ideas and further collaborative proposals with other research houses and commercial interests.

For visitors to the Rapra stand on the BPF-led UK pavilion, "Ask Rapra" will be one of the main themes of Rapra's stand (number 5A21-7, in Hall 05) at the K'2004 plastics exhibition in the Dusseldorf Messe from October 20-27 this year.

Shawbury-based Rapra Technology receives over 6,000 enquiries every year relating to the selection and application of polymers in an ever-increasing variety of uses.

The stand will feature an opportunity for visitors to come and pose their problems.

Rapra's staff will be on hand to provide answers, backed up by interactive database links to their UK headquarters.

Stand visitors will also have the opportunity to enter a daily "Ask Rapra" competition, with a range of prizes to be won.

Rapra's extensive information services will be on display, including the launch of "polymercontents.com"; a new service - delivered free of charge on a fortnightly basis.

Every month Rapra abstracts from some 400 journals, conference papers and publications, employing a specialist staff of some 20 researchers and abstracters to do so.

After a simple registration, K 2004 stand visitors can create 'topic profiles' describing their particular polymer interests via an easy to use menu.

Users may create as many 'topic profiles' as they want.

Each of these will result in a fortnightly e-mail, listing titles and truncated abstracts of recent, specially selected literature.

The stand will also feature Rapra's product design and development support capabilities, with examples of how Sigmasoft (true 3-D flow simulation software) is actively used as an expert design tool.

Rapra staff will be on hand to describe how Rapra assists companies with their new product development programmes and to discuss specific areas of interest to visitors to the Stand.

Also, as Rapra becomes increasingly involved in new product design and development, there is an accompanying need for new product testing.

K 2004 Stand visitors will be encouraged to talk about the background and context to their product development work so that Rapra can provide what's needed, not only in terms of designing and engineering new testing rigs and fittings, but also to deliver the scientific and polymeric input and, increasingly, supply the legislative and commercial background needed for the marketplace.

Rapra Technology is at K 2004, Dusseldorf, Germany, from October 20-27 in Hall 05, Stand 5A21-7.

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