Saltigo at Chemspec Europe 2010, June 9 to 10, 2010
Custom manufacturing is our specialty
Langenfeld – Saltigo GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of specialty chemicals group LANXESS, is once again taking part in Chemspec Europe, which is being held in Berlin on June 9 and 10, 2010. This specialist in exclusive syntheses, with a global customer base, offers its wide portfolio of services along the entire value chain, from laboratory to production scale. This year, Saltigo will be focusing in particular on customer sectors outside life sciences. "Custom manufacturing is also an important and attractive strategic option beyond the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries," explains Dirk Sandri, head of Marketing & Sales in the Agro & Specialty Chemicals business line at Saltigo. "Particularly in economically difficult times, companies from many sectors can benefit if they transfer manufacturing of the chemical intermediates and end products they require for their production operations to a flexible and experienced partner."
For example, in launching new products onto the market, it is often impossible to exactly predict the short- and medium-term demand. In such situations, collaboration with an external synthesis partner as opposed to production in dedicated, newly built facilities can offer many economic benefits. Investment decisions can then be kept on hold initially until detailed market data are available. A shorter time to market also shows the advantage of this type of strategy, as Saltigo has numerous state-of-the-art multipurpose facilities and a comprehensive technology portfolio. New products can therefore also be made available fast and in volumes ranging from a few kilograms to hundreds of metric tons.
Saltigo also supports customers in the optimization of syntheses and process development at its integrated site in Leverkusen, thereby opening up additional potential for improving efficiency. What´s more, Saltigo doesn`t just handle entire synthesis pathways reliably, on time and cost-effectively, it also takes on individual synthesis steps such as catalytic hydrogenation under high pressure and at high temperatures or complex distillative separation. The company also offers its customers its experience in issues relating to the approval or registration of chemicals, in particular in terms of REACH, and the development of analytical methods.
"In Berlin, we´re especially looking to attract new customers from non-life science sectors to our portfolio," explains Sandri. "We already have many years of experience of custom manufacturing in many of these areas too. For example, in conjunction with our customers, we have successfully implemented and established projects in the areas of polymer additives, aromas, photovoltaics and cosmetic intermediates. We’re very interested in finding new business partners and taking on fresh challenges."
Exclusive synthesis ranging from agrochemicals to the corresponding active ingredients is one of Saltigo`s core areas of expertise. For instance, the company recently undertook further expansion of its collaboration in this area with one of the world´s leading producers of crop protection agents. This saw investment of around EUR 50 million in expanding and optimizing production capacity at Saltigo for various crop protection active ingredients. This expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010. As well as Saltigo`s process engineering expertise, the basis for this extensive cooperation lies in particular in the many years of successful collaboration built on trust between Saltigo and the customer.
There is currently a clear focus on cost optimization in custom manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry. Saltigo can make full use of its strengths against the backdrop of the conservative cash management, strict inventory management and budget restrictions currently being applied by pharmaceutical companies. High efficiency and flexibility are part of this. The planned improvement targets go beyond conventional optimization of chemistry and technology. Instead, the projects are viewed as a whole from the perspective of supply management. From provision of material for clinical development to commercial production, this approach can cut specific production costs significantly.
