Merck opens new application laboratory in Shanghai

 

Merck, a leading science and technology company based in Darmstadt, Germany, announced the opening of its new application laboratory for the Performance Materials business sector in Shanghai, China. The expanded Technology Application Network China (TANC) underscores the company’s leading position in pigments and functional materials. It marks the continuation of a 20- year commitment of supplying materials and application technology services to China and Southeast Asia.

The new, expanded application laboratory at the Jinqiao site in Shanghai’s Pudong district is the first application laboratory in China that Merck launched to deliver comprehensive, customised services for its quality products and to seek and foster creative collaboration with customers for new applications and formulations. This collaboration began in 1998 with the opening of the first site at Fudan University in Shanghai, based on the example of the Merck Customer Support Center. The TANC initially focused on print applications, with three expansions over the years leading to additional application fields – ranging from plastics, coating, and cosmetic applications, to dispersion paints and powder coating technologies, to quality control and cosmetic testing. China is one of the fastest-growing markets for Merck’s pigments and cosmetics businesses. Many of China’s most popular and best-known brand manufacturers rely on pigments and functional materials from Merck and tap into the TANC when developing new products.

“The new TANC boosts our capabilities for supporting China and the surrounding region,” said Friedhelm Felten, Executive Vice President and Head of Pigments & Functional Materials, about the latest visible signs of continuous investments by Merck in China over many years. “We’re pleased that we can now offer our Chinese customers even more capacities – from automotive coatings to printing, architecture, and cosmetics.”

Caption:  VIPs are pouring Merck pigments into the four letters of TANC, from left: Tom Song, head of Pigments & Functional Materials at Merck China; Joern Beissert, German deputy consul general in Shanghai; Ma Shuyan, vice director of Jinqiao export processing zone management committee; Friedhelm Felten, executive VP and head of Pigments & Functional Materials at Merck (photo: Merck)