Latest developments in footwear production at CPI’s Polyurethanes Technical Conference

“The versatility and advanced performance of polyurethane materials continues to make them increasingly important to the global footwear industry,” says Neeva-Gayle Candelori, director, ACC Center for the Polyurethanes Industry. “This year, it’s especially important for future-focused shoe manufacturers to stay abreast of important technical and market trends that can help reduce cost, improve performance and answer evolving customer and societal demands. That’s what our annual Conference is all about, and that’s why the footwear industry continues to have a large presence every year.”

Steve Lee of London-based Steve Lee Associates will present his annual 10-year historical global polyurethane footwear industry overview during the Footwear technical session, with a special focus on how the global recession will play out for footwear manufacturers in coming years. Scientists from BayOne Urethane Systems will introduce a high property polyether polyurethane formulation for demanding sole applications, such as military combat boots, followed by representatives from BASF who will present several innovative new thermoplastic polyurethanes and footwear applications.
Scientists from Germany-based Desma will describe its new colour dosing technology for TPU footwear, a process that not only provides excellent colouring but also helps to increase production flexibility. Representatives from Italy-based Repi will present its development of vegetable-based pigment dispersions and introduce “green” colour solutions to the footwear and other industries that rely on polyurethane.
Footwear experts also will be interested in related papers presented in several other technical sessions: Renewable Content One: Applications; Processing Innovations; Fundamentals of Elastomers; and Coatings and Elastomers. For example, Scientists from India-based Jay Elastomers and Jayant Agro-Organics will jointly present two separate papers on the development of polyester-based elastomers and cast elastomers derived in part from natural oils. Representatives from DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products will announce its new Susterra Propanediol diol for use in polyurethane cast elastomers, and derived from a renewable corn sugar fermentation process.
Sponsored by Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), this year’s Conference will include more than 80 technical papers in 16 technical sessions, as well as numerous poster presentations, educational seminars and the annual Polyurethane Innovation Awards. CPI will release its biannual 2008 End Use Market Survey on the polyurethane Industry in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and two special issue sessions will address the greening of the regulatory landscape and unlocking potential in a recession.

Further information can be found under: www.americanchemistry.com/polyurethane