Sealing solutions meet stringent requirements for chemical purity
For more than 10 years, Trelleborg has supplied the German chemical company, Merck, with sealing solutions for its pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and electronic chemicals operations. Trelleborg actively helps conceptualise and design products. Merck is both a customer and a partner for them.
Located in Darmstadt, Germany, chemical company Merck KGaA combines innovation and stability. The company is 337 years old and still 74percent family-owned. It is a global leader in pharmaceuticals and industrial and electronic chemicals. With a staff of 8000, it is the largest private sector employer in the city.
This year, its worldwide electronic chemicals sector, which generated sales exceeding E400million in 2004, was acquired by BASF of Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Dr Martin Flügge is Head of Laboratories for Merck Electronic Chemicals at the 1.2square kilometre site on the north edge of Darmstadt, which is also home to numerous technical colleges and the Operations Center of the European Space Agency.
The Electronic Chemicals section develops and produces ultra-high purity and wet-process chemicals for etching, cleaning, polishing, deposition and other operations in semiconductor components and microchip manufacture.
Offering user-orientated chemicals, Merck’s expertise, know-how and continual product improvement are key factors in process stability and the performance of semiconductor devices. Among other things, Dr Flügge oversees the testing of the suitability of components and parts for electronic chemicals.
Storing, transporting and pumping the pure, often very aggressive chemicals used in semiconductor and wafer manufacture may cause contamination problems. “We must make sure that all components involved are clean and do not contaminate the chemicals. “The stringent requirements on the purity of the chemicals also hold true for the storage components and their parts. Trelleborg has been providing Merck with O-rings for containers for some 10 years.”
After obtaining his Ph D in physical chemistry from the Mendeleev-Institut in Moscow, Flügg worked for the Semniconductor Plant in Frankfurt Am Oder, East Germany, for six years where he was Head of Laboratory for failure analytics/diagnostics and dry etching methods, followed by two years as a post-doctoral student and a consultant in the UK.
Because of the extreme requirements, suppliers must guarantee the stability of the manufacturing processes for component parts. Transparency in the supplier’s manufacturing processes is a must, and Flügge expects to be informed of any changes in procedures or raw materials.
Merck’s supply-chain management system features containers which can be reused 14 to 16 times in a two-year period. Trelleborg supplies ultra-pure fluoroelastomer (FFKM) seals for the containers. The parts must perform their functions and maintain their purity over that time span. Merck and Trelleborg discuss a complete long-term package for transport container seals.
While the production facilities will remain in Darmstadt two more years, Flügge and Andreas Kühner, Head of Technical Marketing Europe, are transferring components activities (drums, O-rings and dip tubes) to BASF and establishing purchasing processes and release procedures in accordance with their requirements.
Shrinking the portfolio of materials and suppliers for the container system and achieving stability are priorities according to Kühner. However, “to establish long-term, stable business packages,” he says, “both parties have to know each other well, have the right materials and maintain mutual understanding.”
For more than 10 years, Busak+Shamban, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions’ global sales and marketing organisation in Germany, has supplied Merck with sealing solutions for its pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals and electronic chemicals operations.
“One of the best aspects of working with Merck,” says Elke Vöhringer-Klein, Semicon Segment Manager, Europe, “is that we actively help conceptualise and design products. Merck is both a customer and a partner for us.”
In March 2005, Trelleborg started doing business with Merck, Taiwan. Dr Sandro Silverio, Director of the European chemical and process industry segment, says: “Our forte is offering tailor-made solutions.”
The chemical industry has grown extensively over the past 50 years. The three main production regions, the EU, the US and Japan, and the industry as a whole, valued at nearly US$2trillion, are growing at about 5percent annually. While the industry comprises several areas, including the petrochemical and pharmaceuticals sectors, according to the European Chemical Industry Council, the chemical segments most adversely affected by lower growth are fine and speciality chemicals, while the less cyclical pharmaceuticals sector is performing relatively well. While growth in the chemical industry is good for business, this is not achieved without challenges. Today, the global chemical industry faces pressures relating to feedstock availability, pricing, labour and utility costs, globalisation, economic growth rates and numerous environmental issues. However, perhaps the greatest challenge to date is increasing market demand from the emerging Asian region, especially China. Energy demand far outweighs capacity.
However, chemical companies are coping with these dynamics in many ways.
Dr Sandro Silverio, CPI Segment Director Europe at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, sees many players in the industry restructuring their core competences, by merging and acquiring other enterprises.
“Companies’ structures are changing. They are now focusing on particular competence areas such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, chemicals and plastics.”
The chemical industry’s efforts to stay ahead also include developing improved cost-saving products, establishing a global presence and investing in ‘green’ energy ventures.
For more information, visit www.trelleborg.com or www.busakshamban.com
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