The Leather Business Unit of the chemical company, Lanxess Group, has expanded its applications development department in São Leopoldo, near Porto Alegre, in Brazil with a view to being able to offer better support and a wider range of services to its customers in the important and rapidly growing South American market.
Brazil's tanning and shoe industries are – for historical reasons –concentrated in the south of the country. It therefore seemed logical to develop the existing Lanxess logistics centre in São Leopoldo into a customer support centre. At the end of 2004, a complete technical laboratory with state-of-the-art machinery and apparatus was set up to meet the requirements of the company's South American customers. The new facilities also include a laboratory for carrying out standard quality control tests and for testing the effectiveness of microbiological preservatives on leather.
The introduction of new processes and products is also coordinated from this centre. Another extremely important task is maintaining close contact with Argentina, where the company produces most of its range of leather chemicals for Latin America.
