BASF holds distributors' meeting
Under the motto 'one team – one goal', distributors of BASF's leather chemicals from around the world met from September 22 to 24 at company headquarters in Ludwigshafen.
The main topics of the event were the present and future challenges and developments in the leather chemicals market and the products BASF will focus on for 2009. Among the products presented were Densodrin EP, Lepton Aquatop TG, Astacin Hardener CT, Basyntan IS and Lugafast reactive dyes.
BASF says the Densodrin EP product "hearlds the start of a new generation" in water-repellent treatment of leather, characterised by a high level of dyeing capability and reliability, especially in regions with hard water. For its part, Astacin Hardener CT is a crosslinking agent for aqueous finishing systems that leads to improved embossing and greater fastness to wet rubbing, the manufacturer says. The idea behind Basyntan IS, on the other hand, is to make leather immune to iron stains, so it no longer has to be masked specifically, and an entire processing step is eliminated. Furthermore, grain fineness and tightness are improved considerably, and the cutting yield is increased.
Lepton Aquatop TG is used in the top coat and is billed as a simple and effective means of obtaining a transparent finish with high gloss.
Finally, Lugafast reactive dyes are products that BASF says stand out because of their "sensational fastness properties".
In addition, new marketing concepts were presented, showing where the focus will be in future.
"This event is the start of a regular, worldwide exchange of information with our distributors," said Thomas Sattler, responsible for the global leather business for BASF, after the event. "We want to ensure that we also offer our distributors’ customers the best solution and work according to our motto 'one team – one goal'."
In an award ceremony three distributors received the Distributor Award of the Leather Chemicals unit from Mr Sattler in recognition of their many years of service. "The work with our distributors, which has existed for more than 20 years, in one case even extending to the third generation, is clear proof that joint success is based first and foremost on a long, stable and reliable partnership," he explained.
