A. Schulman, Teklas Kaucuk And PME Fluidtec Team Up To Earn Society Of Plastics Engineers Europe Grand Innovation Award

AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 6, 2012  /PRNewswire/ --

• Award recognizes A. Schulman's innovative Polyfort unreinforced polypropylene material
• Groundbreaking material and process to be used in production of flexible automotive drainpipes

A. Schulman, Inc. (Nasdaq-GS: SHLM) announced today that it has received the 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Europe Automotive Grand Innovation Award for its Polyfort PPC 03 SP-E unreinforced polypropylene copolymer and was nominated for the Media Award for its metal replacement brochure. 

A. Schulman developed the Polyfort material for use by a customer, Teklas Kaucuk, based in Turkey, in a patented water assist injection molding technology (WIT) process.  The polypropylene material features higher melt strength and slower crystallization speed to resist the pressures of the WIT process.  In addition, a water injection unit was specially developed for the process by PME fluidtec.  The new technology is being used in the production of water drainpipes for Opel automobiles as a substitute for a rubber-based blow-molding process that Teklas previously used for Opel.

"It is an honor to receive this prestigious award from SPE in recognition of our outstanding achievement in innovation and teamwork," said Bernard Rzepka, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, Europe, Middle East, Africa, for A. Schulman.  "We are particularly pleased that we accomplished this result by working with Teklas in Turkey, which is one of our fastest growing markets in the region.  It's a great example of A. Schulman's successful strategy to deliver the latest technology and value-added products around the globe.  We are also proud of the recognition of our promotional brochure on metal replacement, which is another indication of our added-value focus on product development."

Thilo Stier, Project Manager for A. Schulman, said, "The outstanding teamwork of Teklas, PME fluidtec and A. Schulman was necessary to make this process a success.  The special Polyfort material has sufficient melt strength to withstand the application of water in the WIT process to form a tubular structure, and a second blowing application of water forms the integrated bellows sections of the drainpipe.  To ensure that the material holds up throughout this process, we needed to develop a new polypropylene material with a reduced crystallization speed."

Murat Bozkurtlu, Director of New Business Development and R&D for Teklas, said, "This highly integrated polypropylene product allows the formation of a corrugated pipe and clips in one efficient injection process, which is an advantage over the previous blow-molding solution that needed separate clips to be assembled onto the ducts.  We are proud to have worked with A. Schulman and Friedrich Westphal, Managing Director for PME fluidtec, to develop this truly unique and innovative solution."

About A. Schulman, Inc.

A. Schulman, Inc. is a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The Company's customers span a wide range of markets such as packaging, consumer products, industrial and automotive, among others.  The Company employs about 3,100 people and has 33 manufacturing facilities globally.  A. Schulman reported net sales of $2.2 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2011.  Additional information about A. Schulman can be found at www.aschulman.com.

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