Move reinforces the company's worldwide focus on the development of new technologies, especially in Emerging Markets
DuPont is announcing today the opening of its newest Innovation and Technology Center. Located at the City of Paulínia, São Paulo state, the center will be a hub for application development for new solutions for customers in Brazil and Latin America as a whole. With this new structure, DuPont will be able to conduct studies for the most different applications, not only oriented towards releases, but also towards the improvement of technologies which already exist in the market. Clients of several divisions such as Fluoropolymers, Advanced Fibers, Industrial Polymers, Engineering Polymers, Chemical Solutions, Nonwovens and Titanium may rely upon this distinguishing feature for developing new applications for Latin America.
Where Science Helps to Create Great Solutions
The location, with approximately 722 m², will have a distinguished infrastructure. A 240-square-meter physical-chemical laboratory was especially developed in order to undertake applications for the paint and coatings, plastics, paper, automotive, and home and construction industries. A second laboratory, with 220 m², will be the base for the most diverse ballistic tests, especially those related to the new DuPont™ Armura armoring and bulletproof vest system. Climatic chambers, Dispermat, Dynamometers – Instron, IR Spectrophotometry System, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) are some of the equipments that will be a part of this new enterprise. “This new infrastructure illustrates DuPont’s commitment to investments in innovation in Latin America”, claims John Jansen, Business Director of Fluoroproducts and Research & Development for Latin America.
Besides the proximity to the City of São Paulo, which favors client outreach in the area, the City of Paulínia is located near the main technological hub in Brazil, where the most important universities - such as Unicamp, ESALQ, UFScar, USP-São Carlos, UNESP-Araraquara, PUCCAMP, among others - are based. “For the same reasons, nearly 30 years ago, we opened our first Agricultural Experimental Station on this same exact spot. Both high-end technology and a high concentration of qualified workforce turn this area into an Agricultural Cradle for DuPont”, remarks Ricardo Vellutini, DuPont do Brasil's President and Vice President of Agricultural Products Sales for Latin America.
Sustainability & Emerging Markets
The new center is directly involved in development to achieve the Sustainability Goals as announced worldwide by former DuPont President & CEO, Charles O. Holliday Jr., in October 2006. At that time, the executive communicated DuPont's commitment to sustainability and the expansion of business offers directed towards safety, the environment, energy and climate in the global market. Since then, the company expects that the ensemble of these efforts translates into an additional $6 billion or more in earnings until 2015. DuPont’s Sustainability program encompasses all the company’s operations – from research & development to manufacturing to the marketing of solutions. Objectives are directly linked to business growth, specifically to the development of new products: safer, environmentally better and oriented towards all global markets, including transportation, home and construction, agriculture, nutrition, and communications.
“DuPont sales in Emerging Markets already make up virtually 25% of the total amount worldwide and this growth only tends to increase in the years to come. This new Innovation and Technology Center reinforces not only the organization’s global commitment to and focus on developing countries, but also the positioning of a dynamic scientific company that creates essential solutions for a better, safer, healthier life”, states Eduardo Wanick, DuPont Latin America’s President and Global Vice President for Emerging Markets.
As part of the Sustainability program, until 2015 DuPont commits itself to certain actions, such as:
- Doubling funding for research & development in favor of environmentally-smart market opportunities;
- Increasing the annual earnings by $2 billion or more based on products that reduce the emission of greenhouse effect gases;
- Doubling the annual earnings to $8 billion based on renewable resources;
- Releasing at least 1,000 new safety products or services.
DuPont in Brazil:
- 3,500 employees;
- $1.8 billion in sales in 2008;
- 11 research centers – including the Agricultural Experimental Station of Paulínia (São Paulo state) and the Innovation and Technology Center;
- 11 industrial plants.
Focus on Science Worldwide:
- More than 5,000 scientists and engineers;
- 34,000 patents since 1804;
- More than 50 research and development laboratories.
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