DSM has received the top Frost & Sullivan 2006 award for Business Development Strategy in the flexible food packaging market for DSM’s strategic development of Akulon® polyamide 6 (PA6) in this segment. The global growth consulting company singled out DSM’s rapid market share growth, underpinned by innovations in production that have allowed DSM to compete on both quality and price.

“Flexible packaging is a mature, fiercely competitive market,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Lucia Castro Diaz. “DSM astutely transferred polyolefin packaging expertise to polyamides, and its successful initiatives for the US and China will contribute greatly to its growth.”

A focus on understanding customer needs has helped DSM develop its range of Akulon materials. Current offerings include Akulon PA6, which offers high barrier properties, high mechanical strength, and enhanced suitability for bi-axially oriented polyamide (BOPA), monolayer and multilayer film production; Akulon XP, which helps maximise productivity of multilayer and extrusion coating lines and offers overall cost savings; and Yparex® polyolefin for tie layer applications, which is capable of bonding PA to polyethylene and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer resins (EVOH).

Food packaging is cost-sensitive and highly competitive globally, and DSM’s response has been to expand PA6 film production with efficient facilities that allow competitive pricing. This cost and quality infrastructure is further enhanced by DSM position as a leading global manufacturer of the most important raw material for PA6, caprolactam. At DSM, new, advanced PA6 processing came on line in 2001, and 2005 saw follow-on capacity increases of more than one third. During this time, DSM’s market share in PA6 film materials enjoyed a substantial increase.

“The Frost & Sullivan award is a point of pride for us,” said Peter van Paridon, Akulon Global Business Manager for DSM. “It embodies and rewards a great deal of ongoing effort in research, manufacturing and strategic approaches to the market. More importantly, it represents positive customer response globally to our products and our ability to address customer needs.”

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