2Written by Nate Hendley Polyplex USA LLC, the Decatur, Alabama subsidiary of Polyplex Corporation of India, is poised for massive growth. This major producer of polyethylene terephthalate—aka polyester film or BOPET, used in packaging and indus- trial applications—wants to expand its capacity, market share, product line, personnel, and facilities. Profiled previously in the December 2020 issue of Business in Focus, the company retains a progressive outlook, with a strong commitment to sustainability combined with “lean innovation.” Given global supply chain woes caused by COVID, Polyplex USA is currently looking to enhance its reputa- tion as a reliable, domestic source of high-quality PET films. As such, it is massively boosting capacity. “Our current capacity here is 70 million pounds of PET films in the U.S. In the next calendar year— 2023—we are adding another 110 million pounds of capacity at our site in Alabama—all dedi- cated to growing our market share in North America,” states Polyplex USA Vice President of Sales and Marketing Manav Singh. As he recounts, the COVID crisis initially caused a surge in demand. Restaurants were closed and more people were eating at home, which increased usage of packaged foods, which, in turn, increased the need for PET films. Packaged pet food sales also soared, as homeowners faced with shuttered work- places and entertainment / recreation venues, started acquiring dogs and cats to cope with feelings of isolation. With the pandemic hopefully receding, the COVID-related surge for PET films has largely subsided. However, says Singh, the situation surrounding the virus imparted a valuable message to North American manufacturers: namely, do not rely on distant vendors for supplies. “Customers are looking for domestic sources for their product. COVID has taught us that you might have multiple suppliers, but the closer your suppliers are to you, the better it is. Supplier assur- ance has become a priority for everyone.” Polyplex USA hopes to boost its share of the U.S. polyester film market from roughly fifteen to twenty-three percent in under five years. A lofty goal, but entirely reachable, says the company, in part because it can offer speedy delivery compared to offshore PET suppliers. Imports from the latter can take between eight to twelve weeks to reach the client, according to Singh. “The sentiment of ‘Made in USA’ is very strong and getting stronger as we speak. Coupled with a quick turnaround—our customer is able to get [PET films] in three to four weeks—at a competitive price point, we expect to take away a significant portion of the import share. That is the whole rationale for adding capacity,” he states. In addition to being a domestic supplier, Polyplex USA has another edge. Unlike many of its competitors, it creates its own resin, using an in-house polymerization process. Developing resin in-house gives the company more control over quality and consistency, lowers costs, and “accelerates our speed of innovation because we are not dependent on outside parties to provide us with different resin formulations. Since everything is done in-house, we are able to produce newer products faster than our competitors at a much lower cost,” Singh explains. Polyplex USA also has metallizing capabilities in Alabama which it uses to transform base film into higher-value products. The company is undergoing a massive transformation of its own, with new buildings going up at Polyplex USA’s forty-two-acre Decatur base. Once construction is complete, it plans to hire one hundred additional employees, bringing total personnel numbers to 280. It also maintains “more than fifty stocking points,”—third-party warehouses and other locales—across North America, he says. The company’s four main product categories are Sarafil, Saracote, Saralam, and Saraprint. Sarafil is a base polyester film product used for packaging and industrial applications. When a silicone coating is applied to Sarafil, it is sold under the brand name Saracote. Saralam is developed by taking base film and applying extrusion coating of poly-olefinic polymers, while Saraprint is base film with additional various coatings and is used in the graphics segment. Flexible packaging represents about seventy percent of Polyplex USA’s market, with the remainder consisting of indus- trial applications. The company wants to move into shrink PET films, traditionally used for fast-moving consumer goods such as beverages, toiletries, and the detergents segment. Currently, Polyplex has no presence in the shrink PET film market. Polyplex USA remains dedicated to sustainability. The field of plastics, notes Singh, does not have the best reputation among environmentally conscious people. This is ironic, given that glass and aluminum necessitate considerably larger carbon footprints to produce, and the former is more likely to break than plastic. Regardless, Polyplex USA has embraced a variety of ‘green’ initiatives, including an emphasis on recy- cling and reduction at source. The company sources recycled PET bottle flakes from certified sources then chemically recycles them to produce Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) resin for extrusion in its BOPET film manufacturing plants globally. This chemical recycling process also eliminates the contaminants through superior filtration technology. “FDA- approved, PCR-based films are available to customers with PCR content ranging from as low as 30 percent to as high as 90 percent as a straight ‘drop-in’ substitute to many of our 4customers who are struggling to find a reliable route to par- ticipate in the overall sustainability initiative.” Reduction simply means using less PET film by downgauging current thicknesses to lower options, without compromising on the functionality of the laminate. Polyplex USA re-uses sec- ondary packaging such as paper cores and wooden pallets and has energy-efficient lighting in its facilities as well. The company prides itself on being a forward-thinking, solu- tions-oriented company for its customers’ evolving needs around usage of BOPET films. It practices “lean innovation,” based around a “hub and spoke model,” to generate new ideas from the marketplace and funnel them into the Corporate Innovation Center for future developments, Singh says. The parent company has operations around the world, including India, Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey, as well as Decatur. “The nucleus of innovation is based out of our corporate office in India, where we have a dedicated team of PhDs who spe- cialize in domains like polymer extrusion, coating technolo- gies, coating chemistries, nanotechnology, and sustainability,” explains Singh. “Across all global locations, we have dedicated Sales & Technical Services teams who closely work with the customers to filter out ideas for innovation.” Such ideas are forwarded to the Corporate Research and Development Team, which gleans a few priority items on which to focus. In this manner, new products are 100 new products. Going forward, it will be stressing its new thermoformable PET films among other cutting-edge products. “We developed thermoformable PET films because there was a customer demand coming from the meat, dairy, cheese, and confectionary segments, and medical pharma. Polyester is easy to process, easy to print, and that’s why our thermoformable films are providing a better value to a lot of our customers,” says Singh. Polyplex USA is also doing something new when it comes to marketing. In the past, the organization preferred to “let our products speak for themselves,” and relied on word-of-mouth and personal sales efforts to boost visibility. Now that it is mas- sively ramping up capacity, it has become more proactive on the promotional front. It now routinely sends product aware- ness emails to clients, has increased its social media engage- ment, and regularly participates in trade shows. These were mostly closed during COVID or held online but have now resumed and are open to the public. As for the future, while boosting its existing presence, Polyplex wants to continue creating new products and exploring new markets. “Shrink PET is one segment where we will be growing phenomenally,” Singh states. “I think it’s an important goal just to increase market share. Now, we have access to a lot of new products and new capacity. We are back on the road as salespeople. It’s impor- tant to really start hitting the targets, giving assurance to cus- tomers who kind of moved away from us because of limited capacity and disruption in the supply chain, bring them back into our fold, and make sure there is a smooth transition to the new capacity we have,” he says. “COVID has taught us that you might have multiple suppliers, but the closer your suppliers are to you, the better it is.” Content Developed by Scott Forbes Manav Singh Vice President of Sales, Polyplex USA 5As featured in October 2022Next >