Contracts, licenses.

Warren, MI-based Detroit Testing Laboratory, an independent testing firm, and the French testing institution Laboratoire National d'Essais (LNE), have developed a service called Comrex, which is a technical resource for American companies to use to acquire information on how to successfully market products in Europe. Comrex provides information to engineering staffs so they may design products or modify current products to comply with European standards. The service can analyze products to determine their compliance with the standards, and can test products and provide the necessary certification marks and/ or test reports to gain acceptance in Europe.

Continental AG ordered 40 hydraulic tire presses from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, through Mitsubishi International GmbH, to install at its joint venture plant formed with Mabor of Portugal. The curing presses, used in the vulcanizing process, are part of a plant expansion and modification aimed at increasing production capacity. The Lousado, Portugal plant makes high performance radial tires for passenger cars that will be supplied to domestic and overseas markets. MHI will build the presses in Nagasaki and will begin delivering them in June 1993. Deliveries should finish in November 1993.

Lord Corp. and Henkel of America will jointly develop, manufacture and market adhesives for flexible packaging and industrial laminating, particularly those in food packaging. Called Liofol Co., located in Cary, NC, the joint venture will enter markets in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Liofol and Henkel's Dusseldorf, Germany facilities will cooperate in future worldwide operations with respect to adhesives for flexible packaging and industrial laminating.

Goodyear will supply Manila-made GT70 fires from its Philippines plant to China for fitment on Volkswagen Santanas built in China, marking Goodyear's first original equipment tire shipments from the Philippines plant. Previously, Goodyear supplied U.S.-built Wrangler radials for cars made in China by Beijing Jeep, a Chrysler joint venture.

A two-year contract calls for Akron, OH-based General Tire to supply more than 6,500 medium radial truck tires for use on the U.S. Postal Service's fleet of tractor trailer figs. Awarded via competitive bidding, the tires will be delivered to the postal service's vehicle maintenance facilities nationwide by local General Tire dealers in each area. Also the result of competitive bidding, General is contracted to supply the state of California with passenger tires for use on official state cars and service vehicles in 1993. The tires will be delivered through dealers in California.

Exxon Chemical, Houston, TX. and BASF AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany, reached an agreement for BASF to exclusively represent Exxon's Tarfen structural thermoplastics composites in Europe. BASF will handle application development, marketing and technical service work related to the Tarfen product line in Europe, and Exxon will continue with new product development and will provide product support to BASF. The manufactured composite materials will be supplied from Exxon's Lynchburg, VA, plant.

Corporate Consulting Service, Akron, OH, will market BFGoodrich's DSR dynamic stress relaxometer, a production control instrument that yields research quality viscoelastic information on any elastomer.

Durr Marketing Associates, Pittsburgh, PA, will distribute U.S. Silica's specialty products, including fine ground silicas, calcined kaolin clay, attapulgite clay and organoclay, in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and western New York. U.S. Silica is headquartered in Berkeley Springs, WV.

M.F. Cachat, Cleveland, OH, will distribute Miles' urethane raw materials and prepolymers throughout Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, western New York and western Pennsylvania.