Zeon Chemicals L.P. and Nitriflex S.A. form alliance.

Zeon Chemicals L.P., Louisville, KY, and Nitriflex S.A. have formed a strategic alliance focused on elastomers and polymers for the rubber and plastics industries. Nitriflex S.A., a producer of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), styrene butadiene robber (SBR) and other Specialty elastomers and resins, located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, became the exclusive distributor of Zeon Chemicals' products in Brazil effective November 1. Zeon Chemicals has become the exclusive distributor for Nitriflex's NBR and SBR in North America (Canada, U.S. and Mexico).

Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Akron, OH, announced it will integrate commercial truck tire and mold production within the company's recently completed joint venture with Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. in Europe. This move, said to result in substantial cost savings and synergies for the Goodyear and Dunlop joint venture, will involve the discontinuance of truck tire production at the Dunlop Tires U.K. plant in Birmingham, England, and a production shift to other joint venture plants in Europe. Mold production will move to Goodyear's facility in Luxembourg. This will result in the loss of 650 jobs at the plant, which also produces passenger and racing tires. The workforce of the Birmingham facilities totals 1,700.

Krupp Werner & Pfleiderer, Ramsey, NJ, a specialist in twin screw compounding, and ESI -- Extrusion Services, Inc., an expert in downstream equipment profile extrusion processing, and ETI -- Extrusion Tooling, Inc., a manufacturer of custom extrusion die and calibration tooling, announced a cooperative alliance to offer complete extrusion systems for the wood composite polymer market. Extensive work among the three companies in KWP's pilot facility during the past year, combined with a number of production systems, resulted in the decision to form an alliance to offer single source, pre-engineered extrusion systems to this growing market.

Dow Chemical named Dow Automotive, Southfield, MI, as its first industry-focused business unit. Dow Automotive will integrate Essex Specialty Products and its joint venture partnerships and resources to offer an even broader product portfolio, including adhesives, sealants and coatings. Dow Automotive and Essex facilities worldwide will take part in the transition process.

Yokohama Rubber, Tokyo, Japan, announced that SAS Rubber, its subsidiary based in Ohio, began supplying power steering hoses for use on DaimlerChrysler automobiles in the United States. The power steering hoses will be used on DaimlerChrysler's JA (Cyrus) and JR (Sebring) programs. SAS Rubber is a wholly owned subsidiary established in 1992 through the splitting away of the Industrial Products Division of Mohawk Rubber, which was acquired by Yokohama Rubber. Its main products are power steering hoses and air conditioning hoses for passenger cars.

The Borax Flame Retardant Group, Valencia, CA, and Albemarle, Baton Rouge, LA, have reached a joint development agreement to collaborate on technical developments with the goal of creating new, more versatile flame retardant technologies. The companies expect their combined skills to produce new options in halogen and halogen-free flame retardant systems for polymer companies worldwide.

PerkinElmer, Wellesley, MA, announced a strategic alliance with SciQuest, an Internet marketplace for scientific products and instruments, which will feature PerkinElmer Instruments and Life Sciences products on the SciQuest.com web site.

Fitz Chem, Elmhurst, IL, a midwest distributor/sales agent of raw materials to the paint, coatings, plastics, rubber, ink and adhesives industries, will represent Cognis' (formerly Henkel) G-Cure acrylic polyol resins and Sovermol polyol product lines, in addition to representing a variety of other products for Cognis' Coatings & Inks Division, including defoamers, dispersants, rheology modifiers, and more.

Integration of Wardwell and Schnellflectner product lines has resulted in the expansion of the capacity and product line of the Wardwell Schnellflectner factory in Germany. Wardwell Speedmaster braiders are now produced in Germany. Wardwell, Central Falls, RI, is now producing selected Schnellflechtner braiders in the U.S.

Trace Laboratories-Central, Palatine, IL, and Thermotron Industries announced a partnership that will offer accelerated stress test services to manufacturers.

Cleveland Gear, Cleveland, OH, a subsidiary of Vesper, signed an agreement with PIV Antrieb Werner Reimers GmbH of Bad Homburg, West Germany. The pact authorizes Cleveland Gear to manufacture and market PIV Posired II series of enclosed drives to North American customers. Cleveland Gear will market these drives as their Redi II product line.

The M.A. Hanna plant in Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada, a custom mixer of specialty rubber compounds, ordered a Farrel Shaw Intermix Mark 5, it was announced by Farrel, Ansonia, CT. M.A. Hanna also placed a major order for Farrel Shaw Intermix polymer compounding equipment for its $16 million plant in Queretaro, Mexico. Wynn's Precision of Lebanon, TN, a manufacturer of o-ring and hydraulic seals, placed an order for a Farrel Shaw Mark 5 Model K5 Intermix.

Krupp Werner & Pfleiderer, Ramsey, NJ, formed a cooperative alliance with Aspen Research. KWP manufactures the ZSK MegaCompounder with screw speeds up to 1,200 rpm and high torque capability. Aspen brings to the alliance its knowledge of formulation chemistry and interaction of equipment and formulation, plus the ability to analyze the rheology of the materials compounded.

Goodyear Venezuela formed an alliance with Covencaucho, Venezuela's largest retreading manufacturer.

Quality registrations

Aero Rubber, Bridgeview, IL, announced that its quality system has been certified as being in compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9002, 1994 standard by Det Norske Veritas.

Centrotrade Rubber USA, Latex Division, based in Virginia Beach, VA, has achieved ISO 9002 certification from Smithers Quality Assessments.

Erhardt + Leimer, Spartanburg, SC, a manufacturer of web control systems, has received ISO 14001 certification.

Impact Label, Kalamazoo, MI, has achieved ISO 9002 compliance and has been registered by Entela.

MIR S.p.A., Brescia, Italy, a manufacturer of injection molding machines for thermoplastics, thermosets and rubber processing, has received ISO 9001 certification from SQS.