Trinseo | Driving Customer Value Through the Aristech Surfaces Acquisition

January 19, 2022

Driving Customer Value Through the Aristech Surfaces Acquisition

I joined Trinseo three years ago as the Global Business Leader for CASE, Latex Binders. Since that time, there has been a significant evolution within the organization. Shifting from a cost-driven structure to a value-driven construct, Trinseo has embarked on a transformational journey to become a specialty materials and sustainable solutions provider. As part of its transformative journey, Trinseo acquired Aristech Surfaces in July, enabling the organization to diversify its polymethyl methacrylates (PMMA) portfolio and enter new markets within the wellness, spa and bath, niche leisure, and architectural sectors to better serve its customers. In this article, I will discuss how the acquisition amplifies the Engineered Materials business and drives value for customers and partners across the value chain.

Acquiring Aristech Surfaces

Aristech Surfaces is a uniquely agile company with a strong entrepreneurial spirit that is willing to take risks in the pursuit of innovation and superior outcomes. Engrained throughout the company, these elements of Aristech Surfaces’ culture have laid a solid foundation for strategic partnerships, preparing the organization for the next level of success. With a unique culture and technical proficiency – when combined with Trinseo’s cross business collaboration and innovative capabilities– deliver on the future the organization is striving to achieve, as one, united Trinseo. Together, we are looking toward the future, focusing on innovation and market growth – a distinct shift in strategy from even three years ago. This organizational overhaul is exciting – transitioning Trinseo from a commodity and transactional materials business into a specialty materials and sustainable solutions provider. We are taking Aristech Surfaces’ best practices, implementing them company wide, and reinventing ourselves to truly be customer centric.

Expanding Our Capabilities

Leveraging Aristech Surfaces – and the Altuglas team, whom we acquired in May – we now have the abilities and technologies of highly engineered surface materials to enter into core and adjacent markets where continuous cast, extruded, and cell cast acrylic sheets are used, expanding our reach and adding value. Capitalizing on the team’s extensive knowledge and experience with PMMA, we have strengthened our position within the Engineered Materials space, delivering value among new and existing customers. In addition to market expansion, our appetite for innovation is strong. We’re actively building upon our PMMA capabilities and developing a robust pipeline within the acrylic sheet global market. An example of this innovation is the patent-pending material, AVONITE® Flex for hot tubs, swim spa and sanitary ware. Though a new product, the innovative character of AVONITE® Flex does not require manufacturers to invest in new equipment, thus increasing its sustainability and overall value. The biggest challenge we currently face in our transformational journey is keeping up with demand, as supply chain shortages and logistical issues have caused delays industry-wide. These challenges have forced us to examine our processes, prompting us to further evolve to address change with efficiencies and innovation.

While we are still in the early stages of our transformational journey, the Engineered Materials business has made significant strides toward achieving its goals. By remaining forward focused, we can continue to innovate and expand within the PMMA space – delivering value to customers, partners, while developing solutions hand in hand.