Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, Inc. received the Innovation Award in the ‘Automotive Plastics Industry Solutions for COVID-19’ category from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). This award is in recognition of material co-developed by APNA and DENSO for use in powered air purifying respirators.
The award was presented during the SPE Automotive 50th Annual Innovation Awards Competition and Gala on November 10, 2021, in Livonia, Michigan. This annual celebration is one of the oldest and largest recognition events in the automotive plastics industry.
The brand-new category for “Automotive Plastics Industry Solutions for COVID-19” was created to highlight how OEMs and suppliers adapted their business needs to help the international battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
“Asahi Kasei is resolute in our fight against COVID-19. We are honored to participate with Ford Motor Company and DENSO in the development of the powered air purifying respirator,” said Todd Glogovsky, president and chief operating officer of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America. “We are proud to be recognized by our customers as a supplier that will step up in a time of need.”
The powered air purifying respirator that was developed with Asahi Kasei’s Thermylene P-40TC-1102 grade was identified as top in this new category because it helped deliver the critical fit, form and functional needs to enable an application that supports community health. The talc-filled Thermylene helped enable partners to exceed the design requirements for this application due to its high stiffness and good dimensional stability capabilities.
“We give our heartfelt thanks to all Asahi Kasei employees who supported this important project to protect frontline workers,” said Sergio Pujols, vice president of Energy Management Engineering at DENSO. “Their team mobilized quickly in an uncertain environment to help get the job done. We appreciate their strong collaboration.”
This is APNA’s fifth category award from SPE in the last 10 years. The last award won by APNA was for the high strength self-tapping composite nut in the ‘Chassis/Hardware’ category in 2018.
“This award is a testament to Asahi Kasei’s commitment in improving the quality of life in our society and the importance we place in the partnership we have with our customers,” said Glogovsky.
