BASF’s innovative material solutions and simulation tools help make award-winning desk chair lighter and more durable
- Ultramid® polyamide materials enable design freedom and operational efficiency in furniture manufacturing
- Ultrasim® proprietary simulation tool helps optimize material selection process, usage and formulation
Shanghai, China – July 30, 2020 – Haworth, a leading furniture designer, together with BASF, has introduced an enhanced edition of its signature desk chair, Zody. Made with BASF’s innovative Ultramid® polyamide materials, and optimized with BASF’s proprietary simulation tool Ultrasim®, the award-winning desk chair is now even lighter, yet stronger and more durable.
James Chorlton, Director of Operations, Haworth Asia Pacific, said, “Ensuring that our furniture is of the highest possible quality is our mission. We are pleased to have worked with BASF to bring customers a more user-friendly version of our signature desk chair. Building on this success, we continue to experiment with BASF to combine technology, innovation, and design into our products.”
The versatility of BASF’s advanced material solution Ultramid opens up design possibilities for furniture manufacturing, enabling Haworth to explore its full potential in furniture design. Ultramid also simplifies the production process by maintaining excellent fluidity during the injection molding process. This ensures a good appearance of the final products. Ultramid has proven to meet the standards set by BIFMA, an institutional furniture manufacturer association that provides safety and performance requirements for furniture.
With its Ultrasim technology, BASF also helped Haworth optimize material usage, and improve operational efficiencies and aesthetic qualities of its final product. Therefore, Haworth could benefit from reduced operational costs and an increased end-product value.
“Our goal is to help our customers revolutionize their design and manufacturing processes,” said Minli Zhao, Consumer Industry, Performance Materials, BASF. “Our material solutions and simulation technology have transformed the way Haworth engineers and manufactures the Zody chair. We have pushed the boundaries of materials science to the next level.”
The new Zody chair is now available on Haworth’s Asia Pacific website.
About BASF’s Performance Materials division
BASF’s Performance Materials division encompasses the entire materials’ know-how of BASF regarding innovative, customized plastics under one roof. Globally active in four major industry sectors – transportation, construction, industrial applications, and consumer goods – the division has a strong portfolio of products and services combined with deep understanding of application-oriented system solutions. Key drivers of profitability and growth are our close collaboration with customers and a clear focus on solutions. Strong capabilities in R&D provide the basis to develop innovative products and applications. In 2019, the Performance Materials division achieved global sales of €6.06 bn. More information online: www.plastics.basf.com.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €59 billion in 2019. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.
