A REPUTATION FOR QUALITY Stahl is a customer-focused company, headquartered in the Netherlands, that specialises in providing high-quality chemicals, dyes and coatings for leather, as well as flexible and non-flexible substrates for performance coatings, textiles and related products. Abigail Saltmarsh looks at its operations.
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or many years now Stahl’s products have been well-recognised internationally. Today they maintain their reputation for quality, and the group prides itself on its ability to innovate and its high level of technical service to customers. “Our objective is to achieve the highest customer service level,” said a spokesman. “Our aim is to do this through on-time delivery of innovative quality products and processes while operating safely and in harmony with the environment.”
“Our products are applied in automotive, upholstery and fashion items, as well as in industrial applications and we operate through divisions, which focus on leather finish, performance coatings and automotive leather finishes”, explains John Fletcher, managing director of the company’s Leather Finish unit. “Approximately 70 per cent of the group turnover is related to chemicals sold into the leather supply chain, with the remainder of sales attributed the performance coatings sector,” he says.
A focused approach
A complete range
“Stahl operates eight manufacturing sites and some 30 strategically located technical service laboratory facilities world-wide. It employs approximately 1250 people in more than 28 countries, many of whom are engaged in basic research and development of new products and processes.
Although Stahl’s Leather Finish business unit works closely with the group’s Wet End division, it is a separate entity, reporting to the CEO. It produces reactive chemistry and is a specialist in blending and processing advanced formulations. The company also has proprietary process technology for
the manufacture of certain polyurethanes, cross-linkers and acrylic-urethane hybrids. “We offer the complete range of chemicals needed for the finishing of leather, inclusive of basecoats, topcoats, pigments and crosslinkers,” Mr Fletcher says.
New products “Traditionally, Stahl has been considered a leader in high performance topcoat technology for (automotive) upholstery, and a specialist in fashion products, such as patent or college finishes. This is now being modified with additions to the product line, which will address the current trend towards natural finishes. We are launching a new series of higher-performing water based pigments and completing an update to our wax and oil product portfolio. We also recently introduced a new series of chemistry dedicated to upgrading leather, which is distinct
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