Manufacturing plastic products is a complex process that requires a variety of additives. Depending on whether the plastic is to be made into a pipe or flooring, the producer needs a very special, individual composition. This is exactly where Dr. Christian Rosenthal came up with Master Compounds in the 1960s, which is to say: All included! To this day, compounds are a central product of Baerlocher. As a trusted advisor, Baerlocher supports customers in developing elegant solutions for complex challenges with know-how from the individual substances to supply chain management.

The entry
Baerlocher has been manufacturing individual stabilizers since the 1950s, gaining expert knowledge on the production and use of auxiliary materials for plastics manufacturing. The timing is good. Demand booms and Baerlocher lays the first foundation to later become a market leader in the additive sector. At that time, manufacturers have to store all additives individually, weigh them on site and mix them. A gateway for errors and contamination. Due to the dust, some of which is made up of questionable substances, this is also a health hazard for the workers.

This is when Christian Rosenthal and his application technicians come up with the idea of Master Compounds in the 1960s. The technicians are on site often day in and day out and hence very close to the plastics producing customers. They are therefore very familiar with the customers' problems. According to their specifications, Baerlocher mixes and delivers all substances in the necessary dosages in one product. This means that only one weighing process is necessary. This is a groundbreaking advancement for customers because it speeds up processes, reduces waste, increases quality and lowers costs. This already demonstrates Baerlocher's tradition-building core competence of creating individual, customer-specific solutions.

Baerlocher is one of the pioneers in stabilizer-lubricant compounds for process and functional additives. In 1963, Baerlocher presents the first powder compound called "master-compound HSSP" for rigid PVC. Three years later, the BAEROPAN ("Bäropan") product series is introduced, a compound that consists of granules rather than powder and thus contributes to dust reduction. The series has been constantly developed since then and stands for all PVC additive compounds from Baerlocher. In 1998, there are 2,500 types in the delivery program, which are distributed to all parts of the world. But the compounds are not a unique selling proposition, even though Baerlocher is one of the pioneers and invests a lot in advertising.

“One-packs" were a further development of the company's own blends around 1980. Completely proprietary mixtures are now offered as standard products, for instance in the "300 series". It`s exact composition remains a company secret. These are available in a wide variety of forms, whether as granules, pastilles or prills. In the "SMS line", for example, lead components are mixed with lubricants in melting flakes, which drastically reduces the amount of dust. Along with the shapes, the packaging and the specification for the increasingly automated production at customers also varies, for instance in pipe extrusion.

BAEROPOL
In 1992, the polymer-free additive blends BAEROPOL ("Bäropol") offer customized products for moulding non-PVC thermoplastics in the form of a free-flowing granulate. In the 1990s, one-packs also turn out to be a competitive advantage in opening up the Asia-Pacific market, because many first-time customers were probably not yet familiar with this principle. And the compound principle can be transferred to areas of application beyond PVC, for instance from 1993 with the BAEROPOL master compounds for polyolefins.

Master compounds and then one-packs are a perfect match in the complete production cycle: individually and precisely tailored to each customer so that they can convince customers and an set Baerlocher apart from competitors. Baerlocher offers quality, consistency and a customer-centric corporate culture.