J-Tec Material Handling, Kapellen, Belgium, in September 2014 signed a contract with Asahi Kasei Plastics North America to build a $30 million installation for advanced thermoplastic compounds in Limestone County, Athens, AL. For this project, J-Tec (process engineering) and Katoen Natie Supply Chain Engineering (civil and infrastructural works) – two companies within the same group – worked in tandem, allowing Asahi to benefit from having a complete turnkey solution delivered by a single partner. Last year J-Tec Material Handling, Inc. was established in Houston, Texas, in the same building as the North American headquarters of Katoen Natie (see EBS News for week of 19 October 2015).

 

The new Athens plant will produce compounded PP and PA pellets. J-Tec designed and installed the railcar unloading system, raw material storage and conveying, recipe dosing system and the complete compounding lines right through to packaging of the finished products. A lot of attention was given to automation and control systems in order to ensure worker safety, a high quality product, and the capability for the entire process to be easily and efficiently operated. Asahi’s newest compounding plant is now operational and will create up to 100 new jobs over the next three years. www.j-tec.com 

 

 

Asahi Kasei Plastics’ new Athens, AL, compounding plant; the raw material silos in the foreground store pellets which are pneumatically loaded from railcars