Bayer MaterialScience (BMS, Leverkusen / Germany; www.bayermaterialscience.com) has opened a global footwear competence centre at Shanghai / China, which the company said will spearhead the development of advanced materials and provide technical support to shoe manufacturers worldwide. Changing fashions and lifestyles require short development and response times, underscoring the need to be close to the customer, said Peter Vanacker, head of the BMS polyurethanes business unit. According to the Bayer group company, China accounted for more than 60% of global footwear production in 2005, turning out more than 7 bn pair of shoes.

The new centre is planned to function as a "technical backbone" for BaySystems, Bayer´s global PU systems house network, and will complement existing facilities in Germany. Equipped with injection moulding machines for both polyurethane and thermoplastic polyurethane applications, casting machines and a pre-polymer and polyol formulation pilot plant, it will focus on developing "new, innovative technologies" and advanced materials, as well as building on the group´s existing expertise.