German distributor Biesterfeld Plastic (Hamburg; www.biesterfeld.com), part of the Biesterfeld group, has announced a change to its business unit structure designed to intensify its focus on specialities that require closer interaction with customers. At the beginning of 2021, the company created five new globally oriented business units – advanced polymers, engineering polymers, high-performance polymers, performance elastomers and sustainable polymer solutions – to replace its existing five divisions. The new structure opens up additional growth potential for the entire organisation, both on a national and international level, the company said. Biesterfeld group executive board member, Carsten Harms, who heads the plastics arm, noted that the distributor is gearing up for a broader geographical expansion into strategically important growth markets while also boosting hands-on support for long-term partners.

Within the structure, the former engineering polymers division has been subdivided into three units: engineering polymers, high-performance polymers and performance elastomers. The company said this will facilitate better synergy within the segments and create more depth for responding more effectively to the growing needs of partners and customers on a global level. The high-performance polymers and performance elastomers units are headed by Dietmar Zinkand, who was responsible for the engineering polymers division prior to restructuring, and Martin Rathke is in charge of the reformed engineering polymers unit as business manager.

Biesterfeld’s advanced polymers business unit, led by Wilhelm Postel as business manager, encompasses styrene copolymers, transparent technical plastics, polycarbonate blends and compounds, and styrene-butadiene block copolymers.

As the name would suggest, the fifth new business unit, sustainable polymer solutions, focuses on sustainability, with a portfolio including technical polyolefins, products to modify polymers, and sustainable compounds. “Sustainable plastic solutions are a key market trend,” said Martin Umbach, who as managing director of Biesterfeld Plastic also serves as business manager of the sustainability unit.