Application Technology:
The cabinet of Mr. Ö.

Ümit Özkütükcü shows customers what applic­a­tion poten­tial the plastic addit­ives from Brügge­mann have. With a visit to the Applic­a­tion Labs, one finds oneself up close and personal with the twin-screw extruder.

Anyone who has ever witnessed a well-staged chem­ical reac­tion likely does not shy away from comparing it with magic. Some would call Ümit Özkütükcü there­fore a magi­cian. Here is at least one illu­sionist that knows the impact of care­fully placed effects. He politely smiles and begs off such compar­isons. Ümit Özkütükcü, who his colleagues jokingly call “Mr. Ö”, is just someone who likes to show what is possible.

Playing Tetris

And someone who can certainly play Tetris well. The head of the Applic­a­tion Labs does not currently have much space to accom­modate the machines and test equip­ment for his tech­nical center. The use of every corner is well thought through. “We manage to do a lot in the smal­lest space and still keep safety first,” says Ümit Özkütükcü. The lack of space has scattered his depart­ment a bit. The labor­atory, twin-screw extruder, rubber compounding, drawing and injec­tion molding machine are located on several floors in Build­ings 12, 13 and 14. A small mixing and grinding line is avail­able in Building 19. Ümit Özkütükcü was allowed to place ten of his twelve hardening furnaces in a container on the site.

“We are the connecting link between Devel­op­ment and the customer.The majority of our newly developed products are tried out intern­ally on a small scale.”

Ümit Özkütükcü

“Trial and Error”

This “being a little bit present every­where” also has its advant­ages. Creating and using syner­gies with other depart­ments is essen­tial for Ümit Özkütükcü. “We mix in every­where,” he winks. His own team, which has grown consid­er­ably in recent years, is also bursting with inter-discip­linary talent. In the field of Applic­a­tion Tech­no­logy, Chem­ical Engin­eers and Labor­atory Assist­ants work with Tech­ni­cians and Chem­ical Tech­ni­cians from Produc­tion. They continu­ously share their expertise and know-how. It is a give and take and a multi-faceted wealth of expertise from which everyone bene­fits, espe­cially the customer. At the end, the Applic­a­tion Labs are there for our customer most of all. “We are the link between devel­op­ment efforts and the customer. Most of our new devel­op­ments are tried out on a small scale. The tests are carried out in a targeted manner, depending on the require­ments of our customers.” During customer training, including compounders, Ümit Özkütükcü intro­duces what could be specified in the tests. “The customer is glad to receive not only a white powder from us, but also the know-how: What can it do and how do I use it?”

Ümit Özkütükcü grounds devel­op­ment in solid facts. “Is it even possible?” The chem­ical engineer quite often asks this ques­tion when he invest­ig­ates the poten­tial of ideas or researches new raw mater­ials for products at the devel­op­ment stage. Applic­a­tion tech­no­logy is also a lot of trial and error. That is a luxury which Ümit Özkütükcü believes is neces­sary in this field. The fact that a mid-sized busi­ness like Brügge­mann is using applic­a­tion tech­no­logy is far from self-evident – espe­cially since Ümit Özkütükcü and his team cover devel­op­ment, analysis and test processes of both chem­ical divi­sions at Brügge­mann. Ümit Özkütükcü has many places of action.

Advanced Cookie Baking

For example at the twin-screw extruder, where one compounds on a small scale.  A few floors away, the injec­tion molding machine awaits. Here, count­less indi­vidual gran­ular particles become a visual and tactile whole. Advanced cake decor­ating and cookie baking. The results are high-perform­ance rods, sight plates or cylin­ders made of plastic. Molds which now have to prove in wide-ranging tests, for example in the drawing machine or in the oven, whether they have the prop­er­ties that the plastic additive prom­ises. 

The main focus of the Applic­a­tion Labs is not always only on applic­ab­ility or the market­ab­ility. Some­times, when there is a small gap in a chal­len­ging workday, Ümit Özkütükcü takes the time to “spit ball” a bit, as he puts it, in a small group. At such moments, he even spec­u­lates rather fatal­ist­ic­ally: “Why not? This can certainly work!” This chem­ical engineer may not be a magi­cian, but he is certainly a researcher.

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