Wacker Chemie AG is strengthening its presence in Japan by opening a new Wacker Academy training center in Tsukuba, near Tokyo. The center primarily offers seminars on silicone products for the automotive, electronics, sealant and personal care sectors. At Tsukuba, Wacker manufactures silicone products through its joint venture, Wacker Asahikasei Silicone (AWS). It also operates a silicone-coatings competence center there. With the addition of the Wacker Academy, the site now combines under one roof not only production, R&D and application technology, but also a training center for Wacker’s silicones.


“Our new training center in Tsukuba is another milestone in our growth strategy for Asia, particularly for Japan,” said Christian Hartel of Wacker’s executive board during the opening ceremony. The Munich-based chemical company’s new Wacker Academy center will reinforce the company’s leading market and technology position for high-quality silicone solutions and will strengthen its local expertise in R&D, application technology and customer support, added Hartel. The center’s seminar program is specifically tailored to market needs in Japan and Asia as a whole. “Thanks to this unique Japanese facility, we can generate high added value for our local customers and partners and expand our technical expertise in the region.”


According to Hiroshi Yoshida, Lead Executive Officer of the joint venture partner Asahi Kasei Corporation, Wacker Academy is a highly effective tool for responding to the sophisticated demands of Japanese customers.


"I anticipate that the facility will boost AWS’s growth,” he added.


Specialty silicones from Wacker are used in products ranging from airbag coatings to skin creams. Wacker Academy workshops and seminars are ideal for showing how the company  tailors the versatile properties of our silicones to a customer’s specific needs, explained Robert Gnann, the head of Wacker Silicones. The center focuses on specialty silicones, he added. They are used for coating technical textiles and as optical lenses in LEDs, for example. The center also offers seminars on personal care products, release coatings, electronic applications and sealants.



By having production, R&D labs and a training center all under one roof, Wacker is ideally positioned for supporting customers in the region. Seminar participants benefit from being so close to R&D facilities, since they have access to training labs with state-of-the-art equipment. This allows them to perform extensive practical exercises alongside their theoretical sessions. As a result, the Wacker Academy is an ideal, industry-specific platform for networking among customers, distributors and Wacker specialists.