PREPARING THE OFF-ROAD TOOLBOX
BASF Catalysts readies for the challenges of off-road emissions regulations
BY DAWN M. GESKE While most of the tightening emissions regulations have been targeted toward the on-highway and light-duty automotive industries, aftertreatment manufacturers
are preparing for the next tier of regulations set to hit the off-road market. For
BASF Catalysts, an emissions control
supplier, the off-road market poses
additional challenges, toward which
the company plans to leverage its
experience in the on-highway emissions business.
Based in Islin, New Jersey, U.S.A.,
BASF Catalysts is the global division of
German BASF AG. In 2006, BASF
DIESEL PROGRESS INTERNATIONAL EDITION
BASF Catalysts is gearing up for the upcoming off-road emissions regulations,
leveraging its experience in the automotive and truck industry and building on its
acquisition of Engelhard Corp. in 2006 — creating vertical integration from raw
materials through finished product and design.
acquired catalyst producer Engelhard
Corp. and rolled the company into the
BASF Catalysts division specifically
devoted to catalyst technologies. Through
the acquisition of Engelhard, BASF has
created vertical integration from raw
materials through finished product and
design, building off the expertise of all its
internal divisions.
“The thing that’s really changed is the
depth of what we have,” said Frank
Ardite, commercial director at BASF
Catalysts. “We relied on suppliers to help
us out with a lot of different things. We
would go out to a raw material supplier
and say here’s what we’re looking for.
Now, we go internally to our R&D groups
and they feed new materials and ideas
into the catalyst division.”
The scope of BASF’s investments and
planning have also expanded with more
than ;100 million earmarked for capital
expansions this year to support both short-
and long-term strategic plan objectives.
“There’s a long-term view especially
about the catalyst business,” said Ardite.
“We see all these tighter regulations
going forward. We know long term it’s
going to be a good business. There’s this
long-term view about where we want to
be in 10, 15 years. We make the right
investments now to make sure that we’re
ready to handle that growth.”
