Q: Can you give us a little background on Siltech and what sets you apart from your competition?
A: Siltech is a family-owned and operated business. As such we are very quick to respond and have exceptional customer service.
Much of our business has been developed on a customer-by-customer, project by project basis.
The owners of Siltech are smart and decent so that working for Siltech feels like being part of a family. That aura translates to outstanding employee attitudes which are felt by our customers whom we treat as partners.
Q: Tell me a little bit about Siltech’s manufacturing and R&D capabilities?
A: Siltech has our corporate headquarters on the east side of Toronto at the original Siltech site. This site hosts R&D and manufacturing as well as management.
Ten years ago, we purchased a plant in Mississauga, on the western side of the Greater Toronto Metropolitan Area. Siltech purchased that site keeping the employees and thereby doubling our workforce to about 90 people and tripling our capacity. Since then, we have grown to 175 personnel, expanding especially that Mississauga site dramatically along the way.
This year we have built a brand new lab there and moved much of our R&D laboratories to that larger site while continuing to grow and upgrade other assets as well.
State-of-the-art manufacturing, R&D and Q&A are the hallmarks of these ISO 9001:2015 certified sites. The manufacturing limits we have identified are the targets of future upgrades and expansions.
The Toronto site manufactures on a smaller scale, with larger volumes moving to Mississauga venue, effectively making it the scale-up facility.
The processes and equipment are designed so that production can move from one facility to the other easily which provides our customers with room to grow their business and have supply chain security with Siltech.
Q: What technology and markets are Siltech involved in?
A: From a technology standpoint, Siltech concentrates on organomodified silicones. These specialty products are synthesized from silicone and organic inputs which are reacted to form hybrid polymers with diverse properties.
This chemistry is ubiquitous and in nearly all markets. For example, these are used in Personal Care for stabilizing formulae and providing feel and conditioning; Polyurethane foam for cell stabilization; Pulp and Paper for foam control and surface tension modification; and polymer modification for flexibility, haptic properties and impact resistance.
In coatings, as additives these are remarkable at providing flow and leveling, anti-cratering, slip, stabilizing and protection to many inks, coatings and paints.
As polymer modifiers, at higher use levels, these provide flexibility and impact resistance to the final film.
Q: How did the pandemic affect business for Siltech and what steps did you take to mitigate the negative impact?
A: Siltech has been very fortunate through the pandemic. As chemical manufacturers, we were deemed an essential business and have stayed open throughout.
We immediately instituted the Canada Health guidelines regarding employee distancing and hygiene protocols.
While there were employees exposed and a small number who contracted the virus, the safety protocols did their part and those affected are well today.
Businesswise, Siltech products are used in so many different applications that we weathered the storm with moderate growth in 2020.
Some of our customers/markets were well down in volume but others were up. The herculean efforts of our workers allowed us to fulfill all of our customer needs throughout the year.
In recent months, we have been encountering more shipping delays and raw material supply issues. We are advising customers to plan further out to combat these realities.
Q: What are the latest products being brought to market?
A: We tend not to push new product market introductions as much as others do, instead we work closely with customers to create custom solutions and a competitive advantage.
We are offering our Silmer TMS products which are trialkoxy silane-modified silicones.
These unique silane/silicone polymer hybrids provide improvement to water repellency, stain protection, adhesion and feel to many systems.
There seems to be an especially strong synergistic action with these and our Siltech Film Forming emulsions.
In addition, we have new products in our Silmer OH ACR UV reactive product lines, Silmer OHT lines and Siltech branded coatings additives.
Please check our website for the latest literature and product offerings.
Q: Speaking specifically about the paint and coatings market what are some of the most popular product offerings and what markets are they used in?
A: Our family of film forming emulsions, headed by Siltech E-2150, are used in roof and concrete coatings for hydrophobicity. Also, our Siltech E-4465 series of gum dispersions are used in leather and industrial coatings for softness
and protection.
Q: What are Siltech’s near-term plans?
A: With the extraordinary people who work at Siltech, the flat organization lead by an excellent leadership team, and the capabilities in place already; yes, the future is exciting.
We are starting to think about expansions as we can see our medium-term forecasts filling our existing capacity.
We never want to get to the point of having to allocate assets so are planning to expand in the short to medium time frame.
Come partner with us and see for yourself. www.siltech.com
A: Siltech is a family-owned and operated business. As such we are very quick to respond and have exceptional customer service.
Much of our business has been developed on a customer-by-customer, project by project basis.
The owners of Siltech are smart and decent so that working for Siltech feels like being part of a family. That aura translates to outstanding employee attitudes which are felt by our customers whom we treat as partners.
Q: Tell me a little bit about Siltech’s manufacturing and R&D capabilities?
A: Siltech has our corporate headquarters on the east side of Toronto at the original Siltech site. This site hosts R&D and manufacturing as well as management.
Ten years ago, we purchased a plant in Mississauga, on the western side of the Greater Toronto Metropolitan Area. Siltech purchased that site keeping the employees and thereby doubling our workforce to about 90 people and tripling our capacity. Since then, we have grown to 175 personnel, expanding especially that Mississauga site dramatically along the way.
This year we have built a brand new lab there and moved much of our R&D laboratories to that larger site while continuing to grow and upgrade other assets as well.
State-of-the-art manufacturing, R&D and Q&A are the hallmarks of these ISO 9001:2015 certified sites. The manufacturing limits we have identified are the targets of future upgrades and expansions.
The Toronto site manufactures on a smaller scale, with larger volumes moving to Mississauga venue, effectively making it the scale-up facility.
The processes and equipment are designed so that production can move from one facility to the other easily which provides our customers with room to grow their business and have supply chain security with Siltech.
Q: What technology and markets are Siltech involved in?
A: From a technology standpoint, Siltech concentrates on organomodified silicones. These specialty products are synthesized from silicone and organic inputs which are reacted to form hybrid polymers with diverse properties.
This chemistry is ubiquitous and in nearly all markets. For example, these are used in Personal Care for stabilizing formulae and providing feel and conditioning; Polyurethane foam for cell stabilization; Pulp and Paper for foam control and surface tension modification; and polymer modification for flexibility, haptic properties and impact resistance.
In coatings, as additives these are remarkable at providing flow and leveling, anti-cratering, slip, stabilizing and protection to many inks, coatings and paints.
As polymer modifiers, at higher use levels, these provide flexibility and impact resistance to the final film.
Q: How did the pandemic affect business for Siltech and what steps did you take to mitigate the negative impact?
A: Siltech has been very fortunate through the pandemic. As chemical manufacturers, we were deemed an essential business and have stayed open throughout.
We immediately instituted the Canada Health guidelines regarding employee distancing and hygiene protocols.
While there were employees exposed and a small number who contracted the virus, the safety protocols did their part and those affected are well today.
Businesswise, Siltech products are used in so many different applications that we weathered the storm with moderate growth in 2020.
Some of our customers/markets were well down in volume but others were up. The herculean efforts of our workers allowed us to fulfill all of our customer needs throughout the year.
In recent months, we have been encountering more shipping delays and raw material supply issues. We are advising customers to plan further out to combat these realities.
Q: What are the latest products being brought to market?
A: We tend not to push new product market introductions as much as others do, instead we work closely with customers to create custom solutions and a competitive advantage.
We are offering our Silmer TMS products which are trialkoxy silane-modified silicones.
These unique silane/silicone polymer hybrids provide improvement to water repellency, stain protection, adhesion and feel to many systems.
There seems to be an especially strong synergistic action with these and our Siltech Film Forming emulsions.
In addition, we have new products in our Silmer OH ACR UV reactive product lines, Silmer OHT lines and Siltech branded coatings additives.
Please check our website for the latest literature and product offerings.
Q: Speaking specifically about the paint and coatings market what are some of the most popular product offerings and what markets are they used in?
A: Our family of film forming emulsions, headed by Siltech E-2150, are used in roof and concrete coatings for hydrophobicity. Also, our Siltech E-4465 series of gum dispersions are used in leather and industrial coatings for softness
and protection.
Q: What are Siltech’s near-term plans?
A: With the extraordinary people who work at Siltech, the flat organization lead by an excellent leadership team, and the capabilities in place already; yes, the future is exciting.
We are starting to think about expansions as we can see our medium-term forecasts filling our existing capacity.
We never want to get to the point of having to allocate assets so are planning to expand in the short to medium time frame.
Come partner with us and see for yourself. www.siltech.com
