Manufacturing Today Issue - 251 August 2026 | Page 109

____________________________________________________________________________________________ King
Industries development process, bringing it into conversations with customers.“ We make it a point to consider bio-based alternatives for raw materials, and we look at everything related to sustainability,” Shenton notes.“ Customers are always interested in products that help reduce their carbon footprint. For us, that translates into supplying or designing a high-performance additive that drastically improves customer’ s production process efficiency. While initial customer focus may be on the carbon footprint rating of a product, the formulator or engineer quickly realizes that our additive’ s performance in their paint or lubricant systems makes much more of an impact on their carbon footprint than a product’ s carbon footprint rating alone. From reducing paint oven cure temperatures, to extending lubricant changeout intervals – high performing chemical additives like ours help the world reach its sustainability goals more than anyone really knows.” Shenton also wholly believes that within all sustainability challenges lies a common thread and the likely answer to all sustainability woes. He states:“ While some chemistries, like PFAS, absolutely contribute to many of our problems in this world, it will be novel and elegant chemistry solutions from companies like King that will pull us away from those problems.”
Innovation is Key
Internally, innovation is supported by a program called Idea X, which encourages employee contributions and career path development across the business. The aim is to create a framework where ideas can emerge from production, maintenance, engineering, commercial teams, or laboratories.
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