News
Sabic trying hand at film
Sabic Innovative Plastics is stepping into the film business.
Not the Hollywood kind, but the business of designing and marketing thin layers of Lexan polycarbonate plastic film for security identification cards.
And while relatively new to the arena, Sabic is pushing hard to be a major player in this growing marketplace. One of the essential characteristics of the new film is that is can be laser-marked for superior authentication and makes it more difficult to counterfeit.
"Laser-marking is effective for several reasons," said Josh Ayer, Sabic global product manager of film. "Laser-marking is etched into the Lexan film. You cannot alter the appearance of a laser-marked text or picture without it being obvious. This enhances the security of a card."
Adding to its flexibility, ID card makers can deliver pre-made cards and the laser-marking can be done at the issuing site, like a state driver's license office, Ayer added. Laser-marking can be used to add laser-created images or text to a middle layer of plastic.
Via e-mail from his office in Shanghai, Ayer said GE Plastics, bought by Sabic in 2007 for $11.6 billion, began selling Lexan Film into the security document market in 2001.
"The inherent durability of Lexan made it a good choice over alternatives," he said. "As the market grew, we designed films specifically for the security document market."
At the end of 2006, GE Plastics introduced Lexan SD8B14, clear cover layer film; Lexan SD8B24, opaque white film; and Lexan SD8B94, clear laser-markable film, Ayer said. The three new products gave the industry a bundle of products that would meet their strict needs, such as thinness and tolerance, color needs, and the ability to laser-mark and implement texture combinations that result in easier card-making processes.
The durability of the Lexan films has been a main asset for the product, Ayer said. "Security card manufacturers do not need to use adhesives to create cards that will last up to 10 years and give inherent tamper-resistant properties," he said. "Our customers expect that Lexan Film will have superior clarity, printability, heat resistance, controlled shrinkage and excellent processability for their applications."
He said there is a small community of companies that make identification cards and passports for state, federal and foreign governments. The products are used in driver's licenses, personal ID cards, residency IDs, military IDs and health cards. Smart-cards, or cards that have an antennae or chip built into the card, are also often used for security purposes.
"We are targeting this market and growing quickly," Ayer said.
Lexan Film was developed from offices in Europe and is now starting to spread to markets in North America and the Asia-Pacific.
"We are continuing our development efforts to create materials that will give our customers increased productivity and better security features," Ayer said. " We intend to specialize in this market and be known as a leading security document film provider."