By Liz White, UT staffLeverkusen, Germany-Bayer MaterialScience AG intends in future to operate its global network of polyurethane systems houses under the BaySystems name, the group announced 10 Jan. "With BaySystems we are creating a global customer service quality standard for our systems house customers," said Peter Vanacker, head of the Polyurethanes Business Unit at Bayer MaterialScience, in a BMS statement. He added that this move strengthens the group's worldwide systems house network. Currently BMS's systems houses offer customer-specific product portfolios in their regions, and in future, working together, they can accelerate the market launch of polyurethane innovations, said Vanacker."BaySystems is synonymous with rapid and flexible technology transfer within the global systems house network, and from there direct to the polyurethane processor," according to Dr Joachim Dohm, vice president BaySystems Integration in BMS's Polyurethanes Business Unit. Customers will benefit from the know-how of their direct partner and that of the network, and also from "the security of the stable, backward-integrated supplier Bayer MaterialScience," he continued, in the BMS announcement. Bayer listed the following part of the BaySystems business* In Europe, the Spanish systems house Betapur has already been renamed BaySystems Iberia. BÜFA Polyurethane in Oldenburg, Germany, recently followed suit and is now operating under the name BaySystems BÜFA GmbH & Co. KG, effective immediately. * The systems house Tectrade. in Denmark and Finland, is now called BaySystems NorthernEurope A/S. It will focus on Scandinavian and Baltic customers, bu also increasingly on customers from the northern part of eastern Europe, BMS said. * Italian systems house Deltapur is changing its name to BaySystems Italia SpA. * In Nigel, South Africa, Bayer (Pty) Ltd also operates under the BaySystems brand, with a special focus on polyurethane systems for household appliances.* In the US, Polythane Systems Inc., taken over by BMS in August 2005, will become part of the new BaySystems NorthAmerica llc systems house. * Bayer de Mexico SA in Santa Clara operates an integrated site for polyurethanes under the BaySystems umbrella brand, developing formulations for customers and manufacturing products from various polyol ranges.* In South America, BMS said, customers are served by the polyurethane systems houses in Maracay, Venezuela, and Belford Roxo, Brazil, both of which operate under the BaySystems umbrella brand.* BMS is "also currently engaged in extensive expansion of its BaySystems systems house network in the up-and-coming Asia-Pacific region," recently setting up its first integrated systems house on the Indian subcontinent-BaySystems India-in New Delhi. * Bayer Jinling Polyurethane Co. Ltd in Nanjing, China, recently doubled its annual capacity. * Bayer also has a Taiwanese provider of BaySystems polyurethane formulations, Bayer Polyurethanes Taiwan Ltd, in Kaohsiung. * Customers in Japan are served by Sumika Bayer Urethane Co. Ltd in Amagasaki.The picture shows laboratory testing at BMS to optimise the production of polyurethane raw materials."