BMW will invest an additional $750 million in its upstate South Carolina factory to add 1.5 million sq ft and 500 new jobs on site to produce three models and to increase production capacity to 240,000 units by 2012. The three-year construction project includes a new 1.2-million-sq-ft Assembly Facility north of the existing factory to accommodate the next generation BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle. In addition, the Paint Shop will expand by about 80% or 300,000 sq ft, and the existing Body Shops will be renovated.

MacDermid will host two Electroless Nickel Schools in the coming weeks. The first school will be held in at the Irvine Marriott in Los Angeles, CA, April 28-29. The second school will be held at the Marriott Suites Dallas Market Center in Dallas, TX, May 1-2.

An easy-to-operate, high-frequency ultrasonic cleaning machine with an agitated immersion feature that provides even greater cleaning power has been introduced by ALMCO, Inc.

Molded Fiber Glass Tray Company (MFG Tray) has introduced a new line of high-strength, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite metal parts wash-boxes. According to the company, the composite material construction of the boxes costs approximately one-third the cost of traditional stainless steel counterparts.

The new OptiMix™ Metering System from Nordson Corp.’s Industrial Coating Systems division combines electronic metering technology with touch-screen controls for an easy introduction to mixing of two-component materials. The system works with a range of coatings, viscosities and flow rates; provides real-time data download capability; and is available in two- and three-component configurations.

The Zyvere nanotechnology-based coatings from Nanovere Technologies are permanent, self-cleaning and car key resistant. According to the company, the coatings provide 100% gloss retention even after five years.

At its annual management conference in February, Akzo Nobel Car Refinishes (CR) presented its prestigious Alliance Award to Dr Georg Schröder, president of BYK-Gardner. The award recognizes both BYK-Gardner’s innovative work in a joint project on color measurement and its performance as a business partner.

Sika Corp. has acquired the commercial and industrial polymer flooring business of The Valspar Corp. According to the company, Valspar Flooring’s complete sales and technical support staff have come on board and will remain first points of contact.

Galaxy Associates, Inc., a Cincinnati-based supplier of specialty chemical products to a variety of industries, has been chosen to receive Hoffman/Pentair’s “Supplier Excellence Award.” According to Anna Kramer, a spokesperson for Hoffman, Galaxy Associates was responsible for reducing overall pretreatment costs at the company, while Hoffman has grown steadily.

Scorpion Protective Coatings, Inc. has entered into an agreement with ACCESSA Coatings Solutions on its line of Scorpion protective coatings. ACCESSA will serve as Scorpion’s sales and distribution partner.