Chryso is Europe's third largest manufacturer of admixtures and demoulding agents for concrete, cement and plaster. The head office is in Paris and the company's biggest plant, with around 100 employees, is in the small town of Sermaises, an hour south of the French capital.
Constant development
Demoulding agents, which are manufactured on one of the production lines in Sermaises, are continuously developed, often in collaboration with LaFarge Laboratory. Sandrine Reboussin is responsible for demoulding agents in the R&D department at Chryso's factory in Sermaises.
"When casting concrete, demoulding agents are like the butter in a cake tin," she explains. "In exactly the same way as you smear butter round the cake tin so the cake won’t stick, the concrete moulds are sprayed with demoulding agents so the piece of concrete will come out whole, without any bits left in the mould."
She continues: "We mix naphthenic oils with other ingredients and oils to get the right products. Nynas Naphthenics oils are very good technically, which makes it possible for Chryso to maintain high levels of quality, health, safety and the environment in the manufacture of our finished products."
Colourless oil with low aromatic content
"Another major advantage of Nynas Naphthenics oils is their low aromatic content. Also, they are colourless, which means there are no problems with discolouring in our products – something that is important for our customers."
Roger Lefebvre is a purchaser at Chryso, who buys naphthenic oils from several suppliers. "We have been getting deliveries from Nynas Naphthenics for 10 years or so, and it has always worked very well without any problems," he says. "Nynas oils are relatively expensive, but from a technical viewpoint – and for some specific markets – they are the best products for some of our applications."
Quality and research
Louis Engel is purchasing and quality director at Chryso in Sermaises.
"We spend around 4% of turnover on research and development," he explains. "We work closely with LaFarge Laboratory in Lyon, and here in Sermaises we have our own research and development laboratory where we test the raw materials we buy, and our own finished products. Quality and research are two of the pillars our success is built on."
"In France we have had ISO 9001 quality assurance certification since 1994, and ISO 9002 in Spain and Italy since 1995. Many of our products have additional certification to local standards in France, Belgium, Germany and USA, and to quality standards such as NF, BENOR, DIN and ASTM."
CARLO LASZLO
280 employees in 9 countries
Chryso is part of the Materis group, owned by LaFarge. It has around 280 employees in nine subsidiaries spread around the world.
Most of Chryso's customers are concrete producers who buy readymix products or pre-cast concrete producers. Chryso also supplies cement producers and companies managing construction sites that don’t carry out their own construction activities.
A typical Chryso product is Chrysofluid Optima 100, which ensures that concrete in its un-cast state maintains its quality over long periods.
In addition to admixtures and demoulding agents, Chryso also produces colouring agents such as iron oxide.