Universal Display Corporation (UDC) and PPG (Pittsburgh, Pa.) announced that UDC Ireland Limited and PPG will jointly establish a new manufacturing site in Shannon, Ireland, for the production of UDC’s highly efficient, high-performing UniversalPHOLED materials. The new facility will be designed to double the production capacity and diversify the manufacturing base for UDC’s phosphorescent emitters to meet growing organic light emitting diode (OLED) market demand and evolving industry requirements.
PPG is the exclusive manufacturer of UDC’s UniversalPHOLED emitter materials, and the two companies recently celebrated their 20-year partnership.
UDC has leased the Ireland site with the right to purchase. Until recently, the site was operating as a full-service, active pharmaceutical intermediates manufacturing facility. It will be adapted to manufacture PHOLED emitters and will be operated by PPG. Facility improvements and regulatory approvals are expected to be completed in the next 12 months, and operations are scheduled to commence in early 2022.
“We are very pleased to continue to grow and broaden our strong 20-year relationship of producing high-performance OLED materials for Universal Display,” said Michael H. McGarry, PPG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of the Ireland facility helps support the tremendous demand and growth for energy-efficient displays and lighting devices and expands upon our established OLED production facilities, which are located in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and Barberton, Ohio.”
“We are excited to expand the manufacturing footprint for our proprietary state-of-the-art phosphorescent OLED materials with PPG, our strong, long-term partner, as the next step in our globalization strategy,” said Steven V. Abramson, Universal Display Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer. “UDC’s mission centers on enabling our customers and the proliferation of OLEDs in the consumer electronics landscape. We are continuing to enlarge our global presence, while also bolstering our localized on-the-ground capabilities. Following the recent openings of our PHOLED Application Centers in Korea and Hong Kong, our goal is to establish additional local operations to support our customers. Together with PPG’s best-in-class manufacturing expertise, this investment commitment broadens our global capacity, strengthens our business continuity safeguards and enables us to meet the significant growth expected in the OLED industry.”