PUGL names Excelkos-Tiarco exclusive Southeast Asia distributor

Peachtree Grove, GA – PUGL Technology Group LLC has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Excelkos-Tiarco Sdn. Bhd. covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Under the agreement, Excelkos-Tiarco will represent and sell PUGL Fusion Agent, PUGL’s stearate-free release agent, together with PUD 9088, the company’s polyurethane dispersion (PUD) for disposable polyurethane glove production. Excelkos-Tiarco will handle sales, technical support and customer trials for both products across the territory.
The agreement gives PUGL a commercial and technical presence in a region accounting for a significant share of global disposable glove capacity. PUGL said it selected Excelkos-Tiarco for its technical sales organization, regional inventory capability and long-standing relationships with major glove manufacturers in Southeast Asia.

Stearates have been the dominant release system in disposable glove manufacturing for decades. Eliminating them has been a long-standing industry objective because of the contamination, mold maintenance, effluent and process-efficiency issues associated with stearate-based coagulant systems.
PUGL Fusion Agent is designed to replace stearates in the coagulant while maintaining stripping performance. PUGL said the product is formulated for use across nitrile rubber, natural latex, polyisoprene and polyurethane glove lines, and is designed to integrate into existing dip-line configurations without major equipment modifications.
The agreement follows in-plant trials with glove manufacturers in China and Southeast Asia. The technology has moved beyond laboratory development and is being evaluated under commercial manufacturing conditions on active dip-coating lines. Commercial quantities are available for customer qualification programs and manufacturing trials.

The results below are reported by PUGL from company-conducted plant trials. Figures represent the strongest results recorded at individual trial lines; outcomes varied by line configuration, substrate and existing process design.
PUGL said trial sites running Fusion Agent maintained stripping performance with stearates fully removed from the coagulant. Sites reported fewer pinholes, improved polymer pickup with calcium nitrate coagulant and correspondingly lower calcium nitrate demand. Manufacturers running textured molds reported that removing residual stearate buildup from mold grooves produced more clearly defined surface texture and improved grip on the finished glove.
With stearates removed, PUGL said trial sites were able to discontinue acid and alkali cleaning of molds and formers, reducing acid and alkali rinse effluent and former corrosion. Water consumption at those sites fell by as much as 30%.
Where Fusion Agent was paired with PUD 9088, PUGL said manufacturers were able to remove the acid, alkali and leaching steps from the process line altogether, and reported water-consumption reductions of as much as 95% against conventional processing. Because the polyurethane crosslinks at a lower temperature than conventional nitrile and latex curing, trial sites also reported energy savings of as much as 15%.

PUD 9088 is a waterborne polyurethane dispersion engineered for disposable glove manufacturing. PUGL said the dispersion is formulated to deliver a softer feel, higher elongation at high tensile strength and improved breathability relative to conventional systems, with lower residual ionic and particulate content and reduced extractables.
Executive comment
“This agreement gives us a technical sales organization on the ground in the region that accounts for a significant share of global glove production,” said Lee Hanson, CEO and founder of PUGL Technology Group. “Excelkos-Tiarco’s relationships and technical footprint make them the right partner to move Fusion Agent and our PUD platform into customer qualification at scale.”
“The industry has been working to eliminate stearates for many years, and we are pleased to be the distribution partner bringing this technology to our customers,” said Andy Tan, CEO of Excelkos-Tiarco Sdn. Bhd. “Our team has spent close to 40 years serving the latex industry and knows the major manufacturers well. We look forward to working with them on the transition to non-stearate glove production.”
Technology background and licensing
David Chen, chief technology officer of PUGL Technology Group, has spent 20 years developing the technology behind Fusion Agent and the company’s PUD platform. “Manufacturers are now willing to change a coagulant system that has been in place for decades,” Chen said. “That was not the case a few years ago.”
PUGL has filed multiple international patent applications covering Fusion Agent chemistry, manufacturing processes and related glove production technologies. Those applications are pending. The company plans to license its patent-pending processes to glove manufacturers rather than sell the technology outright.
PUGL’s chief operating officer, Jim Hull — whose family has manufactured gloves in Ohio since the 1920s — has spent more than 50 years in the industry. “Fusion Agent and our PUD line are the first products we are bringing to market,” Hull said. “We have additional processing technologies in development.”