In 1984 when the Indoor Tanning Industry was in it’s infancy, Christopher Turner founded Innovative Plastic Fabrication, Inc. for the sole purpose of producing Tanning Bed Acrylic Shields for the Indoor Tanning Industry.  With his Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Minor in Polymers he set out to make the highest quality, longest lasting tanning bed acrylic shields available.  By 1996 Innovative Plastics had become the largest consumer of Ultraviolet Transmitting Acrylic sheet in the country.  With his knowledge of Polymer Chemistry and his first hand understanding of the unique requirements requisite in producing a superior UV transmitting acrylic sheet, he set out to build the most advanced PMMA (acrylic) casting facility in the word.  By 1999 the plant was complete and able to produce acrylic sheet of such high quality, durability and UV stability that nearly every acrylic sheet fabricator and OEM manufacturer was purchasing UV transmitting sheet from Innovative Plastics.  The UV stability was so vastly improved that for the first time a UVT sheet manufacturer was able to offer a lifetime UV transmission warranty.  A few years later, in 2004, Chris was offered the opportunity to develop a high quality UV transmitting acrylic sheet for Aristech Acrylics, LLC.  Aristech is a leading manufacturer of high quality acrylic sheet for the Bath and Hot Tub industries.  Aristech produces acrylic sheet using high-speed continuous casting machines.  To date a true high quality UVT sheet had not been produced using this method.  Within about six months Aristech was producing the best continuous cast UVT acrylic sheet in the word.   A few years had gone by and, by 2008 the Tanning Industry was calling again.  Because of new high-output beds as well as the requirement for much thicker UV transmitting acrylic, Chris went back to the drawing board to develop a formula to handle the industry’s new requirements.  With his wealth of experience in UVT development and his unending drive for improvement, he has developed a UVT formulation capable of withstanding the rigors of today’s demanding equipment.  With the use of previously unavailable stabilizing additives and exotic acrylates, Chris has developed what he has named “Ultimate UV”.  It’s combination of high molecular weight for UV stability and proprietary blend of acrylates and stabilizers for strength, his new “ baby” is born to be a star.  If you have any technical questions or comments please feel free to contact Chris at cturner@acrylicshields.com.

Experience Makes the Difference