In 1976, BYK inaugurates a new research and development center. The team is still small by today's standards: one research manager and seven employees move into the new premises. However, the new laboratory has space for 60 employees. Because BYK wants to grow.

Dr. Klaus Oehmichen, BYK's managing director at the time, gives the research team a clear mission: "Our research has the task of delivering practical, marketable solutions for the global market." And they succeed: In the 1980s, BYK is generating around 40 percent of its turnover with products developed after 1975, including not only paint additives but increasingly also plastic additives.