COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 Blog

The ACMA has been our guest at COMPOSITES EUROPE in Stuttgart. Have a look at Lori Luchak’s positive comment on her visit. Both shows are really good partners.  In February 2012 we will be part of the ACMA show, too.  European companies present their products in the COMPOSITES EUROPE pavillon. The show takes place in the fabulous city of Las Vegas.  http://www.acmashow.org/.  Register now and come to Las Vegas!

Maximilian Hacker is 25 years old and the owner of BRComposites. He absolved his training as procedural mechanics of plastic and rubber technology, specialized in fibre composites.

 Activities previous to his self-employment:

1. Fischer & Entwicklung Landshut
2. Pilatus Aircraft Schweiz
3. Company with Formel 1 experience   (company name is not mentioned because of legal reasons)

CE: COMPOSITES EUROPE Team

MH: Maximilian Hacker

CE: Please introduce yourself. Who are you and what is your responsibility at BRComposites?

MH: BRComposites has exists for two years now. We are a young and very innovative company with a continuous strong growth. Furthermore, we think that  well-trained employees and to the original rules of craftsmanship are very important.

I am proud to say that we are already training employees. In my opinion there is still a lack of skilled workers in the composites industry.

We develop and offer individual production to our customers. Productions up to 10,000 standard parts are easily possible. In this way the volume of production is growing. Our production is done without autoclaves and everything is hand-made.

BRComposites

CE: So how did you experience the COMPOSITES EUROPE 2011 show? What are your impressions?

MH: This is the first time for BRComposites as an exhibitor at the COMPOSITES EUROPE. Actually we have been planning the first exhibition in 2016. At least that has been the conclusion of a family dinner. However, by coincidental, I got a phone call from the COMPOSITES EUROPE team the next day. During this conversation I received information about a funding possibility through BMWi. Because of the funding possibility and the sponsoring by Jost Chemicals, which is a close partner, we decided to book a booth for the COMPOSITES EUROPE 2011.

Mr. Hacker was reacting spontaneously when we asked him about his feelings as participant of the CE 2011. He was euphorically describing the exhibition as gigantic. The company had a huge success, a great number of good meetings and contacts. The booth was constantly busy because so many visitors were interested in their products. In his opinion, the exhibition service and the whole organisation was very commendable.

We closed the interview by talking about the presentation of innovations brought by BRC.

BRComposites presented flexible carbon protectors which is already used e.g. by the v. The jacket (have a look at the picture) in the background is specially made for extreme mountainbikers and is equipped with flexible carbon protectors. All visitors have been wondering what kind of material this is. However, we could not get any detailed information.

Thank you so much for the interesting and open conversation with Mr. Hacker.

We met Michael Scharmer at our show in Stuttgart. For MSC Polymer AG it is a premiere to exhibit at CE show. www.msc-polymer.com

Q: Question

MS: Answer of Michael Scharmer

Michael Scharmer (man on the right side on the picture) www.msc-polymer.com/

Q: Please introduce yourself and MSC Polymer AG.

MS: MSC Polymer AG is a capital markets company LC. I am in the bord of directors as a director of technology and the Chief Executive Officer. 1988 the company was founded as a technical consulting company. Later on it had been developed towards a distributor of materials. Glass fibre reinforced epoxy laminates are the backbone of the classical PCB. Our customers already expected that we supply materials for premanufactured and pretooled. So we had to invest in suitable machinery and step by step we became a manufacturer of glass fibre reinforced parts for broad applications (despite PCB, our core business). We are at at the COMPOSITES EUROPE show because we had more and more inquieries asking for new materials as they are being shown here.We knew nobody in this industry, now we know a lot! Exhibitions are not only to attract new customers, but also to come in touch with the industry. We wanted to find new suitable suppliers and tool makers. In addition, we have a lot of contacts, for example to science institutions. It is really worth to come here. The next time in Düsseldorf we will bring more examples with us made of carbon fibre. In a few years we want to become an important European player in the manufacture of 3D-parts for many application industries, especially for the machinery industry.

Q: So how did you come to the COMPOSITES EUROPE show?

MS: We observed the development within the composites industry and the COMPOSITES EUROPE trade show. I asked myself where is this industry going? Looks like it is getting really important. I would have come as a visitor anyway. So why not taking a booth? The stand is also a meeting point. It can not be replaced by google or other social platforms. In the evening you also meet your visitors in the same hotel at the bar. This trade show is very well organized, not bureaucratic at all and our administration efforts to manage our participation were markable low compared to other major German exhibitions.

Moreover, it takes place in one of Germany’s most beautiful exhibition centres!

Our team met the exhibitor Kegelmann Technik at COMPOSITES EUROPE show 2011 in Stuttgart! Today is the 3rd and last day of our exhibition.

Kegelmann Technik presents it’s product range here. The company offers prototyping and small-series production for complex prefabricated parts made of metal and plastic.

Kegelmann Technik at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2011, Mr. Weber, http://www.ktechnik.de/

80 employees work at the location of Rodgau-Jügesheim. In this way Kegelmann Technik unifies 100% in-house production depth in one company, from the design, construction, rapid-prototyping technology, model making, tool making to injection moulding.

We asked Mr. Weber (on the picture) if Kegelmann Technik alsways worked in the field of composites.  He answered “Yes, we have worked in the field of composites technology for many years now. At the COMPOSITES EUROPE show we present the RTM-production technology in the prototyping phase.”

So how was their impression of our show? Kegelmann Technik is a new exhibitor this year! The answer is “Positiv. COMPOSITES EUROPE is a specialised exhibition. Here you can find the market place for the area of composites manufacturing.”

Come to the show and meet Kegelmann Technik in hall 4/booth E65! http://www.ktechnik.de/

COMPOSITES EUROPE Blog interviewed Stephan Knappe – International Sales and Applications Manager at NETZSCH-Gerätebau GmbH. The company is a new exhibitor at COMPOSITES EUROPE show in September!

Q: Question

SK:  Stephan Knappe

Q: Please introduce yourself – who are you, what are your responsibilities at NETZSCH-Gerätebau GmbH?

SK: Chemical engineer, International Sales and Applications Manager, dedicated to polymer and composite applications. Currently also responsible for sales in Southern Europe.

Read Full Post

COMPOSITES EUROPE Blog met Mr. Stefan Hilbrath – divisional director of UHU Industrieklebstoffe. For the first time UHU will exhibit at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2011 in Stuttgart. We have asked him a few questions to get some interesting information.

Q: Question
A: Answer

UHU Indutry adhesives - new exhibitor at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2011 in Stuttgart - http://uhu-profi.de/

Audi, too, has now joined the race. Following BMW’s deployment of SGL Carbon and Mercedes’ use of Toray, Audi has now entered into a partnership devoted to the development and fully automatic production of carbon fibre-reinforced materials. In the future, Audi’s reputation as a pioneer of lightweight construction will not be based exclusively on its use of aluminium. Vehicles containing the new material will be marketed under the “ultra” label.

In collaboration with the machinery manufacturer Voith, the Audi engineers are setting up the industrial-scale manufacture of fibre-reinforced materials for the series production of cars; their main goal is to develop a fully automatic process chain. With series production their ultimate target, both partners are devoting themselves not only to the creation of processing engineering and mass production methods for conventional fibre-reinforced plastics but also to the development of new and innovative high-tech materials.

The long flap of the folding top cover and the large rear side panels of the Audi R8 GT Spyder are made from CFRP. (Photo: Audi)

To date, Audi has only used CFRPs in its high-priced super sports cars such as the Audi R8 GT Spyder. The long flap of the folding top cover and the large rear side panels of the recently launched 560 PS version of the sports car are made from CFRP. The material is also used in the modified front spoiler, in the fixed rear spoiler and in the new rear bumper. These components account for total weight savings of 5.5 kilograms.

“Low-fat vehicles” featuring fibre composites will also be highlighted at the international Composites Europe (CE) trade fair, to be held from 27 to 29 September 2011 in Essen. The BMW partner SGL Carbon will be there to demonstrate its expertise. The company supplies the carbon fibres for the Megacity Vehicle. This is the first time in which CFRP parts have been used in large-scale series production. This takes the company a step closer to producing affordable lightweight vehicles suitable for mass production based on fibre composites – putting BMW a nose ahead in the technology race. This is shown by the efforts of the rivals who are doing all they can to catch up. Take Audi, for example: it has set up an interdisciplinary carbon fibre research unit at its Neckarsulm plant aimed at adapting the CFRP technology processes for use in series production. The sister marque Lamborghini has also set up a research unit for carbon fibre technologies at the new Advanced Composites Research Center (ACRC) in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower is a complex under construction in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The building holds and will break several world records in the construction world, including: the tallest hotel in the world, constructed with the tallest clock tower in the world and displaying the world’s largest clock face. COMPOSITES EUROPE Blog met one of the project partner for this – Dominik Ch. Scheurer:

Read Full Post

This year, once again, the AVK conference is the opening event of the COMPOSITES EUROPE trade fair, which is an important market place for your business with participants from the every stage of the industry’s value chain from 27 – 29 September.
The presentation of the AVK Innovation Award and Composites Night frame the event and provide an opportunity for informal communication.

The International AVK Conference in the ICS International Congress Center Stuttgart has a brand new concept.

In two series of lectures, prominent experts offer their insights into the many and diverse applications for fibre reinforced plastics. In order to reflect the needs of the different interest groups even more closely at the conference, the two series are divided into thematic blocks presented by executives and technology specialists respectively.

The speakers will focus on current developments and innovations in technologies, materials and new processes as well as on the general condition of the GRP and CRP market.
Some of the fascinating lectures include:

• “Structural lightweight applications made from thermoplastic composites” by Joachim Graefe, Quadrant Plastic Composites AG
• “Thermoplastic composites for the A350 XWB” by Dr. Klaus Edelmann, Airbus Operations GmbH.
• Dr. Walter Aichholzer of Mercedes-Benz talks about the SMC decklid used in the premium automotive segment.

AVK represents the interests of all companies and institutions in the value chain involving components made of fibre-reinforced plastics and engineering thermosets

In a special lecture block “Research for practical application” professors from renowned universities and institutes report on trends, comparative studies of materials, series manufacturing applications and the wide range of design possibilities offered by fibre reinforced plastics.
The conference closes with a panel discussion titled “The future of fiber composites and plastics in the automotive sector” in which well-known participants from the automotive industry and its suppliers consider the current state of technology.

Have a look at the AVK conference programme now here.

You can register online here.

I just got information that in 2011 AVK-conference set up a new new concept.

Compressed into two lecture series high-level speakers inform about various applications of fiber reinforced plastics. Thematically, the two series be divided into decision-makers and technicians blocks. In this way the needs of stakeholders are met even more.

• Structural lightweight applications of thermoplastic composites by Joachim Graefe, Quadrant Plastic Composites AG
• Carbon-thermoplastic manufacturing for the A350 XWB – From Idea to Series Production by Dr. Klaus Edelmann, Airbus Operations Ltd.
• SMC tailgate, which are used in automotive premium segment by Dr. Walter Aichholzer, Mercedes-Benz.

These are just some Topics for 2011 convention. As I am a big supporter of panel discussions I am looking forward to this: “Future prospects of fiber reinforced plastics in the automotive”.
Stuttgart is well known for Automotive so I guess there will be some interesting heads discussing this.

See you there!

More Information:
International AVK-Conference
26. bis 27. September 2011
ICS Internationalen Congresscenter, Stuttgart
http://www.avk-tv.de/