SPE Award for body interior project with TPE

On October 17th the International Society of Plastic Engineers, Inc. presented its SPE Automotive Award 2016 in Düsseldorf for highly innovative and creative solutions in automotive design. In the category “Body Interior” the BMW Group received the award for a glove compartment cover using thin-film technology with a soft touch texture that was achieved with Thermoplastic Elastomers from KRAIBURG TPE.

A development project between the BMW Group and the development partner KRAIBURG TPE shows the importance of the body interior as a distinctive feature of automotive design. This achievement was distinguished on October 17th with the SPE Award 2016 of the International Society of Plastic Engineers.

By using a special multi-component production technology, the Thermoplastic Elastomers give the glove compartment cover a soft and pleasant texture. In-mold decoration of the TPE, which has a low Shore hardness, also compensates for areas of the component with different thicknesses. The application is produced in an innovative cube mold.

Custom engineered to customer requirements
The cooperation with the BMW Group is an outstanding example of how the concept of custom engineered TPEs is practiced at KRAIBURG TPE. Sales, Applications Engineering and Development work together in specialized teams to offer a custom solution that is adapted to the specific customer requirement and processing method.

The customer is a central priority for the company, which has its headquarters in Waldkraiburg. “We observe our market very closely, analyze the requirements and criteria of our customers and then develop specially engineered compound solutions”, explains Michael Pollmann, Director Sales & Marketing EMEA at KRAIBURG TPE.

KRAIBURG TPE is a worldwide leading manufacturer of Thermoplastic Elastomers. Founded in 2001 as a subsidiary of the long-established KRAIBURG Group, which exists since 1947, KRAIBURG TPE played a pioneering role from the very start. With production plants in Germany, the USA and Malaysia the company offers a broad portfolio of compounds for automotive, industrial and consumer applications, as well as for the stringent requirements of the medical sector. The well-known product groups THERMOLAST®, COPEC®, HIPEX® and For Tec E® are processed with injection molding or extrusion technology and offer the manufacturer numerous advantages with respect to processing and product design. KRAIBURG TPE is characterized by a high level of innovative spirit and global proximity to the customer with custom engineered product solutions, in addition to dependable service. The company headquarters in Germany and the location in Malaysia are certified to ISO 50001 and all locations worldwide are certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. In 2015 KRAIBURG TPE, with about 550 employees, earned revenue of € 157 million.

Source: KRAIBURG TPE