The number of exhibitors at K 2019 has risen to 3,333 in relation to 2016. The Feddersen Group also played a role in this development. At the joint stand in Hall 6/B42, no less than six companies and business units of this internationally active group of companies presented their products and services.
Despite slightly lower visitor numbers at the trade fair, the companies of the Feddersen Group were able to record an increase in visitors to their stand of 10 % compared to the 2016 event. “We were able to conduct around 40 % of the talks with potential new customers,” said Sandra Dierks, Head of Communications & Public Relations at K.D. Feddersen Holding GmbH. “With almost 50 %, the proportion of foreign visitors was also at a very high level.”
At the Group’s stand, everything revolved around the various process steps within the plastics value chain, as underlined by the motto “Plastic Solutions”. The companies showed that, under the umbrella of the Feddersen Group, a solution can be found for every problem.
M.TEC Ingenieurgesellschaft für kunststofftechnische Produktentwicklung mbH joined the Feddersen Group at the end of June 2018 and so, as the newest member, presented at K 2019 for the first time. M.TEC was ideally positioned for this year’s “Hot Topics” at the trade fair. For example, the company is driving innovation in the plastics industry, particularly through the use of the digital twin in warpage optimisation, which uses artificial intelligence to make problems with component distortion a thing of the past. In addition to innovation, however, it is especially the many years of experience in holistic product development combined with wide-ranging expertise that make M.TEC truly unique.
“Our participation in K 2019 proved to be a complete success for us,” Wolfgang Pelzer, Managing Director of M.TEC, was pleased to report. “There were many productive discussions, interesting contacts and follow-up appointments for us”.
PolyComp GmbH, with its headquarters in Norderstedt near Hamburg, was also present for the first time, although it had been active in the Feddersen group of companies since 2013. As a toll manufacturer and license producer for engineering compounds, the company views itself as a competent partner when it comes to product transfers in terms of contract and licensed production based on identical machine technology, new process developments and optimisation, innovative product developments in line with process capability, product complexity in in-house production, special plant equipment, and much more. “We were able to generate many fresh incentives and ideas for new business opportunities at K 2019 and benefit from the synergies within the Group at the joint stand,” is how Jac Loos, Director Acquisition and Quality Management at PolyComp, summed up the participation.
The plastics distributor K.D. Feddersen expanded its portfolio of engineering plastics for K 2019. “We are supplementing our existing polyamide portfolio with, amongst others, more flame-retardant grades of the FRIANYL® brand and post-industrial recyclates of the ECOMID® and NYLFOR brands from Celanese – as usual, easy to process and suitable for demanding applications,” says Daniel Brock, Director Distribution at K.D. Feddersen. What is more, TPEs round off the distributor’s portfolio. The company TRINSEO offers the products MEGOL, TIVILON and APILON with a focus on automotive applications and 2K hard/soft adhesive composites. Celanese’s LAPRENE® and FORPRENE® products for construction, E/E, home appliances and sports, as well as PIBIFLEX® and RITEFLEX® for demanding applications in automotive chassis and in engine compartments.
Even though the topic of lightweight construction has already been addressed for many years, it is still very much in the focus of attention. The industry is called upon to make further efforts in the field of weight reduction, in order to make more careful use of global resources. PP compounds from LyondellBasell meet not only these requirements, but also the high demands placed on visible parts in vehicle interiors, such as good scratch resistance and low emissions. According to the distributor, the demand for new, reduced-density grades with good mechanical properties was high at K 2019.
As regards ABS, the portfolio was expanded to include the ELIX ABS Highly Reflective product line. These light-tight and highly reflective white pigment ABS grades offer a plastic solution for lighting applications in the automotive, household appliance and lighting industries. Due to its photometric properties, high heat distortion temperature and excellent mechanical characteristics, the highly reflective ABS is the ideal material, e.g. for reflectors, LED housings, light guides, segment displays or display systems. With CADON ABS CG 28, an ABS product is now also available from K.D. Feddersen, which due to its special product composition has a very high impact resistance (Izod notched impact strength (-30 C) with 21 kJ/m²) at low temperatures. This product is a good choice for standard applications and offers a good price/performance ratio.
AKRO-PLASTIC presented a number of innovations for the fair. In keeping with the overarching claim of the Feddersen Group “Plastic Solutions”, the plastic compounder showcased a new grade series for drinking water applications based on PPA (AKROMID® T5) as well as polyketone (AKROTEK® PK), which is approved for both cold and hot water.
AKROMID® T9 is a modern PPA, based on a PA9T homopolymer, that absorbs 50 % less water and thus has even more constant properties than conventional PPA grades based on PA6T. Especially in the conditioned state, it offers mechanical advantages compared to conventional PPAs.
A special highlight at the stand was the exhibit of Schmersal GmbH & Co. KG. Together with the Wuppertal expert for safety switchgear and solenoid interlocks as well as other partners, AKRO-PLASTIC presented the Interlock AZM300. This is a system in which the mechanical solenoid interlock was able to be replaced by a solution made of overmoulded metal. Here the AKROMID® B3 GF30 PST combined with the Plasma-SealTight® technology, a joint development of Plasmatreat and AKRO-PLASTIC, was used. With this new approach, the previous form-fit connection was converted into a material-formed joint in which the plastics compound is firmly attached to the metal element. This allowed the weight as well as the number of production steps can be significantly reduced while maintaining the same closing force.
The branches of AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH were also represented at the joint stand. “We are pleased that there is an increasing demand, also more internationally, for sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions in the plastics sector, which was also confirmed by the overwhelming response of the trade fair visitors to our stand and the corresponding focus of topics at the trade fair,” said Dr. Stanislaw Haftka, Head of Sales at the BIO-FED branch. Many countries, such as India and some South American countries, are working on legislation to ban conventional plastics, for example for carrier bags. “The trend towards the application of biodegradable bioplastics in packaging is becoming evident. We already offer suitable materials here,” Dr. Haftka added. BIO-FED expects that bioplastics will also play a major role in the EU ban on disposable plastic articles and is working on the corresponding biocompounds.
AF-COLOR divided its trade fair presence into eight highlight topics in order to present new masterbatch solutions for a wide range of plastic solutions. The most popular topics were the substitution of carbon black in masterbatch products for the coloration of sortable plastic packaging as well as color masterbatches for coloring high-temperature polymers such as PEEK, PPS and PPA. Dirk Schöning, Sales Director at AF-COLOR and responsible for masterbatches within the corporate group, was very pleased with the visitor numbers. “In addition to our well-known customers, we were able to establish quite a few new contacts. The number of supplier contacts, some of whom had some very innovative ideas in the area of plastics additives, was also at a high level.”
