What have been some of the building blocks for Eurotec’s success? Service? Product advice? Innovation?  We always paid special attention to high quality and never even tried [to compete] with absolutely low priced competitors. Our sales managers frequently travel to their customers all around the globe and offer a high level of support even on the construction site if it is necessary. We also offer an estimation service which can be done by our technical product managers or by dedicated software solutions, which are available for our customers for free. Those facts are just some of the building blocks that helped Eurotec achieve the success that led us to our current position in the market.

Any final thoughts for our readers? We are excited about the upcoming time and development on the global markets and we are eager to strengthen our position in the industry, as well as cooperate closer with our existing customers and on interesting projects with new customers.

How many machines does Eurotec now operate in Germany? And are there any plans to increase that amount further?  Our current machinery in operation consists of several fully automated screw production lanes as well as a machine for injection moulding. Those capacities will approximately be doubled with the completion of the new production hall which is currently under construction. The whole machinery will be moved to this location and the current production hall will be used for further storage to expand our warehouse capacity too. This set up allows us to produce a selected range of our long construction screws with a diameter from 6-10mm and a length of up to 1,000mm on site, as well as our high load bearing adjustable pedestals for deck substructure construction.

And what about the wider industry – which have been the most significant changes in the industry since Eurotec was established? The increasing important of the internet? Changing customer expectations? We experience first of all a major change, that most customers and prospects have a much higher focus on quality, which supports our position and philosophy. New projects are now not only price-driven certifications, performance as well as durability are of the same importance as a competitive price. Also the possibility of offering solution-specific systems with matched components, which guarantee a high level of versatility and user-friendly handling, have got more and more important.

How important is the US market for Eurotec? The US market is an important market for the global construction industry. Especially in the field of timber and deck EUROTEC GmbH construction, where we have a lot of competence and strength, we see large opportunities to grow our business.

The tape stacking cell developed by Engel uses high-resolution camera technology to produce precise stacks from tape blanks.

Eurotec started with just two employees and operated out of a garage. Now it has 120 staff in an expanding industrial facility, has brought production to Germany and is targeting growth in global markets, including the United States. Torque Magazine speaks to Managing Director and Co-Founder Markus Rensburg ahead of Eurotec's International Fastener Expo (formerly NIFMSE) debut...

At Composites Europe 2018, Engel is setting a further milestone on the road to economical production of thermoplastic composites: The Engel organomelt process is being used for the first time world-wide in the large-scale production of front-end carriers with integrated air ducts.

Do you always exhibit at International Fastener Expo (formerly NIFMSE)?  This year is the first time we will exhibit there in Las Vegas. We have previously exhibited at several other trade shows in the United States since 2015.

This reproducible thermoplastic approach enables integration of the forming process and functionalization, and to merge the supporting structure and functional elements in an adhesive manner. "The fully automated one-shot process contributes considerably to the low unit costs required by the automotive industry," emphasizes Christian Wolfsberger, Business Development Manager Composite Technologies at Engel's headquarters in Schwertberg, Austria. A further benefit: the exclusive use of thermoplastic polymers simplifies the development of recycling strategies with the aim of returning the components to the material cycles at the end of their service life. "We can see that thermoplastic-based composite lightweight design is increasingly becoming the focus of product developers, both in the automotive and aircraft industries," stresses Wolfsberger.

The processing and functionalization of thermoplastic continuous fiber-reinforced semi-finished products, such as thermoplastic fabrics or UD tapes, using the Engel organomelt process will be one key focus at Engel's trade fair stand this year at Composites Europe 2018. The world's first large-scale application has been launched in the US. Valeo Front End Modules manufactures front-end carriers with integrated air ducts for a renowned German OEM in Smyrna, Tennessee, believed to be Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In July of this year, the structural components won an Automotive Award from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) for their innovative production based on organic sheets and its outstanding properties. The parts contain a high organic sheet fraction, resulting in significant weight savings and improved crash performance. In addition, it was possible to integrate the air ducts directly into the support using a double-shell structure.

How’s business? The business is constantly expanding and so is Eurotec. Due to the high global demand of our products a new production hall is currently under construction.

What proportion of Eurotec’s business is in exports? Which territories are you strongest in and where is there the most potential to grow? The export carries approx 65% of Eurotec´s business. We have a large share in the surrounding European markets, but also globally. We have business in the Gulf Region and Southeast Asia up to Australia and New Zealand. The business in the United States is also undergoing steady growth. We see a huge opportunity for further expansion in the States as well as in the Gulf Region.

The fully automated, large-scale production system solution supplied by injection machine builder Engel consists of a duo 1700 injection moulding machine with 17,000 kN clamping force, three easix articulated robots for the preparation of multiple metal inserts as well as for the handling of the organic sheet, a viper 90 linear take-out robot and a size 5 IR oven. Engel provides this cell as a system solution all from a single source.

How many staff now work at Eurotec compared with when it started? Eurotec started in a small garage in a  suburb of Hagen with two employees. Now Eurotec is located in the centre of an industrial area with 120 employees.

The two half-shells are produced in the same mold in a one-shot process. For this purpose, the two organic sheets are simultaneously heated in the IR oven, inserted into the mold, shaped there and directly “functionalized” by means of an injection molding process taking place in the same mold. The Tepex dynalite type organic sheets provided by Bond Laminates are based on glass fibers in a polypropylene matrix. Glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene is also used for overmolding.

Besides organic sheets, Engel’s organomelt technology is also suitable for unidirectional (UD) glass and/or carbon fiber reinforced tapes with thermoplastic matrixes. Tapes make it possible to design semi-finished products in line with requirements and thus make even better use of the components' lightweight design potential. The components are either partially reinforced with just a few tapes or are produced from tape stacks several millimeters thick.

Have you any new product launches that we should share with our readers? Mentionable products are our long highly load-bearing screws. Those screws are especially developed for several heavy duty purposes like commercial roof-construction. A part of this portfolio is specific for the construction of flat-roofs, which are very common in the United States. All of those long screws have certified attributes like, amongst other properties, one of the highest thread-extraction resistances on the market. In this field of construction, roofs built with Eurotec roofing-screws can endure in all environments as those screws can compensate high wind and snow loads.

To be cost-effective in large-scale production, the stacks must be made and consolidated inline and within the cycle of the injection molding process. As a system supplier, Engel is in a position to offer integrated and fully automated solutions for the entire process – from individual tapes through to functionalisation in the injection moulding process – from a single source.

Are you looking to increase warehouse capacity in the near future? Currently our warehouse has a capacity of 11,000 palette bays. As soon as the new production hall is completed and the machinery is moved to the new site, the current production hall will be used as further storage with approx 3,000 further palette bays.

The consolidation press developed by Engel in cooperation with its partner Fill (Gurten, Austria) can be used to consolidate fiber stacks with deliberate fiber orientation and different wall thicknesses. All process steps are automated. All told, the consolidation process integrates inserting the fiber stack into the mould, transferring the closed mold to the heating press, heating, transferring the mold to the cooling press, consolidation, cooling and transferring to the initial station, where the mold is opened, the consolidated semi-finished product (blank) removed and a new fiber stack inserted so that the cycle can start again.

The consolidation press can be seamlessly integrated into the overall process, which significantly increases efficiency in the production of tailor-made tape solutions.

Aside from the move into manufacture in Germany, have there been any other significant changes at Eurotec since it was established? A mentionable change at Eurotec is the expansion of the portfolio. Besides the field of high quality timber fasteners, system solutions for deck construction, concrete fasteners as well as carpentry accessories have completed our portfolio. Also specific screws for steel-on-steel, timber-on-steel as well as special roofing screws are now a large part of our product range. We can also offer customer specific products manufactured by injection moulding, cold forging and stamp bending technique or even aluminium extrusion.

What were the factors that led Eurotec to do this? We, as well as our customers, have high  requirements concerning flexibility and quality. The only way to fulfil these requirements was to have a better control of the overall production process, so we moved a big part of the production to our main facility in Hagen. Now more frequent quality controls are possible as well as the production of customer specific items.

Pick-and-place stacking technology with optical image processing offers highly flexible use. The tapes can have almost arbitrary widths and contours. Because the stacks obtain their shape required for the component during stacking, consolidation can be followed by forming and functionalisation in the injection moulding step without the need for intermediate trimming. Engel is already using this kind of solution for the manufacturing of its own products. The rotation arm of the e-pic robot consists of carbon fiber reinforced tapes.

Stephen has been with PlasticsToday and its preceding publications Modern Plastics and Injection Molding since 1992, throughout this time based in the Asia Pacific region, including stints in Japan, Australia, and his current location Singapore. His current beat focuses on automotive. Stephen is an avid folding bicycle rider, often taking his bike on overseas business trips, and is a proud dachshund owner.

Bringing manufacturing to Germany is one of the most significant moves Eurotec has made since it was established – is that an accurate statement? Yes, that hits the spot.

Do you have any plans for the upcoming 20 year anniversary?  For sure there are plans to celebrate this anniversary with our employees, but what exactly is planned will be revealed in the near future.

Two systems are used for the production of the blanks. A pick-and-place tape stacking cell with optical image processing and a consolidation press, which Engel will be presenting for the first time at Composites Europe. "With this new development, we have succeeded in consolidating stacks of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic tapes in the injection moulding cycle," says Dr. Norbert Müller, head of Engel’s center for lightweight composite technologies. "The consolidation press can be seamlessly integrated into the overall process, which significantly increases efficiency in the production of tailor-made tape solutions."

The tape-stacking cell was developed by Engel. In order to achieve the shortest possible cycle times here too, it relies on the pick-and-place principle. This means that tapes can be deposited and spot-welded together at three-second intervals. Since the quality of the stack depends on the accuracy of the tape positioning, Engel has equipped the stacking cell with a measuring system comprising high-resolution camera technology. The measuring system delivers data that is used for actively intervening in the depositing process, thus guaranteeing the greatest possible depositing accuracy.