A+ Composites awarded during the RLP Innovation Award 2019 ceremony

On Monday, May 6th, our company was honored at the Innovation Award RLP 2019 ceremony in the category “Company”. The award ceremony was held in the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in Ludwigshafen. The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Economic Affairs, Volker Wissing, presented the award.

The Innovation Award, acknowledges innovative ideas from regional companies within the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In total, five prizes were awarded for innovations in Enterprise, Craft, Cooperation, as well as a Special Industry Award and “Industry 4.0 / Digitization” Award. In addition, there were three recognitions in the categories Enterprise, Industry and “Industry 4.0 / Digitization”. The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economic Affairs, the IHK and the HWK award the Innovation Prize. Dr. Wissing as well as the managing director of the IHK Pfalz, Tibor Müller, and Chamber of Trade President, Brigitte Mannert, addressed the audience. We received the recognition for our bondable tapes. The innovation is that, unlike conventional fiber composites, our tape can easily be glued directly to the component. The method is much more flexible in processing than previous methods: It is as simple as heating and applying the adhesive. The process can be conducted manually or within an automatic system, making these tapes interesting for the production of individual parts and small quantities, as well as for large series.

This remarkable ease of use is allowing orthopedic technicians to quickly learn how to use them, enabling them to optimally reinforce their orthosis for each patient. In automated production plants, the integration of the bondable tapes is also easily possible, without the necessity of complex process steps. For our customers this reduces investment costs and minimizes expenses for minor changes in their manufacturing process. At the exhibition, the prize-winners presented the innovations they had been awarded for. At our booth, the audience was astounded by the strength of our tape-bonded 3D-printed orthosis, especially in comparison with its unreinforced variant. In 3D printing, a major challenge is how to strengthen its loaded components. The bondable tapes let the component bear higher loads and, if necessary, increase its stiffness.