Driving thermoplastic innovation forward

Quadrant is a global leader in the development and manufacture of high-performance thermoplastic materials. It is at the cutting edge in the global drive to deliver lightweight plastic composites for the automotive, building and construction industries. With strong growth in the emerging markets, the company is expanding its capacity to meet the new demands from leading OEMs for stronger, lightweight materials. Philip Yorke spoke to Karl Heinz Kalmbach to find out more.

Quadrant Plastic Composites (QPC) is located in Lenzburg, Switzerland and was founded in 1996 by three innovative plastic- engineering pioneers. It has since become a leading player in the global plastics industry. Entering into a strategic global partnership with Mitsubishi Plastics in 2009 further strengthened its global leadership position. Subsequently, in 2013 Quadrant AG became a fully owned subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Plastics group of companies.

Using glass fibres, polypropylene and additives as its raw materials, the company produces patented, high-performance composite materials to its own formulations. Quadrant is globally active with six strategic locations in Switzerland, Germany, the USA, Canada and Japan. The main purchaser of these high performance composites is the automotive industry, however, these innovative materials are being increasingly employed in the construction and capital goods industries.

New concepts

Quadrant Composite Plastics ranks as the world’s leading manufacturer of thermoplastics reinforced with glass mats (GMT

and GMTex). In the automotive sector GMT materials have a long track record for use in semi structural components of virtually all the world’s big-brand vehicle makers. Today the company is developing entirely new component concepts for future vehicle generations. The company’s SymaLITE and MultiQ products are leading the drive for high performance lightweight composite materials for a multitude of industrial applications.

Quadrant Plastic Composites develops innovative solutions tailored to the specific projects involved in close cooperation with its partners and clients. The extensive range of services on offer for all-round technical support extends from a broad choice of materials, prototyping and component testing, to the planning of high volume production of thermoplastic components.

Kalmbach said, “We have the benefit of unrivalled in-house R&D facilities and are focused on the development on new innovative concepts for the automotive and construction industries. Whilst most of our production is centred on the automotive industry for ultra strong, lightweight materials, we also see major growth potential in the construction industry.

“Today there is a lot of pressure from global OEMs to meet the new specifications for the next generation of passenger cars and our materials can be used to advantage in all types of cars and engines. These cutting edge composites offer complete solutions in relation to strength and safety and we are dominant in the development of new applications for these novel types of thermoplastic materials. In many cases our lightweight composite products are used instead of aluminium or metal parts in automotive production.

“We also benefit from having a broad global footprint that covers all dynamic markets including Asia, the US and Europe. We also have local suppliers in all our key areas of operation. For example we serve the North American market from our facility in Canada, located close to the US border. We try to locate our facilities as close as possible to those of our OEM customers in the US, Asia and Europe. We have also invested heavily to increase our production capacity especially in Slovakia and China. We also continue to invest heavily in the development of products for new applications that combine plastic materials with metals.

“This means that manufacturers can utilise these combination products in assembly processes where you subsequently only require one part. Our latest innovative products will be showcased at the forthcoming Composite Trade Show in Europe and at the International Plastic show in China in April this year. In addition, we will be attending the Lightweight Vehicle Summit in Shanghai.”

Advancing industry standards

From the outset, Quadrant has been focused on developing innovative products that advance industry standards. Today the company is helping its big OEM partners to reach the world’s strict emission targets more easily. Regarding lightweight automotive engineering, the advantages of lightweight construction are clear and results in significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.

In hybrid construction too, they meet the demanding structural requirements. At the forefront of these new composites are Quadrant’s material combinations in GMTGMTex-SymaLITE and GMT-steel. Used appropriately, these hybrid constructions offer the possibility of major CO2 reductions.

Quadrant Plastic Composites is also focused on composite constructions where different processes and fibres are used. For example, significant low-weight ratio’s have been achieved with various combinations of organo sheets with injection moulding technology or LFT processes. Organo sheets meet structural strength requirements in continuous operation as well as in component crash scenarios. One example of a current series production utilising different fibre composites, is the front end of the Ford Explorer Bolder, which features an organo sheet reinforcement section from QPC. n

For further details of Quadrant’s innovative thermoplastic composite products and services visit: www.quadrantplastics.com

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