Innovative solutions at Composite Technology 2023

A new event saw the light of day at the Production Technology Center when it was the premiere of Composite Technology 2023 with about 60 visitors from 34 different companies and organizations. The visitors got to take part in presentations from exciting companies, meet exhibitors, mingle with colleagues and also take a tour of the composite arena at PTC. 

Everyone agrees that the transition needs to be faster, could innovative composite products be one of the solutions? At least that's what many of the presenters and visitors attending the event believe.

- The event was very successful and it was exactly the contact creation and knowledge exchange that was intended. Visitors from different companies and with different technologies, but with the common feature that the focus is on composites and innovation," says Victor Blom from Innovatum Science Park and project manager for Composite Technology 2023.

Small and large companies and several other players in the composites industry came to be inspired by companies and technologies that are at the forefront and to make new contacts. One of the companies that both exhibited their products and presented was the company Diab , headquartered in Helsingborg and with production in six countries.

Diab's focus is lightweight core materials and they work a lot with sustainability and circularity in their products and aim to be the first with non-fossil plastics in their industry. Replacing linear profits with circular profits is smart and companies with a low carbon footprint will receive higher profits and lower risk.

Wide range of companies and organizations

38 companies and organizations were present during the day to exchange experiences in composites and network with other participants. Among them was Pierre Chamoun, traveling from his office in Stockholm and representing Euro-Composites from Luxembourg and Isovolta from Austria.

- Events like Composite Technology are important for our company and for me. It is through such events where you can get to know other companies, each other and their products that we can share experience and knowledge together. Sharing skills with others is important and today I have created several new contacts and hope this can become a recurring event in the future," concludes Pierre.

Could the natural fiber jute be a way forward?

One of the more innovative yet traditional solutions presented came from Else-Marie Malmek and her company Juteborg Sweden. Else-Marie, with many years of experience in the automotive industry, including at Volvo Cars, wants to provide an alternative to fossil-based fibers and returns to a very traditional material that has many of the properties that are in demand today - jute.

Jute fiber has many of the technical properties that make it a sustainable alternative in many different applications, not least the automotive industry. For example, jute has high tensile strength and low density, and is significantly lighter than both forestry and glass fibers. Jute is the world's second largest natural fiber after cotton and is completely natural, biodegradable, recyclable and combustible. Another major advantage is that jute is grown in rotation with rice and therefore does not compete with land for food production.

The day ended with a tour of the PTC.

After a packed program with interesting presentations from also GKN Aerospace, Elitkomposit, Oxeon, Aerospace Cluster Sweden, RISE and LIGHTer, it was then time for the participants to take a tour and both see both the environment and take part of the opportunities in advanced composite production and testing available at the Production Technology Center in Trollhättan.