POLYTEC PASSION CREATES INNOVATION

FROM VISION TO PRODUCT SOLUTION

POLYTEC SOLUTION FORCE

New mobility concepts have had a huge impact on the automotive industry over the past years and initiated a profound change. The ­POLYTEC GROUP responded to this change with a completely new ­strategic approach: the POLYTEC SOLUTION FORCE. The technology-­based Business Units gave way to six Product Lines for different ­applications, which develop new product solutions proactively and, above all, across technologies.


​​​​​​​It was coincidental that the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Europe at the beginning of 2020 took place exactly at the time when POLYTEC not only introduced a new strategic approach with the POLYTEC SOLUTION FORCE (PSF), but also ushered in a paradigm shift in the Group’s self-image. In the past, customers usually awarded a contract including a concrete technical solution for its implementation. The POLYTEC SOLUTION FORCE, however, brings the ideas, innovations and solutions of POLYTEC’s development teams more strongly to the fore. Product solutions made of plastic that potential customers had often not even considered before are created in close cooperation with the Sales, Project Management and Engineering departments. Based on this sales strategy, POLYTEC not only wants to grow in new product segments of the automotive industry, but also expand its activities to completely different industries.

Over the past two years, upheavals in the global automotive market massively increased due to COVID-19, supply bottlenecks, rising energy and raw material prices and semiconductor shortages. This caused severe turbulence in the entire industry. With the PSF, ­POLYTEC is in comparatively good shape because it is succeeding in positioning itself in a larger market with products made of different materials and for a variety of applications.

Three elements provide the basis for this: the great innovative strength of the POLYTEC GROUP, a strictly customer-focused engineering approach and not least the multi-faceted material the group has been using for more than 35 years to mould ever more complex products: plastic. This material, which has significant advantages over metal and other basic materials – weight, mouldability and functional integration – will continue to play an equally important role in the world of tomorrow as in the past, especially when it is sustainably produced and processed.

Sustainable production also represents one of the core elements of the ­POLYTEC GROUP’s engineering strategy, which was developed in 2021. Another element: the company aims to remain a key player in its main product segments in the future while at the same time increasingly capturing new market potential. Based on this fundamental strategic orientation, POLYTEC defined three streams in 2021, which have since set the priorities in the engineering sector: design of hybrid structural components, high-voltage battery housings and sustainability in the product portfolio.

DESIGN OF HYBRID STRUCTURAL ­COMPONENTS

ENGINEERING-STREAM

Hybrid structural components are composed of different materials and have to withstand particularly high loads. POLYTEC uses various combinations of plastics in the production of such components, allowing for metal parts in vehicle structures to be replaced by cost-effective and significantly lighter plastic parts. Moreover, as there are virtually no limits to the mouldability of plastic, the often very limited assembly space can be filled up completely and different functions can be integrated in one component. POLYTEC has long made a name for itself as a pioneer in the development of such modules for the automotive industry. In the future, the company’s expertise in designing hybrid structural components will be expanded and increasingly also used for new applications.

 

Efficient engineering through ­comprehensive testing

In order to further expand its expertise in the area of structural components, POLYTEC is currently investing in its testing infrastructure – for example in a test stand where materials can be analysed for their load-bearing capacity. In this process, so-called material cards are created, which in turn form the basis for material simulations used to develop new products efficiently and economically.

 

 

Light, stable and environmentally friendly

One example of a successfully implemented engineering project in the area of structural components is the seat cushion frame developed by POLYTEC for the backseat of a car. The component consists exclusively of glass mat reinforced thermoplastics and replaces a module originally made of wire frame and EPP foam. This not only improves the component’s stability and weight properties, but also significantly increases its recyclability.

HIGH-VOLTAGE BATTERY HOUSINGS

ENGINEERING-STREAM

Battery-powered cars will dominate motorised individual transport in the medium term. This trend naturally has an adverse effect on POLYTEC’s existing product portfolio in the Powertrain Solutions segment, which primarily consists of modules for combustion engines. At the same time, however, it creates interesting potential regarding new technological requirements of electrically powered vehicles because weight reduction plays at least an equally important role here as for combustion models. And that is by far not everything: because the easy mouldability of plastic and its combinability with other materials enable all-in-one solutions which combine stability, fire safety, heat insulation, crash safety and electromagnetic radiation shielding in one module. POLYTEC therefore aims to supply all those parts of a battery module that can be produced in plastic and can be optimised thanks to its properties.

 

Functional integration in electric cars

The high-voltage battery housing developed by POLYTEC is one of the company’s most complex new developments. It is made up of five individual modules, each of which consists of an assembly of different parts and materials. Each module fulfils a special function – from electromagnetic radiation shielding, cooling and ventilation to fire and impact protection. In the material selection, POLYTEC primarily relies on glass mat reinforced thermoplastics and sheet moulding compound for this product. They provide, among other things, an ideal weight-to-strength ratio. In the development of this concept, a conscious effort was made to ensure that the individual components of the housing can be easily separated and recycled at the end of its service life.

SUSTAINABILITY IN THE PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

ENGINEERING-STREAM

Environmental and climate protection are not only societal megatrends, but also increasingly demanded by the customers and other stakeholders of the POLYTEC GROUP. This is not the only reason why POLYTEC has implemented measures to reduce the environmental impact caused by production and the operation of the company for many years. POLYTEC will keep up these efforts going forward and additionally develop solutions to make its product portfolio more sustainable – through sustainable component design, the right choice and quantity of materials, processing of recycled raw materials or by using sustainably sourced energy.

The three engineering streams of POLYTEC are accompanied by several advance development projects, whose starting points lie in the Product Lines of the POLYTEC SOLUTION FORCE and for which development, production and project management know-how is sourced from all locations of the POLYTEC GROUP. Without exception the focus is on customer benefits. This way, innovative ideas grow into market-ready and, most importantly, sustainable product solutions.