ThermHex Waben, producer of thermoplastic honeycomb cores for economic sandwich panels and parts, gives a positive example, reporting 12% growth in its 10th year of operation with the release of its annual results, combined with a substantial CO2 emission reduction.
The company is in the process of increasing its staff by the same amount in the next 12 months, who will enable it to deepen its reach into its existing industries: automotive, boat, yacht, and shipbuilding, interior and furniture, building and construction, and wind and solar energy and swimming pools.
ThermHex not only spent the past year supplying new and existing customers, but also invested in research and development and in securing quality certification. In May, the company is aiming for certification according to DIN EN ISO14001. Certification to DIN EN ISO 9001 has already been in place for three years.
The past business year was again a significant year for the company. On the one hand, there was the capital increase to €1,000,000. On the other hand, a new core with a height of 20 mm and a cell size of 5 mm was launched, reducing the previous, larger cell by almost half. Thus, depending on the top layer, class A surface qualities can also be achieved.
Last year’s success is due not least to the Organosandwich – a PP honeycomb core with glass-fibre PP top layers – which is making huge strides within the automotive industry. The sandwich can be functionalized by injection molding and can therefore be processed in series to the finished component within very short cycle times.
ThermHex technology can be found in more than 2000 roofs of Volkswagen, Ford and in other motorhome components, in many (commercial) vehicles as trunk floors, in swimming pools, in doors and many more applications.
Dr Jochen Pflug, CEO of ThermHex, said: “The living and trading conditions over the past 12 months have been difficult for us all. However, our honeycomb is finding applications by innovative companies in many industries, and our team is helping to make these a production reality throughout the US, Europe and across the globe.
“Light-weighting, strength, stiffness, resistance to chemicals and moisture – these are properties that are needed more today than ever. Together with our customers, we develop new ideas for old and new applications that drive growth while reducing CO2 emissions.”
The honeycomb cores are recyclable and are produced with green power. As a lightweight construction material, they are becoming increasingly important due to their mechanical properties at minimal weight and cost advantage while reducing the use of resources.
Currently, ThermHex is investing in numerous research and development projects. For example, the company is involved in research projects to develop a hybrid sandwich material consisting of the PP honeycomb core and metallic outer layers for the automotive industry together with the companies Daimler Truck AG and Elring Klinger. Another project with big players in the field of aerospace is about the development of honeycomb cores for the specific application and is funded by BMWi. Furthermore, ThermHex is part of a Eureka labelled project to produce a hierarchical sandwich honeycomb core for higher load-bearing applications. Many other, but not necessarily smaller, projects are in the works.
Fast delivery times, the know-how of the employees and the optimal price-performance ratio of the honeycomb cores are essential reasons for the popularity of the products in many industries.
The company wants to expand its network around the globe and is looking for more distributors, especially in Europe and the USA.
ThermHex Waben GmbH was founded in 2009 and is a licensee of EconCore NV (Belgium), the technology leader for cost-efficient sandwich technologies.
