Bond-Laminates GmbH is celebrating two birthdays at once: the company was founded 20 years ago and acquired by the specialty chemicals group LANXESS five years ago. The company has grown steadily since its founding. Its business idea was based on technology that was new at the time, but is mature and now state-of-the-art: developing and manufacturing customized fiber composites. These ultra-light materials, which are sold under the brand name Tepex, are plastics that have been reinforced with materials such as glass fibers. Key markets include the automotive and electronics industries. Sports and leisure is another sector in which the lightweight technology from Bond-Laminates is used, for example in shoes, snowboard helmets, brake levers in bicycles and loudspeaker membranes. Production, testing and laboratory facilities are located in Brilon. The company currently employs around 90 people.
Christian Obermann, Managing Director of Bond-Laminates, says: “In LANXESS we have found a strong partner, and together we have set the course for further growth. Our products complement each other well. Through hybrid technology - that is, a combination of short- and continuous-fiber-reinforced plastics - we can now provide customized and cost-effective solutions for mass production, especially in lightweight construction. With our HiAnt service package, we can meet even complex customer demands related to component design and process development.”
An eventful history
The company can trace its beginnings to the former composites division at DuPont. When the chemical company decided to exit this field in 1997, two former DuPont employees acquired the distribution and technology rights for the Tepex brand through a management buyout and went on to establish Bond-Laminates. That same year, the newly founded company set up a production site at Held Technologie GmbH in Trossingen, near Villingen-Schwenningen in southwestern Germany. DuPont had already used these production facilities for its testing purposes. Bond-Laminates entered into a cooperation with Centrotec Sustainable AG at the turn of the millennium, and the company moved to Brilon the next year.The outlook has been bright ever since. By 2006, Bond-Laminates had outgrown the space it shared with Centrotec, and it moved to its current building at Am Patbergschen Dorn 11. That same year, the number of employees grew to more than 30. The company’s multi-pronged business model, including automotive, sports, consumer electronics and other branches, had paid off.
The Bond-Laminates GmbH in Brilon is a wholly owned subsidiary of the specialty chemicals group LANXESS. The company specializes in developing and producing fiber composites. Photo: LANXESS AG
