News.
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29. 08. 2012
Blocked-up secrets disclosed?
We are not publishing any secret documents, but we are presenting a new and innovative valve technology: the most compatible gun out of all those known to us, with an entirely clog-free safety valve for gun foams.
Read moreRating: clog-free – in every situation
For a long time, clogged valve systems seemed to be a deficiency for PUR foams, which had to be accepted. Even if this type of clogging appeared in the parts per thousand range, referring to the total amount of all valves, it’s annoying for the user every single time his product doesn’t work as it should. And it often became expensive when attempts were made to clear a clogged valve and thereby often got damaged in such a way, that the entire contents of the can uncontrollably leaked out.
Therefore, since 2003 we have been using our safety valve, which dispenses with using rubber components. In the case of incorrect storage of PUR foam cans, these rubber parts of conventional valves can harden and produce a clogging effect. In extreme cases, no foam can be taken out of such a can.
However, dispensation with any kind of rubber part and using plastic components instead, require a different geometry of these valves for the applications systems. For adapter foams this could be taken into account with the adapter construction. For gun foams this possibility only exists in cooperation with the foam gun manufacturers. Although in the meantime a wide range of foam guns has been established on the market which are compatible with this first generation of safety valves, guns are now predominant which cannot ensure optimal working and foaming quality.
In this context, it is not surprising that about 80% of our adapter foam production is now equipped with safety valves, but only about 10% of gun foam production. In order to also be able to give a 100% guarantee for these products and to be confronted under no circumstance with a malfunctioning valve system, even in the case of wrong storage, completely new avenues in design and material selection had to be pursued.
After a development and testing period of almost 4 years, it is now finished. The new TPE-safety valve is now available for series production. The relatively long development time is firstly owing to the material determination and corresponding resistance testing against all possible chemicals. TPE stands for “thermoplastic elastomers”, materials which, in contrast to rubber, can always be reproduced 100% in their properties. Secondly, extensive field testing was carried out for more than 18 months in various regions in Europe. The concern here was not only the issue of ensuring the prevention of clogging under every possible condition, but rather also ensuring that all guns being used by our customers are actually compatible with the new TPE safety valve.
Smaller modifications that were necessary during the development and testing period of course then also had to go through the designed tests again. It is a very extensive project – and for outsiders it appears an incomprehensibly large amount of development effort for such a component… But what use is the best PUR foam when it doesn’t come out of the can because of a valve that is faulty or doesn’t fit the foam gun?
The ever more complex formulations of different PUR foam qualities and the growing number of emerging foam gun providers of different types have ultimately led us, as PUR foam formulators and producers, to also allow the development of a 100% clog-free valve to be carried out under our direction. In addition to our partner’s expertise for plastic injection moulded parts, a renowned university was involved in determining the chemical components in this project.
The decision that we develop and produce PUR foams of our customers’ brands, bestows into our hands a great responsibility from our customers. In order to meet this responsibility and be able to ensure products are flawless and optimally processed, we will invest also at any time in the future in the development of typically bought-in components, if in doing this either the economic efficiency and/or our service or product quality can be improved.
Achim Niemeyer
Member of the Management Board--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For further details and information about products and their properties
please refer to the corresponding technical data sheets.
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03. 01. 2012
Shanghai Wellgo Ltd., China
The company Shanghai Wellgo Ltd. has been acquired by the Chinese Shanghai Yusheng Sealing Material Co., Ltd. and is therefore no longer part of the FLM Group in Switzerland.
Read moreThe company Shanghai Wellgo Ltd., China, a subsidiary of Chemical Engineering Hago GmbH & Co KG, Munich, has been acquired by Shanghai Yusheng Sealing Material Co., Ltd., China, and is therefore no longer part of the FLM Group in Switzerland.
The company Yusheng Ltd. with its Sunrise brand has been for several years one of the biggest customers of Wellgo Ltd. In order to achieve better integration and development in and for the Chinese market, the acquisition of Shanghai Wellgo Ltd was a logical step for further strong growth in China.
Both parties are pleased to have reached a good and promising result. With regard to the arrangements for the transaction. both parties have agreed to confidentiality.
We wish the company and its Wellgo employees as well as Mr. Tang and his company Yusheng Ltd. a common, successful and prosperous future.
FLM Holding AG
G.J. Peichl
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02. 01. 2012
Gloomy prospects? - A clear no!
Debt crisis, danger of recession, inflation fears, and sustainable economic downturns - the news these days provides sufficient cause for gloom when looking at the near future.
Read moreFor the business with polyurethane foam, however, we feel the prognosis for the coming year is significantly more optimistic than what the current media reports on the general economic development lead us to believe.
As is probably the case with all companies, whose financial year ends with the calendar year, we have also prepared our forecasts for the coming year during the last few weeks. Even though the famous crystal ball must be consulted here for planning cycles that are becoming increasingly shorter-term, there are a few fundamental things, as well as the experience gained from the direct consequence of the 2008 financial crisis, whose analysis and evaluation gives us cause to be quite optimistic as far as the PUR foam business is concerned.
On the one hand, one must always bear in mind that the forecasts and data about the construction sector only apply to a minor portion of the PUR foam sales: the most reliable data only reflects the number of submitted (new) applications for building permits; as far as renovation work is concerned, there are no sustainable numbers at the European level concerning renovation work. Secondly, the use of PUR foams as a straightforward repair material should not be underestimated: even if the uses from country to country are quite different, this type of use from a European perspective still makes up the major share.
The experience gained after the 2008 crisis has confirmed this. Although the sales partners who exclusively supplied the processing trades close to the construction sites were significantly affected by the decline in new orders, all other sales organizations that served a wider range of user groups, recorded almost no losses. On the contrary: in Germany, for example, the almost nation-wide introduction of shorter working hours in the key industries resulted in the fact that the persons concerned apparently used their additional free time to do repairs to their homes and properties; the distinct increases in sale of PUR foams in the Do-It-Yourself sector gives rise to this conclusion.
But also the other states, and even in those whose economic end is being evoked on a daily basis by the media, the findings as far as the PUR foam business is concerned were completely different: In Spain, Italy or England, the annual growth of the past can certainly no longer be achieved after 2008, but any talk of a decline into a bottomless abyss is absurd. The PUR foam business, even in those states, has stabilised and has been relatively stable since then.
Extraordinary exclusions, whether upwards or downwards, which we see time and again within individual markets, can usually be attributed to very specific events with the market participants which have very little or nothing to do with the general economic situation.
So, if the PUR foam business presents itself as being relatively independent of the economic situation and one engages in updated budgets - does 'business as usual" simply continue? Not at all!
The challenges of the coming years become larger than ever before.
From our point of view, there are no general drops in demand for PUR foam. Rather, great efforts are required at the manufacturer level in the development and production, with the sales partners in marketing and on both side of the complete supply chain, to successfully service a basically positive demand for PUR foam.
New products must comply with the existing and more restrictive chemical laws of the future. The existing, non-classified PUR foams of today must be improved and developed further.
In consumer marketing, the outstanding properties and especially the beneficial values of PUR foam must be highlighted: unbeatable as far as construction physics is concerned, easy to process and saves energy and costs throughout its service life - and above all: retains value!
Retaining existing values or better still, improving them will probably be the central theme in the coming years in order to survive the upcoming economic turmoil relatively unscathed. PUR foams with their diverse application possibilities and their outstanding properties can make an important contribution towards retaining and increasing value. This has to be communicated in an understandable manner. With all of our sales partners, one recognises time and again that additional marketing activities immediately reflect in a positive development of sales - and vice versa.
The main challenge that our experience has shown will be the optimisation of the supply chain. The demands for shorter and more flexible delivery times with lower stock levels and lower costs for everything at the same time are diametrically opposed to each other. The use of consignment warehouses, "vendor managed inventory", "stock on truck", "supply chain management" or other approaches: measures, which we already initiated several years ago with major distributors, are also increasingly of importance to small and medium-sized companies. Here, it is necessary to find customer-specific solutions – easily multipliable modules are hard to find for smaller organisations.
But, and this is the good news, all the necessary measures are not dependent on or even controlled by the now seemingly ubiquitous "foreign markets". Recognising the right measures, seizing them and successfully implementing them are in the hands of those who operate this business: it is in our hands and in yours.
We all have good prerequisites for making the coming year a successful one: the right products, a sustainable and stable demand and an economic and political environment that will also promote longer-term value preserving and energy-efficient construction measures.
In this sense, we wish you a healthy and prosperous New Year and want to cordially thank all our customers and suppliers for their good cooperation last year.
Dr. Klaus D. Büchner Achim Niemeyer
CEO Member of the Management Board