Global partnership concept adds value to customers' business

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP CONCEPT ADDS VALUE TO CUSTOMERS' BUSINESS

To meet the demand for an increasingly integrated approach to the footwear production process, leading organisations, BMT, CUT, Fagus, HEK, Huntsman Polyurethanes, Top-Form and Whoop are demonstrating their overarching commitment to customers at "Go IMS" 2001 with their Open SDM concept. The collaboration is designed to communicate the value of a partnership philosophy to the growth of footwear manufacturers' business, incorporating 3D design and manufacture, soling systems, moulding and tooling technology.

The stand will feature a demonstration of the digital development of a lady's shoe, highlighting the speed and precision of the production process. It will incorporate displays, trials and practical demonstrations from all the participating companies, reinforcing the added-value benefits of their technologies and production facilities to producers. 

Among them, Huntsman Polyurethanes is one of the leading global suppliers of high performance PU and TPU technology to the footwear industry under its SUPRASEC® and AVALON® brands. Its hallmark is the development of innovative solutions to support the design of new soling materials for the fast-moving, fashion-driven footwear arena.

These footwear technologies provide enormous potential for designers and manufacturers to create innovative forms of footwear. The SUPRASEC system offers a natural look to achieve appealing aesthetics, suitable for the high fashion sector; lightweight, high performance materials providing added comfort and extended durability; and cost-effective, high productivity manufacturing.

The AVALON system offers several advantages such as excellent surface definition to enhance design possibilities; softness for added comfort; and slip resistance for improved safety. 

Stéphane Peysson, European marketing manager, footwear, Huntsman Polyurethanes, comments: "Increasingly producers are turning to innovative, flexible materials and processes which enable them to achieve outstanding end results and respond rapidly to the changing fashion market. This collaboration aims to communicate to designers and manufacturers the many, exciting developments currently available to the footwear industry."

Editor's notes:
BMT is a leading organisation in rapid prototyping
CUT is involved in digitalisation systems
Fagus is the world's leading shoe last model manufacturer, specifically applying new digital CAD/CAM technology.
HEK Gmb H, a member of the MCP group of companies, is a worldwide supplier of mould and tooling technologies for the shoe and plastics processing industry.
Huntsman Polyurethanes is the global supplier of innovative polyurethane systems aimed at footwear designers and producers.
Top-Form is a young and flexible shoe mould manufacturer, providing innovative solutions to customers' needs.
WHOOP. is an innovative, young team, providing complete solutions for shoe design, based on digital 3D data input.

Metal composite panels are factory engineered panels used mainly for exterior cladding, partitioning, load bearing walls and roofing elements in a wide range of non-residential buildings. Panels are manufactured on a continuous lamination basis with metal facings - usually steel or aluminium - encapsulating a foamed polyurethane core. This composition offers a high degree of stability, rigidity and excellent load-bearing capacity.

The thickness of the polyurethane foam can range from 30mm to 200mm depending upon application and required insulation characteristics.

These versatile products are also known as 'sandwich' panels due to the physical interaction of the two materials.

Features and benefits of composite panels

The growth in use of composite panels has been driven by the construction industry's need for a lightweight panel with high thermal insulation values and simple on-site installation. This requirement has been assisted by the technical development of rigid polyurethane foams offering very high insulation values, especially compared to site-assembled systems.

The ease of mounting composite panels to the building sub-structure is another major factor in the popularity of this product. Building times are significantly reduced compared to traditional methods, with spin-off savings in labor costs.

Composite panels offer architects and specifiers an exciting dimension in the planning, costing and design of new and refurbished buildings. There is a wide and attractive choice of surface finishes available, both in terms of colour and metallic coatings. Hidden joints, combination options with other materials and foamed moldings for roofs and walls enable buildings of striking architectural value and appearance to be created.

Environment

The choice of composite panels as a building solution supports important environmental considerations. From an environmental perspective composite panels are:

• outstanding providers of thermal insulation; reducing heating and cooling costs for the lifetime of a building;

• long life applications, maximizing natural resources used in manufacture;

• contributing to reduced emission of greenhouse gases -
  in production, transportation and installation.

To find out more about our products in this area contact

rigids_pu@huntsman.com