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On June 3, 2005, Maillefer and Conenor entered into a
strategic partnership in the area of Wood-Plastic Composites (WPC). The
agreement formalizes the opening of a Conex®
Skill Center located at the
Maillefer premises in Vantaa, Finland. It also marks strengthened ties
between the two companies for increased promotion of WPC manufacturing
solutions.
Of present interest to both parties is the development and
commercialization of the Conex® Wood Extruder specifically for producing
composite wood and other natural fiber-plastic composite products. The
unique Conex® Wood Extruder offers a novel solution combining several
processes – from grinding
and drying, to extrusion – in one process step through a single piece of
equipment.
The
opening of the Skill Center offers the industry an
infrastructure for innovative product development and trials. The main focus lies on WPC-solutions utilising the know-how of Conenor
developed in past five years in joint R&D-programs with VTT and
industrial partners.
Currently
R&D efforts concentrate to take benefits of the Conex® Wood Extruder specialty features in
board and panel products, fibre orientation and -reinforcement,
multi-layer structures, polyethylene cross-linking, foaming and the
utilization of industrial based waste raw materials which are found
available free of cost.
The
Conenor designed free cavity flow die for boards and panels in width of
600 mm is being used at CWE 500-2 line for sampling and developing 3-layer
products in variable thicknesses.
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