PlastiComp, Inc., a global leader in long fibre thermoplastic (LFT) materials and technologies, has recently completed a capital improvement project at its Winona manufacturing and corporate headquarters facility, which moved its research and development functions into a dedicated laboratory space.

Named the Da Vinci R&D Lab by the company in honour of famed renaissance inventor and artist Leonardo Da Vinci, the project provides an isolated environment for the firms’ smaller long fibre composite pellet pultrusion line and auxiliary equipment for conducting evaluations of new raw material feedstocks and processing enhancements.

Steve Bowen, president and CEO at PlastiComp said, “PlastiComp is one of the few long fibre compounders actively engaged in advancing long fibre technology into new markets and applications instead of just producing commodity long glass fibre polypropylene products. Our new Da Vinci Lab provides the ideal environment for PlastiComp to evaluate different fibre and polymer combinations as well as try out new processing techniques to assess their effect on material performance.”

In addition to custom engineering the performance of LFT materials to meet customer specific application requirements, PlastiComp also performs contract research and development work for industry suppliers and partners seeking to adapt LFT technology.

Eric Wollan, vice president of technology and business development at PlastiComp said, “Our many industry partners really like the plant-within-a-plant concept the new lab offers because it provides a secure environment for our technical development centre activities in which we can conduct confidential trials separate from our primary production operations. Plus, it has opened up valuable floor space for future expansion that will allow PlastiComp to quickly add more composite pellet pultrusion lines as our business continues to grow.” (GK)