Mondi bags F&S product innovation award for Fibromer

Mondi has leveraged years of expertise in the paper and pulp industry to develop this innovative and revolutionary product. Manufactured through a proprietary compounding technology that homogenously mixes pulp with polymer granules, FIBROMER exhibits superior performance attributes when compared to short-glass fibre, other natural fibres, and talc-filled composites.

The lower density of the material combined with the incorporation of cellulosic fibres in optimal proportion makes the finished components much lighter than before. Since FIBROMER is highly compatible with injection moulding processes; it also helps reduce fabrication time by up to 30 percent.

"This is very relevant today as OEMs and Tier-I suppliers are increasingly relying on high volume processing," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Deepak Karthikeyan. "FIBROMER also enables higher productivity, higher tensile strength, increased stiffness, higher heat distortion temperature, and lower density of the final composite part."

Given these features, FIBROMER is expected to rapidly penetrate its targeted markets. The automotive market, in particular, is demanding sustainable solutions. In the wake of European carbon emission legislations, which mandate all carmakers to achieve a target of 95g per km by 2020, as well as end-of-life vehicle legislation, FIBROMER will help address a significant part of the challenge by making cars more recyclable and sustainable.

Further, easy processability and parts integration will enable considerable cost reduction, translating into increased return-on-investment (ROI) for customers.

Apart from automotive applications, FIBROMER can be used for other forms of transportation, such as trucks, buses, trains, aircrafts and ships as well as in logistics, electronics, and furniture applications.

"The Mondi is continuously testing its product in collaboration with leading Tier-I suppliers and OEMs for further optimization and development," noted Karthikeyan. "Customers can choose from a variety of solutions under the FIBROMER brand, which offer customization in terms of fibre content, resin matrix type, impact strength, tensile strength and modulus, heat distortion temperature, and melt flow index."

Overall, Mondi's innovative natural fibre composite offers outstanding advantages when compared to competing products and is the worthy recipient of the 2013 Global New Product Innovation Leadership Award. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leverage leading-edge technologies.

The award recognizes the value added features/benefits of the product and the increased ROI it offers customers, which in turn increases customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

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