JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011 - 5

impact of polypropylene. This new offering will further boost the use of glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene in critical interior automotive components thanks to a better sizing. Our larger product portfolio in ThermoFlow® chopped strands E.H. : As far as nonwovens are is also ideally suited to support concerned, we see a strong the innovative design of lightermarket development in the weight vehicles and to meet the filtration segment. This is driven challenges of the new electric-car by a sustainable growth of era. demand in the automotive and heavy truck sectors and also by JCM: Do you believe in hybrid systems, such as steel/ an increasing use of our filter composite combinations or media in domestic heating, ventilating and air conditioning glass/carbon composites? (HVAC) systems. Our drive for E.H. : Due to its costcontinuous innovation will also performance ratio, GFRP will remain the mainstay of the open new opportunities in market segments we are not yet composites industry and we active in, thus offering us a good absolutely believe in the value of adding new application spaces growth potential independent within this field. However, we see from the underlying market growth. A good example of such glass fibre/metal composites adding value in many an out-of-the-box approach is applications when it comes to the development of our StabilStrand® portfolio that has integrating technical functions. opened the door to the laminate With the continuous progress in flooring and furniture markets, manufacturing technologies for large-series production, this field where our products can offer will provide significant growth significant advantages over traditional solutions. We will also opportunities. continue to innovate within the thermoplastics reinforcements JCM: Where do you see Johns Manville’s position in the markets to strive for greater levels of physical properties and fibres business today and in productivity for our customers. the future? We recently introduced a series E.H. : Our Fibres business unit within Johns Manville is one of of new products, such as the our key business drivers globally. StarRov® 490 LFTPlus roving Although it was more affected by based on long-fibre the recent economic crisis than thermoplastics (LFT) that significantly reduces the odour other parts of our Engineered

JCM: Your business unit, EPEA, is active in a broad spectrum of market segments, from filtration to wind energy. What market(s) do you expect to develop the most over the next three years?

About Johns Manville

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality products for building insulation, mechanical insulation, commercial roofing and roof insulation, as well as fibres and nonwovens for commercial, industrial and residential applications. JM serves markets that include aerospace,

No66 July – August 2011 / jec composites magazine

Automotive pedal carrier: ThermoFlow® 636 chopped strands reinforcing high performance Polypropylene, Xmod™ GD301FE produced by Borealis.

JCM: How important is the sustainability issue to your division?

Products business unit, we have already recovered to historical levels of business performance. To stress the importance of our Fibres business within JM, even during the crisis, we continued to add development resources to further drive product and process innovation to place us in a better position for the future. As seen by the products showcased at JEC Paris 2011, the achievements made by this team within recent years are truly innovative and have tremendously helped us achieve our business goals.

automotive and transportation, air handling, appliance, HVAC, pipe and equipment, filtration, waterproofing, building, flooring, interiors and wind energy. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has annual sales of approximately $2 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. JM employs approximately 6,500 people and operates 41 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China.

E.H. : We are very clear about our responsibility in this respect and are therefore working in different areas. For example, we continue to increase our use of recycled PET (RPET) in our polyester nonwovens. We are also introducing nonwoven binder systems based on renewable resources. Such projects require significant investments in R&D and equipment, but we believe that this is the right thing to do, especially under longer-term considerations. Finally, we are committed to manufacturing safe products and maintaining a constant focus on reducing the environmental effects of our processes and operations. n
More information: www.jm.com www.jmfibers.com

http://www.jm.com http://www.jmfibers.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #66 - July/August 2011