JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #121 - May 2018 - 26

BUSlNESS initiative

"We want to bring the story of composites
to the end user in a different way"

interview

chain - simply to help grow the
whole composite industry.

C.K.: With our entities, we

Dr. chriStian KiSSinger,
Founder and CEO, K1SS
Marc Schrief,
Founder and CEO, Smack

JEC Composites Magazine: What
did you observe about the
composites market that led you
to propose new services now?

"
Christian

Kissinger:

Today, composites only account
for about 2% of the materials
world - this represents a major
discrepancy with the potential
composite solutions can offer.
Very often, traditional industries
face the problem of understanding what composites can offer;
that's where a "translator" with
a general understanding of both
worlds is needed.
Can you describe the two
entities, how they complement
each other, and the nature of
their collaboration?

Marc Schrief: After hav-

ing been in the industry for about
20 years working for companies
that manufacture raw materials
for all types of end users, it was
time to start something new.
We always had the ambition to
combine companies and technologies through the entire value

26

take the freedom to work on
projects that are - at least at the
beginning - not only driven by
sales and figures, but more by
the potential to deliver solutions.
This is of course a slightly
different challenge than we had
before, but at the same time it is a
great motivation.

M.S.: If you want to develop

new markets for composites, a
deep techno-commercial understanding is not only helpful but
essential. The approach is much
stronger if you use a global network to bring the best-in-class
players in the composites industry together. With K1SS focusing
more on the western side of the
world - mainly North and South
America - and SMACK being
closer to the European and Asian
side, we can provide a global
network that links partners on
a global scale with existing solutions and new ideas.

and the composites industry as
we know it today started with
the development of the first
synthetic resins in the 1930s and
the introduction of the first glass
fibre by Owens Corning in 1935.
Today, the composites industry
is still evolving, undergoing
rapid development and growth
in various sectors. The numerous
features of composite materials
and the benefits they provide
- including light weight, high
strength, corrosion resistance,
design flexibility, part consolidation, and dimensional stability
- have already led to their use
in many different industries.
What is exciting is that it feels
like now, as composite solutions
have made their way and proven
their excellence in various

industries, the time seems right
for a "new age of composites"
to deliver integrated solutions.
From aircraft and military uses,
automotive and transportation,
civil infrastructure, construction
and consumer products to
renewable energy, composites
will demonstrate their potential
to offer smart solutions with
environment-friendly materials.

M.S.: The best example for the
success of composite materials
is the wind industry, where we
saw a parallel development of
wind generation and composite
solutions. Composites were
known to the pioneering (wind)
engineers from the glider technology. Today, the wind industry
is one of the biggest volume

How confident are you that
composites will continue to
develop?

C.K.: For centuries, civili-

zations have heavily relied on
the development and use of
composite materials to advance
technology and infrastructure.
The beginning of the fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) industry

jec composites magazine / N°121 May - June 2018

Past to present - building on the success of composites in Wind to create future
solutions for other industries
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #121 - May 2018
