The development and use of intelligent materials is one of the key technologies for securing and developing production locations in Germany, which is also becoming an important part of the value added chain. In general, there needs to be more interaction between material developers and companies. Only those who know (and recognize) the possibilities of the market and the raw material development are capable of positioning innovative and market-driven products. However, this requires mediation between the points of technological developments or scientific know-how and businesses as well as the possible initiation of own innovative material developments.

Emphases:

• Application-oriented material developments and process engineering
• Functional materials
• Renewable raw materials
• Nanotechnology
• Networking/knowledge transfer
• Training and seminars

The Kunststoff Institute Luedenscheid also supports businesses with the definition of the requirement profiles and carries out systematic materials research.
The requirement profiles for material selection are defined or amended with the help of checklists, which are provided to the client.
In accordance with the applicable requirements, a preliminary selection of suitable polymers will be made wherein the possible material suppliers will be named. Once the material suppliers have been defined, a material search for the suitable material types will be carried out with the involvement of the corresponding material suppliers.

• Material selection support
• Substitution of existing material systems
• Reduction of material variety within a company
• Material selection software MATPRO