25 years LUVOCOM® high performance compounds - innovative high-tech products from a manufacturer steeped in tradition
LUVOCOM® business unit celebrated its 25th Jubilee with customers, suppliers and business friends at Hotel Hafen Hamburg.
If one listened carefully to Kurt Napientek, the head of the LUVOCOM® business unit with Lehmann & Voss & Co., during his speech at the Jubilee, one thing became clear: turning the idea born in the late 70s into a successful product line required a lot of stamina. In particular since prior to that Lehmann & Voss & Co. had been mainly trade-oriented but the high performance thermoplastics were to be manufactured by itself.
Today - 25 years after the LUVOCOM® trademark was registered with the German Patent Office in 1983 - a different wind blows on the market. Materials must be multifunctional - i.e. for instance wear resistant, resilient, temperature resistant and easy to process at the same time. Customised materials reflecting innovations from nano and carbon technology as well as production engineering are becoming increasingly important. Today, LUVOCOM® high performance compounds ensure in many different industries that the products manufactured on this basis can reliably fulfil their function even under difficult conditions.
The background to the success of LUVOCOM®
The LUVOCOM® business unit developed into one of the fastest growing areas of Lehmann & Voss & Co. over the past years. Dr. Wolfgang Jarre, Managing Partner of Lehmann & Voss & Co., highlighted the different contributory factors to the success of LUVOCOM® during an informal panel discussion with the people responsible for the various functions along the LUVOCOM® process chain.
These include conservative Hanseatic values of the company such as reliability, trust and responsibility. The development of high performance compounds for concrete customer projects presupposes that there is a relationship of trust between the customers and the LUVOCOM® sales reps. Since personnel fluctuation at Lehmann & Voss & Co. is very low, customers often work with one and the same sales rep for many years. The continuity and the resulting long-term experience of the sales team is a decisive asset.
This is complemented by the skills of the development engineers who, in some cases, are involved from the word go. Tailor-made solutions for the applications of LUVOCOM® customers are rapidly developed and samples are available within three weeks at the very latest. Rapidity is definitely a key factor, since plastics parts are often designed at the end and must then be produced at short notice.
The production facilities in the Hamburg plant are designed for rapid product changes through proprietary modifications. This is necessary because the customer-specific LUVOCOM® materials are mostly produced in small quantities.
LUVOCOM® is available all over the world
Conrad Hubrich, the Overseas Market Development Manager, commented on the international positioning of LUVOCOM®. He stressed that LUVOCOM® involves high-tech plastics and no bulk goods. Wherever these specialities are in demand, Lehmann & Voss & Co. cautiously expands its business.
Following the setting up of a joint venture with the Clinton-based compounder Techmer PM Polymer Modifiers in 2004, Lehmann & Voss & Co. built a bridge to America. TLC Techmer Lehvoss Compounds sees itself not only as a supplier in the USA but also as a partner for German and European companies intending to use LUVOCOM® in America. Booming Asia is currently still seen as a market for the future and is being closely monitored. Nonetheless, LUVOCOM® is able to follow globally operating customers wherever they go in the world.
Kurt Napientek, head of the LUVOCOM® business unit of Lehmann & Voss & Co., described the history of the high-performance compounds from registration with the patent office up to the present day.
In a lively panel discussion 100 guests learned more about the background to the success of the high performance compound from Hamburg.
Otto Altmann, longstanding industry expert and owner of ASK Systemengineering
Kunststofftechnik, highlighted current trends on the plastics markets as a guest speaker.
