Plastics benefits

In order to compete in today's very competitive environment, manufacturers put a lot of emphasis on product differentiation while maintaining good margins and low cost. This differentiation is done by design, visual appearance or by development of new functionalities requiring miniaturized or more sophisticated systems. Part rationalization is another significant trend in industries such as automotive, appliances, electronics and medical, as it increases end product reliability and decreases inventories.

For these reasons the use of plastics to replace metal and other traditional materials is becoming a key strategy in many markets.
This trend is expanding rapidly due to the multiple benefits provided by plastics compared to metal. All of them lead to significant productivity improvements and/or product differentiation.

Benefits of thermoplastics versus metals

Compared to plastics, metals still have some advantages such as: higher strength and stiffness, inherent thermal and electrical conductivity and inherent flame retardance.

There is enormous potential for metal replacement across all industries. Plastic applications cover today 15% of their capability in metal replacement.
The development of high performance materials with tailor-made property profiles combined with the development of advanced CAO tools to optimize design and mold tools will probably accelerate this trend.

In this Metal Replacement Center, we offer you a specific zone dedicated to this trend, with the aim to guide you in your material selection and to provide you Solutions and Innovations to replace metals.