Bekum Acquires ProTec Pultrusion Business

May 19, 2023

Stephen Moore | May 30, 2023

Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH (Berlin) has acquired the pultrusion business unit of ProTec Polymer Processing GmbH. With this diversification, Bekum is investing in a promising future market for fiber-reinforced plastics and is setting the course for further growth, the company said. Pultrusion, also known as strand drawing, is a highly efficient process for the production of long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics in granulate form for the manufacture of lightweight components in the automotive and electromobility sectors.

Bekum Services GmbH, located in Bensheim, Germany, was established specifically to take over the functions of the new business division. The company was able to retain both the previous technical managing director of ProTec as well as experienced employees from the areas of design, sales, and service from ProTec, which was in insolvency.

The assembly of new pultrusion lines has been integrated at the Bekum site in Traismauer, Austria. Bekum has also acquired ProTec Polymer Processing Shanghai, which, in recent years, has successfully sold long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (LFT) systems to the Chinese market. The Shanghai site will continue to further expand sales and local service in China and Asian countries.

Bekum will offer complete production lines, including an eight-strand LFT lab line and 32- and 64-strand LFT production lines. In addition to the new LFT machine business, Bekum will continue servicing existing lines in the market with worldwide maintenance and repair, spare parts, installation, and commissioning.

In the future, Bekum will also develop LFT lines for applications in the areas of unidirectional (UD) tapes and continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic profiles. Bekum is one of the world's leading manufacturers of extrusion blow molding machines with locations in Germany, Austria, and the United States.

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