Regardless of whether an airplane is flying through the air, a Formula 1 car is racing around the track, a tennis player is hitting his racket against yellow balls or someone is sticking a plaster on a cut: a release paper or film from the Hüls-based company Laufenberg is almost always involved.
“For almost 60 years, we have been producing high-quality release liners and films coated with silicone on one and, above all, both sides. This makes us one of the leading suppliers to the adhesive tape industry,” reports company boss Jörg Soding. “We deliver from Hüls worldwide, quickly and reliably for further processing, not to end consumers.” To produce the release papers, two grams of silicone are applied to one square meter of paper. This is done either on one or both sides in four coating systems, two of which are around 70 meters long.
There are four different areas of application for the modern company’s products: Firstly, the double-sided adhesive tape for domestic use. “Think of a roll of double-sided adhesive tape that is used to fix a carpet,” explains Soding. “We supply the paper for this as well as the covers for plasters.”
Under the motto “lighter and faster”, release papers are used for the production of lightweight carbon components for aircraft wings or fuselages. The carbon fibers are stable and lighter than aluminum. “The individual fiber layers are produced by customers on our release papers and then pressed together as a composite material, for example to form the stable body of the Formula 1 car that protects the driver,” says Soding. Finally, self-adhesive films, for example for shop window advertising or films for cars, are also produced from the material from the Hüls plant.
Laufenberg is working on two government-funded, forward-looking development projects – away from silicone paper – in a clean room: On seals for fuel cells and on insulating papers that conduct heat but not electricity.
The company has continued to develop over the past few years. It was founded by Bernhard Laufenberg in Straelen in 1947 for the production of corrugated cardboard and waxed paper. He moved to Hüls in 1954. Three employees then took over the company from the founder in 1991. The Soding family has been the sole shareholder since 2016.
As a paper engineer, Jörg Soding attaches great importance to research and development. His wife Stephanie is an authorized signatory on the management board, where she is responsible for marketing, among other things. She is particularly proud of an award from the IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein for the best company health management in a medium-sized company with 50 to 500 employees. The program includes newly designed break rooms, a sports program and back training.
227 qualified employees work at Laufenberg. “The staff has grown by 25 employees since 2015,” reports the authorized signatory. “Five trainees are working in the commercial area or as machine and plant operators. Four new ones will join us in September. Among them are two prospective production technologists and thus employees for the future.”
Author: Chrismie Fehrmann / September 4, 2019
(https://www.wz.de/nrw/krefeld/wirtschaft/firma-laufenberg-aus-krefeld-stellt-trennpapier-her_aid-45563253 as of September 24, 2019)