Japanese Polyplastics acquires stake in NematX

Polyplastics is to join NematX. The industrial 3D printing company, a spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich(ETH) founded in 2020, made the announcement in a press release. According to the statement, this strategic investment combines Polyplastics' global leadership in engineering polymer materials with NematX's high-precision extrusion technology.

The Zurich-based start-up offers a new industrial 3D printing solution with liquid crystal polymers (LCP). According to ETH, it combines the highest component quality and precision in production and also brings up to 80 percent lower costs, three times shorter delivery times and fully recyclable materials. Through this alliance, the decades of experience of Polyplastics, the global supplier of LCP and a variety of other engineering plastics, will be incorporated into the company's own product development. This should also contribute to the further development of the Zurich start-up's fully digital manufacturing solution. The aim is to continuously develop new applications for 3D-printed high-performance components for the electronics, semiconductor and automotive industries, medical technology and the aerospace industry.

"In recent months, we have had the privilege of working intensively with various global teams in Asia and Europe," says NematX CEO and co-founder Raphael Heeb. "It quickly became clear that, in addition to technological excellence, the market intelligence of Polyplastics and the DAICEL Group will be invaluable for our future development at NematX." ce/mm