A beneficial market development only decides the success of a company in the short-term and even a sophisticated product portfolio is no longer a guarantee for permanent survival on the global market today. It is my personal conviction that regarding the company success in mechanical and plant engineering, there is no better investment in the future than continuous development in the form of innovative systems and new technologies. The Hennecke group shares this opinion. One of our most important unique selling points was and is the know-how and the ability for innovation of every single employee. This way we are able to offer our customers and possible future clients the best possible solutions for processing polyurethane worldwide. However, fully exploiting this potential requires the right framework conditions. With this in mind, we have made an important investment in the future of PU processing with the establishment of a state-of-the-art application technology center at the Hennecke headquarters in Sankt Augustin.

The festive inauguration of the "Hennecke TECHCENTER" took place in the framework of the FSK Polyurethane Conference in front of nearly 200 national and international representatives of the PU branch. We consider this to be the ideal occasion, because what better place is there to talk about current innovations than right where they are created.

Among other things, the products that Hennecke was able to develop in close cooperation with customers and partners in the TECHCENTER were a focus of the conference. This included intelligent light-weight construction in the form of an automotive door module with a PUreinforced exterior skin as well as a groundbreaking fibre composite INSITU component that is produced in a combination of HP-RTM process and injection moulding.

I cordially invite you to take a look at our new technical center yourself. You will surely also be struck by the quotation of the economist Theodore Levitt decorating the interior of the TECHCENTER: "Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things." Nothing fits better, because every day we strive to transform new ideas into even better products together with you, creating real added value. In this spirit, I hope you enjoy reading this exciting and informative edition of our customer magazine INNOVATIONS.

Alois Schmid,
Managing Director Technology