A few words about ID LAB, our Research & Development department
Knauf Industries has a multidisciplinary R&D team comprising PhDs, engineers, and technicians. As a partner to manufacturers thanks to our capacity for innovation in materials and processes, we are committed to providing expertise and significant value to all your plastic part design projects. To this end, we have established an innovation and development lab, ID Lab (Innovation & Development Lab), to spread a spirit of innovation throughout the company.
ID lab is the Knauf Industries Research & Development Center. With two teams of experts in France, one at Ungersheim and the other at La Bernerie-en-Retz, ID lab brings value to your projects. Our mission: to innovate to constantly offer new solutions solutions to meet the specific demands of our customers combining eco-design, performance and quality.
Our experts can help you with your innovation and design projects. Based in France, they work together in an agile and connected way to offer you concrete optimization of your industrial solutions Our experts are based in France, and work together in an agile and connected way to offer you concrete optimization of your industrial solutions: measurement of carbon impact (through LCA, EHSF or EPD), search for new raw materials, integration of new processes and technologies, traceability, digital simulation, eco-design (recyclability, reusability or re-usability)... All this, with a systematic focus on reducing the environmental impact of our solutions.
At our R&D center, we use digital tools to develop solutions for protection, packaging and technical parts for Knauf Industries' various markets. In particular, digital simulation enables us to speed up the design processThis enables us to speed up the design process, save raw materials and contribute to a more sustainable use of resources. Working closely with our customers, we design tailor-made customized solutions to your specific challenges We work closely with our customers to design tailor-made solutions that meet your specific challenges: weight reduction, insulation, protection, food contact...
We offer you comprehensive support for your technical projects, taking into account regulatory issues (PPWR, CSRD, REP Emballages Professionnels) and sector (issues, norms and standards related to your markets).
With ID lab's services, you can be sure of lasting quality, reliability and innovation.
What services does our R&D department offer the plastics industry?
During a product co-development process, Knauf Industries can guide you through the expertise of ID lab. Our Research & Development center can then deploy its services to help you meet your challenges. So, whatever your sector of activity, your specifications or the level of finish expected, ID lab can support you.
We are with our customers every step of the way:
- We eco-design your plastic parts taking into account your constraints and with recyclability in mind
- We develop technical parts that meet the most demanding material challenges impact resistance, weight reduction, product insulation...
- We offer you the benefit of specialty materials capable of responding to new applications.
- We harness the power of digital simulation to accelerate design, making it easier to choose the most suitable material or design for each project.
- Finally, we can carry out environmental impact analyses and calculations (CO₂, ACV/LCA, FDES, PCF, EPD).
With this global vision, our Research & Development center and its experts help you to go further in the design of your parts to keep you competitive in your market..
The best part? While we meet technical challenges, we don't overlook design. For example, Knauf Industries can offer you the benefit of its our expertise in customizing parts and textures to reconcile your specifications with your brand image.
Mastered processes and tools for your projects
Manufacturing processes mastered by Knauf Industries
Our Knauf Industries Research & Development center has extensive expertise in manufacturing processes and tools, enabling us to respond to your needs even more effectively. In addition to the design approach, we can also support you in the production of the various parts, thanks to our expertise in :
- Alveolar molding ;
- Block moulding ;
- Cutting ;
- Extrusion ;
- Plastic injection molding ;
- Thermoforming.
Thanks to our many years of experience in the plastics industry, we have a comprehensive view of the sector, helping manufacturers to optimize the design of their parts in order to maintain their competitive edge while ensuring rapid delivery.
Our digital tools for pushing R&D boundaries
To strengthen its expertise and innovate ever more rapidly, ID lab uses three major digital technologies.
Our use of numerical simulation enables us to :
- Facilitate the design process, through design optimization
- Help choose the most suitable material for each project
- Improve the accuracy of studies (precise deformation measurement in mechanical testing, for example)
- Save time designing packaging or technical parts
- Quickly visualize and explore a wide range of scenarios
We also use a 3D scanner scanner for part dimensional control, process capability and quality analysis. Finally, we use a 3D printer which enables us to produce prototypes so that we can integrate the part into its real environment, molds for small production runs, and accessories to add new functions to products (inserts, etc.).
Thanks to our high-performance tools and our pilot workshop, we can carry out under real-life conditionsconditions, enabling us to optimize the manufacturing process and reduce time-to-market.
Why choose Knauf Industries?
Accompaniment :
from eco-design to prototyping and industrialization
Our team :
Expert teams and an R&D department at the cutting edge of innovation
Our capacity :
A major partner capable of meeting all your technical challenges
Listening:
A Research & Development center at your service
Our priority: sustainability
To meet the current challenges facing manufacturers, our Research & Development center has defined 4 key innovation priorities focused on sustainability. ID lab offers you concrete actions in the following areas:
Circular economy :
- Developing business opportunities for the circular economy
- Offering alternative raw materials to fossil-based virgin plastics
- Design solutions that are both recyclable, with recycled content, and lightweight (optimized quantity of material), in line with eco-design principles.
- Create ranges of reusable and re-usable products
Lightening :
- Replace existing technical parts made of metal or other materials with our honeycomb materials to reduce product weight and meet the challenges of the 3R decree.
- Optimize part weight using digital tools
Specialty foams :
- Developing new applications and markets with special foams
Support for carbon reduction :
- Acting and innovating for carbon neutrality
- Offer an environmental impact calculation service (CO₂, LCA, EHDS, EPD...) to meet your scope 3 reduction targets.
- Reduce energy consumption through new processes and technical equipment