Archived General News - 2009

ACG Secures 3-Year Supply Agreement with Southern Spars - 10th March 2009

ACG, part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, is proud to announce the signing of a 3-year supply agreement with Southern Spars, the world renowned manufacturer of award-winning carbon fibre spars.

With manufacturing facilities in New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, Southern Spars is the world leader in carbon spar design and engineering. Employing more than 300 staff worldwide, in an operation that spans the globe, Southern Spars has notched up an outstanding record of success in grand prix yacht racing, America’s Cup campaigns, Round the World races, Fastnet races, Sydney-Hobart races, Ton Cups, Olympic campaigns and World Championships. ACG is pleased to have been selected as Southern Spars’ supplier and enter into an agreement that represents a significant achievement for ACG in the competitive global marine industry.

ACG’s success in supplying prepregs into Formula One racing, the America’s Cup, and other prestigious Round the World racing campaigns, were significant factors in Southern Spars’ decision to select ACG as its preferred supplier. David Glen, Southern’s Group General Manager, noted that, “ACG’s commitment to the manufacture and supply of high quality prepregs, developed specifically for optimum mechanical performance and ease of processing, was a highly attractive proposition for Southern Spars.”

ACG’s celebrated range of structural resin systems and customer specific prepreg formatting, allied to the Group’s continued leading edge developments, will ensure Southern Spars maintain their position as the world’s principal spar manufacturer. ACG‘s close working relationship with leading carbon fibre manufacturers will ensure that the exacting standards Southern Spars demands for its structural materials are met in full and, working together, these companies will forge relationships that will bring about the development of new and innovative rigs for the future.

Bernard Twist, ACG’s Export Sales Manager, said, “It was clear from the outset that there was a very good fit between the capabilities of ACG, as a global prepreg supplier, and the objectives of Southern Spars, the world’s leading designer and supplier of carbon spars.”

Initial deliveries of prepregs have already been made and both ACG and Southern Spars now anticipate a busy period of close co-operation as manufacture of the first rigs made with ACG’s MTM® prepregs gets under way.

ACG Attains ISO / TS 16949 Automotive Market Accreditation Standard - 4th March 2009

Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG), part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, a leading manufacturer of high quality, customised advanced composite carbon fibre materials to the road car, luxury sports car, aerospace and motorsport markets, has attained Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance approval for ISO / TS 16949.

ACG is the first carbon composite material supplier to qualify for TS 16949 and support the automotive industry’s drive to adopt lightweight, environmentally friendly technology.

This achievement paves the way to widening the Group’s existing scope of supply of advanced composites materials into the global automotive industry, underlining an existing strategy to introduce cost-effective solutions that deliver benefits to a wider audience.

Qualifying for TS 16949 has always been a prerequisite to ACG’s goal of supplying its materials into rapidly growing global automotive businesses and it is, therefore, with great pleasure that the Group can now publicly acknowledge that it has been rewarded for its continuous improvement activities at its Heanor, Derbyshire, UK facility.

This achievement follows considerable team effort and a growing enthusiasm for the benefits accrued in the use of the prescribed tools and techniques encompassed in the standard. Credit goes to all employees actively engaged on the improvements and the process modifications required to achieve certification.

The award enhances and underlines the Group’s commitment to delivering best practice support to the varied market sectors served. While ACG’s global operations are already accredited to ISO9001, the Group’s Heanor, Tulsa, and Manchester facilities are complemented by aerospace best practice accreditation to AS9100. The Group’s efforts to attain TS 16949 accreditation will continue with full proliferation across all sites.

The Group considers attainment of this standard as an opportunity to bring about major improvements within its composites market supply chain, as well as taking the company one step closer to reaching its goal in business excellence and becoming a world-class composites solutions provider, a vision that is etched into the Group’s global mission statement.

Advanced Composites Group Exhibits at JEC 2009 - 4th March 2009

Stand No. T50 in Hall 1 at JEC 2009 will bring together the total product offering of Umeco Composites Structural and Process Materials, including Advanced Composites Group Ltd. (ACG), J.D. Lincoln, GRP Material Supplies and Aerovac Richmond.

ACG, part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, will exhibit a range of technologies and applications.

The first will be ACG’s DForm™ Deformable Composite System (DCS) for tooling. Following extensive market testing, new custom-built processing equipment has now been installed at ACG’s Heanor manufacturing facility to further enhance the product and to accelerate productivity rates to satisfy anticipated market demand. This equipment will also facilitate further development of the concept for structural applications.

ACG will also exhibit its Out-Of-Autoclave (OOA) aerospace prepreg technology. Approved by Airbus in late 2008, this market leading technology is finding noteworthy acceptance around the globe. To demonstrate the application of this technology, ACG will display a wing box for the Dassault Falcon, manufactured as part of the ALCAS multi-partner programme.

To demonstrate its expertise in the ballistics arena, ACG will also exhibit a spall liner manufactured at Permali Gloucester Limited using a hot press moulding technique with ACG’s MTM82 Phenolic resin/S2-Glass® prepreg. The moulded shape provides improved interior coverage, thus increasing the protected area while reducing overall component weight. The materials and process are now used in full-scale production, and parts have been supplied for fitment to an in-service fleet of vehicles.

The centre-piece of the stand will be the Banshee drone, manufactured by Meggitt Composites, featuring prepreg from ACG throughout its construction.