Extrusion innovation contest opened; Suppliers applauded

Extrusion systems manufacturer Reifenhäuser Group has been especially busy of late. In early April the company officially began accepting submissions for its inaugural Extrusioneers Innovation Contest, held under the motto "Thinking outside the box." Reifenhäuser is looking for the best ideas in terms of products, processes and machines.

Participants from all over the world can use the website www.extrusioneers-innovation-contest.com to enter their ideas on the subject of plastics extrusion, be inspired by the ideas of others, and to communicate. Reifenhäuser experts also will monitor and encourage the exchange of ideas and provide feedback to the community.

The company first announced it would organize the contest at last fall's K show. Bernd Kunze, responsible at the company for the event and a and member of the jury, commented, "The contest is intended to bring together as many people interested in plastics extrusion as possible and to give young professionals, in particular, the opportunity to engage themselves in this subject. It is not only the ideas we are interested in, but we also are keen to learn to know people that have different ways of thinking and to establish new contacts that remain beyond the contest. For this reason, communication is attached greatest importance in this contest."

The contest is mainly targeted at students but engineers, hobby inventors and designers are also invited to participate. Prizes in value totalling €20,000 will be offered to the winners: money, iPads and invitations to an innovation workshop at Reifenhäuser. In addition, the winners who will be chosen may also have the chance of jointly developing their ideas further.

In addition to the best ideas, the company intends to also award the participant presenting the most unconventional idea, the most valuable comment and the best community rating. The contest ends on May 14. The winners will be announced in July of 2011.

More information is found at the contest's official website, www.extrusioneers-innovation-contest.com.

In related news, Reifenhäuser Group presented for the ninth time its annual Reifenhäuser Award to the best suppliers in its business year 2009/2010 of its Reifenhäuser Extrusion, Reifenhäuser Reicofil and Reiloy Metal businesses.

The suppliers' rating is based on quality, delivery reliability, cooperation as well as innovation. For this last period approximately 260 suppliers were rated, with 39% achieving a ranking of "excellent." From this group of top suppliers, seven winners were selected by an internal jury consisting of representatives from the purchasing department, quality management department as well as of the executive board. The winners are:

The winners of the Supplier Award 2009/2010 received their awards at the company's headquarters in Troisdorf, Germany.