JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #114 - July 2017 - 3

EDlTORlAL

Optimism is in order

54th year

President and CEO/Publisher:

Frédérique Mutel - mutel@jeccomposites.com

Editor-in-chief & Media director:

By

Frédéric Reux - reux@jeccomposites.com

Technical editor:

Franck Glowacz - glowacz@jeccomposites.com

Cécile Lagoutte - lagoutte@jeccomposites.com

Contributors:

Marie-Hélène Corbin - corbin@jeccomposites.com
Stéphanie Viallefond

Deputy-editor & Graphic designer:
Antoine Morel - morel@jeccomposites.com

Development Director:

Anne-Carole Barbarin - barbarin@jeccomposites.com

Marketing Director:
Sandrine Dumarquez - presse@jeccomposites.com

Technical & Business manager:
Thierry Saint-Martin - saintmartin@jeccomposites.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 73

Technical & Business developer:
Kim-Oanh Truong - kim@jeccomposites.com
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 74

Mediakit: www.jeccomposites.com/Mediakit
Subscriptions:
www.jeccomposites.com/magazine-subscription/

Printing: Chirat, Saint-Just-la-Pendue (42), France
Legal registration: ISSN 1639-965X
Dépôt légal : 3eme trimestre 2017

Photos & illustrations:
All right reserved, unless mentionned.

251, Bd Pereire
75117 Paris - France
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Fax: +33 (0)1 58 36 15 14
www.jeccomposites.com

JEC Composites Magazine is published by JEC.
The reproduction, even partial, of articles and illustrations
is forbidden, unless prior permission is obtained from JEC
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Total Average
Qualified Circulation:

38,239 copies
BPA December statement 2016.
Print circulation of 23,203 and
electronic circulation of 15,036.

"

Frédéric Reux

Editor-in-chief
reux@jeccomposites.com

Composite materials of all types have
become indispensable, or nearly so, and
can be found everywhere these days.
Two emblematic European examples
that underscore the continuous
advance of composites are the Airbus
A 350 and the BMW i3 - the airplane
being composed of no less than 53%
composite, and the car made 30%
lighter with composites, compared to a
traditional structure. Both examples are
all the more telling because they are part
of everyday life.
Even more noteworthy than the volume
aspect (very important, of course) is the
level of technology reached - so high
that it places the companies that possess
these skills in the forefront, and also
positions composites favourably vis-à-vis
competing materials. It is a very positive
thing to have composites associated
with innovation, performance, the most
sophisticated technology, or high added
value. It is important, because such
an association can sometimes remove
persistent psychological barriers. In
some cases, the resistance can be so
irrational that we could almost speak of
a glass ceiling. Some regulations are not
adapted, either, and these must be taken
into consideration.
All this requires some effort on the part
of companies that come into a market
with a new solution and need to make
the case for its relevance, even when it
has already been used over and over in
other sectors. And I'm not talking about
the fact that often no serious life cycle
analysis is carried out, either. Which is
a definite handicap for composites when
you are familiar with their excellent
No114 July 2017 /

characteristics and properties.
Still, it is clear that resistance is gradually
weakening and guidelines are changing.
I take the construction sector (building
and civil engineering) as proof - though
it has a reputation of being difficult,
they are creating more and more works,
often quite spectacular ones. True, it is a
sector where architects can be won over
by the creativity-inducing advantages of
composites, particularly the design and
shaping freedom. This field certainly
provides the greatest growth potential
for our materials in terms of volume.
To learn more on the subject, you can
consult "The Future of Building", a
book that we have just published with
more than 80 case studies of highperformance projects. It is available in
our online store.
So I would like to share this optimism
with you, because the figures are in full
agreement. Demand for glass fibre is on
the rise (an average 5% over the 19812016 period) - as is demand for carbon
fibre, which rose more than 10% per
year over the 2008-2016 period and,
according to the latest report from the
AVK Federation of Reinforced Plastics,
should continue to rise through the year
2020. Two other figures for 2016 are
available from AVK: the global market
was worth an estimated 128 billion euros
in terms of value, and accounted for
roughly 12 million metric tons in terms
of volume. Enough to whet the appetite
of informed entrepreneurs. And that is
a taste of what you'll discover in this
latest issue, along with a wide range of
innovative solutions for many different
business sectors.

"

Writer & Conference manager:

jec composites magazine

3
http://www.jeccomposites.com/mediakit http://www.jeccomposites.com/magazine-subscription/ http://www.jeccomposites.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #114 - July 2017
