Sustainable development to remain a global trend for foreseeable future.
Gerard de Reuver, President and CEO of DSM Dyneema, talks about the global market for high-performance fibers, in an interview with Fibre2Fashion Correspondent Ridaa Saiyed.
Synopsis:
DSM Dyneema manufactures Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMwPE) products in the form of fiber, tape and uni-directional (UD) sheets. It is a part of DSM Group, a renowned producer in life science and materials science products. It employs 22,000 people and its approximate annual revenue is 9 billion Euros.
Gerard de Reuver is the President and CEO of DSM Dyneema since April 2010. He joined DSM group as President of DSM Anti Infectives in 2002. Before this, he was holding non-executive positions in a number of Biotec and life science companies in UK and Germany. He started his career with the Swedish Pharmacia Biotechnology and started his own company in 1985. He studied Pharmacology / Physiology and Biology in Utrecht.
Excerpts:
How do high-performance (HP) fibers differ from various other fibers used in the textile industry? What significant changes have taken place in this segment over the years?
Yes they do, the newer HP fibers are designed for various tasks in specific other fields e.g in bullet resistant vests (ballistics), ropes (bending fatique) or gloves (cut resistancy), etc. We have found that these same performance advantages in other fields could be applied in apparel as well.
The Fashion industry has been around for decades and nylon and polyester fibers are the most commonly used. However, during the last few years a number of factors have started to affect this. These factors include sustainability, protection level and safety standards. They play a more significant role, which has opened the door for high performance materials.
Which countries/ regions have good demand for performance apparel at present? Do you foresee the demand for performance apparel to rise in other parts of the world?
The demand is specially growing in the ASEAN countries although the decision making process is in many cases in the US and Europe. We are expecting an acceleration of the demand for performance apparel given the advantages.
Globally, there seems to be less competition for the manufacturing of the life protection materials. Do you see this as an advantage or a disadvantage? Why?
The demand has been specifically high in the early part of 2000 given the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan especially in the vehicle protection area. The last few years that demand has been disappearing also because of the cuts in the defense budgets everywhere in the world. We are focusing much more on the personal protection where the advantages of UHMwPE in vests, inserts and helmets have been developed together with leading players in this field into state of the art products. Specifically the need for lighter and stronger armour by the army and police forces around the world has supported the successes in this area. Competition has not decreased, the same players are active, the demand certainly has decreased compared to early 2000 and the need for premium material increased a lot.
Can you give us a broad idea about the different uses and applications of high-performance fibers across various industries?
Ultra High Molecular weight PolyEthylene (UHMwPE) fiber from DSM branded as Dyneema, is light enough to float on water but is also 15 times stronger than quality steel and up to 40% stronger than aramid fibers. It is used in diverse applications including bullet-resistant armour used for vehicles, bullet resistant vests and helmets for personal protection, clothing, ropes, cables and (fish) nets and safety gloves.
In which areas and sectors do you expect an increase in demand for high-performance fibers in the coming years? Why?
Expanding across geographies, in many cases requires an investment from both us and our customers. The consequence, and it’s a good consequence, is that we forge a sustainable rather than transactional relationship. We see opportunities especially in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India & China), but we are looking further too, at Turkey, Indonesia, and the Asean countries.
Although our production process is one of the best in the world – and our fiber provides the best performance, compared to nylon, steel and other high performing fibers, there are still many opportunities for improvement and step-change innovation. A key example is the breakthrough of Dyneema Max Technology which completely redefines the material’s already exceptional performance in deep sea mooring. However, it also brings added value to lines for the offshore, maritime & sailing industry.
Your company produces world’s strongest fibers which are said to be up to 15 times stronger than steel yet light in weight. What are the chances of these fibers replacing the use of steel in various industries, including the aviation and the maritime industries?
It can take a long time before markets and customers accept that the innovation really works. In many of these areas, the advantages are quite clear for the customer but there are in many of these areas many other aspects to change from the original material. Testing procedures and certification processes for example are in many cases a requirement and can take a long time. In many respects you can compare this with the development times involved for a new medicine. The use of our fibers with the Dyneema Max Technology for deep sea mooring ropes took 7 years while the development of the technology itself was done within 3 years. When we introduced Dyneema Diamond Technology in cut resistance gloves, it took some years before customers started to be convinced.
For a company like DSM Dyneema, what is more challenging - finding appropriate raw materials or finding new uses of high-performance fibers? How do you meet this challenge?
I am a life science guy but what really excites me in this “materials world” is the simplicity of the molecule which gives such huge strength, the opportunity the company still has to use this strength and weight in applications and to see real proof that ideas can come to fruition.
If you talk about this product with somebody who knows nothing about the product itself, everybody gets excited; because the beautiful thing is, the product triggers all kinds of new application thoughts, ideas and people get excited about that. The issue is more how to focus within this huge domain of applications.
From a raw material perspective, we do not see a big challenge. We are the only company in the UHMwPE field which is backward integrated in the production of UHMwPE. We make our own special grades which allow us also to develop a purity of special fiber grades and also transform these special fibers again in different UniDirectional (UD) form factors. We are absolutely unique in that respect.
What proportion of high-performance fibers are used in the apparel industry and do you expect this demand to go up? Give reasons.
The market for functional fibers in apparel is huge. We currently have our first success in Levi jeans and as you can imagine the application can be expanded easily into many different other brands and designs. With demand on the increase, it will be key to monitor and control the quality in the market. Although we are relative newcomers to the apparel industry, we understand the value of innovation and the need to create differentiation. For this reason, we have taken extraordinary measures to manage access to our technology and to our brand name.
At what rate is the demand for high-performance fibers and life protection materials growing at present? Do you expect the growth rate to continue at the same level?
The market is presently growing with 3-5 % on a year to year basis. We expect (with the advantages of light weight and premium ballistic performance) to grow double digit the coming years.
Talking about sustainability, is it possible to recycle products made of high-performance fibers? If so, do you foresee a competition between high-performance fibers and the recycled ones in times to come?
I am emotional about sustainability. For me, sustainability is more than the footprint effect on the environment; it is also about the organization and the people; it’s about taking ownership for the products made by the company, and about working with customers to think about innovative product end of life solutions. Against a background of a growing population, concerns about the environment and resource and energy pressures, sustainable development has become and will remain a global trend for the foreseeable future. The sustainability of materials, and the products made from them, is also important to the economic viability of businesses. Disaster protection is of particular interest to me.
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