The high-end tool manufacturer and technology leader in liquid silicone Rico has been part of the Semperit Group since mid-2023. The company supplies customers all over the world from its locations in Austria, Switzerland and the USA. The signs point to further growth.
“We are the unicorn of the industry,” says Joachim Kruder, Sales and Innovation Manager at Rico, referring to Rico’s fully automated 24-hour production, which enables the company to produce several billion silicone parts every year. It is unusual for silicone injection molding machines to produce in ghost shifts – i.e. completely unmanned at night – as the material is very demanding to process: “Our primary focus is on perfecting the process, which has to be stable. That’s what sets Rico apart. And it is also the basis for our injection molding machines being able to deliver first-class quality day and night, 365 days a year.”
„We are the unicorn of the industry.“
Joachim Kruder, Sales and Innovation Manager, Rico
A healthy mix of sectors
Quality that is appreciated by customers worldwide from sectors as diverse as automotive, healthcare, home appliances and industrial. The product portfolio is therefore broad, ranging from seals in cars to silicone nubs for shower heads, components for washing machines, dishwashers and coffee machines to silicone anchors in pacemakers or pacifiers and baby bottle teats. “The healthy mix of sectors is one of our key success factors. It makes us crisis-proof,” says Sales Director Martin Rapperstorfer, summing up the latest award: “We have just learned that we have once again been voted Supplier of the Year by baby product manufacturer MAM. We have a long-standing development partnership with this customer, which makes us particularly proud.”
„We have been voted Supplier of the Year by MAM.“
Martin Rapperstorfer, Sales Director, Rico
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The focus on development partnerships links Rico with Semperit, as does the conviction that there is always a solution and that it is always important to be that famous step ahead of competitors. “We want to develop our tool technology in such a way that we can achieve the same output and the same efficiency for silicone parts with the lowest possible energy input. This is basically very similar to Semperit’s efforts to make the energy-intensive vulcanization process for rubber more sustainable,” Rapperstorfer explains. Kruder describes another focus of innovation: “We are currently working on sensor technology in the tool. The aim is to create an intelligent tool that tells me when it needs to be serviced.” Another issue for the future is that more and more agricultural land needs to be irrigated as a result of global heating: “Normally, pressure is high at the beginning of the hose and a lot of water comes out, but the last grain stalk or olive tree doesn’t get much at the end. This is not the case if a Rico silicone membrane is installed in the hose, which has a regulating effect. Then just as much water comes out the back as the front,” explains Kruder.
Silicone has a future
Silicone is a special material that remains flexible at temperatures between minus 40 degrees and plus 200 degrees Celsius and always returns to its original shape, is UV-stable and does not react with bodily fluids, which means that it is physiologically harmless and is therefore popular in medical technology. According to international studies, the market for silicone products in Western Europe and the USA will grow significantly by around seven percent annually until 2027. A good environment in which Rico and Semperit want to participate by joining forces: “We want to grow in all sectors and have created the conditions for this with the expansion of our home site in Thalheim near Wels. This was the biggest expansion step in our thirty-year company history,” says Rapperstorfer.
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