Neuenrade, Germany - Polyurethane moulder Eco.plast GmbH is cooperating in a joint venture with Indian company Pfeda Ltd to offer high-quality integral-skin-foam (ISF) steering wheels to the European market at a competitive price.
Eco.plast says ISF polyurethane has become widely used for steering wheels and other cab parts in tractors, construction machines and conveyor vehicles, imparting "an extremely comfortable feel, on warm or even cold days." Also, in an accident, the likelihood of injury is "vastly reduced," said Neuenrade-based Eco.plast.
By choosing specific systems, material hardness and thickness give the steering wheel an optimal long-lasting grip, the company said, adding that polyurethane is also non-conducting and impact-absorbing.
Indian polyurethane expert Pfeda Ltd has devised special formulations and economic costs of production in India, to minimise the price difference between the major competing material polypropylene and polyurethane in steering wheels. And now Eco.plast is collaborating with Pfeda in a joint venture to offer lower cost high-quality PU steering wheels to the European market.
Twenty-five-year-old Pfeda, set up as a technical cooperation with German company Aktec GmbH, has two plants, and employs 300 in the industrial city of Noida close to New Delhi. Pfeda makes 3 million components annually for the automotive industry, furniture manufacturers and other industry sectors.
Eco.plast is the European representative of Pfeda Synthetics Pte Ltd, which t describes as a leading supplier of high-quality polyurethane parts and vacuum-deep-drawn components.
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