LSR providers form global mega-company

Three liquid silicone rubber (LSR) technology providers have merged to form a new global umbrella group to supply an expanded range of elastomer processing technology.

Called the Rico Group, the newly entity is comprised of Austria-based Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH, Swiss-based Silcoplast AG, and U.S.-based Simtec Silicone Parts LLC.

In a statement, the company said its goal is to provide liquid and solid high-temperature vulcanizing silicone materials, tools, processing, and automation.

“The focused knowledge, global efficiency and market knowledge will help all customers to secure and extend their market leadership,” the statement said. “The identity and culture of the individual sites have not been changed. This means that the customers’ contact partners will remain the same. All customers will profit from an extended service offer and an increased service level at the same time.”

Each of the Rico Group partners will contribute its own particular competence to the enterprise, the statement continued. “Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH’s mold technology for processing elastomers, in particular liquid silicone rubber, solid silicone rubber, and two-shot applications has formed the basis,” the statement said. “Due to this long-lasting development of the production technology and the automation of the production processes, the companies within Rico Group now master the production of silicone material components and two-shot combinations. In the areas of mold maintenance and mold engineering, Rico Group is available to customers from around the world as well. Additionally, [we] produce the first prototypes, optimize the entire production system down to fully automated production, and allow production in a Class VII cleanroom. Subsequent processes including the installation of assemblies…[and] the offer is rounded off by custom-relevant packing of the products and delivery of the products according to customer requirements.”

Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH is headquartered at Thalheim, Austria, and manufactures molds as well as produces silicone and plastic parts in-house for the automotive industry. Headquartered in Wolfhalden, Switzerland, Silcoplast AG specializes in molding LSR parts for the medical and electronics industries; and Miramar, Fla.-based Simtec Silicone Parts molds LSR parts for the automotive and consumer goods industries. For more on Simtec, visit this link.

From left to right: Johannes Grabner (Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH), Enrique Camacho and Elizabeth Camacho (Simtec Silicone parts), and Alfred Griesbaum and Gerhard Kornfelder (Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH).