Anaheim, Calif. — Simtec Silicone Parts LLC exists in rarefied air, catering to high-volume, complex medical component designs.
The Miramar, Fla., firm that specializes in "extraordinary LSR component solutions" sat down with Rubber News Feb. 7 at the IME West Show in Southern California to talk liquid injection molding processes and pitfalls as well as the importance of communication with a customer early in the design process. Rubber News is a sister publication of Plastics News.
The company, which is located just outside of Miami, works exclusively with OEMs.
"We take on complicated applications," said Roland Keller, managing director of Simtec. "We may go to a customer and recommend changes in design, but we tend to take on complicated applications. We are fully automated, so we really have to find the right fit.
"There are companies out there who can use our value-added strengths," Keller added.
While Simtec leans toward complex and high-volume runs, considered niche end markets, don't call Simtec a contract manufacturer, per se.
"That is really where we shine," said Mary Ellen Thomas, business communications specialist with Simtec. "I equate low volumes to contract manufacturing, and we specialize in high volume because of our automation."
Thomas added that Simtec will always help a customer refine a design and assist them with guidance, which in medical can take years.
"Just as long as it's high volume," she said.
Simtec works in medical, automotive, consumer electronics and industrial applications. The company is owned by Thalheim, Austria-based Rico Group, a specialist in the LSR space.
It is looking for inroads into the electric vehicle and e-mobility spaces as it continues to seek market share in LSR components for medical.
"We have a range of customer backgrounds," said Markus Landl, head of international business development with Rico Group.
Rico Group has production companies in Austria, the United States and Switzerland, including Rico Elastomere Projecting in Austria; HTR, a tool hardening company, in Austria; Silcoplast in Wolfhalden, Switzerland; and Simtec in the U.S.
Rico Group has about 500 employees in total.
"When things really get complicated, people come to Rico and Simtec," Thomas Aichberger, CEO of Rico Group, told RN. "We may be one of the only ones who are able to do a certain type of application.
"We love what we do ... but we also love where we do it."
Semperit Group, also based in Austria, acquired Rico Group for about $216 million in August 2023.
With the sale of its Sempermed business unit and acquisition of Rico Group as its initial foray into LSR, Semperit now is focused on its core industrial business.
The main product groups in the industrial sector for Semperit are hydraulic and industrial hoses, conveyor belts, escalator handrails, window and door profiles, cable car rings, ski foils and products for railway superstructures.
There are very few redundancies between Semperit and Rico, and Aichberger, who came from Semperit to lead Rico, wants it to remain that way.
"There is very little overlap with Rico in LSR production," Aichberger said. "We are a standalone business. We actively look for symmetries between Semperit and Rico, where one can leverage the other. With customers where there is overlap, we are using [Semperit's services], yes.
"But we are otherwise an independent company," he said.
With about $100 million per year in net sales, Rico has seen a compounded annual growth rate of about 16 percent since 2020, with recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $18.1 million, Semperit officials told RN following the acquisition last year.
The annual growth rate of silicone is expected to be around 7 percent CAGR globally until 2027, while the market for silicone applications in Western Europe and the U.S. amounts to approximately $8 billion.