My first participation in JEC was in 1986. JEC was a small trade fair for an industry which was expected to grow very fast.
At that point I had a small company that manufactured composite products and worked together with Eurocarbon, which was also based in Tilburg, the Netherlands. These companies were acquired by DSM, and that shifted my career towards developing processes and machines for the production of ballistics materials.
When I acquired van Wees in 1994, it had always been my intention to build machines for the technical textiles and composite industry. That focus started in 2000, and this year we can say that we have a very complete program for these industries, ranging from Creels up to the Multi-axial UD Crossply machine. In 2006, we built our first prepreg machine for thermoset resins, and in 2007 our first machine for thermoplastic prepregs.
The Multi-axial UD Crossply machine, about which you have or will read more in this Specs, is the conclusion of our developments and investments in the technical textiles and composite industry. We would like to invite you to visit us and see our technology and machinery in our Research and Technology Center and experience our commitment to the composite industry.