October 19, 2015 / Press Release

Ensinger has moved the head office of its Austrian subsidiary from Lenzing to Seewalchen am Attersee. On the new premises, the plastics processor has put up a state-of-the art production and administration building with a total area of over 4,000 m². Last Friday (16 October) the site was officially opened.

Company founder Wilfried Ensinger expressed his thanks to the employees of the business divisions located in Seewalchen and also to the planners, architects, construction firms and state authorities for their support. In his speech, Ensinger reminded listeners of the difficult early years in Lenzing, the first site of the Austrian subsidiary. Following the purchase of the polyimide business in 1993, the company division operated at a loss for a long period until it managed to break even. Then things picked up with the subsidiary Ensinger Sintimid GmbH. “The other business divisions in Austria have also brought us a lot of joy in the past few years”, said Wilfried Ensinger. “After these successes it was time to re-invest in order to create the prerequisites for further growth.” 

Compounds and stock shapes from engineering plastics

With 3,000 m² of hall space and 1,400 m² of office space the Austrian subsidiary’s new two-storey building offers ideal expansion possibilities for the manufacture and distribution of its plastic products. The Seewalchen site is home to three Ensinger business divisions:

1. Ensinger’s stock shapes division has a warehouse on site and supplies thermoplastic plastic rods, plates and tubes to industrial customers throughout Austria. The most important construction and high-performance plastics (including POM, PA6, PA66, PET, PE, PTFE, PPS, PEEK, polyimide) are available in different dimensions.
2. The subsidiary Ensinger Sintimid produces, with the aid of powder metallurgy, rods, plates and short tubes made from polyimide materials (product range TECASINT). These plastics have a particularly high long-term thermal resistance – the functional temperature range is from -270 °C to +300 °C. Even with brief heating to 350 °C, these materials do not melt or soften.
3. The sales and distribution department of the Ensinger Compounds division is likewise located at the site in Upper Austria. During compounding, the raw materials are fused, extruded with fillers or additives into thin strands and cut into granulate material. Through this finishing process, the properties of the plastics can be adapted specific to the application.

Production of P84 polyimide powder has not been relocated. In the future this will continue to take place on the premises of Lenzing AG.

Ten months’ construction time

Overall, the construction project – from development through to implementation – only took just under ten months. “With their technical expertise and economical solutions, our participating partners provided us with the best possible support”, said Dr. Heimo Bieringer, Managing Director of building owner Ensinger Sintimid GmbH.

During planning and construction, particular attention was directed to the sustainable use of resources. “Thanks to the energy-efficient design, we are at the same time anticipating a significant reduction in operating costs per square metre”, explains Robert Kaiser, Head of Controlling and Authorised Signatory at Ensinger Sintimid. “Heat pumps make it possible to use the waste heat from production for heating purposes”.

Curved double glazing

An interesting detail of the premium-quality architecture is the mullion-transom façade with circular segments of curved glass. With a quarter turn, the glass façade leads visitors into the building. “The straight-lined contours which are a defining feature of the structure in Seewalchen have been deliberately rounded off in the foyer, explains Michael Frey, Managing Director of Schmelzle + Partner Architekten. The spacers for the panes of insulating glass – manufactured with the aid of a special hot bending process – come from Ensinger itself. Thanks to its integrated stabilising wires, the plastic profiles of the type Thermix TX.N® plus that are precisely tailored to the desired radius reliably maintain their shape. The façade is highly insulating; with the triple insulating elements, the heat transfer coefficient is no more than 0.89 W/m²K.

Facts and figures

Building location:

Ensinger Sintimid GmbH
Ensingerplatz 1
4863 Seewalchen, Austria
Tel.: 0043 7662 88 788 0
www.ensinger-sintimid.at

Use:

3,081 m² for production and storage, two floors each with an area of 722 m² for administration, building is extendable.

Special features:

Process-optimised building planning, energy-efficient design: heat pumps use waste heat from production for heating, highly insulating façades, in the administration wing triple glazing with Thermix® warm edge spacers

Investment volume:

Around 5 million euros

Building owner:

Ensinger Sintimid GmbH, Seewalchen, Austria

Architect:

Schmelzle + Partner GmbH, Hallwangen, Germany

General contractor:

Goldbeck Rhomberg GmbH, Salzburg, Austria

Curved windows:

Wenna Glas GmbH, Linz, Austria

Spacers:

Thermix, Ensinger GmbH, Ravensburg, Germany

Further information:

Ensinger Sintimid GmbH
www.ensinger-sintimid.at

Compounds Division
www.ensingerplastics.com/en/compounds

HP Polymer GmbH (P84 polyimide powder)
www.hppolymer.com

Jörg Franke

Ensinger GmbH
Phone: +49-7032-819-202
E-Mail: [obfemailstart]ai5mcmFua2VAZGUuZW5zaW5nZXItb25saW5lLmNvbQ==[obfemailend]