Boston Materials manufacturing line increases composite material production capacity
Boston Material’s new 60-inch-wide roll-to-roll manufacturing line increases production capacity of Z-axis carbon fiber materials to more than eight million square feet per year.
![Boston Materials' 60-inch-wide manufacturing line.](https://d2n4wb9orp1vta.cloudfront.net/cms/brand/cw/2021-cw/0221-cw-news-bostonmaterials1.jpg;maxWidth=720)
All photo credit: Boston Materials
On Feb. 9, Boston Materials (Bedford, Mass., U.S.), a manufacturer of advanced lightweight materials, started shipping Z-axis carbon fiber products made with its new 60-inch-wide roll-to-roll manufacturing line to customers in North America and Europe.
“Demand for our Z-axis carbon fiber products is accelerating across several transportation, electronics, industrial and consumer markets,” says Anvesh Gurijala, Boston Materials CEO. “The launch of our new industrial-scale production line demonstrates our ability to quickly scale to support our growing customer base.”
According to Boston Materials COO, Michael Segal, the manufacturing line features state-of-the-art and fully automated inline quality tracking for 100% traceability and quality assurance.
The first shipments include the company’s Supercomp reinforcement product, a high-performance 3D carbon fiber material that is designed to enhance vibration damping, energy dissipation and manufacturability of lightweight composite structures.
![ZTR thermoplastic composite films.](https://d2n4wb9orp1vta.cloudfront.net/cms/brand/cw/2021-cw/0221-cw-news-bostonmaterials2.jpg;maxWidth=385)
Boston Materials also announces the limited release of its ZRT thermoplastic composite films leveraging high-performance polymers such as polyetheretherketon (PEEK), polyethylenimine (PEI), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polycarbonate and more. This new product, also produced with the 60-inch-wide manufacturing line, has been designed to enhance thermal management, EMI shielding and through-thickness mechanical properties in electric vehicle, consumer electronics and aerospace applications. Boston Materials says ZRT films are made with 100% reclaimed carbon fiber to support sustainability and circularity targets.
The company plans to install at least two more 60-inch-wide manufacturing lines over the next three years in its recently opened 37,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Billerica, Mass, U.S.
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