We are passionate about innovative product development and working with our customers to meet their technical and manufacturing requirements, budgets and lead times.
Celebrating 40 years at the forefront of the industry, PRF is building on completion of a c.£6 million expansion plan by introducing two new products to the market: Q.tool (UK Patent Pending) epoxy tooling technology and our new RP570 FR eXpress cure – a snap cure, fire-retardant epoxy prepreg that cures in 5 minutes at 160°C.
Using our class-leading RP800 epoxy tooling system, we have developed our groundbreaking tooling prepreg technology Q.tool, which significantly reduces the time and costs of carbon tool manufacture, with its uniquely designed surface and 1020g/m2 bulk plies. This combination provides the same weight and thickness as the 1:8:1 system, and significantly reduces the number of debulks to as few as one. Q.tool offers the constructor: up to 50% reduction in labour time/cost, improved sustainability by reducing plastic consumables, and provides exceptional drapeability and surface finish.
Building on the success of our RP570 Snap cure prepreg, we have now developed a class-leading, fire-retardent prepreg system for press-moulded, structural components requiring FST properties. RP570 FR eXpress cure has a cure cycle of just 5 minutes at 160°C. This product is already in manufacture and we have received great customer feedback on the material.
Our innovative prepreg range continues to receive rave reviews from customers, particularly for the exceptional quality of our materials. Other highlights from the range include systems for visual quality, highly toughened, unidirectional, low temperature and a selection of tooling prepregs to suit a range of cure temperatures and out life requirements. Product development is central to PRF’s mission, with our team continually working on new systems and developments to add to our comprehensive range.
Going forward, we are working hard on improving our sustainability and working towards ISO 14001. We are looking at how we can lower our impact across not only how we work, but also how we transport our products, our packaging portfolio and how we can develop products that help our customers improve their sustainability. We are also continuing to improve the sustainability of our manufacturing, for example investing heavily in solar energy for our factories to reduce our environmental impact.
With our wider range of advanced materials, we provide solutions for manufacturers using hand layup and infusion processing. We offer a comprehensive selection of reinforcements, which includes specialist fibre types and a range of constructions, high performance epoxy resin systems and Qiicote mould release technologies. We support this with a range of consumables and Robuso cutters and shears – which are specifically designed for cutting technical textiles.
Doing things differently, PRF is passionate about quality and innovation, and is committed to providing a professional and responsive service with technical support. Our focus going forward is to continue to help our customers improve quality, reduce manufacturing time, and achieve benefits in efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainability.
