Loparex

produces release liners

Loparex

“Need for speed”, that’s what it’s all about with us. We must be able to respond quickly to customer requests if we want to differentiate from our competitors. This means ‘responsiveness’ Jan Hilbrink says, Managing Director of Loparex in Apeldoorn.

The company is part of Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and produces release liners. These release liners are used as backing of self-adhesives such as tape, plasters and labels. This silicone enriched paper knows many applications in many industries, such as medical (wound care, transdermal applications), graphic (stickers on busses and trains, car wrapping), tapes (electronics such as mobile phones), composites (in the aircraft industry).

Loparex mainly supplies European customers, other product locations of the Loparex Group (USA, India, China and Thailand) focus on other parts of the world. In Apeldoorn they are located in the former Van Gelder Papier location, of which Loparex used to be a part of. Loparex’s customers are diverse. From family owned companies who want to be serviced quickly up to big multinationals, where processes can be more complex. Being able to respond quickly to these requests demands a parallel workflow. Not step-by-step, but starting production while negotiations are still ongoing.

Almost 100% of the customers are abroad, mainly in West-Europe which accounts for a revenue of around 70 million Euro. 150 employees work together 24/7 on a daily basis to achieve this. Although competition is strong, Loparex managed to achieve a volume-growth of 80% during the past five years. The focus on export can be explained. In the United Kingdom and Germany for example, there is traditionally a solid manufacturing industry, and a great demand for release liners. Then export is obvious.

Loparex’s ambition is to continue to grow as an exporting company in the region of Europe. Hilbrink is satisfied with the company’s performance: “We have a great deal of in-house expertise and can also exchange knowledge and experience with colleagues from our sister companies worldwide. This allows us to respond quickly to customer inquiries and therefore also continue to grow.