The company and Philip Morris Inc (PMI) identified a viable composite material to create the covers and define an easily scalable production process and manufacturing supply chain.
While both thermoset and thermoplastic materials were considered for the covers, early trials showed improved results with thermoplastics. As a result, coloured 3K twill weave carbon fiber fabrics with polycarbonate (PC) organo sheets were chosen for the final parts.
“The IQOS components were a challenging project for us, bringing together several tooling concepts and coordinating manufacturing processes for the final tightly tolerance multi-material parts, all achieved within the shortest possible cycle time,” said Marc Cohen, CEO at Hypetex. “For these types of consumer products, Hypetex provides customers with an end-to-end solution enabling coloured carbon composite finishes as part of a fully integrated manufacturing processes.”
