EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENTS AND A DEDICATED PRODUCTION ROOM: RICHARD MILLE AND NORTH THIN PLY TECHNOLOGY CONTINUE THEIR JOINT VENTURE
TPT® Carbon and TPT® Quartz are composites produced by North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT®) – the world leader in ultra-light prepreg materials – that are now an integral part of the Richard Mille image. The signing of an exclusive contract with this long-standing partner will lead to the opening in May of a 300 m2 production unit in its Renens (Switzerland) premises, dedicated to the processing of these materials for the brand. Already fruitful, the collaboration between the two companies had led to the JEC World 2016 Innovation Awards for the invention of the Quartz TPT® and then in 2017 to the creation of a graphene-injected super Carbon TPT®, the Graph TPT®, in association with the Graphene Institute (University of Manchester).Richard Mille wanted to further commit to NTPT® by supporting the construction of this unit, which includes a clean room that integrates the composite manufacturing chain – i.e. the production of prepreg webs and the automated laying of multi-axial preforms via an ATL (Automated Tape Laydown) machine – and an autoclave. A showroom will be set up to offer visitors the opportunity to observe and measure the work required to master these highly technical processes. These facilities will be able to process up to 7,500 km of fiber per year, and produce more than 7 tons of raw “TPT® ” composites. Like the new RM 11-03 McLaren recently presented at the Geneva Motor Show, more than 2,000 cases machined from these composites will leave the Richard Mille workshops in 2018. These state-of-the-art facilities will be complemented by a dedicated laboratory for analysis, allowing R&D projects to be accelerated. Together, they will help develop quartz fiber materials with the highest levels of purity to make the best composites. They will also allow NTPT® and Richard Mille to explore together the future possibilities of this technology.
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