REHAU: Decorative expertise with RAUKANTEX

“The ideal edgeband for every requirement” – as the leading provider of edgeband materials, this is the promise that REHAU makes to its customers. With more than 20,000 active edgeband designs, three different processing options and an extensive range of finishes, REHAU offers the right edgeband for all requirements. Even individual solutions can be developed together with the customer.

In interior design and furniture production, together with high product quality, increasing demands with respect to design and appearance play a leading role. RAUKANTEX edgeband materials open up the whole world of edgebands. With digital printing, antibacterial equipment as well as magic 3D edgebands, customers can avail of a broad range of solutions to fit their every requirement. Thanks to the new #edgeisdigital service, REHAU offers actual and/or master data on the edgeband roll itself (“on tag”) or via IoT platforms (e.g. cloud-based). These possibilities not only improve the efficiency and transparency of the entire supply chain of our customers but also make it less complex – in short, they offer genuine added value!

From primer edgebands to laser edgebands

Over the last few years, the process of creating zero-joints on edgeband materials has taken hold in the furniture industry and become state of the art. Regardless of what a customer requires from an edgeband, REHAU offers the perfect solution in terms of design, function and processing: RAUKANTEX pure, RAUKANTEX plus and the laser edgeband RAUKANTEX pro. RAUKANTEX pro is a pure polymer edgeband solution, and therefore offers a high-end finish in the world of edgeband processing. The colour of the polymer functional layer matches precisely that of the visible side of the edgeband. If processed correctly, irrespective of the process used, the functional layer is fused optimally, thus forming a permanent, functional and invisible zero joint – without any adhesive. The RAUKANTEX pro laser edgeband has already been expanded to include the new functional layer OMR (Optimized Moisture Resistance). The components used to formulate this functional layer have now been further refined and improved. OMR was developed specifically for processing thin or brittle surface layers – and is of particular interest for kitchens and bathrooms due to its specific properties. The optimised moisture resistance as well as improved UV stability and the hardness of the functional layer play a decisive role in this regard. In this way laser edgeband RAUKANTEX pro not only fulfils customer requirements but also complies with the AMK standard. The excellent fluidity and adhesion strength furthermore enable processing with materials such as PP, ABS, PET and PMMA. With all of its functional layers, a solid, clean, adhesive-free production process enables the RAUKANTEX pro variants to impress with high repeat accuracy. Contamination of components and machines is a thing of the past. For the consumer, ultimately the perfect component is provided, which meets the highest demands, both visually and functionally.

The zero-joint look is also a feature of the RAUKANTEX plus edgeband range. The new generation RAUKANTEX plus offers the entry into adhesive-free edging. A polymer-based functional layer ensures visually seamless components. Compared to its predecessor, the new RAUKANTEX plus based on TPU offers improved adhesion, increased UV and colour stability and hardness. The new functional layer provides benefits in terms of hygiene and quality – and the new RAUKANTEX plus also benefits in terms of design: the colour-matched functional layer enables a uniform component. This edgeband also works with all processing technologies such as laser, hot air and NIR, without the need for any special adjustments.

As all good things come in threes, REHAU brings together the classic primer edgebands under RAUKANTEX pure. RAUKANTEX pure can be processed easily with all standard adhesive types and is available as usual in all dimensions and decorative designs.

The perfect conditions for meeting the highest design standards

With more than 20,000 edgeband designs in different variants to match the world’s leading 120 panel collections, REHAU offers the perfect component for use in visible areas on worktops and sides. RAUKANTEX edgebands are available with various gloss levels, several lacquer effects, a natural feel and coordinated embossing. The impressive print quality (including digital) wins over observers, and the excellent processing and performance properties impress designers and users. The RAUKANTEX collection is highly resistant even to water vapour and the effects of heat, and is constantly being developed further, for example in the form of RAUKANTEX designo. Digital printing is used, among other things, to create a standard pattern of up to 1,300 mm or, if necessary, an extended one of up to maximum 2,000 mm. As such, REHAU’s high-quality edgebands create the “perfect match” between the edgeband and the corresponding board – and fulfil the conditions for meeting the highest design and quality standards.

RAUKANTEX health.protect: edgebands with antibacterial equipment

 Every day, each person touches three surfaces per hour, which have already been touched by others, and we also touch our faces just as frequently. With every touch, we absorb 30 to 50% of the organisms that have settled on the surfaces. Such as viruses, spores and bacteria. To make surfaces – and especially their edgebands – antibacterial, they can be equipped with special additives.

Edgebands from the RAUKANTEX health.protect program use specially coordinated formulations and coatings to produce their antibacterial effect. These are chemically effective against a wide range of harmful bacteria such as staphylococci or colibacteria and neutralise up to 99.9 per cent of these pathogens. In the RAUKANTEX health.protect category, edgeband specialist REHAU offers various variants in its ABS edgeband collection, which differ in terms of the temporal destruction rate of the bacteria. The edgebands are available in almost all colours and decorative designs and with various gloss levels from matt to high-gloss.

#edgeisdigital

The new #edgeisdigital service represents another important step in digitalisation of the furniture industry. “Data on tag” (barcode/2D code) on the edgeband coil networks the edgeband with the customer’s machine, among other things. This provides access to actual data and/or master data, such as width, thickness, material, version, colour or even the coil length, in digital form. This service makes things easier for several departments, e.g. warehouse management, incoming goods and material planning. In terms of production, #edgeisdigital simplifies device operation, saves time and minimises errors and risks. “This marks major progress in terms of process control and quality management, pointing the way for Industry 4.0 in the field of industrial furniture production,” comments Matthias Hacker, Project Manager and Senior Engineer for REHAU’s Edgeband Division.

REHAU Group

The REHAU Group is a polymer specialist with an annual turnover of approx. 3.3 billion euros. It is an independent and stable family-owned company. Around 20,000 employees work for the company worldwide at over 170 sites. Around 12,000 employees work for REHAU across Europe, with 8,000 in Germany alone. REHAU manufactures solutions for the areas of construction, automotive and industry. For more than 70 years, REHAU has been working on making polymer products even lighter, more convenient, safer as well as more efficient, and it supplies countries all over the world with innovative products.