News Archive

Fuerth/Germany, 11/01/2021: Leonhard Kurz will once again be presenting innovations in the field of plastic decoration at this year's all-digital CES innovation show, which will take place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company is literally breaking new ground at CES: Under the name New Ground, Kurz is presenting an antibacterial surface treatment and metallization options with indium.

Fürth/Germany, January 1st, 2021: Life Cycle Thinking is anchored in KURZ's corporate goals. The commitment to sustainability and the active advancement of the circular recycling economy is now clearly reflected in this year's appearance of the company at the all-digital CES innovation show. Under the theme Earth Attraction, the global player from Fürth in Germany is showing product and design innovations, plus addressing sustainable and highly effective solutions for a variety of industries. The new design concept Gravity Forces, inspired by the elements of fire, water, earth and air, as well as environmentally friendly plastic decoration innovations, presented under the name New Ground, pay homage to nature, which KURZ aims to preserve. With Circle of Life, the company also shows its commitment to sustainability at all levels, from production to waste recycling.The KURZ vision is a holistic recycling progression with a high degree of design freedom, while simultaneously being cost efficient. In order to make this idea a reality, the experts at Leonhard KURZ are continuously researching new products and processes.

Fürth/Germany, January 07, 2021: Simply appealing – LEONHARD KURZ will be presenting all digital design concepts in addition to innovations in plastic decoration at this year's CES innovation show, which will take place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The company focuses on nature, presents new techniques and looks under the name of Gravity Forces, inspired by shapes and patterns from the environment, thus developing a special appeal. All surface designs are created using KURZ decoration methods.

KURZ's entire appearance at the world's largest technology trade fair CES will take place under the theme Earth Attraction and will address sustainability, and at the same time, highly effective product solutions for a variety of industries in different ways. The innovation focus at CES is on the fields of Consumer Electronics and Automotive.

Fürth/Germany, 21 December 2020: The U.S. technology company Cypress Semiconductor has included KURZ subsidiary PolyIC in the so-called Design Partner program and will list the company on the Cypress website in future (https://www.cypress.com/design-partner-program/partners). The intensification of the cooperation, which has already lasted almost ten years, is based on PolyIC's proven expertise in the technology fields of capacitive keys, touch screens, multi-touch sensors and domed surfaces.

Fürth/Germany, October 5, 2020: Touch sensors from KURZ subsidiary PolyIC have been integrated into capacitive volume controls from the automotive supplier Preh. The control is located on the center console of the new Audi A3, model AU380. It can be conveniently operated by the front passenger and controlled either via a mechanical push function or capacitive touch function. The PolyTC^® brand name sensor ensures the reliable functioning of the capacitive touch operation – even after multiple uses, as proven by the rigorous testing of the automotive industry. PolyTC^® sensors meet the stringent service life requirements for components according to the VW standard and the specifications of other premium manufacturer.

Fürth/Germany, September 23, 2020: Concept vehicles of auto manufacturers increasingly exhibit car cockpits with no mechanical switches or buttons. The solid, seamless and gently curved surfaces are equipped with functions that are activated by touch. Concealed under the uniformly decorated surface are control elements that only become visible when required. The automotive interior designs convey an elegant lightness despite the highly complex underlying technology. The coating manufacturer LEONHARD KURZ has developed an HMI (Human Machine Interface) concept panel with a forward-looking design that fully exploits the technical possibilities. This high-end plastic component was realized in collaboration with KURZ subsidiaries and partners.

Fürth/Germany, July 9, 2020: LEONHARD KURZ has developed a process for recycling residual PET materials. This enables the carrier foils from KURZ transfer finishing products to be returned to the material cycle. The recycled material can be used as an injection molding material for high-value applications.

In the beginning it was merely a vision for KURZ: to be able to return the residual PET material from hot stamping, cold transfer or digital transfer to the material cycle. This vision has now become reality. The company has succeeded not only in recycling the residual material, but also in turning it into a high-quality, injection moldable material. While recycled plastics are usually used for simple secondary applications such as exercise mats, park benches or flowerpots, the PET material developed by KURZ can be utilized for sophisticated injection molding applications.

KURZ had spent three years and a total investment of several million euros working on the PET recycling concept. Thanks to the joint efforts of all the environmental and process specialists from the graphics and plastics industries at the company’s headquarters in Fürth, the breakthrough has now been achieved. From the residual PET material of KURZ transfer products, they have produced a new injection molding material that will be available in future for industrial applications.

Fürth/Germany, July 7, 2020: LEONHARD KURZ has won an award at the Automotive Brand Contest 2020 for an automotive front panel concept. KURZ received the design prize in the Future, Mobility and Parts category. The company had already won a prize in the same category in 2018 with its decorative trim concept. This time the jury was impressed by an exterior front panel that was designed for electric cars and points the way to the future of automotive front-end design.

Fürth/Germany, May 11, 2020: Using the know-how from four industries to drive innovation in the area of household appliances: that was the objective of the Swiss kitchen specialist V-ZUG AG when it took three companies on board for a joint project. Included were the coating specialist LEONHARD KURZ in Fürth, Germany, the injection molding experts at A. & J. Stöckli AG in Switzerland, and the machinery maker KraussMaffei in Munich, Germany. Their task: to create a new look for the control panel of V-ZUG’s new premium oven. As already customary in the automotive industry, the aim was to visually enhance the panel while at the same time making it more efficient to produce. This was expected to be achievable using In-Mold Decoration (IMD) technology – a method that combines two processing steps (injection molding of the part plus decoration) into one. IMD technology is already being employed in many industries. The joint project by V-ZUG was the first of its kind in the Swiss household appliances industry.

Fürth/Germany, April 22, 2020: A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) concept for an automotive display panel from LEONHARD KURZ was awarded the 2020 Red Dot Award for good design. The HMI concept received the award in the product design competition and in the automotive category. The special feature of the HMI instrument panel is its almost one meter wide single-image design produced by means of the IMD (In-Mold Decoration) process. The panel presents a detail-rich surface design into which touch and light functions have been embedded.

The award-winning automotive HMI instrument panel exhibits a solid, seamless surface. Whereas mostly small design elements are used in the automotive sector, a more striking, larger, nature-oriented design named Fading Lines was developed for this panel. The distinctive design progresses from a gentle gradient to a high-gloss piano black dead front surface. The flowing transitions give the Fading Lines design a dynamic appearance. Besides the unusual surface design, the geometry of the component also exhibits a special characteristic. The display area of the component transitions into the operating panel in an organic curve. This accentuates the operating area, and the curved geometry acts as a tactile aid.