Victrex acquires US-based polymer gears specialist

Victrex has announced the acquisition of US-based polymer gears specialist, Kleiss Gears, in a move it says will enhance its ability to provide “complete integrated solutions” for its customers.

Kleiss Gears specialises in replacing and complementing metal gear systems with high-performance engineering polymer gears that offer enhanced durability and reliability, better performance, significant reductions in energy consumption and weight, and up to 50 percent reduction in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).

Victrex says the pairing of Kleiss Gears' high precision gear design, testing and manufacturing capability with its materials technology, innovation focus, technical excellence and global commercial scale, provides a new integrated option for customers.

“The acquisition of Kleiss Gears is in line with our strategy of creating value through high performance polymer solutions and demonstrates how we are moving further downstream to support our customers and our markets,” explained David Hummel, Chief Executive of Victrex.

“Kleiss Gears offers Victrex the opportunity to accelerate adoption of our Victrex PEEK gear proposition to meet the needs of the automotive industry and is in line with our aim to double the amount of PEEK volume in cars over the medium term. We are delighted to be able to build on the existing expertise of Kleiss and further develop tailor-made solutions for our customers.”

Following the acquisition, Victrex says it will be able to enhance its offering, including rapid development processes such as material selection, gear and tool design, testing and validation, and precision manufacturing capabilities. This, it added, will enable customers to bring robust solutions to the market faster, and subsequently pave the way to greater mutual success.

“We have been partnering with Victrex for many years and are convinced that our customers and end-users will benefit from a more integrated approach, enabling them to develop and launch gears that solve their key challenges with greatly reduced development cycles,” commented Rod Kleiss, President of Kleiss Gears.