Distinguished: ERCO wins the “Metallersatz Award”

Lüdenscheid, 29 June 2015. Polymers are replacing metals in a new approach to upgrading the ERCO Tesis in-ground luminaire, now recognised with the “Metallersatz Award”. Innovative technology has provided the means to produce specific luminaire components using polymer instead of metal, offering optimised material properties with superior corrosion resistance. The award-winning polymer components are produced at the ERCO site in Lüdenscheid.

The 19th Plastics Technology Day (EKTT) in Engelskirchen near Cologne was held on 19 June 2015 working through an agenda with the tagline “Integration of functions”. One of the highlights of the day, the “Metallersatz Award”, is presented each year to recognise successful products made of polymer instead of metal. The award considers submissions against a set of strict criteria, such as technical challenges.

Innovative polymers enable new luminaire shapes

This year, the “Metallersatz Award” went to the ERCO Tesis in-ground luminaire. A core product in the ERCO range, the recently optimised model features a housing made of long fibre reinforced polyamide to replace the previous cast aluminium version. The material upgrade was made for a number of reasons: Tesis performs exceptionally well in harsh conditions, exhibiting superior corrosion resistance. With a shallow recess depth, the housing is quick and easy to install in the ground. The Tesis range - consisting of lens wallwashers, uplights and directional luminaires - offers a variety of designs making them suitable for different installation options including covered or floor-flush mounting. The enhancement opens Tesis up for use in new architectural lighting applications involving different ground configurations. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, the advanced version helps improve the price to performance ratio of these market-leading products, making them an interesting option for large projects as well as small budgets. Replacing previous housing materials with polymer has proven astute in projects across the world, leading ERCO to decide on the same approach with other products, such as the Site grazing light wallwasher.

ERCO expands polymer production in Lüdenscheid

Since 2015, ERCO’s portfolio has been 100% LED. In the context of this strategic innovation inspired by “light digital” as the leitmotif, polymer has become increasingly important in the design and manufacturing of luminaires. With this in mind, ERCO is now expanding its polymer manufacture in Lüdenscheid to focus productions of its innovative housing components at the same base where ERCO currently designs and manufactures its highly precise optical systems.