Exel Composites

Formation and early history

Exel was established in 1960 by three chemists from the University of Technology of Helsinki, Yrjö Aho, Veli-Jussi Hölsö and Aarre Hollning, with operations originally focusing on the production of electronic detonator caps. The name Exel was derived from the words Explosive Electronics.

Yrjö Aho’s past time of shooting led to production expanding to pistol reparations, shooting range equipment and hearing protectors. The ‘Silentia’ hearing protectors became hugely popular, with over half a million pairs sold each year in over 60 countries. The success of the hearing protectors allowed significant investment in new product development.

Production of composite products

1970 marked a change for Exel, as the company diversified and began to produce and sell composite products. Initially focusing on sporting equipment, Exel became known for its mass production of cross-country ski poles, which saw sales surge prior to the Innsbruck Olympic Games. By the end of the 1970s, Exel had manufactured the first demanding carbon fibre profile for textile machines.

Exel began to venture further into industrial applications in the 1980s, with the manufacture of railings, brush handles and carbon brushes used to remove static in copy machines. The 1980s also marked the start of laminate, windsurfing mast and telescope mast production.

The 1990s involved further product development from Exel, such as lattice masts, doctor blades for paper machines and antenna profiles for the communications industry, as well as more products for the sports industry, such as golf shafts and baseball bats. 1998 marked the beginning of carbon fibre applications for the offshore industry.

Rebranding and expansion

Exel underwent strong development in the industry division, with the 2000s being the era of acquisitions in a range of applications from sports to industrial equipment. It’s within this decade that Exel began producing carbon fibre profiles for wind turbine blades. 2004 marked the production of 30 million composite poles, enough to circle the globe twice when placed in a row. In 2009, the company’s name changed from Exel to Exel Composites in order to reflect the company’s shift in specialism.

Exel Composites’s current president and CEO, Riku Kytömäki, joined the company in 2014, triggering new vision, strategy and financial targets. In 2016, the Exel Webstore was launched, allowing quick and easy ordering of products for both consumer and commercial customers.

Today, Exel Composites is the largest manufacturer of pultruded and pull-wound composite solutions in the world. Exel Composites celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2020, and continues to use its wealth of experience to work closely with customers to design and manufacture high quality composite solutions.

Exel Composites designs, manufactures and markets fibre reinforced plastic products and solutions to a variety of segments. Exel Composites is a global company, with manufacturing facilities in six countries — Finland, Belgium, Austria, UK, China and USA — and customers in over 50 countries.

The company supplies solutions for a number of industrial applications — including telecommunication, paper, electrical, machine and transportation industries — as well as construction, renewable energy, cleaning and maintenance and sports and leisure applications.

Telecommunication

Composites are weather resistant, stiff, lightweight and have good di-electric properties, making them ideal for the telecommunications industry. Exel Composites’s typical products for Base Station System (BSS) antennas include pultruded antenna radomes, tubes, flat profiles and rods. Other telecommunication applications include conical antennas for military networks, gas pipes and ships, radar profiles for ship radars and airport radars, and service platforms.

Paper

The lightweight, stiff, easy to handle and low friction co-efficiency of composites benefit the paper industry. Exel Composites produces carbon fibre telescopic fabric guiding poles to make wire changing of paper machines fast during maintenance.

Electrical

Composites have high strength and insulating properties, making them ideal for many electrical applications. Exel Composites Glassfibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) tubes and profiles are used in detector, earthing and insulation poles. Exel Composites insulated rail joints are used in railway signalling systems. Composite insulators for overhead transmission, distribution and traction lines are also manufactured by Exel Composites.

Machine

The beneficial properties of composites, such as high strength, low weight and high fatigue strength, combined with their various shape, tolerance and function capabilities, are making them increasingly popular in machine industry applications. Exel Composites provides products suitable for textile machine components, packing machine components, robotics, manipulator components, measuring devices and assembly jigs.

Transportation

Composites help improve energy efficiency and lower cost of ownership in the transportation industry, as well as enhancing performance and safety. Exel Composites supplies a range of carbon fibre, fibreglass and hybrid composite profiles used internally and externally on cars, buses, trams, trains, trucks and trailers, from ceiling panels to bus rails.

Building, construction and infrastructure

Composites provide a versatile and resilient material to the building and construction industry. Exel Composites products include window and door profiles, stairs, platforms, airport frangible structures and more.

Renewable energy

Exel Composites manufactures blade reinforcement composites for wind turbines. Composites are more lightweight than traditional materials, allowing blades to become longer, stronger and lighter, therefore increasing the turbine’s power output. Exel Composites also provides rotor blade laminates, spar caps and cable management solutions to the wind energy industry.

Cleaning and maintenance

Composites are strong yet lightweight, providing the ideal material for tool handles and telescopes. Exel Composites supplies composite tubes for tool handles of varying lengths up to 25 meters, helping keep workers’ feet on the ground.

Sport and leisure

With a long history in sport pole manufacturing, Exel Composites is experienced in the sport and leisure industry. Exel Laminates are widely used in skis, ice hockey sticks, snow boards and wake boards. Other composite applications include sailing masts, archery, tent structures and Nordic walking poles.