Fiberdom, a Finnish materials innovation company in high-performance wood fiber materials, has demonstrated the next step in the industrial scale-up of Duranova. In collaboration with Kiefel, a global leader in packaging machinery and molding technology, the company converted industrial-scale Duranova paperboard reels into finished three-dimensional molded products at full production speed on Kiefel’s next-generation Naturereformer KFD 75 dry-forming machine.
To demonstrate the capability, Fiberdom and Kiefel selected a technically demanding packaging insert for consumer electronics used to protect and position products such as mobile devices and other small electronic goods within the pack. These inserts are produced in enormous volumes each year and require tight tolerances, low unit cost, and high-speed manufacturing, yet are still predominantly made from thin plastic.
Historically, reel-fed dry-forming has faced commercial barriers due to material limitations and throughput constraints in complex application geometries. By combining Duranova with Kiefel’s KFD 75 dry-forming technology, the trials achieved optimized cycle times and material efficiency at high speeds. This demonstrates that dry-molded fiber technology can meet the rigorous production performance required for mainstream, high-volume applications and emerging regulatory frameworks such as the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
“We didn’t choose this insert because it was easy; we chose it because manufacturing economics matter most in cost-sensitive applications,” said Duncan Mayes, chief technology officer at Fiberdom. “Based on demonstrated processing speeds, a single KFD 75 production line has the potential to supply over 80 million Duranova-based packaging inserts each year. That is the scale at which dry-molded fiber can be competitive in truly mainstream applications.”
Kiefel´s Dry Fiber Technology specializes in the cost-effective production of fiber products made from paper directly from the reel. In addition to packaging for electronic goods, other products that can be manufactured using this process include various food trays and lids, as well as cutlery and more.
“This demonstration shows what becomes possible when innovative materials and advanced manufacturing technology come together,” said Richard Hagenauer, director – Research & Development Technology, Kiefel GmbH. “Combining Duranova with our KFD 75 dry-forming technology expands the range of fibre-based packaging applications that can be manufactured efficiently at true industrial scale.”
This milestone marks the next chapter in the strategic partnership announced by Fiberdom and Kiefel in September 2025.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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