Butterfly Flexible Seating Solutions, SEKISUI SPI, Tapis, and MGR Foamtex Collaborate for AIX 2020
SEKISUI SPI, Butterfly Flexible Seating Solutions, Tapis, and MGRFoamtex have joined forces to bring a unique new seat to aviation interiors.
“We are excited to help innovative startups like BUTTERFLY® bring their disruptive ideas into the market,” says Ronn Cort, President and COO of SEKISUI SPI, speaking at Red Cabin’s Aircraft Cabin Innovation Summit in London. “That’s the mission of our appLab™, an innovation center where ‘what ifs?’ become fully-fledged projects.”
SEKISUI SPI will collaborate with BUTTERFLY® to develop customer-centric material solutions using KYDEX® Thermoplastics, which are lighter, safer, stronger, and more recyclable than alternative materials.
BUTTERFLY® is a flexible seating solution that allows instant transformation between premium economy/regional business class and long-haul flatbed suites. The collaboration between the two companies culminated from discussions following last June’s Red Cabin Summit in Seattle, a unique event that brought together leading creators in the aviation interiors market.
“With our partners’ know-how, we can put BUTTERFLY® in the position to be competitive with both standard recliners as well as business class lie-flat suite. We are in the process of creating a seat that we are happy to sell, airlines are thrilled to buy, and passengers are delighted to sit in,” says Lars Rinne, Butterfly’s Co-Founder and Commercial Director.
SEKISUI SPI is pleased to be among Butterfly’s core cohort of suppliers and innovators to develop the next generation of aviation seats. Butterfly’s next iteration prototype will debut at the 2020 Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany.
About SEKISUI SPI
SEKISUI SPI is a global thermoplastics leader that invents and manufactures specialized high performance plastics in small batches for boutique applications in aviation, mass transit, autonomous vehicle, and agricultural equipment markets. These KYDEX® thermoplastic materials help create products that are lighter, safer, stronger, recyclable, and environmentally sustainable – making the world a better place for future generations. SPI achieves this by investing in their people, process and products in ways that foster collaboration, caring, and a community of safety, where they lift each other up to achieve more than each person could achieve on their own. Fueled by a team of over 350 dedicated professionals, SEKISUI SPI delivers materials to more than 30 countries while continuing to invest and develop its manufacturing campuses in Bloomsburg, PA and Holland, MI. Visit www.sekisui-spi.com for more information.