Knauf, Resopal, Tarkett and Witex to Launch Ceracl

Augustdorf, Germany, November 22, 2005--At Domotex 2006 the "new flooring generation," an alliance of Knauf Integral, Resopal, Tarkett and Witex, is presenting a new generation of products for the flooring market: ceraclic. Ceraclic is a flooring element in new combinations of materials, consisting of Sound Protect to reduce the sound of footsteps, a highly compacted GIFAtec fiber-reinforced plasterboard as base material, an impact and wear-resistant decorative HPL surface and a specially-developed click joint. The strategy for winning markets is every bit as new as the product. Manufacturers, materials suppliers and competitors formed a sales alliance for the first time. The partnership, known as the "new flooring generation," is making its first joint appearance at a Domotex joint booth under the slogan "partners for new flooring solutions." With Witex as the inventor, Knauf Integral and Resopal as the materials suppliers and Tarkett as the sales partner, the market launch of this new floorcovering is founded on four strategic pillars and exploits the advantages of the different sales channels of the parties involved. With ceraclic, each of the four companies has contributed its particular skills to the "new flooring generation." The result is a product that should convince architects and interior fitters straight away. Ceraclic is to be launched in both the business premises and home market segments. The product's characteristics will therefore vary depending on their area of application. This applies to the material's thickness, its physical and technical resistance and also its design. For Tarkett, ceraclic is a new kind of product with which new market segments and niches can be occupied within the strategy of the Property Division. This new segment is specifically the real stone segment. Here Tarkett sees the time-saving replacement of traditional stone as one of the biggest advantages of ceraclic. With the development of ceraclic Witex is showing once more that this Augustdorf-based company knows how to coordinate useful partnerships and to bring innovations to the market for everyone's benefit. All individual components are tried and tested branded products of many years' standing. The GIFAtec base material from Knauf Integral KG offers certified biological and physical structural benefits in terms of indoor climate, noise and fire protection. Thanks to the high density of the material, the results of static load tests are exceptional. The HPL surface from the coating material pioneer Resopal, which is available from the market launch, stands out because of its great strength and resistance and the unlimited variety of its surface designs. Thanks to its innovative product characteristics and advantages over existing systems, ceraclic could revolutionise the floor covering market and change the traditional structure of flooring. New Flooring Generation is showing at: contractworld Hall 4 booth B43.