Tim Kapteijn about JOIN2SCALE: Tree Composites coordinating a powerful European consortium

Today’s episode marks a major milestone. Tree Composites has officially signed the Grant Agreement for JOIN2SCALE under the Horizon Europe programme, with Tree Composites as project coordinator leading a powerful European consortium. This is of major importance because offshore wind foundations still depend heavily on welding-intensive steel joints that require up to 50,000 hours of manual labor per jacket. JOIN2SCALE aims to industrialize automated composite joint manufacturing as a scalable alternative, enabling higher production throughput, lower CO₂ emissions, improved safety and stronger European competitiveness. Beyond that, this is also about European autonomy, industrial resilience and the future of offshore manufacturing in Europe. With us today is Tim Kapteijn, Manager Business Development at Tree Composites and deeply involved in the strategic development behind JOIN2SCALE.

JOIN2SCALE is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:07

You're listening to Future in Steel, a podcast series about the Composite Revolution. Brought to you by Tree Composites, winner of the 2025 Chamber of Commerce Innovation Award. Hear how challenges, vision, and real-world innovation meet. How leaning Dutch companies, innovators, and key stakeholders share their vision on the future in industry, steel, and manufacturing, strengthening Europe's position as a global economic power in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. Glad you're listening. Today's episode marks a major milestone. Three Composites has kicked off the joint to scale project under the Horizon Europe program, with Three Composites as project coordinator leading a powerful European consortium. This is of major importance because offshore wind foundations still depend heavily on welding-intensive steel joints that require up to 50,000 hours of manual labor per jacket. Joint to Scale aims to industrialize automated composite joint manufacturing as a scalable alternative, enabling higher production throughput, lower CO2 emissions, improved safety, and stronger European competitiveness. Beyond that, this is also about European autonomy, industrial resilience, and the future of offshore manufacturing in Europe. Today are with us Tim Kaptijn, business development lead at Tree Composites and deeply involved in the strategic development behind Joint to Scale. Tim, on behalf of Maxime, who is the host, of course, of the Future Institute podcast, a very warm welcome. Thank you. Great to have you. Great to have you. Um Tim, let me start off with, you know, just to get acquainted with the Joint to Scale. Just give give us an idea. What is this all about?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, so uh the Joint to Scale uh project uh is about demonstrating a uh yeah automated production line at our facility in Delft. Okay. And uh it's actually uh yeah we we submitted uh this project uh proposal for an uh a call, a European subsidy call for innovative uh manufacturing technologies in wind energy. Yeah, and yeah, directly when we uh saw this uh this this call, we thought okay, this is uh in our street, we should uh do something over this. Yeah, and uh yeah, we first started with uh aligning internally. Okay, what uh yeah, what kind of project do we want to uh yeah want to uh want to set up here? Yeah, uh we need uh we we need a European consortium, we need uh yeah to have uh partners from different countries. Uh so yeah, we started with aligning internally on uh okay, what uh yeah, what kind of project do we want to do? Yeah, and then we have to convince a partner. So uh pitching uh to uh first yeah starting in our network, asking okay, who uh wants to join us? Uh we have a great innovation. Do you want to join uh yeah the success uh uh we we're aiming for? And then we pitched to uh companies from the UK, uh Loop Technology to PNET from Germany, uh to uh potential clients like Tenet who can use the joints in their substations. Yeah, uh we pitched okay, uh, this is a great opportunity. Do you want to join? Uh and further detailing the scope. And actually, uh, based on all yeah, all the all the partners, they uh were really enthusiastic and uh and we started writing and uh it was quite a journey towards uh yeah submitting this proposal. Wow. Maxime, this is a major development.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Yes, definitely. Um I'm super happy how we did it. And um, I think uh what's important also to to remember is that when we started off, we looked at okay, who are already our partners, who are the partners that we know that uh that we want to actually work with, but we were lacking let's say uh funds to also to set up this collaboration. So when when this call came as in okay, uh let's say innovative, uh scalable um manufacturing technologies. We were really happy and also enthusiastic that indeed uh also from a European point of view or European Commission point of view, they see that uh we need actually in Europe um new new technologies that actually can produce the things that we need for the future. So then we looked at okay, hey, what what is it actually that we want to do? With whom can we do that? Of course, indeed, uh we saw that okay, not all partners are in in the Netherlands, and uh and then we set it up, and I think uh Tim was uh yeah, let's say uh how do you say it in English?

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Um in um irreplaceable or uh but the Tim is Tim is irreplaceable, of course.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

In in setting this up, so indeed uh yeah, so uh we had several uh uh several uh let's say unique type of activities that we we of course cannot do everything uh ourselves because they're also very specialistic uh specialized uh companies that uh that can do that. Um so really happy that uh that we are able one to to have uh all of these partners on board, including also uh uh parties who can help us with uh let's say the levelized uh uh what do they call it? Uh sort of your life cycle analysis, I meant. Um, but also with uh suppliers, let's say, um, that also believe in in what we can do. And I think besides that we are going to do that uh activities, build building such a consortium around our let's say it's it's it's built around our core business. I think that's uh that also shows that okay, not only our clients, but also the parties who will scale with us believe in what we are going to do.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Yeah, but it's a major it it is a milestone, uh Tim, because in in my in my uh view, everything comes together here. Because you all the parties that believe in whatever you're doing, in in in you know, in the what I call the composite revolution. Uh but there's always the question of you know it it works, we know it works. That's not that's not the problem anymore. The point is is making it scalable in terms of production and and making uh to making it possible to to to to to um to apply this this technology on a grand scale. And now I get the and uh the the idea that this is sort of a stepping stone towards exactly that.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Is that right? Yeah, yeah, that's uh that's true, uh Kos. So uh as you look at uh at the past, we had some uh interactions with potential clients who wanted uh a lot of joints for their wind farms. And uh yeah, back then uh yeah, we were uh still developing, uh looking to demonstrate technology, like uh maybe one jacket, two jackets. Uh, but they directly wanted uh the full benefit of the technology for the full wind farm. We also see uh in some cases it's uh not a project uh developer that does multiple projects but just has one project in their portfolio that uh uh yeah, it's a project organization for that specific site, yeah, and they want to uh directly have the full benefit and not just one jacket. And there was a bit of a mismatch between what we could do back then uh and what we're yeah need to do need to go to in the towards the future. Uh so if we would have that capacity uh during that discussions, we would already have delivered for this uh for this wind farm because we were able to deliver, we're a credible, uh credible supply partner, yeah uh credible supplier. Uh and with this project, yeah, yeah, we selected the key uh the key steps in our production process, uh, which need to go faster, which needs to go be scalable, uh, and which needs to be adapted to also really reach that that target volumes. Yeah, um, and that yeah, that are uh yeah, the one step in that is uh putting dry glass fiber on the steel joint. Okay, that's an important step. Uh, second is uh the pre-forming of the glass material, shaping the glass material in the form of the tubular members. And the third step is also the quality control. So if we deliver something, uh yeah, the quality should be uh yeah uh up to the point that that we can ship it out. And those yeah, those three key steps were actually identified in the development of the proposal uh that we need to do that uh yeah to scale that up, and we scale that up by automating that those processes. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

But before going in more in depth in that, uh a question to you, Maxime. Can you say that um is it basically acknowledging that Europe is acknowledging that Tree Composite and the invention that you had, the composite revolution, is indeed part of European autonomy?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yeah, I I think it is, and um maybe it's also too good to mention that it is a very selective procedure, right? So it is not that uh uh that there's let's say only a few proposals. You really have to be yeah, top of the top, but also impact-wise, so not only technology-wise, but also impact. Yeah, and I think uh Tim also already mentioned it uh a bit, and okay, the volume requirements in offshore wind are huge. So one wind farm is order of magnitude 5,000 tons of composite, so five million kilograms. Yeah. And it's not that you could not produce it by hand, but then you would still require quite a lot of manual labor.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

50,000 man hours per structure.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Well, no, not if you would do it with composite. No, but in in the traditional way, and yes, so if you would weld it, it's fifty well up to uh depending on the size and the complexity. Um but even if we would build these structures, um there would be a possibility to do it with less hours with a hand-built composite joint, but then still we would be requiring a huge amount of command force to get the technology out there, and that would limit the scale, right? So we could have a we we we can make uh composite joints by hand as well, right? But then that would limit our scale, and that was also uh I think a threat again, because if we would require quite a lot of man hours to build our products, then we're not a uh sustainable technology for Europe. So this was one of the I think the key points that we have to remember is that it's not only about bringing a technique to the market, it is also bringing a technique to the market that can scale to the levels without then getting into the same risk of being too expensive because you rely too much on man hours.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

So that's why uh during even the course of the whole development of the technology, we said okay, we need to have something that can scale with without only being reliable on uh human capital. So um then if you then look okay, well uh we need to build five million kilograms, then it has to be in a short time and it has to be consistent and rely and reliable, right? So, and that is I think uh what we um we put on the table at the European Commission saying, okay, if we are really serious about this, and it can mean that we can indeed build structures in Europe, then we need to be able to automate it. And I think um yeah, they fully agreed. And and I think it's also good to mention this that uh there is a lot of money for new technology. There's only a few um there are done, in my view, not enough funds uh available to actually scale or build uh let's say the manufacturing capacity. So, really the um people just believe that okay, if you if you then have an uh let's say the the technology, then there is no volume mismatch or there's no volume requirements, at least not in the in the vision I I see currently in uh at least in the Netherlands. But I am really happy that in in Europe they did recognize hey, it's not only about technology, it's also about new manufacturing methods or making them more future-proof, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:30

And making enabling the fact that you can help the do the whole process, you can uh actually the manufacturing process getting back from the Chinese, the Chinese to the European countries.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yeah, um that's of course um important, but it's it's it's about okay, why are we losing then um certain uh types of jobs in in Europe? And that's mainly when they are heavily reliant on on repetitive human uh activities. So uh, yes, we know that we need we want to uh to industrialize a few things, but it is also about okay, if these volumes have to be made and we have to make them in Europe, how are we going to do that? It it can no longer be only by just putting something in your hand and placing it somewhere. No, that that we need to do. It has to be automated, yeah. Also for new new new technologies and I and and only raising it by let's say uh investments is it's not not easy. No. So I was super happy with the call, with the opportunity, and I'm happy that we actually are going to materialize over the next uh let's say three years and really show that we can build the volumes that our clients want.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

Yeah. Tim, could you tell a bit more about the project? Because you are you're going to coordinate the entire uh European consortium in this way. Tell tell us a bit more. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

What is going to happen? Yes, indeed. So um, yeah, but that was also one of the yeah, one of the funny things at the start that yeah, we're of course starting uh yeah, starting the uh starting up company, uh not yet one of the uh big players like we have in our consortium, like uh bigger scale uh industrial companies. So they also uh yeah wondered like at the start, are we going to hire a consultant to uh do the submission? I said, No, we're going to do it ourselves. We uh we have expertise in house, we have experience with other calls. Okay, and uh okay, okay. And then uh yeah, we succeeded, and they were quite surprised. That was quite funny to see. Uh but yeah, for the project, it's uh actually uh yeah, the this it focuses on this demonstration of this uh yeah of this production line. So uh it was in the call text also that we need to demonstrate for six months an operational production line. Okay, and yeah, within the plan we wrote, we're going to uh yeah make uh X joints. So uh yeah, the the crosses you typically see in trust structures, and uh we're going to uh yeah make them uh yeah, we're going to first tune the design that we have now and make it uh yeah ready for automation. So I think we already have a design that uh yeah that can be automated uh much easier than the earlier like uh designs we had based on hand lamination manufacturing. So we now have a scalable manufacturing method, okay, which is uh ready for automation, but we're going to improve it further. Uh that's one of the first steps in the in the proposed, and also yeah, start with this production line layout design. So uh yeah, designing the okay, what what are the the steps in our production? How should this production line look and what is it approximately going to cost? And also align the target outputs with yeah, the potential clients, uh, like with the partners in the uh uh consortium also to see okay, what uh if we're gonna want to make impact on timelines also for the uh yeah for the for the structure manufacturing, how fast do you need these uh these joints that come out of the line? Yeah, and now we set a initial target of uh yeah speeding up during this uh yeah six-month demonstration, speeding up to one X joint per day. Okay, and uh that is currently the yeah the target and uh first part of the project also validating that target. Is that sufficient or is that maybe too fast? Uh yeah, so to balance also the the capex investment that we would need for such a line uh with with the target requirements uh for market.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Maybe good to to add is that of course we um when you set up the project, you said okay, this is the goal. Uh we define the interactions, we define the scope per partner, uh, with the goal actually to um to realize that. And I think uh um it's more amount about really this fine-tuning, right? Uh, because you need time and interactions uh between all the parties because um it is a process, so we have steps, and some steps will indeed uh to industrialize uh require the partnerships that we we set up, but then you really need to know okay, what does the system need to do, and what do you want to measure, and what is the input to that to that system? So it's really this fine-tuning of the uh let's say the interfaces between the different partners, but also the different um processes within the entire, let's say, uh production line process. So and I think that's that's where the the the the alignment uh comes, but also indeed looking at okay, we're going to build a production line which is not um how do you call it in every step maximized to their output. So, for example, you you can cut glass maybe faster than you can um let's say pick and place it. Uh you can form it uh a little bit slower, so then you might need more stations of that. But in this project we will identify it, but of course, due to the limited, it is a big project, but it is a limited budget, you cannot maximize the entire output of the of the line. But we are going to demonstrate and we're going to identify okay, uh, we might be let's say at the end uh at a third of of the total capacity of this line, but also know how to quickly scale beyond that, and what would be the let's say uh the time to to go to the uh 5 million uh kilograms per um per per year. Um and and that's also one of the goals. But besides let's say that we are going to let's say define and and organize and going to actually execute that uh that production, it is also to showcase, hey, uh clients, we can be your uh reliable, uh let's say we can uh guarantee the volumes within a certain time frame, and that lowers a risk because what people don't maybe don't know is that we we then um uh in the whole production of a jacket structure there is a uh critical path. And if you delay that critical path, and in the end there is a ship waiting at the K, which can be half a million to a million a day. Yeah, so delays are really uh regards at a high risk and at high capital cost. So if we cannot assure that we can deliver, we probably cannot uh finalize a deal, right? Because if it's uh too high of a risk, then people will not buy it. Because yeah, what if you're late, then they have to have to pay those those fines. Yeah. So that is why, besides let's say only developing a let's say not a a breakthrough technology, it also requires a very reliable output of your production line, which again requires development and partnerships, and all to actually uh ensure that a technology which has a huge impact can actually make that impact.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

Well, it proves to all kinds of parties in the world that this is not only uh a great development and a great invention, but it's very feasible in in the in the whole production structure. So you prove to all kinds of parties this is the way to go forward, Tim.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Yes, yes, indeed. So um at the first uh the this production line will first focus on this X joint, but yeah, for jacket structures you also need other types of joints like KKYY. So we'll design it such that it uh can be uh yeah scaled and as modeler to also uh produce these types of joints that we can uh yeah make all the joints required for the for the offshore uh teak-driven uh structures. And uh one other uh thing is that uh if you look at uh also the volumes, so yeah, this this first line we also said okay what investment will be approximately needed for this uh yeah for for upscaling. So we also uh have in the in the scope uh yeah, we included uh a scope on simulation of our uh targets that we meet in the project to expolate that to the food scale and also create some visualizations that we then can also use in uh yeah talking to potential investors in the future uh to uh yeah to help us upscaling uh to this 5,000 tons per year.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yeah. And maybe also good to to mention is that uh the feedback that is um I think so uh let's say three years ago we had this demonstration at uh OKOS showcasing that actually the technology is quite um excellent compared to let's say well that uh well the connection performance. And I remember that one of the uh I think uh key players within one of the project developers said to me, Okay, I fully believe in the technology. Now I only want to see can you actually scale and deliver at that skill that we require? Yeah, because that is if you can do that, then uh there are two things that those are the major risks.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

It's a reasonable thing to ask, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Yeah, yeah. But for it it is let's say if you look at okay, uh you want to deliver a full wind farm, so that's at a certain volume, then the first thing is that they they they think about is okay, does the technology work? Well, that answer is now already quite uh wow, already yes, it works. Can they deliver at scale? Yeah, they're currently developing it. Ah now, what does actually this project mean for us as a company? It will be delivered at scale, right? Yes. And uh we will have an operational uh line with a certain output, which is uh uh we have a bandwidth with high and low, right? And the opportunity to actually develop and and then start selling all of it with the technology able to scale. So it is a huge milestone for us as a as a company because it's it it showcased that we are are are ready to to make the impact that that our clients want to do.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Yeah, but you know, if you look at all the advantages that the the the composite revolution gives towards offshore wind, I mean it's a great milestone with regard to offshore wind as such. Because in it it it it uh it creates all the opportunity to in in the reasonably near future to uh uh to make this whole thing scalable and that you you know whole wind farms, whole wind farms can be made with this this technology.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yes, and and it is even wider than wind farms, yeah. Yeah, because um well there was uh a call a few years ago if we could make uh 400 Xs. Uh unfortunately I cannot show you who, but um and they said, Yeah, can you make that? And uh we said, Yeah, we can make uh 400xes, uh we can make the back then it would have been made by hand by us, yeah. Still uh more effective than welding. But I ask, okay, when do you need it? And they say in nine months, yeah. Yeah, we that is not possible, right? But I think now, uh let's say in a few years from now, we would be able to produce it. Yeah, just because we are uh then scalable and we we could go go to these numbers. Um, so besides then entire let's say wind farms with several types of joints, we are also able to just you give us a call and you say okay, uh, this is what uh what you need, and we would ship a prefabricated, let's say, uh joint to you. That's also a possibility, and even uh that's what I also see is that if you look like 15 years ahead, at a certain point, this is the the new way of new standard. Well, the new way of building building structures. So more and more people would like to then be able to do more and more scope themselves. So I also see that okay, the way that we would build up uh within joint to scale, we could uh instead of having it very central at our location, we would move it to the yards. Yeah, why? Because they have then at the that's our goal, uh a more uh a longer pipeline, which makes it also logical that you produce also composite joints on site, exactly, and then you could fully automate the production of let's say uh Ixes, uh again, strengthening the autonomy but also the competitiveness of the European yards.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Yeah. Yeah. To to add to this, uh Maxime is that uh yeah, you could also like uh on one hand you can construct uh yeah structure with prefabricated joints, which is nice for yards if they have a lack of uh skilled welders uh for uh for these uh these complex joints, or if they have like a rush they need to deliver projects fast, that they can uh yeah, order some of the labor-intensive parts of the structure from our uh manufacturing line and then speed up their production and meet their uh yeah their schedules, or they uh yeah, do not have to uh bother about finding all these skilled welders. So that's uh yeah, one uh aspect I think that could be uh very interesting for uh good news to the to the yards, I would say. Yeah. And also for the uh yeah, also if you look at the type of work at the yard. Because if you uh yeah uh maybe if you if you already have been to a construction yard, you see uh it can be a bit uh of course it's uh they make very nice things, it's a really nice uh profession, but it can be a bit of uh dirty place, like uh you have to work at high heats in small corners, sometimes inside the tubulars. Uh it's it's labor-intensive, yeah. It's really labor-intensive, and there uh yeah, if if we provide that part of the the the complex, uh the most complex work, so the complex joints to those structures, it's also changing the way the yards work, so you get like a different environment, which could also uh yeah boost like other types of people going to join this profession, uh, and maybe easier to find the people to execute the work there to assemble uh our infrastructure for wind.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Yeah, so um, and I think uh uh indeed what what Tim uh points out is that uh the working conditions of welding are challenging, absolutely, yeah uh especially for these big structures. Um, it's sometimes indeed you have to crawl inside a tubular of uh a meter, which means you cannot stand, you can only crawl inside, uh prepare it, weld, then readjust your let's say, how do you call it, uh uh composed how you sit, actually, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

I mean it's not it's not easy, and and that it that again adds to why it takes so long and so much hours to actually finish these things, right? Um, so indeed, and then you can also put some questions, although we're doing it so long, that is this really a sustainable job or a safe job to do to do, while you could have something, a other way of building these structures.

SPEAKER_03 27:19

And exactly. If you look at you you started off, uh the project has started, jointer scale in in May. And so what what can people expect in the well it's about six months, right? Uh or so you mean six months? The the joint to scale is six months or a little longer than that. Oh yeah, the demonstration is six months.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

But the total project duration is uh is three years. Three years, wow. So within two years, uh yeah, we start with the demonstration of this uh this production line. So there's uh yeah, there's time pressure on it.

SPEAKER_03 27:49

So tell me what's what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah, so uh yeah, first uh yeah, the teams are uh yeah are are now getting started. So we had to kick off with the European partners, they visited our facility. So we showed them also our production process, the steps we're going to automate. And uh yeah, now is the yeah, we're we start with uh with first the design part, but then also creating some uh yeah, some early de-risking actually in the project. So creating prototypes uh of uh of joints, uh still building the building up with manual labor, uh, but yeah, to really see okay, if we're going to make these changes to make the production even more scalable, automatable, uh, do we still have the performance that we need for these uh for these structures? So there that's one of the important things. So, yeah, of course, as Maxime mentioned, like uh producing fast, uh having uh yeah the skill to deliver at full wind farms, but also is it then still the quality that we need and does it have the performance? Uh uh so those are two items that are really important, and it's a risk that yeah, if we are happy we can produce one joint per week, but if they are not uh yeah, they cannot transfer sufficient loading. So uh that's one of the important things. So together with uh yeah the the partners, we're going to uh make a prototype of one of the yeah, the the end effectors, which actually like the hand of uh like a robot arm, which is going to put up uh put up glass on uh uh on the on the tubular shapes, and to see if if that yeah, if that meets the requirements, the accuracy to get the glass in the right positions, if the glass builds up on the geometry if you still have the the shape according to the design. Uh so that's one of the steps. And also we're going to look at uh okay, what are actually the requirements that uh that we need for this production line? So uh if we talk to uh yeah to a developer or like to uh yeah to an uh TSO, uh what is it actually that you need for your project? Uh the outputs of these these lines that meet the requirements and really make you uh yeah make the uh fabrication of your infrastructure in Europe uh attractive again and more competitive with uh with low labor rate countries.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Exactly. But you know, I know uh three composites a bit, and you know, coming from where you have come from, I mean that you you look at this with all confidence, I guess, uh Maxime. I mean there are challenges, sure, but you know there's no challenges you have not overcome uh up to now.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah, yeah. But I I think uh uh really to to before we go on, I want to really stand still as in what what what Tim just said is that if you adjust your manufacturing, let's say, methods or or ways, um you have to reassure that uh that doesn't influence the performance, right? Of course. So within the project, uh we first make sure that okay, uh all the risks compared, uh let's say that you would that that we identify, that we take it into the project, and that we measure the things um to ensure that the impact on the performance uh is either clear up front or uh we can omit those things, right? So um it is setting up such that we don't uh change anything on the process once we do the six months of uh of uh of actually showcasing. And after the six months of uh of uh actually producing full time, then we are going to validate those. So we're gonna use the joints that we that we have made, we're gonna test a big portion of it, and then still we have a badge that we can actually uh provide the industry in their structures. So this is really how we set it up as a vision, is in okay, uh in uh where we are right now is that we have a um manual scalable production process, we're going to industrialize it, yeah, we're gonna ensure that okay, uh we during the production we actually know that it will perform, then we're going to validate it. Why? Because we want to actually that at the end within the project, if there is a potential, we already can provide the joints to clients. Absolutely, but you know, in uh anyway you look at it. So yeah, so to to to to finish that uh so it's not only developing the technology for let's say to scale, but really already trying to that what we what we achieved that it can directly be implemented, exactly, which is a major leap forward, yes, yeah, indeed.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah, and to uh to add to this, uh I think uh yeah, if you're on on the other side, uh on the client side, uh, and yeah, you have a project where you can use uh yeah uh some joints, so we're going to produce them anyhow in the demonstration. And the nice thing is that we're also going to this back do this batch uh testing, as Maxime uh said, uh, where we do static testing, fatigue testing. So we really confirm the capacity or in the performance of these joints, uh, which also makes it easier to step to implement it really in one of your uh of the structures. Yeah, so that's also an invitation to yeah, potential uh yeah, potential clients, interested parties who want to innovate, who want have uh yeah, fatigue resistant structures in their portfolio. Uh this yeah, great opportunity to uh get into contact and discuss opportunities. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:51

So of course we have our uh associated part, uh Party Tenet, where we're of course going to discuss uh uh where we can implement it in in which let's say time frames. Um but there are there are more joints than they could uh uh let's say implement in the same time. So we we indeed uh look at other um other applications as well. Um that's also within the entire let's say scope uh we also have so we work also together with uh ECCS, which is the European uh um how do you call it Association for Steel Structures, if I'm uh uh correct. So we're also going to look beyond, let's say, offshore wind, beyond offshore substations, absolutely just to see where uh also in civil structures where you can uh add value. And that that's also I think a strong part of having a European uh let's say network is that the outreach is well gigantic, uh especially through this uh it's an enormous spin-off.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Yeah, possible.

SPEAKER_01 33:50

So and and and and there I think um you could see it like this is um it can catapult us.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Yeah, it's accelerated. That's it, that's it. So uh and I guess it would be a good idea to all you know after a few months or after six months or whatever, we we're gonna look uh back on what these six months have brought us within this uh this project, and maybe with uh with partners uh together who work together with you on this project to to look at how the development is going.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Yeah, and I would be very interested also um because I think we have the entire supply chain, we have the end client, and what I want to involve, let's say, in the next uh let's say uh 12 to 24 months, so we then also uh see if we can start collaborating within the project with an additional uh let's say yard that is interested in hey, uh finally we are going to use those uh those joints. How can we implement it already right now? What can we do in the future uh to include that as well? So there's a lot to come, Tim.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Yeah, yeah, of course. So exciting stuff ahead. Yeah, yeah, indeed, indeed. And it all started uh yeah from a blank piece of paper writing out to project, and now uh it's going to happen. So it really gives uh yeah energy to see uh to make it happen.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

The whole composite revolution started with a blank sheet of paper, yeah, and look where we are now.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Yeah, and and and uh one of the things that um that maybe is under highlighted right now is that this ecosystem that we build in this project is done also with the vision uh of let's say the huge impact that we can make. So we really have the partners that if this is successful, that we then with those partners can go to the next and the next let's say phase of capacity, and I think that is um that that is also something that I think is crucial for for this technology to succeed, is that our clients want to have these volumes, they look at your own company, but also uh beyond that partners and who are your suppliers, how you can scale. Is it really realistic that if we go on right now with a several of uh let's say uh jackets, can we actually with your partner skill? And I think we can definitely say yes, we can, because we have this project and we will show you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

And uh well, you know, what we can say to all our listeners, you know, keep in touch with Future in Steel because there is a lot more to come, Tim. Maxime, isn't there? Yes, absolutely, yes, of course. We'll get back to you. Thanks, guys. Okay, thank you. You have been listening to Future in Steel, a glimpse into Europe's industrial future. With thanks to Tim Kaptein and Maxime Seger of Tree Composites. If you want to know how your company can then benefit from the Composite Revolution, or if you're interested in investing and becoming part of this development, don't hesitate to contact Tree Composite because they're happy to assist you. And for now, my name is Koz Woltius, and to the next until the next Future in Steel. You have been listening to the Future in Steel, a podcast series about the Composite Revolution, brought to you by Tree Composites, winner of the 2025 Chamber of Commerce Innovation Award. If you haven't already, please subscribe to this series on your favorite podcast platform. Or visit the Tree Composite website for additional resources. Thank you again for listening, and we look forward to bringing you more insight in the future in Steel.