How IFP Works: From Fiber to Function

At Holy Technologies, we have redesigned the composite manufacturing process from the ground up. Designed for maximum efficiency, executed by robotics, and built for full circularity. Our system streamlines the entire composite value chain, from digital component design and fiber path optimization to scalable manufacturing and closed-loop remanufacturing. In this article, we explain how our end-to-end system turns digital designs into high-performance carbon fiber parts, enabling faster development, repeatable quality, and environmental responsibility.

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What Are Carbon Fiber Parts?

Holy Technologies is a contract manufacturer of high-performance carbon fiber parts, supporting customers from component development through to series production. We work with manufacturers in industrial tools, robotics, medical devices, aerospace, and automotive. If you are new to carbon fiber: carbon fiber parts are often referred to as carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) components or carbon fiber composites. These combine carbon fiber with a polymer matrix to create lightweight yet incredibly strong materials. Composites are engineered materials made by combining two or more distinct constituents to achieve properties not possible with a single material alone. Carbon fiber consists of tightly packed strands of carbon atoms, known as filaments, which are bundled into tows and aligned for maximum strength. 

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If this is the first time you read about composites, then we have a full explanation article for you here. 

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But manufacturing carbon fiber parts is often slow, manual, and wasteful, making composite production difficult to widely adopt and scale. Our technology changes that. At Holy Technologies, we are developing an end-to-end, autonomous composite production system that streamlines the entire development and manufacturing process of carbon fiber parts. It delivers repeatable performance at scale, speed, and built-in circularity. In this article, we explain how our system works, from digital design to finished part.

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To learn more about our vision for a fully autonomous manufacturing system read this article.

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How To Make Carbon Fiber Parts?

Composite parts are usually made using a combination of six core elements:

1. Reinforcement material: Options include chopped fibers (for molded parts or 3D printing), continuous dry fibers (for custom orientations), and prepreg sheets (resin-impregnated sheets). Each format affects fiber placement precision, design complexity, and recyclability.
   
2. The matrix defines durability and recyclability: Typically a thermoset or thermoplastic resin, the matrix binds the fibers, impacts thermal and chemical resistance, and determines lifecycle traits like toughness and reusability.
3. Deposition methods shape performance and scalability: From manual techniques (e.g., hand layup, prepreg layup) to automated solutions like AFP, ATL, TFP, and Holy Technologies' IFP, each method varies cost, throughput, part performance, and part size.‍
4. Impregnation methods influence quality and throughput: These include wet layup, vacuum-assisted-resin-impregnation (VARI), resin transfer molding (RTM), and the use of prepregs. The choice impacts part uniformity, void content, and processing speed.‍
5. Curing finalizes structure and integrity: Closed-mold processes and autoclaves are used to compact and cure the part, affecting precision, surface quality, and structural consistency.‍
6. Post-processing: Final steps to meet part tolerances, performance, or aesthetic requirements.

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Are these abbreviations new to you? Then this technology comparison article here might be right for you.

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Each combination, or system, impacts part performance, production speed, scalability, and recyclability. Most systems require trade-offs between weight and strength, sustainability and performance, or automation and design freedom. This holds back innovation and the adoption of this high-potential material. Holy Technologies built a system that eliminates such trade-offs, making it easier and faster for companies to innovate with carbon fiber composites.

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Our Holistic Manufacturing Approach

At Holy Technologies, the name reflects the philosophy: we approach composite manufacturing as an integrated whole, rethinking every step from design to recycling rather than optimizing in isolation. Our system tightly integrates software, hardware, and materials and is built on the following core choices:

• Reinforcement material: We use continuous long dry carbon fibers as our reinforcement. This format enables precise robotic placement, minimizes material waste, and allows for full fiber recovery at end-of-life, supporting a circular lifecycle.

• Matrix: Our matrix is a recyclable epoxy resin system designed for high mechanical performance and environmental compatibility. It enables excellent bonding with carbon fiber while maintaining compatibility with low-waste, closed-mold processes.

• Deposition method: At the core of our process is Infinite Fiber Placement (IFP), a patented robotic system that deposits dry fiber bundles along pre-calculated paths with accuracy. This method tailors the mechanical properties of each part, strength, stiffness, or flexibility, based on its unique performance requirements. Material is only placed where it adds value, making IFP a 100% buy-to-fly process.

• Impregnation & curing: We use RTM to impregnate and cure the fiber in a single, closed-mold step. The result is a high-strength composite part with excellent dimensional accuracy. No secondary trimming or post-processing is required, which reduces both cost and cycle time.

• No post-processing needed: Design features such as holes, cut-outs, and inserts are integrated directly into the mold and fiber paths, eliminating the need for trimming, machining, or secondary operations.

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This combination gives us complete control over part performance, speed, and recyclability; all in a scalable, highly efficient process. Let us dive into our technology and explore how we built a system for next-generation composite manufacturing.

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How We Design Innovative Parts

We combine two foundational digital tools: advanced simulation and intelligent fiber orientation to create innovative parts. While they work hand-in-hand, each serves a distinct purpose and offers unique advantages.

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A. Advanced Component Simulation

We start each project in software. Using our simulation stack, we analyze the part’s geometry, the expected loads it must handle, and its functional use case. This allows us to pinpoint exactly where reinforcement is needed and, just as importantly, where we can reduce material without sacrificing performance. This approach prevents overbuilding, reduces weight, and optimizes fiber usage before a single strand is placed.

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B. Intelligent Fiber Orientation

Once we understand what the part needs, we calculate the optimal fiber orientation to meet those demands. Instead of laying down large plies, we work at the fiber level: each strand follows a digitally calculated path, precisely aligned to zones of tension, compression, or flex. We control not just the placement, but the direction, density, and continuity of each fiber, producing high-performance components. 

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Together, these capabilities allow us to:

• Place weight and strength where it matters: Reinforce high-stress regions while removing fiber from no-load zones, creating ultralight components with full mechanical integrity. Unlike traditional ply-based systems, our fiber-level control enables precise material placement, eliminating scrap and excess, and delivering optimal performance with maximum material efficiency.
• Adapt rigidity: Adjust fiber angle and overlap to locally increase or reduce rigidity (stiffness). We can even produce parts with multiple stiffness variants, within the same geometry, useful for applications like orthotics.
• Integrate features by design: We include inserts, edge contours, and holes directly in the layup, preserving fiber continuity, avoiding secondary processes, and enabling clean material recovery.

Once the design is finalized, we move to physical execution using our robotic fiber placement system.

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In collaboration with Visa Cash App RB, this approach enabled a 20% weight reduction while maintaining full part performance.

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Manufacturing With Speed and Repeatability

Once the digital design is finalized, our patented IFP (Infinite Fiber Placement) system brings it to life. Using continuous dry fiber, our robotic process lays fibers directly onto the mold surface, following freeform paths with high precision. Unlike other systems, IFP can follow complex contours, adapt reinforcement width, and steer around integrated features, all without additional tools or manual intervention. It is able to cope with flat or single-curved surface geometries. After layup, the component is infused with a recyclable epoxy resin via RTM. This closed-mold process creates a cured, high-strength part with no trimming or drilling required.

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This allows us to:

• Deliver repeatable performance: Pre-calculated fiber paths and robotic precision ensure consistent quality, even at scale.
• Scale flexibly: The same workflow supports both rapid prototyping and series production, with supplier changes.
• Built-in features from the start: Inserts, holes, and contours are embedded during layup, not machined later, preserving fiber continuity and saving post-processing time.
• Shorten production times: With IFP, once the fiber path is defined in software, the part can go into production within days, not months, and production can scale seamlessly without changing the process.
• Recycle at the end-of-life: And because our system avoids cutting, sanding, or excess trimming, it also sets the foundation for real recyclability.

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To understand exactly which part geometries, sizes, and industries IFP is optimized for, read our deep dive into IFP components.

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How We Enable Closed-Loop Circularity

At Holy Technologies, we do not treat recyclability as an afterthought, it is built into our design, materials, and process architecture from the start. Most composite recycling methods result in heavy downcycling: fibers are chopped or burned, and the result is a lower-grade filler rather than a usable material. Our approach changes that. We design every component to be 100% recyclable, both in concept and execution. Our materials and process make it possible to extract and reuse continuous fiber with high property retention, while safely reclaiming the resin by dissolving it with mild chemistry.

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We achieve this by:

• Using continuous, uncut fiber: This allows the fiber to be unlaid and recovered in long, usable lengths; rather than turning it into chopped strands.
  
  
• Selecting a recyclable resin: Our epoxy resin system includes a cleavable component (Recyclamine®), which enables it to dissolve under mild acidic conditions at ~80°C. We also have the flexibility to integrate other recyclable resin systems (which can be recycled by partners), in case specific resin requirements are needed for an application.
  
  
• Designing for disassembly: Our layup avoids trimming, drilling, or other forms of post-processing steps that would degrade the fiber or introduce unrecoverable contaminants.

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These design choices make it possible to recover both fiber and resin in a reusable state. Independent tests with TU Hamburg and Teijin Carbon show that after two full recycling cycles, fibers retained 97% on average per cycle of their original mechanical performance. These results validate that real circularity is possible, not only in theory, but in practice, across multiple lifecycles.

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For a deep dive into how our recycling process works, read our full article on the circularity of our components.

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Recyclability vs. Retention

While a part may be 100% recyclable in design, the performance of the recovered material may not be identical to virgin material.

• 100% recyclable means the materials can be fully recovered and reused.
  
  
• 97% average retention means the fiber retains nearly all of its mechanical performance, after recovery, but not quite all. This represents a significant step up from current industry benchmarks, where recovered fiber typically retains only 30–60% of its original mechanical performance. 

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Industries and Applications

Our system is especially suited for parts where strength, weight, and performance matter, and where time-to-market or design flexibility is critical.

• Industrial Tools: We support metal-to-composite transitions and help reduce the weight of hand-held industrial tools, such as clamping and cutting tools.
• Robotics: Load-bearing limb structures and frames for bionic robots such as humanoids and quadrupeds.
• Automotive: Interior structures such as seat frames and reinforcements, exterior components including door structures, and load-bearing reinforcements throughout the vehicle.
• Aerospace: Seat structures, overhead compartments, interior panels, and internal structures for wings and fuselages of fixed-wing UAVs, as well as drone frames for multicopter UAVs.

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If your industry is not listed here, that is not a problem. We focus on load-bearing components for mid- to high-volume production. If you have a component that meets the criteria discussed above, we can likely help. Our system supports production batch sizes from 50 to 200,000+ parts, with repeatable quality.

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From Digital Design to Circular Composites

Holy Technologies offers a fully integrated approach to producing high-performance carbon fiber composite components, designed for speed, scalability, performance, and real circularity. By combining advanced simulation, intelligent fiber orientation, robotic fiber placement, and closed-loop circularity, we simplify innovation with composites and raise the bar for what is possible. If you are looking to reduce weight, accelerate development, scale your composites, or improve circularity in your product line, we can help you go from digital design to ready-to-use composite parts in a number of weeks, and close the loop at end of life.