This work was carried out to establish the processing window for the cost-efficient production of thermoplastic matrix towpregs with a recently developed powder-coating equipment. Three different fiber-reinforced thermoplastic matrix systems were studied: one for highly demanding markets (carbon fiber/Primospire (TM)) and other two for commercial applications (glass/polypropylene and glass/polyvinyl chloride). The mechanical properties determined on compression-molded composite components obtained from the produced towpregs were also evaluated. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 29: 80-85, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20174