Innovating for a world on the move

Plastic Omnium, with headquarters in Levallois in France, is a family-owned global company that is a preferred partner of automotive manufacturers. It also works to address environmental needs of local communities. It has nearly 100 plants worldwide, including large operations in Poland through Plastic Omnium Auto Exteriors Ltd (formerly Plastal Poland). Piotr Sadowski reports.

29 December 2011 marked the formal signing of an acquisition contract of Plastal Poland by Plastic Omnium. “Plastal Poland was a company that went through a number of ownership changes over the last decade, with the production plants eventually being brought to bankruptcy in 2009,” recalls Aleksander Czajka, country director for Poland, in charge of Plastic Omnium’s Polish plants in Gliwice and Poznań. “After a period of two-and-a-half years we managed to pay the creditors and held a high-level pre-acquisition meeting with the top management from Plastic Omnium. This subsequently resulted in us formally joining the company at the end of last year.”

Pascal Bardet, the director of new industrial operations, responsible for integrating new entities into the overall Plastic Omnium structure, explains that the Polish plants were very attractive because of being wellorganised and staffed with a lot of talented employees. “They also had excellent relations with customers and were located close to key clients such as GM, Volkswagen and Fiat,” says Mr Bardet. “As Plastic Omnium continues to grow dynamically and our volumes of orders are turning out to be higher than planned, we find ourselves with the need to increase our capacity. Plastal was able to offer that, particularly in the central and eastern Europe region.” It is also important to note that the acquisition of Plastal by Plastic Omnium was a move supported not only by the employees of the Polish plants, but also very much by customers.

Integration with a global player

Plastic Omnium Auto Exteriors is being effectively integrated into the family matrix of Plastic Omnium worldwide. The company speaks the same corporate language as all of the other

entities that form part of the global network, with a 10 per cent market share worldwide in auto body components and modules (number two in Europe). The sales of the entire group generated €4.2 billion in 2011: of that, the automotive division brought €3.7 billion, the environment division €0.5 billion. “The automotive division is further split into Auto Exterior [car body panels, predominantly bumpers], generating €2.2 billion in 2011, and Inergy Automotive Systems, the world’s leading producer of fuel systems,” says Mr Bardet. “The Automotive Division grew by 34 per cent from 2010 to 2011, had an operating margin of 7.3 per cent last year and a net result of 4.1 per cent. We are certainly outperforming the global competition and the global market and have low debt and clear cash flow.”

Already in the first quarter of 2012 the overall growth of in the automotive division has been 25 per cent, while the global market rose by only 6 per cent. It is important to note the big contribution of the Polish Auto Exterior plants – with the two units in Gliwice and one in Poznań, in addition to Inergy Automotive Systems plant in Lublin, the entire Polish operations are expected to

generate sales to the level of around €200 million in 2012, employing 1150 staff. “In fact, Poland is second to France for our overall European sales,” adds Mr Czajka.

Reinforcing market share in bumpers

Automotive bumpers are the key product manufactured by Plastic Omnium Auto Exterior. Due to the fact that they are large elements, keeping a balance of their transportation costs is a vital factor in the success of the business. This was clearly another important reason for why Plastic Omnium acquired, and subsequently invested heavily, in the Polish plants. Most of the Polish-produced products are shipped locally to Fiat and GM, which is approximately three-quarters of the overall production. The rest, including smaller components, is shipped to Skoda in Czech Republic and Volkswagen in Slovakia. “Our aim, in which the Polish plants play a key role, is to further strengthen our market share in innovative designs for bumpers, working closely with leading global automotive brands,” explains Mr Bardet. “We also have to be aware of the need to reduce CO2 emissions, which can be achieved by lowering the weight of vehicles. Thus the automotive division works closely with customers to help them meet increasingly strict environmental standards, thereby supporting sustainable, responsible progress. The Auto Exterior business plays a key role here, developing bumpers and other components in which steel and aluminium is replaced with composites and other plastics. In fact, plastic tailgates are a fast growing product line in our company and we certainly plan on offering this technology on the Polish market.”

Innovation and synergy

By helping to make cars lighter, safer, cleaner and more cost-effective, Plastic Omnium as a group of companies worldwide is responding to expectations of carmakers and consumers, as well as the concerns of society. As already indicated, innovation in products such as bumpers and other automotive body and chassis elements is absolutely key in the company’s growth. The Polish plants and their staff are therefore enthusiastically contributing to the overall development path of Plastic Omnium.

CIS s.c. Industial Cleaning Services We are the leader in the field of cleaning machines, production lines and industrial buildings.

Our range of services includes: - Dry ice blasting - Sand blasting - Chemical cleaning - Graffi ti removal - Sale and rental of the MEC srl dry ice blasting equipments

www.suchylod.eu www.meccrios.pl

“We are able to do this by taking advantage of the great synergy effect between the plants in Poznań and Gliwice,” says Mr Czajka. “We share the expertise between the units and optimise our processes on a country level, while at the same time working closely with centralised R&D activities carried out in other parts of the overall group structure.”

Going forward, Plastic Omnium Auto Exterior will continue focusing on existing local customers, while also looking to expand its client base, including offering automotive body component solutions for trucks. “We are also very keen to ensure that staff members in Poland have many opportunities for personal and professional development, inside or outside the home country, through other Plastic Omnium entities,” concludes Mr Bardet. “The people factor is very important for us and so we will continue working very hard to ensure the best possible careers with Plastic Omnium for our people.” n