NEWS
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Relocations and expansions across Europe
Caterpillar opens Middle East parts distribution centre
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aterpillar Inc. has opened a new parts distribution center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 500,000 square foot Middle East distribution centre (MEDC) employs 130 people and will further strengthen aftermarket parts support in the East-Africa and Middle East region. The facility will also serve as a regional office for employees from other Caterpillar service groups. The Middle East distribution centre joins new distribution centres in Waco, Texas (2009), Clayton, Ohio (2011), Spokane, Washington and Arvin, California (2012). In addition, construction is underway for new distribution centres in Queensland, Australia, and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. “We are very pleased to be adding the MiddleEast distribution centre to our industry leading global parts network,” said Steve Larson, Caterpillar vice-president with responsibility for parts distribu-
tion and logistics, and president of Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. “With the outstanding product support capability of Cat dealers in the region and the improved parts availability this operation will deliver, we will continue providing customers an unmatched level of after-sale support.” Visit: www.caterpillar.com
Wacker opens a new technical centre for carpet applications in the USA W acker Chemie AG is strengthening its presence in the USA by bringing a new technical centre for carpet applications on stream in Dalton, Georgia. It offers lab facilities for developing and testing polymeric binders for the carpet industry. At the same time, the WACKER ACADEMY, the group’s international training centre, is opening a local branch at the Dalton site. WACKER is thus meeting the growing demand for high-quality VAE dispersions for carpet applications in the region, and improving its local expertise in research, development, applications support and customer service. WACKER’s new technical centre, based in Dalton, Georgia, is focused on developing new formulations with vinyl acetate-ethylene copoly-
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fter a building phase of only eight months, MTU Maintenance Hannover’s new logistics centre is now open. The storage building for spare parts has a floor space of 7500 square metres and features the most advanced logistic processes. Before the opening of the new logistics centre, the parts were stored externally. With the new building, the transportation route could be reduced from 15km to only 75 metres. With this move, MTU Maintenance will significantly save costs, optimise its internal processes and is able to strengthen its position among the international competition. MTU Maintenance Hannover is the centerpiece of the MTU Maintenance group, the world’s largest independent maintenance provider for commercial aircraft engines, and specialist for medium-sized and large aircraft engines. Only recently, MTU Maintenance has successfully completed the test cell correlation for the world’s largest aircraft engine, the GE90. The company is now one of the few providers worldwide with the full repair capability for this engine type. Visit: www.mtu.de
mer (VAE) dispersions, and meeting the local demands of customers in the carpet industry. VAE dispersions of the VINNAPAS® brand are increasingly being used in place of traditional latexes as binders for bonding carpet backing. Visit: www.wacker.com
Wärtsilä to set up new manufacturing plant in Brazil
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ärtsilä is to set up a new fully-owned manufacturing facility in Brazil to meet the increasing market demand, particularly in the offshore market. Wärtsilä’s investment in the new facilities is approximately €20 million. The manufacturing premises will be based on a multi-product factory concept for the
20 Industry Europe
MTU Maintenance Hannover opens new logistics centre
assembly and testing of Wärtsilä generating sets and propulsion products. “Our presence in Brazil is now further strengthened to respond to the ongoing demand for Wärtsilä power solutions, and to meet the set local content requirements,” says Björn Rosengren, president & CEO of Wärtsilä Corporation. Visit: www.wartsila.com
