Moving on Relocations and expansions

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Relocations and expansions across Europe

Audi extends Neckarsulm site Schlemmer plans to double turnover in Romania

AUDI AG has inaugurated its Audi Böllinger Höfe site in Heilbronn. A state-ofthe-art logistics centre and production of the Audi R8 are already up and running in the Böllinger Höfe industrial park – situated around 6km from the main plant in Neckarsulm. With six models and 20 derivatives, Neckarsulm is one of the plants with the greatest product diversity and complexity in the entire Volkswagen Group. The Audi Böllinger Höfe site covers 23 hectares, around a quarter of the total area of the plant in Neckarsulm.

Norbert Rank, chairman of the Works Council in Neckarsulm, comments: “With the commissioning of the Böllinger Höfe we are creating the necessary scope for further optimising the structures at the Neckarsulm site. And we managed to bring together central areas of quattro GmbH.” The Audi Böllinger Höfe site will also be home to the new R8 production facility. Various production areas, which were previously accommodated separately at the Neckarsulm plant, have now been brought together under a single roof. Visit: www.audi.com Extensive work has begun on the second major expansion of Schlemmer’s plant in Satu Mare in Romania. Schlemmer CEO Josef Minster and CFO Christian von der Linde celebrated the start of construction together with the workforce and representatives of partner companies; a significant expansion of production capacity and the product portfolio is anticipated for as early as March 2015.

Schlemmer Romania currently manufactures some 70 million metres of corrugated tubing a year for its two major business segments: automotive and industrial applications.

“In this second expansion since the opening of the plant in 2004, we are constructing a further production hall of about 4000 square metres in size. In future, Schlemmer Romania will also manufacture injection mould products here; moreover, production capacity for corrugated tubes will increase once again,” said CEO Josef Minster.

CFO Christian von der Linde added: “By expanding our plant, we are aiming to double turnover in Satu Mare. Both the eastern European market and the current order situation for Germany and other countries have made this expansion urgently necessary.” Visit: www.schlemmer.com

CHOMARAT opens new North American facility

CHOMARAT has just celebrated the opening of its new 58,500 square foot factory in South Carolina. This new plant will specialise in developing CHOMARAT’s advanced composite business and is equipped with a LIBA MAX5 100-inch (variable width) machine designed to produce carbon, spread-tow, multiaxial reinforcements and carbon looms.

To meet its customers’ requirements, CHOMARAT develops robust technical expertise that is based on a wealth of knowledge. CHOMARAT’s teams provides support for the Group’s customers in the most innovationoriented sectors, like automotive, aerospace, sports, energy, boating, protection, building & construction and civil engineering, and also in markets requiring creativity and expertise, like luxury goods.

This new production capacity will enable CHOMARAT to offer innovative solutions in advanced composite textiles throughout the United States in the industrial, automotive and aerospace markets. “Our aim is to promote our latest innovations and to develop new partnerships in order to provide the North American market with advanced reinforcements, thanks to our highly skilled staff and state of the art machinery,” explains Florent Troubat, president of CHOMARAT Group. Visit: www.chomarat.com

Volvo Cars increases production in its Torslanda plant

Volvo Cars will add a third working shift in its Torslanda, Gothenburg plant to meet the increasing customer demand for the company’s new cars. The expansion, planned for the first quarter of 2015, will be made in connection with the start of production for the all-new Volvo XC90 SUV.

Adding the third shift means the company will create approximately 1300 new jobs and follows the opening of an entirely new body shop which lifted the production capacity in the Torslanda plant to 300,000 cars annually. This also means the total number of employees at Torslanda increases by close to 40%.

The all-new Volvo XC90 SUV marks the first car from the new in-house developed Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which will form the base for a range of upcoming new Volvo models. The new platform as well as the expansion of the Torslanda plant are part of Volvo’s ongoing USD 11 billion investment program in new products and production capacity. The Torslanda plant will also implement a revised working agreement to further support higher production volumes. Visit: www.volvocars.com

TOP opens second location in the Netherlands

The Dutch food innovation company TOP BV has opened a second location in Helmond, The Netherlands. The new location is fully geared to practical innovation, with a pilot plant where new food technologies can be tested. This way TOP wants to stimulate the innovative power of SMEs even further.

Practical innovation is part of TOP’s mission. In Helmond, kitchen-scale recipes can be easily translated into production-scale because of the direct access to a production facility. This is often a challenge for food companies, as they do not have the equipment to scale up, resulting in a slow down of the innovation process. Wouter de Heij CEO of TOP: “Many SMEs only have facilities to develop what they already produce, thereby limiting themselves to line extension. With our facilities in Helmond we make it possible for companies to innovate outside their current range.” The production facility is set up to offer flexibility, with the technologies and machinery of TOP and its partners. Visit: www.top-bv.nl