Continued global expansion Cooper Stanard Automotive

in steel, aluminium, stainless steel or other metals as determined by the customer, HAVD Group’s machine shop is an important ingredient in its success with custombuilt prototype construction.

HAVD Group has an interior décor workshop in Gothenburg as well as a large production facility in Hungary, with over 100 employees across both sites. Mr Hedenberg continued, “At our interior décor workshop we specialise in linings for the automotive, rail and marine markets. Our products include upholstery, door panels, steering wheels, hand brakes, gear lever gaiters, cushions and other interior details for buses, trucks and cars. In fact, for simplicity, you can say that we do the industrial hand sewing for anything you find inside a vehicle.”

Environmental responsibility is also a key element in HAVD Group’s operation. Mr Hedenberg identifies ‘excellence, continuous development and environmental sustainability’ as the company’s most important tools to achieve quality of product and service and its use of measurable parameters across the business helps to maintain these high standards. He added,

molded polyurethane

“The Group’s shared focus is to protect the environment. In terms of product development, we leverage our expertise to the make the total environmental impact as small as possible. So during transport we work to reduce the environmental impact by using full loads yet keeping weights low and for waste management and purchasing we work with partners that are also committed to a responsible environmental programme. We have a strict environmental policy that goes beyond all of the applicable laws and regulatory requirements.”

With a focus on sustainable development both in terms of product portfolio and geographical growth, HAVD Group’s future looks positive. A company where new ideas are highly valued, it is open to introducing new products and services that complement its offer. Mr Hedenberg concluded, “We offer the customer excellence in our areas of expertise. As a leader in developing, manufacturing and supplying interior parts and trimmings to the vehicle industry worldwide, HAVD Group is committed to maintaining our strong position and expanding our global footprint in a responsible, ethical manner.” n

CONTINUED GLOBAL EXPANSION

Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. is a leading automotive supplier with a clear focus on ecological and technological improvement. With new investments, acquisitions and partnerships in Asia the company is set to increase its presence still further in this lucrative market.

Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. has a real global reach, with more than 70 locations in 19 countries, and offers solutions in the body sealing, fuel, brake and emissions, thermal management and anti-vibration segments of the industry. Its sales continue to look healthy: for the second quarter of 2014, the company reported revenue of $857.6 million, up 9.3 per cent from $784.7 million of for the second quarter of 2014.

The company’s range of products includes fuel and brake delivery systems and emission management technologies, complete heating and cooling management components and systems for hybrids, electric vehicles and internal combustion engines and power trains, body sealing solutions to keep noise, dust and water away from vehicle occupants, as well as a complete range of anti-vibration control products.

The group, established in 1960 and headquartered in Novi, Michigan (USA) has been growing through a series of acquisitions and organic growth and operates with a mission of ‘providing outstanding service, support and innovative solutions to our customers, benefiting all stakeholders of Cooper Standard’.

Expanding east

Cooper Standard Automotive has long recognised that the Asia Pacific region offers the greatest growth opportunities for automotive production through to 2020. As such, it continues to bolster its strong presence there. In this regard, the year 2014 has been a particularly busy one for the company: in September, for example, it announced its agreement to purchase an additional 47.5 per cent of Huayu-Cooper Standard Sealing Systems Co. – an existing joint venture with the company Huayu Automotive Systems Co. With this, Cooper Standard will be the 95 per cent equity owner of the business and will own nine manufacturing facilities and two technical centres in China. This single move will make it the clear leader in the Chinese automotive sealing market so it represents a significant milestone.

But this is not all: in July this year Cooper Standard held the grand opening event for its new Asia Pacific Technical Centre in Shanghai, China. At this time the company’s Asia Pacific headquarters were also relocated from Kunshan, China to the new Shanghai facility. This Technical Centre covers 762 square metres and has 55 employees. From this location, the company will provide local technical support with engineering and design capabilities to the entire Asia Pacific region customer base.

As part of its continued eastward expansion, Cooper Standard has also been making inroads into the Japanese market. In July this year it announced the establishment of a joint venture with the Japanese INOAC Corp. in order to further increase the reach of its fluid transfer systems products in the Asia Pacific automotive market. It is expected that the partnership with this leading auto parts supplier will offer the best opportunity for Cooper Standard to successfully enter the Japanese market.

European leader

In Europe the company supplies all the major OEMs in the automotive sector and in each country is focused on fulfilling the needs of its local market. Germany hosts three of the company’s sites, one in Landau and two in Mannheim. In Germany the company is specialised in manufacturing sealing parts for leading German automotive manufacturers. Here it operates with a high level of integration with the group. In fact, in Germany there is a common management team which can avail itself of the support and the solid foundations of the global company. The company occupies a market leading position in Germany in terms of sealing products for European OEMs, thanks its wide portfolio offer.

Operational excellence and innovation

Cooper Standard’s focus on operational excellence is accompanied by a real culture of innovation. Tangible proof of this commitment can be found in the awards it holds, which include PACE, Society of Plastic Engineers, Global Six Sigma Award Best Achievement of Design and Six Sigma, as well as by the over 500 patents obtained worldwide.

While in the past the company had a focus on supplying the actual sealing, in the last few years Standard Cooper has increasingly widened its offer to include complete sealing systems fulfilling customers’ demands, with the advantage that now clients only have to deal with one supplier for the whole system. In fact, in recent times its strategy has been to widen its product portfolio, alongside the improvement of its existing offer.

Greener solutions

Community and employee involvement are part of the life of the group, alongside green initiatives, which for the last few years have been of increasing importance. Continuous research efforts are channelled into improving a vehicle’s overall carbon footprint. Alongside this, Cooper Standard is continuously working to enhance its manufacturing processes, thus reducing its own company emissions and increasing recyclability.

The R&D department at the Mannheim site is focused on research aimed at improving products and processes at the environmental level. Products comply with E05/E06 regulations with regard to cleaner emissions, and this is an area of development which has been growing in recent years.

Future focus

A recent strategic divestment will allow Cooper Standard Holding Inc. to focus more on its leading product lines. In June