NEWS
MOVINGON
Relocations and expansions across Europe
Gripple expands in Japan Bobcat invests in new equipment at Czech facility UK D -based wire fastening manufacturer Gripple has cemented its position as a global player with the opening of its latest office in Japan. Takahiro Makino has been appointed as managing director to oversee Gripple Japan leading the company’s expansion in the Japanese construction market. The move comes as Gripple eyes opportunities arising from the country hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympic Games in 2020. Takahiro, who joins the company following ten years at one of Japan’s largest suppliers to the construction industry, said: “There is huge potential for Gripple in my country and we’re opening the office at a very exciting time for Japan.” Visit: www.gripple.com
oosan Bobcat will be making a series of investments in new technology, machinery and processes at its Innovation Centre in Dobris, Czech Republic. Doosan Bobcat sees this R&D capability as vital to maintaining its competitive advantage in EMEA region, so these investments can be seen as a consolidation of this advantage. They will encompass all operations in the Innovation Centre, from rapid prototyping and prototype assembly to performance and durability testing. In the last 12 months, Doosan Bobcat has made several more important investments at its Innovation Centre, including: a CNC horizontal boring machine; a CNC five-axis milling machine and a dynamometer. The total cost of these investments was €1.41 million. Visit: www.doosanbobcat.com
WELTEC Group buys 2.2-MW biogas plant in North Germany BMW building car factory in Hungary
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ordmethan GmbH, a WELTEC BIOPOWER Group subsidiary, has taken over an insolvent biogas plant in Südergellersen, Lower Saxony. The Germanybased specialist in the development and operation of biomethane and biogas plants will completely modernise the technical and operational infrastructure of the 2.2-Megawatt plant. The project development work is currently under way. “Following a takeover negotiation process of about two years, we will speedily modernise the plant technology in order to ensure its going concern,” says Jens Albartus, director of WELTEC BIOPOWER and Nordmethan. The original plant had been set up in 2009 and expanded in 2014. The operator’s concept was based on the digestion of horse manure and sale of the digestate as fertiliser pellets. However, as the concept turned out to be technically difficult and economically unfeasible, the plant went bankrupt. Following the takeover by the WELTEC Group, the substrate input is now being adjusted, and the plant technology is being modernised. Visit: www.weltec-biopower.com
Sika increases presence in UAE with new Dubai factory
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ika has expanded its operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by investing in a new factory in Dubai. An existing production facility for concrete admixtures has been relocated to the new site and expanded. A state-of-the-art mortar facility and a reactor for producing polymers have
22 Industry Europe
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MW has announced it will be investing €1 billion in a new car factory in eastern Hungary – a move that could position the country as a focal point for high-end car manufacturing in the region. The new plant will be based near the city of Debrecen and will have a capacity of 150,000 per year, according to BMW. Already, around one-third of Hungary’s exports consist of car manufacturing. And BMW is not the first major carmaker to set up manufacturing in Hungary: Daimler and Audi both have plants in the country, and the latter has recently launched the serial production of electric engines at its Hungary plant. Visit: www.bmw.com
been installed and will form the basis for the production of high-performance concrete admixtures. In addition, the new facility will play a strategic role as a sales and distribution centre for the region. Sika has grouped together and greatly expanded its mortar and concrete admixtures production, warehouse capacity, and offices at the new location in Dubai Industrial
City. Material streams, logistics, and the cost structure will thus be optimised, and the course set for further growth. The local polymer production facility will help to significantly cut costs and make it possible to supply customers located in all states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with customised concrete admixtures. Visit: www.sika.com
