NEWS
MOVINGON Airbus inaugurates test facility for propulsion systems of the future
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irbus Chief Technology Officer Grazia Vittadini and Airbus Defence and Space CEO Dirk Hoke have officially opened the E-Aircraft Systems House test facility at Airbus’s Taufkirchen/Ottobrunn site alongside Ilse Aigner, President of the Bavarian State Parliament. The test centre will provide a space to research technologies for alternative propulsion systems and energy sources – such as electric motors for unmanned aerial vehicles, hybrid propulsion systems and hydrogen for combustion or synthetic fuel use. The building, which allows complete systems to be integrated and tested, is the first test centre of its kind worldwide. Grazia Vittadini said: “The E-Aircraft Systems House represents a real competitive advantage for Airbus. With its 3,000 m2 test area, we now have the infrastructure to move the transition to emission-neutral flight forward at an even faster pace.” Visit: www.airbus.com
Stalatube’s new production facility in Lodz, Poland
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talatube Oy of Lahti, Finland, has invested a total of EUR 20 million in the past two years, of which EUR 7 million has been invested in a production facility in Poland. With the Polish subsidiary and new production lines, the company will improve its competitiveness and significantly reduce delivery times.
12 Industry Europe
Relocations and expansions across Europe
New European HQ for Elgi
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lgi Equipments, one of the world’s leading air-compressor manufacturers, with 2 million installations across 100 countries, has opened its new European headquarters in Belgium. Situated at Drève Richelle 167, 1410 Waterloo, Brussels, and spread over 400+ sq meters, the workplace will house over 20 people and feature training rooms and offices designed to build collaboration and foster innovation, in line with the ELGi values that form the backbone of our culture worldwide. Speaking at the inauguration Dr. Jairam Varadaraj, CEO, Elgi Equipments said “We have achieved significant success in the USA, the world’s second largest air compressor market, in a short span of 5 years. Europe is the third largest market worldwide and presents us with a huge opportunity.” Chris Ringlstetter, President, ELGi Europe said “Over the years ELGi has been establishing itself across Europe, with a strong focus on diesel
powered screw compressors (portables) and an expanding product portfolio of electric powered screw compressors (stationary). We will continue to evolve and grow our Pan-European presence substantially, while expanding our existing channel footprint.“ Visit: www.elgi.com
Solvay expands its aerospace thermoplastic composites capacity in the US
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olvay is expanding its thermoplastic composites capacity with a new production line at its U.S. facility in Anaheim, California, underscoring its commitment to meeting strong demand growth from aerospace customers for this high performance material and Solvay’s proprietary and unique technology. Solvay will have multiplied its qualified capacity by four since 2016 with the commissioning of this new tape line and upgrades to existing lines. The expansions aim to not only improve output, but also quality, consistency and industrial reliability. “This significant expansion in a short time, coupled with our unrelenting attention to Centrally located in Poland at the intersection of motorways, the Polish production unit serves as a manufacturing facility for more labor-intensive processed tube and profile products for the global market. With this investment, Stalatube seeks to strengthen its position in the end-user field of stainless steel tube and profile products, in particular closer to European end-user customers. Stalatube’s largest export country in Europe is
overall quality and productivity improvement, illustrates our engagement to serve our customers best. Their strong demand shows they value how our materials reduce manufacturing time and cost, helping to raise the build rate of aircraft,” said Augusto Di Donfrancesco, Member of Solvay’s Executive Committee Visit: www.solvay.com
Germany, within 300 kilometres of the Polish plant in Lodz. The facility consists of two product lines: one for tube components and the other for welded tubes and profiles. With further investments to be made by 2020, the plant will also start producing readymade welded structural solutions for selected end-user sectors. www.stalatube.com
