PLASTIC OMNIUM INAUGURATES AN AUTOMOTIVE DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN SLOVAKIA FOR GERMAN CARMAKERS

Plastic Omnium has opened a development center in Lozorno, Slovakia, for its exterior and structural components operations.

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With 1,300 sq.m. of office space and 300 sq.m. of laboratories, the center employs a team of 110 engineers and technicians from eight different countries and will eventually be able to accommodate up to 160 employees. The center houses the main support services for the industrial development of automotive projects: computer aided design (CAD), styling, industrial processes, quality control, sales and purchasing. It works closely with the Σ-Sigmatech international research & development center located on the outskirts of Lyon, in France, and technological cooperation agreements have also been signed with the universities of Bratislava and Košice in Slovakia and Zlín in the Czech Republic.

Close to €2 million have been invested in the construction of this engineering center, which is designed to optimize the performance of automotive projects by moving closer to the customer and to reduce development costs. The center will work primarily with German carmakers, the Group’s largest customers.

With this center, Plastic Omnium is deepening its commitment to working as closely as possible with customers to develop products that are innovative in their design, weight and safety features. The Group now has two automotive research centers in France, and 12 development centers in all of the major global car manufacturing regions (Germany, US, Japan, South Korea, Slovakia). A new research center for fuel tanks and systems is currently under construction in France, and a development center for exterior components is being built in China.