Hutchinson in global expansion mode

Paris – French rubber parts manufacturer Hutchinson SA is expanding its world-wide manufacturing set-up, which includes 95 industrial sites - including 60 in Europe, 19 in North America and 10 in Asia -  and 28 technical centres around the world

A current focus is on Poland, the group’s second largest country of manufacturing, with around 7,000 employees and five plants – two in Lodz for body sealing systems and aerospace and industrial products; two in Zywiec both for fluid transfer systems and one in Bielsko Biala for fluid transfer systems.

According to Maigné, the company has recently expanded its operations in Lodz and in Zywiec, under a group programme that has included the introduction of mixing facilities to Poland.

In the Czech Republic, Hutchinson is expanding its 600-employee fluid transfer operation in Rokycany – its first ever plant in eastern Europe – with the addition of a new workshop at the location near Prague.

Elsewhere in the region, Hutchinson manufactures automotive and aerospace parts in Brasov Romania, including a recently started air duct workshop for Airbus in Brasov.

The group has also a presence in Serbia where, said Maigné, it has opened a new plant for automotive fluid transfer parts and systems this year at Ruma, north of Belgrade.

Further afield, Hutchinson is also increasing its footprint in North America with the recent acquisition of Danielson, Connecticut-based Delta Rubber Co. – a 65-employee maker of precision rubber components for the automotive, energy and industrial markets – and the opening of a new plant for Airbus in Mobile, Alabama.

In Asia, meanwhile, Hutchinson operates four plants in China, two of them quite new: in Shenyang to serve BMW and Chonqing to serve Ford and Changan. The French group also operates a plant in Suzhou for AVS and seals, and one in Wuhan for hoses and weatherstrips.

In Korea, Hutchinson makes a range of automotive and non-automotive parts: operating a plant in Eumseong south east of Seoul and another near the border with North Korea. The latter facility, said Maigné, is now being relocated to Hutchinson’s Hung Yen plant close to Hanoi in Vietnam.

Dedicated to making fluid transfer systems for the automotive market, the Vietnamese unit offers Hutchinson a low-cost base and already works with the Korean operation, Maigné explained.

in Japan, the company has a sales and technical office in Tokyo, though Maigné said Hutchinson plans to establish an R&D centre there to help Hutchinson become “more aggressive” in the Japanese market.