Hutchinson launches seventh components plant in Poland

Paris - French-owned automotive parts maker Hutchinson is set to launch full production at its seventh plant in Poland by the end of this year.

The group’s latest facility, constructed at Zawada, near Debica in south western Poland, will produce Hutchinson’s car body seal systems for customers including the PSA Group and Volvo Cars.

This 21,000m2 production and warehouse unit, constructed in just six months, is at the heart of the firm’s newest expansion project worth almost €37.5 million.

Inauguration of the facility on 19 July was symbolic as it was not immediately operating, though component-assembly was expected to begin within days, Piotr Gaska head of Hutchinson’s European body sealing system division said at the ceremony.

Gaska stressed that the unit was intended to ease production pressure on the company’s existing Polish sealing systems and transmission belts plant at ?ód?.

The Zawada plant will be equipped with three extrusion lines by the year-end and is set to employ an initial workforce of 240 by then. The employee total will increase eventually to 700, according to the company, part of the Total energy group.

Hutchinson Poland’s original plant was a 14,000m2 unit making fluid transmission fuel lines, established in the south central town of ?ywiecin 1997. A second plant to produce water pipes for vehicle cooling liquids and ventilation and heating systems opened there in 2000.

The first ?ód? facility was launched with an area of almost 18,000m2 in 2003, while Hutchinson went on to add a second unit of 20,000m2 there in 2007 making precision and aerial seals and antivibration systems.

A fifth production unit appeared at Bielsko-Bia?ain 2005 serving the air automotive conditioning and power steering systems segment. Hutchinson built its sixth unit in the country at ?ywiec last year to turn out rubber compound used by the other plants.

During the recent launch, Hutchinson group CEO Jacques Maigné pointed out that Poland is the group’s “number one” location in terms of production and employment. “In 2018, we plan to exceed the level of employment to over 10,000 employees in Poland,” he said.

Last year, the group, which has an international workforce of 45,000 in 25 countries around the world, reported annual sales of more than €4 billion.