SaarGummi, Tokai Kogyo seal technical link-up

Wadern-Büschfeld, Germany – SaarGummi Group is expanding its co-operation with Japanese sealing systems supplier Tokai Kogyo Co Ltd, the companies have announced.

In July, the rubber processors signed a “wide-reaching” technical agreement, building on a relationship started in 2018, said a 1 Sept statement from the German partner.

The technical agreement is expected to strengthen both companies’ global technical and operational capabilities and generate synergies between them.

The joint product-portfolio of Tokai Kogyo and SaarGummi includes complex door seals, trunk seals and roof moulding as well as glass run channels.

The Aichi-based company manufactures at locations in Japan, the US, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico and India, while  SaarGummi hass plants in Europe, China, Russia, the US and Mexico.

Tokai Kogyo customers include Japanese car manufacturers, such as Toyota, Honda, Suzuki, Nissan and Daihatsu. It currently has around 5,800 employees, while SaarGummi employs around 7,000 people worldwide.

“The agreement gives both organizations strategic global expansion possibilities; both partners being present in all key automotive markets,” continued SaarGummi. 

The new alliance ‘will create technical synergies and enhance both companies’ global market presence by mutual cooperation,’ said Yuichi Kimura, CEO of Tokai Kogyo.

For SaarGummi, CEO Larry Johnson said: “Tokai Kogyo is a perfect matching partner for our company because of their existing business in Asia Pacific region. 

“We are sure that the technical agreement will help us to establish the SaarGummi Automotive innovations on the increasing Japanese automotive market.”

A particular focus of the cooperation is on the exchange of technology between the Japanese and German-based company.

"Topics such as weight-reduction in the production of sealing systems are currently the focus of attention everywhere…,” David Lettin, MD of SaarGummi Technologies Int. GmbH: 

Both partners have strong reputations in the production of TPE profiles, added Lettin, noting that ‘complex sealing system’ manufacture “also offers high potential for technology-exchange.”