NEWS
Plastic Omnium cuts costs as revenues slide
Automotive supplier Plastic Omnium has announced its third-quarter results, which saw its revenues fall by 14.4% to €2.097bn. Global automotive production saw a 19.5% decline, however. The company said that it took strong cost reduction measures, reducing the impact of production stoppages linked to semiconductor shortages, and focused its efforts on cash generation. The group said: “Along- side the impact of the semiconductor shortage in the automotive industry and the strong rebound in global demand following the pandemic, supply disruptions and depletion of inventories have driven up raw material prices and transportation costs world- wide. This inflationary environment, coupled with a lack of visibility on future production, has led the
Above: Laurent Favre, CEO of Plastic Omnium, says the group’s operations are now more flexible
group to reinforce cost reduction measures and actively negotiate with its suppliers to mitigate the rising costs.” For the first nine months
of 2021, however, revenue was up 13.4% versus a 9.7% increase in global automo- tive production, and the company saw growth in all areas. In Europe, this was driven by a successful first
half, a large number of production starts in Q3 and positive momentum in electric vehicles, while in China and the rest of Asia, it was boosted by a strong economic recovery from Covid and being less impacted than some other groups by semiconductor shortages. Laurent Favre, CEO of Plastic Omnium, said: “Our teams are doing a remark- able job of increasing the flexibility of our production facilities and adapting our operations. As of now, IHS foresees some recovery [in the global automotive market] in H2 2022 and we will be ready for it, support- ed by a solid backlog.” The company also expects to achieve growth in hydrogen storage systems following some “significant break- throughs in the commercial pipeline”. �
www.plasticomnium.com
Raumedic to expand in NC USA
German medical technol- ogy company Raumedic will expand the clean- room manufacturing facilities at its US head- quarters in Mills River, North Carolina by February 2022. This will be used for new product lines. The existing 1,200 m2
ISO Class 7 cleanroom facilities in the Asheville area, which were built in 2016, are now full. “The advanced equipment and process- es that will go into the new space will help us to remain ahead of the curve,” stated Martin Bayer, CEO. “With automated assembly cells and robotically augment- ed moulding presses, we are able to produce high-quality medical technology solutions in the mainland US and remain competitive.” �
www.raumedic.com
Simba Dickie orders 12 KraussMaffei machines
Toy manufacturer Simba Dickie Group has recently ordered 12 new injection moulding machines from KraussMaffei, which supplies 95% of the machinery it uses. These included the hydraulic CX, GX and MX series and all-electric PX series, in the clamping force range from 500-16,000 kN. Seven will go to the BIG plant in Burghaslach, Germany, and five to the Smoby Toys location in France. Best known for the red Bobby-Car racer and the AquaPlay waterplay system, Simba Dickie has eight production sites. According to KraussMaffei, Michael Raum, head of production at Simba Dickie, values most of all the modular design of the KraussMaffei machines, plus the MC6 control system, and training and application expertise of the machinery supplier. �
www.kraussmaffei.com
Left: Bobby-Car production at Simba Dickie’s facility in Burghaslach, Germany 6 INJECTION WORLD | November/December 2021
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: PLASTIC OMNIUM
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