PPC INSULATORS ANNOUNCES EURO SIX MILLION INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN DIVISION
02 December 2003
PPC INSULATORS ANNOUNCES EURO SIX MILLION INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN DIVISION
Vienna Austria – (August 20th, 2003) – PPC Insulators, one of the largest manufacturers of porcelain insulators in the world, has confirmed plans for a Euro 6 million investment in its European PPC Group. The investment, which will be directed primarily to two facilities in Slovakia and Austria, will increase the Company’s isostatic production capabilities by 40% over the next 8 months.
In making this commitment, PPC Insulators is underscoring the customer benefits of the isostatic production process for some applications. The isostatic process provides technical advantages, light weight and insulators that are tailored for electrical power installations, it also offers up to six weeks reduction in process cycle times relative to the traditional process. These shorter production cycle times and technical advantages afford our customers faster delivery with shorter lead times and savings throughout the supply chain, especially with the costs associated with assembly and inventory. It also enables PPC Insulators to automate the process with smaller batch sizes working to Just In Time.
A major part of the investment, which is self funded, will be directed toward the PPC Insulators’ plant in Frauenthal, Austria, where it will more than double the facility’s existing isostatic capacity and will increase its product capacity for manufacturing hollow insulators that measure 2.8m meters high and 0.65m in diameter in one piece. In addition, the investment will fund the implementation of a state-of-the-art turning capacity and mechanical handling.
A further significant part of the investment program will be made into PPC Insulators’ plant near Nitra Slovakia, where it will increase its existing isostatic capacity and improve the plant’s product range to now include Isostatically produced hollows.
The remaining portion of the Euro6 million investment will be directed toward PPC Insulators’ patent-pending technological initiatives on the “traditional process”, which is the result of an intense three-year research program undertaken by the Company to improve process repeatability.
Vic Maundrell the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPC Insulator Group said “We are delighted to confirm the further investments in the Company’s operations to increase our global market position and reinforce PPC Insulators as a world leader.
At the same time as we are increasing our capabilities in the isostatic process, we also continue to develop our core operations in the so-called “traditional” manufacturing process, which represents 50% of our sales. The Company’s Sonneberg facility in Germany remains the technical and industry leader of this process and through their own innovation, investment and hard work it has become a world-class plant.
We are also expanding globally and in the second quarter of 2002, the Company invested in a joint venture in China to assemble transmission insulators for the Chinese market. This JV is growing beyond our investment plan and has established itself as a vital part of the group.”
Maundrell added. “Looking ahead, we see 2003/4 as a particularly opportune time for expansion and growth for PPC Insulators with the current market conditions. This year, we will continue our focus on Six Sigma processing, are taking significant actions to position the Company for future growth and will increase our investment level”
