Continuing to meet the growth of the European market, Milacron has announced major expansion plans for the Uniloy, DME and Tirad product brands. The company will be investing in multiple, state of the art, highly efficient manufacturing and distribution facilities in Šašovice and Policka, Czech Republic. These facilities will act as the key locations for these product brands offering high speed deliveries and support to customers all across Europe. “We knew that expansion and investment in Europe was required in order to support our growing customer base. The facilities in Czech allow us to offer more support, more flexibility and more product inventory, all at faster delivery times - services that we feel are critical in this market”, said the COO John J. Gallagher.
The expansions in Šašovice, all opening in April of this year, include both a 1,000 square meter expansion to the current Tirad facility plus a brand new 3,000 square meter distribution center. The investment totals more than 5 million euros. The capacity increase provides major fire power to both DME and Tirad, optimizing service levels and furthering the focus on Tirad’s high precision, non-standard mold bases. In addition to the above, new construction is also taking place in Policka, creating another home for the Uniloy blow molding machine systems. “The new facility in Policka, not only provides us with the flexibility and room to manufacture our complete range of blow molding machinery technologies, it also represents a major step forward in our plans to become a global supplier of blow molding machinery systems. As it is, we tend to be regionally oriented in our approach to the market and are not taking full advantage of the technologies, foot print and best practices of Milacron", stated the COO Ron Krisanda. Krisanda describes the new Policka plant as a world class facility in the blow molding industry. The sparkling new facility will feature over 11,000 square meters allowing for future expansion. The new “Lean Manufacturing” facility represents an investment of over 11 million euros.
The focus on coordinating European expansions and manufacturing changes supports the overall Milacron growth strategy in Europe, solidifying and ensuring service levels across the region. These expansions are powerful statements about Milacron’s ongoing commitment to being a leader in blow molding machinery and mould technologies.