Icelandic packaging and automotive parts molder Promens hf has announced it will open a new plant near Magdeburg, Germany this year, replacing two outdated units in the country.
In a major restructuring move, Promens intends to integrate existing German blow molding operations at plants in Görzke and Winsen into the new state-of-the-art 9,000-square-meter Promens Theessen production facility. This plant is due to open this autumn, the group announced.
Work from another blow molding unit, the Unterrieden facility at Witzenhausen, will be switched to the firm's packaging plant at Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein.
Reykjavik, Iceland-based Promens confirmed that the consolidation plan is essential because the existing operations are currently in older buildings, with the oldest dating back to the 1890's. This has “considerably” restricted growth and “the ability to adapt production and logistics to modern standards,” it explained.
“The new facility ... is ideally suited for world-class capability in productivity and material flow,” said Dragan Stjepanovic, vice president of Promens chemical packaging division.
The group is in talks with the workforce and unions at the three old plants over a plan to transfer employees to its two newer sites. It is still unsure how many workers will relocate in the moves, according to Stjepanovic.
“This restructuring of our business in Germany will create a new base for our chemical packaging business as well as [following] our overall company strategy.
“The new Promens Theessen plant will allow us to grow our business, optimize internal logistics and further improve our standards, which in the end allows us to serve our customers even better than we do today,” said CEO Jakob Sigurdsson.
Promens Theesen is located on an industrial zone formerly occupied by a medical company offering space and infrastructure to allow the group to meet future demand for extra products and production volumes. The production hall has a medical clean-room standard opening the way for “new and exciting opportunities for Promens in the region, the group said.
Promens plans to add a new 10,000-square-meter warehouse on site next year to replace several rented storage facilities in the region.
