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June 19, 2019 12:06 PM

French molder AdduXi builds up its US base

Audrey LaForest
Plastics News Staff
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    Audrey LaForest

    From left, Alain Palisse, founder and CEO of AdduXi Group in Bellignat, France; and Xavier Ovize, CEO of AdduXi Inc. in Rochester Hills, Mich.

    Rochester Hills, Mich. — French injection molder AdduXi Inc. is growing in the United States with a larger manufacturing facility, solid business from the automotive sector and strategic relationships with French companies.

    Earlier this year, the precision molder and Tier 2 supplier relocated from a 27,000-square-foot facility in Rochester Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb, to a 64,000-square-foot facility that houses sales, development and production operations. The new facility is also in Rochester Hills.

    AdduXi held an open house April 26 to celebrate the larger plant, where it manufactures various tight-tolerance auto parts such as park-assist sensors and connectors. Many of the parts have electronics molded in via insert molding.

    "The parts that we make have a common denominator, which is that all of them are presenting some sort of complexity," Xavier Ovize, CEO of the U.S. subsidiary, told Plastics News during an April 25 visit to the new facility.

    "The trend for us is clearly that, above and beyond just the plastic injection, we incorporate a number of surrounding functions or quality checks that participate in the complexity," he added. "It's not just about pushing plastic in an injection press anymore."

    In the U.S., the company is strictly focused on the automotive sector. AdduXi's customers include large Tier 1 suppliers such as German firms Bosch Group and Continental AG.

    When asked about potential impacts from headwinds such as a global slowdown in auto, Ovize said — "against all odds" — he's not nervous.

    "First of all, because we've got very strong customers that tend to take the weather pretty well," he explained. "Secondly, the functions and the parts and the applications that we are participating in are very trendy, so even in a plateauing economy or even with a light collapse, we should still be very sustainable and still grow."

    Ovize said the company doubled its investment in machinery and equipment in recent years and needed more space. The larger building enables more growth in terms of square footage and also provides space for future opportunities, he said.

    "It's a two-step process," Ovize said. "First of all, we need short term to have a bigger facility. And then, we know that more is coming, so of course we need room for further growth."

    He declined to provide a total employee count for the facility, but he said AdduXi is "actively recruiting" and getting to 50 employees.

    Ovize said he is projecting a sales growth of at least 20 percent "in the coming foreseeable future per year" in North America.

    Alain Palisse, founder and CEO of AdduXi Group in Bellignat, France, estimated the company has invested more than $10 million in North America since 2014, the year it opened its first factory in the U.S.

    On choosing a location for AdduXi's U.S. operation, Palisse described Michigan as the "temple of automotive."

    "We're in Oakland County, where we have a lot of possibilities, of prospects, because you have more than 500 companies dedicated to the automotive sector here," he said.

    The larger Rochester Hills facility, which has about 75 percent of its space dedicated to manufacturing, illustrates the growth of the company in the U.S., he said.

    "We're really proud of it because industry is sometimes a question of patience," Palisse added.

    In addition to France and the U.S., AdduXi has a presence in China, Spain, Germany and Switzerland. The group has around 360 employees. Palisse said global sales in 2018 were about $70 million.

     

    French partners

    AdduXi solely uses injection molding machines from French machinery maker Billion SAS, with clamping forces ranging from 50-300 metric tons at the Rochester Hills facility.

    "We have a strong partnership with them over … in Europe and here as well," Ovize said.

    In France, AdduXi and Billion are neighbors. Both are headquartered in Bellignat's Oyonnax region, known for its plastics industry.

    Billion is also part of the French Corner, an initiative founded by AdduXi's Palisse and Ovize with the goal of helping other French companies tap into the U.S. market and establish a presence here.

    "We've attracted a number of companies — hosting them, counseling them in a friendly way," Ovize said. "This is not a business model for us. This is truly something we want to do to help and to have this community effect of people helping each other grow."

    A portion of AdduXi's Rochester Hills facility is being used by some of those companies, one of which is Exsto SAS, an injection molder of compact polyurethane elastomers and other thermoplastic products for the auto industry, among other markets.

    In 2013, the company opened its U.S. subsidiary in Ann Arbor, Mich., and started working with AdduXi a few years later to start production operations here. Exsto is currently molding parts on a Billion injection press at AdduXi's Rochester Hills plant and subcontracting its mold manufacturing to French Canadian mold maker Optimoule Inc.

    "Since then, obviously, we've been much more competitive," Nicolas Muller, head of Exsto's North American business operation, said during an interview at AdduXi's Rochester Hills plant.

    Muller said the company plans to run a second machine full time next year and expects sales to double by 2020.

    "It's definitely more than just a supplier-customer relation here. It's almost friendship," Muller said.

    Billion President and CEO Korbinian Kiesl said companies like AdduXi — family-owned, midsize businesses that can be flexible and more reactive to the market than large corporations — keep the world turning.

    "It's a combination of connections and, in the end, it's to provide a high level of quality and service to the industry," Kiesl said during an interview at AdduXi. "I think that's the major goal."

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