Rochling Puts Plant into Operation in Czech Republic

The Rochling Group has officially started operations at its new Czech production facility in Koprivnice. Compression-molded and shaped parts are made from plastic for the automobile industry at the new location in the east of the Czech Republic. The plant belongs to Rцchling Automotive’s Europe Central region, which is managed from Worms, Germany.

“The foundation of Rochling Automotive Koprivnice s.r.o. means that the Rochling Group is now represented in the automotive plastics segment in Central and Eastern Europe. In doing this we are following our customers. Many international automobile manufacturers have transferred parts of their production to this region,” said Georg Duffner, President and CEO of the Rochling Group. Since 1995 automobile manufacturers are reported to have invested around EUR 24 billion in the region, mainly in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania.

“From the Koprivnice facility we aim not only to supply automobile manufacturers and automotive suppliers in Western Europe but also and most importantly to gain the assembly plants of Western and Asian carmakers in Central and Eastern Europe as new customers,” said Ulrich MauЯ, a member of the Management Board of Rochling Automotive, explaining the Rцchling Group’s investment in the Czech Republic.

After a construction period of eight months in which EUR 6.5 million was invested, Rochling Automotive Koprivnice has already commenced production of its first injection-molded and compression-molded parts for Ford, including plastic partitions for interiors and under the hood.

The company currently has 64 employees at its Czech location. “We expect to double this figure in one or two years, thereby having created 120 jobs,” MauЯ said. The first employees underwent training at the Rochling Automotive plant in Worms for the technologies that were to be used in Koprivnice. In-house training is now provided on location in the Czech Republic.