German plastics processor Rehau (Rehau; www.rehau.de) has expanded its activities significantly this year and completed numerous projects and new facilities (see also Plasteurope.com of 29.09.2015). Most recently the company, which is active in the construction, automotive and industrial segments, officially inaugurated two site expansions. In addition to a logistics hub at its plant in Feuchtwangen / Germany, Rehau also invested in a new automotive technical centre at its site in Cullman, Alabama / USA. The latter follows an expansion of the site in April 2014 as well as the launch of construction works on an R&D centre in the immediate vicinity.

The German group said the expansions are not just important to its own operations, but also constitute significant investments in the relevant regions, underlying its role as one of the leading local employers. The need for a new logistics centre in Germany arose because the capacities at what is the company’s largest site no longer sufficed. Rehau assembles complex bumper systems for a range of leading automotive producers.

The technical hub in Alabama marks the completion of several stages of expansion at the US site. The 1,000 m² hub constitutes the first automotive technical centre run by Rehau in North America. The group invested about USD 3m in the centre, which will tackle technical issues related to assembly and R&D. "The centre allows us to drive both product and process development at the same time. Automotive producers in the south-eastern United States will be able to access our entire know-how and evaluate and approve the research results," said Holm Riepenhausen, a managing board member of Rehau’s Automotive business.