At a cost of some EUR 15m, injection moulder EMI Wissler (Hesingue / France; www.emi-wissler.com) is constructing a new plant in the French town of Saint-Louis near Basel, close to the Swiss and German borders. Construction work is scheduled for completion in December 2017, when the company headquarters and the current four smaller production plants in nearby Hesingue will all be brought together at the new location.

Managing partner Jean-Pierre Wissler and his wife Evelyne Wissler are expecting more efficient production overall from the move. Of the 32,000 m² site, a total of 17,000 m² will be occupied by buildings and open space, with some 15,000 m² of this dedicated to production and warehousing.

With around 100 employees, EMI Wissler produces plug connectors chiefly for photovoltaic applications, electronic housings, organic sheet parts overmoulded with thermoplastics for automotive engineering, plus a great deal more. It was just last December that the company installed a three-component injection moulding machine for this in its old main plant in Hesingue, together with a Class 8 clean room.

The company, which has its own mouldmaking department, achieved sales of EUR 23m in 2015, which rose to EUR 26m last year according to media reports. Around two thirds of this is achieved through exports. Profits have generally been around EUR 500,000 over the past few years.