QUADRANT CMS’ STRATEGY TO FOLLOW CUSTOMERS TO CENTRAL EUROPE REAPS REWARDS

TIELT, BELGIUM – August 24, 2006 – Quadrant CMS views the strategy of following its customers, who shift their manufacturing operations to central and eastern European countries, as essential to the company consolidating its position as a leading manufacturer of plastics components and securing growth.

Building on the success of its initial moulding operation established in Hungary in 2004, Quadrant Creative Moulding & Systems (CMS) has quickly seen the need to expand its facility in the region and has recently moved into a brand-new, purpose-built plant in Szigetszentmiklos, south-west of Budapest, now also equipped with three-component moulding machinery. A specific example of this success can be seen in Quadrant CMS’ relationship with Bosch Power Tools and its nearby assembling plant in Miskolc, north-eastern Hungary.

The original relationship between Quadrant CMS and Bosch stretches back 30 years, with Skil, an American power tool company with a European production facility in Breda (the Netherlands), being supplied with plastic parts from Quadrant CMS’ facilities in Tielt (Belgium). 1996 saw the acquisition of Skil by Bosch and the integration of the Skil brand to complement its range of power tools for DIY enthusiasts and professionals.

It was as Bosch decided to install its largest power tool assembly plant in Miskolc in 2004, and to simultaneously transfer all production of the Skil range of tools from Breda, that Quadrant CMS first established its moulding operations near to the centre of Budapest.

Initially located in smaller premises, Quadrant CMS has now moved to a larger purpose-built plant, opened in January 2006, at the Leshegy Ipari Park Industrial Site in Szigetszentmiklos. The brand new building provides further options for expansion. The facility contains injection moulding machines equipped with robots, amongst them machinery for two- and three-component moulding as well as secondary operations. The plant currently employs some 30 people.

Quadrant CMS views its new moulding facility and organization in Hungary as complementary to its larger and fully-automated plant in Belgium. Whilst Bosch remains an important customer for the Hungarian plant, Quadrant CMS in Szigetszentmiklos also serves tier-one automotive customers with either new moulds developed for new applications, or relocated moulds from its Belgium plant, again following location shifts in automotive production from western Europe to central and eastern regions.

Commenting on the company’s decision to expand its operations in the country, Fernand Vandaele, President at Quadrant CMS said: “Developments in Hungary are true to our policy of following the customer, enabling us to provide local technical and logistical support and thus enhancing relationships with our customers.”

A policy which is already reaping rewards as far as business with Bosch is concerned. The new Quadrant CMS moulding plant now produces components for both the green-cased products for DIY enthusiasts, as well as those produced under the Skil brand.

Consisting primarily of the housings for drills, saws and sanders, other moulded-parts produced by Quadrant CMS for Bosch products include trigger- and sliding-switches, fans and auxiliary handles. Some parts, such as the housings for drills in the Bosch range, are produced as complex two- or three-component mouldings, an area where Quadrant CMS has shown a technical lead in close cooperation with Bosch.

Such technical expertise has been recognized by Bosch, with Quadrant CMS receiving enhanced supplier status to that of one providing “Simultaneous Engineering” or “S.E.” This is a term applied by Bosch to its suppliers capable of reducing the total cost-of-ownership for the parts they produce through ongoing and proactive enhancements to the design, resulting in optimal overall production cost of the final product. The ability to provide the corresponding logistical support, with JIT and Kanban logistics, and a commitment to quality control are further criteria for Bosch when selecting their suppliers.

“We strongly welcome the courage shown by Quadrant CMS management in setting up its operations in relative close proximity of our new plant in Miskolc. In the aftermath of our own relocation, it was essential to have a local supplier who we could trust on the basis of previous cooperation in western Europe, and who was familiar with a lot of the aspects of power tool production, including co-development,” is how Joachim Jörg Heldt, Director Purchasing of Bosch Power Tools in Miskolc, views the Quadrant CMS’ “follow-the-customer” policy. “Having a local supplier who enhances our own logistics performance, is open for new trends in development, and operates within the spirit of being a stable and reliable partner is an important asset for our activities in central Europe,” he concludes.

Reader enquiries

Quadrant CMS
Galgenveldstraat 10
8700 Tielt
Belgium
+32 51 423 211
info.quadrantcms@​qplas.com
www.quadrantcms.com

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Notes for editors

Quadrant Creative Moulding & Systems (CMS) is a fully integrated manufacturer of plastics components and sub-assemblies. The Quadrant Group is a global leader in high-performance polymer material solutions in the form of semi-finished and finished products. These specialty engineering thermoplastics and composites are superior in performance over metals and other materials, and are used in a growing number of applications developed with leaders in a wide range of industries. Learn more about Quadrant CMS at http://www.quadrantcms.com

The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering," the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centres in over 140 countries. Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com

If a Reader Service Number is used with this item, please send inquiries to:

Quadrant CMS

Leslie Adyns

Galgenveldstraat 10 - 8700 Tielt – Belgium

Phone: +32 51 423 201

Fax: +32 51 423 350