With the construction of a new production plant for thermal interface materials for environmentally friendly vehicles SEKISUI is expanding its business in Europe. The plant operations are planned to start in spring of 2020 – the construction was started with a ground-breaking ceremony on February 4th.
In Europe, many environmentally-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) are being developed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). It is predicted that the number of such vehicles produced in 2025 will increase to 12.5 million units, which is approximately 10 times the figure of 2017*. With this trend, the demand for heat countermeasures for the lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) used to supply power to such vehicles is rapidly increasing.
SEKISUI POLYMATECH’s thermal interface materials do not only offer high thermal conductivity, but also excellent abrasion resistance for dispensing equipment and low outgassing for the product itself. Therefore, they have been highly evaluated by OEMs and LiB manufacturers. And an increased adoption accompanying the expansion of the environmentally-friendly vehicle market is expected. Based on these facts SEKISUI decided to enhance its production capacity by constructing a new plant in Europe, a major supply destination. In addition to its two current production bases in Japan and Thailand, the newly established company SEKISUI POLYMATECH EUROPE B.V. will perform all operations including production, sales, development and marketing.
Representatives from Japan and Europe officially opened the construction start.
New company close to other SEKISUI companies in Roermond
As of the start of operations in 2020, 17 people are planned to work at the new company. This number includes employees for the departments Sales & Marketing, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Production and Administration & Account. The whole team will be located at Produktieweg 7 in Roermond, Netherlands – very close to SEKISUI S-LEC, SEKISUI ESLON and SEKiSUI SPR.
“As the thermal interface materials business for environmentally-friendly vehicles is expanding in Europe, making this step is essential for SEKISUI”, says Makoto Sambongi, Managing Director of SEKISUI POLYMATECH B.V. “By establishing the new company in Roermond, we can offer our products for consumer electronics and automotive fields in the European region and will also discover new development opportunities”.
The ground-breaking ceremony was held in a traditional Japanese way that is supposed to bring luck to the construction phase.
Ground-breaking ceremony in Roermond
On February 4th, the start of the plant’s construction was opened with a ground-breaking ceremony. The ceremony is a traditional Japanese ritual to set the project under a lucky star.
Picture gallery of the opening ceremony:
*According to the “Global Vehicle Production Forecast” by IHS Markit
