German rubber and plastics technology specialist ContiTech (Hanover; www.contitech.de) recently held groundbreaking ceremonies for the expansion of its Dolné Vestenice site in Slovakia. The new hall will serve the company's vibration control business activities by increasing the existing production area by roughly 4,000 m².

As part of the overall ceremony, the company also opened its new research and development centre. The company says total investment in these various projects is about EUR 7.5m. The expansion allows the company to keep production in the country at a single site yet still have capacity to add additional business. With the R&D centre as well as the testing and inspection facilities, the company plans to double its development team to 25 engineers by 2015. ContiTech has been active in Slovakia since 1996 and has a workforce of 300 at the Dolné Vestenice location.

To be closer to key global automakers in Asia, ContiTech recently has also opened a new research and development centre in Changshu / China (see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2013).