The "Performance Plastics" (PPL) business area of French building materials major Saint-Gobain (Paris; www.saint-gobain.com) has consolidated two "Isofluor" production operations into one new facility at its German location in Neuss. The new site, equipped with all the latest technology, allows Saint-Gobain to bring PTFE extrusion, melt extrusion, expansion and administration under one roof. The company says the new facility provides increased floor space and a layout designed to meet growth as well as current and future supply needs for customers around the world.

"Our new facility has allowed us to expand our service to include coating of long pipes, a cooled mixing room and storage for PTFE and an enhanced technical environment," said Thomas Rong, plant manager.

To avoid disruption in production and continue supplying customers, a phased relocation was implemented with the new Neuss facility beginning operations in June.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Isofluor (Neuss; www.isofluor.de) with 16 extruding lines process fluoroplastics into tubing and heat shrink tubing with a diameter range of 0.10-140 mm.

PPL is based in the US in Aurora, Ohio and employs 4,400 individuals at 45 manufacturing sites in 16 countries in North America and Asia. Saint-Gobain, with 193,000 employees in 64 countries, is recognised as one of the 100 largest industrial companies in the world with EUR 43.2 bn in sales.