Automotive supplier Stankiewicz (Adelheidsdorf / Germany; www.stankiewicz.de) will continue to operate while in insolvency proceedings – see Plasteurope.com of 07.01.2009 and 08.12.2008. This is thanks to an agreement with its OEM customers Daimler and BMW negotiated by insolvency administrator Christopher Seagon. Insolvency proceedings were opened on 1 March 2009. Details of the arrangement are being kept under wraps. However, industry experts say that in such cases OEMs usually agree to continue ordering.

“The support of the OEMs is a clear signal that production at Stankiewicz is sustainable,” said Seagon. The administrator is currently working on a restructuring concept that he said would have to be closely aligned with to the poor economic state of automotive production altogether. Parallel to this, Seagon is talking to potential candidates to acquire the manufacturer of noise insulation systems for vehicle engines and interiors. Unconfirmed rumours suggest that competitor HP Pelzer (Witten / Germany; www.pelzer.de), also in financial difficulty, could be interested.

Job losses at Stankiewicz appears to be inevitable, in any case, although the administrator has not yet disclosed details of where these would be or the extent of the headcount reduction. The OEM supplier’s sales are down by 45%, so that a similar reduction in the workforce appears possible. Talks with employee representatives about redundancy plans already are in progress.