GE Advanced Materials

GE - Plastics Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands Backgrounder

• GE - Plastics (www.geadvancedmaterials.com) is a world leader in providing high-tech materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics and technology platforms, widely used in automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, transportation, performance packaging, building & construction, telecommunications, and optical media applications. The company manufactures and compounds polycarbonate, ABS, SAN, ASA, PPE, PC/ABS, PBT and PEI resins, as well as the LNP* line of high-performance specialty compounds. GE - Plastics, Specialty Film & Sheet manufactures high-performance Lexan* sheet and film products used in thousands of demanding applications worldwide. In addition, GE - Plastics’ dedicated Automotive organization is an experienced, world-wide competitor, offering leading plastics solutions for five key automotive segments: body panels and glazing; under the hood applications; component; structures and interiors; and lighting.

• GE – Plastics is headquartered in the United States in Pittsfield, Mass., with European Headquarters in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands.

• GE – Plastics’ Bergen op Zoom facility was opened in 1971 as a compounding facility for the company’s Noryl* resin product line. Through the 1970s, GE added a Lexan polycarbonate (PC) facility, silicone production, and sheet manufacturing capabilities.

• During the 1980s, GE’s Bergen op Zoom site grew to include polyphenylene oxide (PPO) production, a flexible resin compounding plant, a logistics centre, and a full-service application development centre. Since then, the Bergen op Zoom facility has become a key part of GE’s global operations, serving a worldwide customer base.

• GE’s Bergen op Zoom facility won the Global Star Award in 2004 for its Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) management systems. The award reviews efforts in 21 different safety areas that must meet strict guidelines before a site is audited, certified, and given the Global Star Award. The facility’s manufacturing operation is one of five European GE – Plastics sites that has received the Global Star Award. The operation’s headquarters is now undergoing Global Star Award review, representing the first non-manufacturing arm of GE – Plastics to be considered for this certification.

• The GE Bergen op Zoom facility now spans 200 hectares and offers a broad range of materials solutions and customer services. Engineering plastics manufactured at the site include: Lexan resin and sheet, Noryl resin, Noryl GTX resin, Xenoy* resin, Xylex* resin, Cycoloy* resin, Valox* resin, a full range of silicone materials, and Azdel* thermoplastic composite. Services include the Customer Innovation Centre, Global Application Technology Centre, and ColorXpress* Services.

The Bergen op Zoom Customer Innovation Centre

• The Bergen op Zoom Customer Innovation Centre provides colour and special effects expertise and services across GE – Plastics entire product spectrum and celebrated its five-year anniversary in April of 2005. It is one of three such global centres operated by GE - Plastics; the other two are located in Shanghai, China, and Selkirk, N.Y.

• The Bergen op Zoom Customer Innovation Centre is a global hub for GE’s Visualfx resin portfolio, which can be customized with a host of special effects and colour variations. Visualfx resins offer a broad range of dynamic colour variants, loadings and derivatives, and 36 special effects.

• The Customer Innovation Centre also hosts GE ColorXpress services, which provide customers a library of more than 33,000 standard resin colours and fast colour-matching services.

• Product and customer service offerings at the Customer Innovation Centre can be utilized using user-friendly online tools for Web-based ordering, and the opportunity for customers to visit and utilize the facility’s expanding services.

The Bergen op Zoom Custom Xpress Service Line

• GE - Plastics’ Bergen op Zoom facility also operates a new Custom Xpress Service Line, which is a new customer-directed manufacturing system that can drastically compress the order-to-delivery time from 22 days to approximately six. The express service feature also ensures global colour consistency.

• GE - Plastics’ Custom Xpress Service is a unique concept that works by enabling customers to directly place an order on an extrusion line via the Web. The line automatically changes to produce each order, which is then shipped directly to the customer. This concept potentially offers significant cost benefits to the customer in terms of reduced inventories, reduced dependence on self-colouring processing equipment, increased yields, and a much quicker response on changing market demands.

Global Application Technology Centres

• The Global Application Technology Centre in Bergen op Zoom houses seven Centres of Excellence. These include a Fluid Engineering Centre of Excellence; a Cosmetic Packaging Centre; a Radio Frequency Filter Centre; a Vertical Automotive Body Panel Centre; a Horizontal Automotive Body Panel Centre; an Automotive Glazing Centre; and a Secondary Operations Centre.

• A virtual laboratory is also an integral part of the Bergen op Zoom Global Application Technology Centre and connects with GE’s application technology centres around the globe to share and translate knowledge worldwide. The laboratory offers two way audio and visual communications around the world where GE technologists and market experts conduct trials and develop customer solutions in real time.

• The mission of the Global Application Technology Centre is to support the growth of GE’s product portfolio though advanced application development and customer support.

• Recent investments in the Global Application Technology Centre have been made to upgrade 60 percent of the facilities equipment, as follows:

­

- Powder Coating Technology (2004)

­- Fluid Engineering Equipment (2004 and ongoing)

­- 3D Measurement Machine (2004)

­- Secondary Operations (ongoing)

­- Parts Performance (ongoing)

­- Processing Centre (2005)

• GE operates five other Global Application Technology centres. These are located in Southfield, Mich.; Pittsfield, Mass.; Shanghai, China; Moka, Japan; and Bangalore, India.

* Noryl, Lexan, Xenoy, Xylex, Cycoloy, Valox, ColorXpress, and Visualfx are trademarks of General Electric Company.

* Azdel is a trademark of AZDEL, Inc., a 50/50 joint venture of General Electric Company and PPG Industries.

Reader enquiries

GE Plastics

Plasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Netherlands

+31 164 29 20 97

Helen.vandebovenkamp@​ge.com

www.geplastics.com


Notes for editors

Editorial enquiries

Helen Vandebovenkamp
GE Plastics

+31 164 29 20 97

Helen.vandebovenkamp@​ge.com

Folke Markestein
Marketing Solutions NV

+31 164 317 038

fmarkestein@​marketingsolutions.be

 

Share

 

More news from