PPG to invest US$17M to build aerospace application support centre in France

PPG has announced that it will invest US$17M to build an aerospace application support centre (ASC) in Toulouse, France. PPG anticipates breaking ground for the new facility Q3, 2022 and beginning operations in Q4, 2023. The facility will be strategically located near aerospace customers and the Toulouse Blagnac Airport. This will be the fifth PPG ASC in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and the second in France, in addition to the ASC in Gonfreville.

"The construction of a new ASC will allow us to better serve and collaborate with our aerospace customers in the region,” said Dirk Thelen, PPG General Manager, Aerospace, EMEA. "The new facility will enhance our ability to provide unparalleled responsiveness and customer support, leading to faster qualification of products and higher participation in new projects, earlier in the development cycle.”

Capabilities at the ASC will include a development and qualification laboratory for aerospace materials, a colour blending area for coatings, and a spray booth for hands-on training. It will also house filling lines for touch-up kits, a transparencies inspection cell, customised packaging capabilities for third-party products, chemical management resources and a customer service centre.

"ASC-Toulouse will be the 17th application support centre in our worldwide network,” Thelen said. "As we continue to grow our reach globally, we can ensure that all of our customers have convenient access to our latest aerospace technologies, while also improving the delivery of our products and providing technical resources regionally.”