Stankiewicz doubles US plant to supply Mercedes-Benz

By Liz White, UT staffHanover, Germany-German automotive supplier Stankiewicz GmbH has invested over $10 million to more than double the production area for products used to reduce noise vibration and harshness its US plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company, a unit of major rubber goods processor ContiTech AG, supplies parts for the new Mercedes M-Class, being built by DaimlerChrysler in Tuscaloosa, Alabama-about 600 km away, said a ContiTech statement. "Thanks to our excellent image, our reliability and our quality, we were able to nail down the order for the M-Class," commented Friederike Fahlbusch, a marketing expert at Stankiewicz GmbH, in the ContiTech statement. He added that good contacts, and "the fact that we supply parts for other model vehicles in Germany," have led to this expansion of business with DaimlerChrysler.The M-Class will be followed by the two variants for the R-Class, according to Stankiewicz. Stankiewicz's investment has raised production space to 13 500 sq.m from 6540 sq.m. The plant also employs about 300 people now, up from 192 last year, ContiTech added. German firm Stankiewicz, headquartered in Adelheidsdorf/Celle in Lower Saxony, supplies many parts for the M-Class, including: • Front wall insulations and transmission tunnel sound dampening for the engine compartment;• Driver floors and rear floors for the passenger compartment;• Lining under the storage bay and wheelhouse liners; • Absorbing layers for the side panels and chassis rails; and• Damping film for A-pillars; crossrails, windshield, pedal floor and transmission tunnel.Other ContiTech parts on the M-Class include power-steering lines made by ContiTech Fluid Mexicana in Mexico City, while ContiTech's Power Transmission Group contributes V-ribbed belts. ContiTech Air Spring Systems supplies steering gear boots and even the fuel lines are made by ContiTech. Another ContiTech business unit, Benecke-Kaliko, delivers ROY® PVC foam leatherette for the seats."