German automotive molder AKT adds Mexican presence

German automotive molder AKT (altmarker Kunststoff-Technik GmbH; Gardelegen, Germany) will employ approximately 83 direct labor employees and utilize 34,822 sq ft of industrial space at the La Angostura Industrial Park in Saltillo, Mexico. AKT has signed a contract with The Offshore Group (Tucson, AZ) to join fellow German manufacturing firms and Offshore Group clients, OKE GmbH and Turck Inc., for the use of what The Offshore Group calls outsourced manufacturing support, or “shelter” services. Steve Colantuoni, Offshore’s director of market research and communications, told PlasticsToday that AKT will move all new injection molding equipment to the site, with machines ranging from 85 to 600 tons.

In a release, Roland Kluhspies, AKT’s customer business unit director, said “[AKT’s] decision to establish an operation in Mexico was predicated on a desire to offer our customers a low-cost North American solution.” Founded in 1991, AKT specializes in painted, flocked, and inmold decorated (IMD) foil-injection molded parts, as well as assemblies for the interior, engine, and safety and security areas. The Offshore Group currently provides outsourced manufacturing support, or “shelter” services to 62 global companies in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, HVAC, medical-device, and general-manufacturing industries.

Colantuoni said 16 of those companies operate out of the La Angostura Industrial Park in Saltillo, Coahuila, with the remaining in industrial parks located in the adjacent cities of Guaymas and Empalme, located in the northwest Mexican state of Sonora.

Colantuoni says its “shelter services” include everything from management of human resources, payroll, taxes, worker transportation, and import/export, to government affairs and environmental compliance. —[email protected]