PPG inaugurates US$17M aerospace center for aircraft filling and packaging production

15 Dec 2023 --- PPG is opening a US$17 million aerospace application support center (ASC) in Toulouse, France, to provide filling and packaging capabilities for aerospace materials, including coatings and sealants for various aircraft, as well as technical support and a laboratory.

The location of ASC Toulouse enables the company to provide faster product deliveries to aerospace customers in southern Europe and North Africa. Jerome Mancy, PPG’s business director at ASC Toulouse, tells Packaging Insights the ASCs provide quicker product delivery and faster product qualification processes due to customer proximity. 

“The ability to provide right-size packaging for product application is very important to our customers. Our plants, where the sealants and coatings are manufactured, produce the product in bulk. That product is then placed into smaller packaging at the ASC so that the end-user can more easily apply the product and less goes to waste.” 

Mancy says that ASC Toulouse will house “one-person cells” where products will be repacked into packaging that enables the right-size application.The center comprises a laboratory for developing aerospace materials, a color blending area for coatings and a spray booth for hands-on training of paint applications. 

Increasing packaging capabilities
It also houses filling lines for touch-up kits, a transparencies inspection cell, customized packaging capabilities for third-party products, chemical management resources and a customer service center. The center in Toulouse is the company’s 17th ASC worldwide.

Mancy says that ASC Toulouse will house 16 “one-person cells” where its product will be repacked into packaging that will enable the right-size application. “This will enable PPG to increase its packaging capability by 50% in the EU.”

“While we used to sell 1 L and 5 L containers of product, whether that’s coatings or sealants, the customer needed 500 mL or less. Our packaging services at the ASC make this possible. We can also repackage third-party products such as grease into 10L packs when it’s originally received in 200 L drums.”

“With our Sempen, we can repackage our coatings into 10 mL pens that also come with a brush so the technician can use less chemicals, less paint, and reuse the brush when a small paint touch-up is needed on an aircraft,” says Mancy. 

ASC Toulouse’s business director concludes by saying the company is pleased to be able to provide convenient access to its aerospace products and services while committing to its investment in France. “This new facility enhances our global footprint and supports the industry as global travel continues to recover.”

By Natalie Schwertheim