High-grade plastics are indispensable in the automobile industry today. Their use reduces the weight of vehicles - and that saves fuel. And with greater stability, driving becomes safer. It is therefore essential to be able to process plastics efficiently.

At BMW, they recognise the advantages of plastics. In their Landshut works in Germany, the cars are fitted with components made of polyurethane. The components are manufactured on-site: Four compact tanks made by H&S Anlagentechnik GmbH/Sulingen, Germany take care of storage, conditioning and transport of the plastic components. The result is that production is always environmentally friendly; it is economical, and the products are of a consistently high quality.

Additional advantages of polymers working in BMW's favour: plastics can be installed quickly and easily - saving in commissioning time, more than 30% for plant start-up, and makes for a much tidier plant, clarifying system design throughout the field. That's why BMW is sticking with Siemens in Germany.

The rubber and plastics industry, initially focused on automotive sub-contracting, has successfully diversified its activities in other industries such as electronics, home-appliances, bottle extrusion for perfumes and cosmetics, plastic furnishings and food packaging.

A full-fledged plastics technology sector has thus emerged in Sarthe, with some 90 companies employing 4,150 persons, accounting for 7% of the industrial workforce and achieving US$ 300 million sales.

These companies cover the full range of plastics technologies: injection, extrusion, thermoforming, calendering, rotational moulding, compression, expansion... Leading national and international groups are present in Sarthe: Demo Tableaux de Commande, ELF-Alphacan, Hutchinson, Framatome Connectors, Freudenberg, Inovac, ARIES Industries, Raclet, Teleplastics Industries, AMS Europe...