July-August 2022 - 48

MRO FEATURE
A CAD drawing of the future application
support center. PPG will invest
$17 million to build an aerospace
application support center in Toulouse,
France that will begin operations
in the fourth quarter of 2023.
PPG
PPG
to Break Ground on
New Toulouse-Based
Aerospace Application
Support Center
The Application Support Center will be
located near the Toulouse Blagnac Airport.
by Walker Jaroch
P
48 JULY/AUGUST 2022
PG recently announced it will invest
$17 million to build an aerospace
application support center (ASC) in
Toulouse, France. The new facility
is anticipated to break ground July
2022 and open the fourth quarter of
2023.
Dirk Thelen, PPG general manager, Aerospace,
EMEA, said Toulouse has evolved into the heart of
the European aerospace industry, so it is important
for PPG to have a presence there.
" PPG's aerospace business currently has regional
sales and support offices established in Toulouse, so
the addition of the application support center will
give us a larger footprint in the region, " he continued.
The construction of ASC-Toulouse is a strategic
initiative that will allow PPG to better serve and collaborate
with their aerospace customers in the area.
The ASC will be located near the Toulouse Blagnac
Airport, where many maintenance, repair and operations
(MRO) activities take place and where many
aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
and subcontractors
have a strong presence.
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.
" ASC-Toulouse will house a qualification laboratory
for aerospace materials such as coatings, sealants and
adhesives. It will also have a color blending area for
coatings and a spray booth for paint application trials
and hands-on training. Other functions of the ASC
include 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, " said Thelen.
As part of PPG's global network of 17 aerospace
application support centers, ASC-Toulouse will support
existing products and programs.
" The site allows for flexibility to incorporate future
product development into its manufacturing capabilities, "
said Thelen. " The new facility will enable
PPG to provide more efficient customer service and
quicker response times. ASC-Toulouse will also help
PPG with faster qualification times for new products
and more participation with new projects early in the
development cycle. "
In addition to ASC-Gonfreville, ASC-Toulouse will
be PPG's second aerospace application support center
in France, the fifth in the Europe, Middle East and
Africa (EMEA) region, and the 17th globally.
" All of PPG's aerospace application support centers
in our global network provide worldwide customer
support from a regional base that improves delivery
of our aerospace products - coatings, sealants,
chemical management services, packaging and more
- and brings technical resources closer to our local
customers, " said Thelen.
He continued that PPG sees a bright future.
" As the global airline industry continues to recover,
PPG is adapting to changing market dynamics by
partnering with our customers and providing innovative
products and solutions. The construction of
ASC-Toulouse is just one example of the investment
that PPG is making into our aerospace business, "
Thelen added.
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
July-August 2022

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