David Matthews Shares Georges Pernoud’s Perspective on Partnership with Team 1 Plastics
Team 1 Plastics, a plastic injection molding company for the automotive industry, has a unique relationship with Georges Pernoud, a company which specializes in highly technical, innovatively engineered injection molds. David Matthews, North American Operations Manager for Georges Pernoud North America, recently shared his perspective on the partnership.
“What our partnership offers and provides is the mutual collaboration and development of specific projects. Team 1 provides a showcase and/or platform to run Pernoud’s tooling for prospective customers as well as a point of interest to attract prospective customers into Team 1. It’s a combination of a Pernoud tool and a Team 1 injection molding press – our high-tech tooling being used in production of automotive parts in an excellent plastic injection molding facility such as Team 1’s.”
Established in 1971 by the late Georges Pernoud, the company has constructed over 1500 molds for use in various plastic injection molding operations, primarily automotive. A family-owned business, headquartered in Oyonnax, France, Georges Pernoud, Le Groupe (GP) is owned and operated by Gilles and Phillipe Pernoud, sons of the late Georges Pernoud. Oyonnax and the surrounding area, known as the “Plastics Valley,” is located in the eastern part of France near the foothills of the Swiss Alps.
It was GP’s innovative processes, specifically, the Multitube® and Multi-Process molds (MPM), which attracted Matthews to the company. “What intrigued me most about this opportunity was the idea of introducing this ‘better way’ of injection molding for precision lightweight parts that you would find under the hood of an automobile today.” Matthews said that he wanted to be “part of the next evolution of manufacturing and injection molding.”
He explained that Pernoud’s Multitube® and MPM technology can solve challenging design problems by enabling multiple components to be redesigned as one piece and molded in one mold, eliminating many secondary operations, such as welding. This technology provides improved part design, better quality, a more technically sound and a lighter weight part. Multitube® and MPM processes can be applied to a multitude of plastic, under-hood engine parts such as air ducts, turbo ducts, water/coolant pipes and housings, manifolds, and air intake manifolds.
Georges Pernoud North America and Team 1 Plastics began their partnership around 2011. Matthews said that the partnership with Team 1 Plastics is the only partnership of its kind that GPNA is engaged with, at this time, in North America. “We collaborate through networking with each other. GPNA is available as a premier tool source for Team 1. We are committed to finding those opportunities that would be mutually beneficial for Team 1 and Georges Pernoud North America. It has the potential of being a very symbiotic relationship if every phase of an awarded program falls into place.”
Through this partnership, Matthews has learned that “networking, and whom you know and can connect with, can make all the difference when it comes down to prospects and future sales activity.” And speaking of future sales for the two companies, Matthews said, “It is my hope that (with a little luck and perseverance) we can mutually be sourced by the same Tier 1 supplier.”
Matthews summed up the partnership between the two companies as a “one-stop shop opportunity for a customer — a Pernoud production tool in a Team 1 injection molding press — molding parts for tomorrow’s automobiles. Two capable suppliers working together to provide the best product and service available to the customer.”
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