Toulouse, France

PPG to invest $17m to build aerospace application support center in France

Global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials, PPG, announced this week that it will invest $17m to build an aerospace application support center (ASC) in Toulouse, France. The company anticipates breaking ground for the new facility in the third quarter of 2022 and beginning operations in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The facility will be strategically located near aerospace customers and the Toulouse Blagnac Airport. 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.

“The construction of a new ASC will allow us to better serve and collaborate with our aerospace customers in the region,” said Dirk Thelen, PPG general manager, Aerospace, EMEA. “The new facility will enhance our ability to provide unparalleled responsiveness and customer support, leading to faster qualification of products and higher participation in new projects, earlier in the development cycle.”

Capabilities at the ASC will include a development and qualification laboratory for aerospace materials, a color blending area for coatings, and a spray booth for hands-on training. It will also house 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.

“ASC-Toulouse will be the 17th application support center in our worldwide network,” Thelen said. “As we continue to grow our reach globally, we can ensure that all of our customers have convenient access to our latest aerospace technologies, while also improving the delivery of our products and providing technical resources regionally.”