Varroc Lighting Systems Czech plantVarroc Lighting Systems has opened a fifth production hall at its Rychvald factory in the Moravia region of the Czech Republic.

Features of the new assembly area include advanced material flow monitoring and intelligent logistics management equipment, said the US-based firm.

“The hall will produce both rear lamps and smart headlamps with LED and matrix technologies known as adaptive driving beam,” added Rychvald’s operations director, Radim Černý.​ “Once all production lines are on with the full production range, we should achieve total output of up to 1m lamps a year in a matter of months.”

When that is achieved, the factory will have five lines, including fully automated injection moulding machines, hard-coat lines for UV protection, and lamp assembly lines.

Among other features of the new facility are predictive equipment maintenance technologies, energy-efficient lighting and a waste heat recovery system.

Overall, the cutting-edge technologies will boost the plant’s ability to manufacture more efficiently and serve production lines more rapidly, said Varroc, which is based ​in Plymouth, Michigan.

Once the new 7,000 sq.m hall is fully operational, Rychvald’s headcount will have risen to around 800. Varroc Lighting Systems employs more than 3,000 workers in the Czech Republic.

“The new premises and the overall strategic extension of our production and testing capacity in the Rychvald plant clearly illustrate how important the North Moravian region is for our company,” said Todd Morgan, senior vice-president of global product development.

Varroc, which specialises in exterior vehicle lighting systems, also has production plants in China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey and Vietnam, as well as technical centres around the globe.

Automotive supply chain developments in this region will be the focus of discussions at the inaugural Automotive Logistics Central and Eastern Europe summit to be held in Budapest, Hungary on 13-14 November.