PPG Industries is to be the technical and training advisor for a US$10 million expansion at the Cristal Laminado o Templado S.A. de C.V. (CITSA) automotive glass fabricating plant in Tepeji del Rio, Mexico, 30 miles north of Mexico City.
The operation is a partnership of PPG and the Villasenor family and the expansion includes addition of tempering equipment that will allow CITSA to produce tempered side and back automotive windows, as well as new windshield production equipment using advanced technology to supply more complicated original-equipment parts.
Expanding the facility’s capabilities and capacity will allow CITSA to supply full-car sets of windows and continue to meet demand for laminated and tempered automotive glass in the growing Mexican automotive industry.
Isidro Villasenor Navarro, CITSA general manager, said the expansion will allow it to meet new customer requirements, including additional business to supply parts for the 2001 Ram pickup truck being assembled by Chrysler de Mexico in Saltillo and Lago Alberto.
CITSA received QS-9000 registration to meet automotive industry quality requirements, and earned the Chrysler de Mexico Gold Pentastar Award for 1999.
The eight-year-old CITSA plant employs about 400 people, and 50 to 100 more employees are expected to be added when the expansion is completed, Villasenor said.

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