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Leading winding wire manufacturer to start operations in Serbia Superior Essex, company based in Atlanta USA, is a part of South Korean LS Group and global leader with more than 85 years of experience in manufacturing and distributing copper and aluminum wire and cable products for various markets segments. Essex facilities are located in 9 countries across 3 continents including USA, Canada, Mexico, China, Malaysia, Germany, Italy, UK and France. This manufacturer provides its customers a full range of products including round wire, flat enameled or covered wire and continuously transposed cable. Thanks to the wide network of facilities all around the world it has ability to supply its customers from the various market segments everywhere they are. Taking into consideration growth of electric car industry and increasing demand for the quality winding wire automotive is one of the biggest markets where Essex is recognizable for its innovative approach, exceptional quality and seamless service. With 4 magnet wire plants located in Germany and Italy, Essex Europe the European division of Superior Essex is a leading European supplier for winding wire used in transformers, motors and generators. Through its extensive, complementary and flexible manufacturing network, Essex Europe offers the broadest product range on the European Market. Following its customers‘ base developing production capacities in the Eastern Europe countries and preparing the development of winding wire usage thanks to the vehicles electrification trend, Essex Europe decided to expand its business and invest in Serbia taking into account its extraordinary geographic location and a broad base of qualified personnel. By investing Serbia and opening plant in Zrenjanin Essex raised its capacity to cover all the Europe and answered to growing demand for its product coming from strong automotive areas including Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. Products made in Serbian facility will be available in SEE region and beyond. The first Essex facility in the SEE region, will be registered as Essex Balkan and located in the city of Zrenjanin, Province of Vojvodina. It will occupy 15,000 m2 and its production will be focused on the enameled copper wires. The groundbreaking ceremony for this plant was held on March 14, and construction works started the day after. The construction is in line with the target and the structure is close to completion. Upon the finish of the construction, this facility will be one of the most energy-efficient plants in Serbia thanks to the optimization of the production process in accordance with the advanced world practices in this field and the Essex‘s commitment to the sustainable development. The plant will be equipped with brand new state of the art technology and will be able to deliver highest standards in terms of quality, environmental protection and energy consumption. It will be a smart plant, based on a digital supply chain and featuring modern equipment and software controlling the excellence of the products. Quality and sustainable development are key for Essex Europe, and so all plants are homologated ISO9001 (quality), ISO 16949 (automotive), IS0 14001 (environment) and IS0 50001 (power consumption). Zrenjanin location is planned to receive also all the homologations as soon as possible. The first samples are expected to be produced in September. It is anticipated that the plant will be fully operational during the first production phase or to be precise by the end of the year 2018. R&D for exceptional products For the automotive market, Essex has an R&D department both on global and European level. This department works with car manufacturers directly in order to develop specific magnet wire needed for electric cars and offer exceptional high-quality product. It is known that electric vehicles need twice as much copper wires as regular cars with combusting engine. This kind of wire is a specialized copper wire because a regular car operates with 40-48 volts while electric cars run with 800 volts. By focusing on needs and requirements of each customer Essex R&D department innovates the field by introducing carefully developed high voltage magnet wire. Products manufactured in different Essex plants are available to all customers around the globe. This means that new products and new solutions developed in German plant for instance can be supplied to car manufacturers wherever they are. Regardless of the customer location Essex provides the same quality and the same type of magnet wires. Exceptional quality of Essex products is achieved not just through innovative approach but also trough control process at every step to certify the best product characteristics in terms of lifetime, insulation properties, solderability: all products are tested during and after production to ensure the best quality of wire. Groundbreaking ceremony The President of the Republic of Serbia, the representatives of the company Essex Europe in the presence of numerous media representatives, laid the cornerstone of the wire factory in the Zrenjanin‘s industrial zone Southeast on March 14. This event was described as an important step in Essex‘s further development and was attended by the Christopher Koo Chairman of the Essex parent company South Korean LS Group, leader in the electric power and electronic, material and energy with around USD 19 billion of turnover. On this occasion Mr. Koo stated that exceptional performance is always achieved while following certain rules or guidelines. That is why mutual respect, care, integrity and trust are the core foundation on how LS Group and Essex do their business and approach their customers located on around the world. Next milestone event, the Opening ceremony, is scheduled for the November 2018.