New tool for plastics manufacturers : an SPL called ES3
What is a Local Production System (SPL) ?
An SPL is a specialized industrial organisation characterized by a spatial concentration of production focusing on a product or particular activity, assisting local production to become significant at a national level. This definition applies perfectly to polyethylene extrusion and the manufacture of plastic films which have developed in Sainte-Sigolène in the Haute-Loire.
Why a Local Production System ?
It was the chance for an activity which is not widely known to focus on development of the sector in a structured way and to obtain greater recognition at national and European level; concentrating in Sainte-Sigolène whose motto is 'Surgit ad Futura' (that is, 'oriented towards the future') is a symbol of modernity per se. The recognition sought has in part been achieved since higher education establishments have latched onto the Sigolénois phenomenon and published studies, just as the DIACT (Inter-ministerial Delegation for Development and Competition in the Region) has contributed to a greater awareness of the industrial sector in the area.
History of the SPL
This is an initiative of the Economic Expansion Committee of the Haute-Loire which started the move for greater recognition by submitting the first application to the DATAR (Delegation for Local Development and Regional Action) in 1999; this was only accepted during the second request for proposals in 2000. The aim of the SPL was to encourage a collective initiative to perpetuate plastics manufacture, the main local industry. Since then a partnership has
developed in this sector between the Le Puy - Yssingeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Municipality of Sainte-Sigolène, the Marches du Velay Community of Townships, the DRIRE, the Economic Expansion Committee and several industrial players.
However, in the last three years the old certainties have been buffeted by major concerns in the world of plastics manufacture as a result of increases in the prices of raw materials, including oil, an end to the large-scale provision of bags at checkouts, and an amendment to the law of 11 October 2005 on agricultural planning which intends to phase out non-biodegradable plastic packaging from 1 January 2010. Hence the SPL has focused on providing financial support for the Neosac initiative and on having the well-known amendment changed - but henceforth targeting only the ban on bags at checkouts. The SPL 2, agreed on 1 January 2006, is rather more focused on innovation and new biodegradable materials. To give this organisation an effective basis, the ES3 association - that is, Sainte-Sigolène Soft Extrusion - was set up by plastics manufacturers in February 2006 with the aim of harmonizing their actions to improve performance and of anticipating and better reacting to issues as they occur. Thus the ES3 is becoming a body which represents the sector in its contacts with Public Authorities (State, Region, Département) but also with competitors (Cereales Vallee, Plastipolis).
ES3 activities
In addition to representing the extrusion sector for the Haute-Loire, the association is involved in taking measures in support of the sector. Communications will be promoted via a website and a sectoral yearbook. Technological and regulatory supervision has been put in place. Specific actions will be taken in a number of areas such as researching inter-business cooperation, promoting Research and Development into supplemented or biodegradable polymers, the structural development of the polyethylene extrusion sector in Europe, etc.
Partnership
Association of the SPL has enabled the creation of partnerships involving 60 businesses in the sector, the Le Puy-en-Velay / Yssingeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Economic Expansion Committee of the Haute-Loire, the Marches du Velay Community of Townships of which Sainte-Sigolène is a member, the DRIRE Auvergne and the Auverge Region, thereby providing a forum for dialogue and preparation for the future.
