Nearly three years into his role as Managing Director at Eaglescliffe-based plastics manufacturer – during which time the automotive sector has been thrown a series of challenges – Jim Casey tells us how Nifco has worked through the industry setbacks to safeguard its future, why he’s proud to work in the North East of England and what the company is doing to support sector attractiveness and the transition towards electrification.
Can you tell us more about Nifco and the products you manufacture for the automotive sector?
Nifco UK is part of worldwide plastics manufacturer Nifco Inc which is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Nifco Inc became established in 1967 following a “small insight” from our founder. His insight was the recognition on how resin could transform multiple types of fasteners on vehicles offering more practical, non-rusting, ease of use and lightweight solutions. Nifco’s name is steeped in its origin as it is an acronym of its original name, Nippon Industrial Fasteners Corporation.
What started in Japan in 1967 as a fastener company has grown into a global corporation with over 40 sites operating in 16 countries and over 11,000 employees, designing, developing and manufacturing a diverse product portfolio.
We design, develop and manufacture components of the highest quality for the global automotive industry, delivering excellence in automotive plastics. You can find our products across eight core commodity groups which cover the interior, exterior and powertrain of many vehicles worldwide. Nifco’s vast range of exterior components include anything from corner covers to wheel arch liners – items of large or small scale, using the highest grade of material.
In most cars produced in the UK, you would find an interior part made at Nifco in Stockton on Tees. From the seatbelt cover which governs the rider’s safety, to the speaker grill which supports some of the best sound systems in the world, we are also an expert in the automotive plastic interior commodity area.
Nifco UK houses one of four Global R&D centres specialising in Powertrain development. We provide our customers with development support to create the best Powertrain solutions.
Today, Nifco’s style remains unchanged from its founding years in its use of “in sights” and technology in our never-ending pursuit to solve problems that are surrounding us every day to eventually lead to improvements in people’s lives, industry and society.
