Company Profile

The power of two

Dutch company Plastisol has become a world leader in the field of bodywork design by utilising a unique composite of raw materials

The power of two Plastisol was founded more than 30 years ago as a small family business in the south of The Netherlands. Production was initially started with water and foam tanks from glass-fibre reinforced polyester, and over the years Plastisol has specialised in bodywork for mainly fire-fighting and rescue vehicles.

Although today the main focus is still on fire-fighting vehicles in all their various guises (like cabins, crew-cab extensions and superstructures) the product portfolio has extended tremendously. Airport crash-tenders, anti-riot vehicles, ambulances, rapid intervention vehicles and multifunctional containers are only some examples of innovative products that left the factory in recent years, and still new products are under construction. Plastisol has become one of the market leaders in the design, engineering, construction and manufacturing of composite bodywork.

The steady growth of its market share is mainly due to the unique characteristics of the composite material Plastisol uses for bodywork (which are all self-supporting). This material is a combination of polyester reinforced with glass-fibre, offering a lot of advantages in comparison with traditional materials. Most remarkable is the substantial weight reduction (up to 40%) and the fact that it is corrosion proof. Besides that, the material also has shock-absorbing and flame-retarding characteristics.

There's no maintenance required, and in case of any damage it is very easy to repair. This can be done at the customer's location - Plastisol has its own worldwide operating service team. All products are delivered with a unique 10-year warranty, which in combination with the long economical life cycle provides the customer with a highly competitive product and a safe investment.

Every customer order is coordinated by a dedicated project-engineer, who is responsible for incorporating the customer wishes in the construction of the product. Every engineer has its own knowledge area within the Plastisol product range and is a dedicated source of advice on legal requirements and technical possibilities regarding the product that was ordered. Optionally, a wide range of lighting possibilities is available, as well as several types of roller shutters. With the composite material offering almost unlimited design possibilities, a truly custom-made product can be achieved.

The many hundreds of products Plastisol produces every year find their final destination at municipal and industrial fire brigades, airports and military organisations all over the world; more than 90% of the Plastisol output is exported all over the world. And Plastisol is also a major player in Holland: more than 50% of all fire-fighting vehicles sold in The Netherlands have a composite construction from Plastisol.

To emphasise the strong importance of its export markets, Plastisol recently opened local offices in key markets to explore new possibilities. At the beginning of this year Plastisol Composites was founded in Courtland, US. At the FDIC expo in Indianapolis, which was held at the end of April, Plastisol Composites showed its first three superstructures for rapid intervention vehicles. These bodies were still all built in The Netherlands, but in the near future also local production is foreseen. This August, Plastisol South America has made its debut on the SeguriExpo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a small tank to be used on a Mercedes-Benz Vario chassis.

With more than 30 years' experience in composite constructions, Plastisol supplies a quality product meeting the highest standards and qualifications. Plastisol is certified according to ISO-9001 and ISO-9001:2000 and AQAP-2110 regulations, which represent the total quality commitment of the entire organisation. All production personnel are trained internally to get aware of the high quality standards that all Plastisol products have to meet. They are working according to the latest health and safety regulations and with state-of-the-art materials and equipment. Regular process evaluations and new insights ensure that the production methods are continuously improved wherever possible.

The highly efficient production process enables Plastisol to deliver most of its products with a remarkably short delivery time. Plastisol is also taking a leading role with regards to the environment. The maintenance-free final product has a much longer economic life-cycle (approx. 40 years) than many conventionally produced products, so the Plastisol bodywork already brings little environmental damage with it. Since the product is partly made up of resins, from which the properties lie near to those of mineral oil, much less energy is needed to create the raw materials compared to steel and aluminium.

As well as making bespoke products, Plastisol offers a wide range of standard products. For existing cabins (from well-known manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, MAN and DAF) Plastisol has developed a cabin extension that follows the design characteristics of the original cabin. The crew-cab of the Mercedes-Benz Atego is a long-time best-seller, while the latest newly developed cabin extension is for the Mercedes-Benz Econic, a vehicle mainly used for specialised municipal purposes.

At the Interschutz 2005 in Hannover, Plastisol introduced a new superstructure called the TZine, which since then has raised much international attention. Some outstanding facts are the integrated C-profiles and cable tubes resulting in flat and smooth internal walls, fall-down steps with integrated corner rubbers and lights, integrated ladder recesses and various illumination options. The TZine can be built to a standard range of length and width options. The benefit of this concept is the reduced engineering time, which, in combination with the new highly efficient assembly technology, results in a considerably shorter delivery time.

Other recent developments are the Rescube, a multi-functional container which was used for the first time by the Dutch coastguard in the summer of 2005 as a mobile incident room, and mudguards, which as extra function can also be used as mounting steps.

For more information Go to www.plastisol.com call +31 485 476 161 or email: info@plastisol.com