Minister Mitchell O'Connor Officially Opens New Mergon Innovation Centre

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, has officially opened Mergon Group's new Mi Centre at its headquarters in Castlepollard, Westmeath.

The Mi (Mergon Innovation) Centre is the amalgamation of Mergon's expertise in advanced manufacturing, robotics, automation and failsafe technologies, all now under one roof. It is part of ongoing investment by the company in innovation and technology and actively demonstrates the commitment of Mergon to remain at the forefront of their industry.

Officially opening the new MiCentre, Minister Mitchell O'Connor said: "Mergon's new state-of-the-art Innovation Centre in Westmeath is extremely impressive. Not only does it demonstrate Mergon's commitment to research and innovation, it also shows their ambition and determination to be leaders in this highly competitive and innovative industry.

"Supplying leading global companies in the automotive, industrial and healthcare sectors with innovative components and assemblies, Mergon is a great example of the type of company my Department is working with through Enterprise Ireland. I warmly congratulate Pat and all his team on this great achievement, and I wish Mergon continued success for the future".

Speaking at the launch Pat Beirne, CEO of Mergon added: "This major step forward for Mergon further enables development of world class automation incorporating the latest in vision system, leak detection and error proofing technologies to ensure Mergon customers receive zero defects in their products.

"The MiCentre will pilot and prove out production lines for the company's rapidly growing business in Ireland, USA and Czech Republic. Being able to construct and prove out the technology at the Centre will deliver a reduction in customers' time to market and ensure technically advanced on-time product launches".

Another powerful initiative at the Centre will be the setting up of Mergon's Lightweight Lab. The lab will be dedicated to innovations that will optimise weight reduction of automotive components. In addition the MiCentre also houses Mergon's expanding capabilities in additive manufacturing and 3D printing.

The Centre will host Mergon's innovation hub, pioneering research and development initiatives including:

• Developing high performance battery cooling circuits for electric vehicles

• Application of Factory 4.0 technologies for improved manufacturing performance 

• Microfluidic medical diagnostic design and development

(MH/CD)