Adient, the global
leader in automotive seating announced that it has broken ground on a
state-of-the art automotive seating prototyping and testing facility in Pune
that will be the largest of its kind ever to be built in India. Construction of
the new facility marks a major expansion of Adient’s existing technical center
in Pune, already a world-class facility with the largest workforce among the
automotive seating supplier’s global network of tech centers.
The new facility,
which is scheduled to open in late 2018, will provide physical testing to
augment the capabilities of the existing technical center in Pune, a global
Center of Competence at Adient for computer-aided engineering (CAE),
computer-aided design (CAD) automation and finite element analysis (FEA)
simulation expertise. First established in 2000, Adient’s India Tech Center
today has a total headcount of approximately 1,000 engineers, which consists of
roughly 850 engineers based locally in Pune and a further 150 engineers
stationed at Adient locations outside India on global assignments.
Situated on a
20,000 m2 site near the existing tech center, the new
prototyping and testing facility will boast full-scale prototyping, testing,
and trim capabilities, enabling Adient to conduct full product verification in
India to global customer and regulatory standards. The facility will house a
fully hydraulic acceleration sled test system, offering precision pulse
matching, full payload capability, and high-speed video capture from onboard
cameras. A 6-axis shaker table at the facility, complete with semi-anechoic
chamber, will enable NHV (noise, vibration and harshness) analysis and road durability testing.
“As well as
underscoring our long-term commitment to India, this investment of more than
$30 million is an important milestone for Adient as we optimize our engineering
footprint around the world to deliver global standard product development and
innovation capabilities wherever our customers are,” said Dr. Detlef Juerss,
Vice President, Engineering & Chief Technical Officer at Adient. “With this
new facility, we will be able to fully execute product development including
design and product validation for global and local launch programs right here
in Pune, all backed by cutting-edge infrastructure that will be truly unrivaled
in India’s automotive industry.”
“Adient has for
many years benefited from its strong focus on design in India, a dynamic
environment that is rich in talent and creative inspiration. Our India Tech
Center team already plays a vital role in Adient’s global industrial design
operations, providing designs to support our customers today and imagining
concepts that will shape the experience of mobility in the future” said Richard
Chung, Vice President, Innovation at Adient. “I am very excited about the
potential we can unleash in Pune as we accelerate our design and innovation
processes here.”
“Adient was one of
the first global automotive tier 1 suppliers to enter India. Over the past two
decades since then we have built world-class manufacturing and product
development capabilities across the country. We work closely with our
customers, who recognize that success in India depends on developing
India-specific products,” said Murali Rajagopalan, Director and Country
Manager, Adient India. “India is phasing in new safety regulations for which
development activities need to begin now. As far as Adient is concerned, the
timing could not be better. When this new facility opens we will be able to
support our customers on an entirely new level, so I see this as an exciting
new chapter for Adient India.”
Adient (then a
division of Johnson Controls) first established its operations in India in 1995
through the formation of Tata Johnson Controls, a collaboration with Tata
Automotive Components. Adient, which recently celebrated the first anniversary
of its spin-off as an independent automotive supplier, today has more than
2,500 employees at its wholly owned subsidiary Adient India. Adient recently
received a Best Supplier Award for Quality from Tata Motors, adding to a long
list of supplier awards it received in 2017, which include the Toyota Regional
Contribution Award, the Honda Supplier Development Award, the Nissan Supplier
Quality Award (for the fourth consecutive year), and the Nissan Global
Innovation Award.
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