CARY, N.C., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- LORD Corporation - a global leader in developing passive and active solutions for noise and vibration, engineered adhesives and high performance coatings for the aerospace, automotive and general industrial markets - will host an opening ceremony for its new Asia Pacific Technology Center on May 24.
The new center, located at Sakurada-cho 17-7, Atsuta-ku in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, is a two-story 1,900-square-meter facility that will house office, meeting, laboratory and testing space. According to Hirokazu Omoto, Vice President, Technology, LORD Asia Pacific, the Nagoya location was selected because it is the center of automotive technology in Japan, enables LORD to easily serve many of its key customers that are located in the area, and is conveniently located near a strong talent pool with neighboring industries and universities. It also enables convenient access for travel.
LORD will move its development staff from Kofu and Amagasaki to the new Center, as well as equipment including major physical/environmental testing and rubber processing machines. The new Center is equipped with an explosion-proof room for chemical synthesis. Key areas of focus include rubber-to-substrate bonding, high performance coating for elastomers, electronic materials and structural adhesives.
According to David Siporin, President, LORD Asia Pacific, this new Center is a natural extension of LORD Corporation's technological capabilities to the Asia Pacific region as it enables the company to work closely with key Asian and global customers, improve responsiveness as well as enable technical collaboration.
"Research and development is very important to LORD and it has been a hallmark of our company since its founding 86 years ago. In fact, as a percent of sales, LORD spends two to three times what our peers in our industry spend on R&D," said Siporin.
Ed Gustin, Managing Director, LORD Marketing & Sales, concurs, stating that "LORD is committed to increasing the value of our customers' products by integrating our unique technologies and human expertise. The Asia Pacific Technology Center enables us to capitalize on our resources to the betterment of our customers and their products."
LORD has had a presence in Asia for more than 40 years. LORD Asia Pacific is headquartered in Hong Kong with sub-regional offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. In addition to the new Asia Pacific Technology Center in Nagoya, LORD Asia Pacific also has technical centers in Shanghai, China and Nashik, India, as well as manufacturing sites in Kofu, Japan; Shanghai, China; Nashik, India and a joint venture manufacturing facility in Pyungtaek, Kyounggi-Do, South Korea.
According to Brett Luketic, LORD Global Market Manager, Automotive, "The new Asia Pacific Technology Center will help our global customers meet their increasingly demanding business objectives, while providing overall support to the entire customer base and to LORD Corporation's extensive regional manufacturing locations."
About LORD Corporation
With headquarters in Cary, N.C., USA, and sales in excess of $720 million, LORD Corporation is a privately-held company that designs, manufactures and markets devices and systems to manage mechanical motion and control noise and vibration; formulates, produces and sells general purpose and specialty adhesives and coatings; and develops products and systems utilizing magnetically responsive technologies. With manufacturing in nine countries and offices in more than 15 major business centers, LORD Corporation employs more than 2,600 worldwide. Visit http://www.lord.com for more information.
Contact:
Takeshi Masumitsu
Tel: +81-3-5338-9057