Hutchinson opens China innovation centre

Paris – Hutchinson SA has opened research and innovation centre 822 Fab House in Suzhou, China, in a bid to step up its efforts in the ‘fast-changing’ Chinese market. 

The site marks Hutchinson’s third global fab house, after 507 Fab House near Paris in 616 Fab House in Grand Rapids, Michigan - both opened in 2016.

The innovation centre, said Hutchinson in a recent statement, will seek to “innovate locally” in line with the requirements of its automotive and aerospace customers. 

China, said the French supplier, presents a “highly favourable industrial ecosystem” for the company, which has been operating in the country for 25 years. 

“Everything moves very fast in China: if we want to still be present in the future in hybrid or electrical vehicles, we need to increase our local innovation capacities ten-fold,” Frédéric Le Du, CEO of Hutchinson China.

Hutchinson has a sales office in Beijing, as well as four industrial sites in Wuhan, Chongquing, Shenyang, and Suzhou. 

While all the sites supply to the automotive industry, the Suzhou plant also provides parts to the aerospace and railway sectors.

Similar to its Parisian counterpart, the Suzhou Fab House has “big tables” presenting all the main product families manufactured. 

The ground floor of the centre also features test machines showcasing Hutchinson’s test capabilities in China. 

The company expects to add a mock-up of a hybrid car with latest on-board technologies in augmented realities to the show room “soon”. 

Located at the Suzhou Industrial Park, the fab house is close to a number of high-tech industries, particularly, automotive giants such as Volkswagen, Jaguar-Land Rover and Mazda.