Bridgestone starts full-scale operations at Tokyo innovation hub

Tokyo – Full-scale operations have started at Bridgestone Corp.’s new global innovation hub in Kodaira City, Tokyo, the Japanese group announced 21 April.

The Bridgestone Innovation Park, which features an innovation centre and proving ground, is intended to “accelerate innovation to realise and support a sustainable society.”

The facility will “promote interaction with empathy among various stakeholders about Bridgestone's history and its vision toward 2050,” added the tire & rubber product maker’s release.

Bridgestone established a tire plant in Kodaira City in 1960, adding a technology centre soon after - these facilities since serving as a core of R&D and production for the group

The new B-Innovation and B-Mobility units are designed to “accelerate innovation” by facilitating interaction co-creation among internal and external stakeholders.

At B-Innovation, people can view and engage with core Bridgestone technologies and products with the aim of giving rise to new ideas. It also houses a prototyping studio and ‘co-creation office’ open to external partners.

B-Mobility is a proving ground which can be used to quickly experience and evaluate the performance and potential of prototype mobility technologies and products, Bridgestone further explained.