SHANGHAI – Axalta Coating Systems has begun construction on a new Asia-Pacific R&D and Technology Center. The new facility, which has been approved by Axalta’s Board of Directors, will be located in Shanghai’s Minhang Industrial Development District. The center will feature product development and application laboratories as well as technical support capabilities that will serve the company’s global light vehicle OEM, commercial vehicle, refinish and industrial customers.
The new facility, which is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2016, will house the company’s global refinish color development center and a new training center for the company’s refinish customers. The new 165,000-square-foot facility will be designed for the more than 500 Axalta personnel engaged in R&D, product development and technology support across the Asia-Pacific region.
Axalta says the new facility will enable the company to build on its legacy of innovation and capitalize on its existing regional R&D network based in China. Today, Axalta has R&D and technology capabilities as well as a customer-training center in Shanghai, a new OEM technology development center adjacent to the company’s manufacturing center in the Jiading district of Shanghai, and a technology center within the company’s operations center in Changchun, China. The new facility will become Axalta’s largest technology center in Asia-Pacific and join Axalta’s global R&D and laboratory network, integrating development capabilities in the region with those in Europe, Latin America and the United States.
