From Tire Review
            
Operations at Bridgestone Asia Pacific’s new technical center are now underway following its official opening on Aug. 13.
 
During the opening ceremony, Bridgestone’s senior vice president Yoshiyuki Morimoto stated that the new Bridgestone Asia Pacific Technical Center – the Japanese company’s first in the region – will provide technical support across the region and will enable Bridgestone to more quickly respond to customer needs.
 
The center is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Asia Pacific and is headed by Masajiro Fujiwara as managing director. Bangkok was selected as the location for the Bridgestone Asia Pacific Technical Center as Asian markets are a growth area for Bridgestone, and the company sees establishing a technical center in Thailand “as a step to strengthen its framework for research and development in the region.” Bridgestone states that establishing a technical center close to the markets it serves will, as Yoshiyuki Morimoto observed, allows it to quickly grasp changes in customer needs – and reflect this in product development.
 
The new technical center will engage in tire development, production technology, quality management and procurement, and serve as a regional base that facilitates improvements in safety, environmental aspects, product quality and delivery at Bridgestone’s Asian factories. The tiremaker says that, moving forward, it will further increase its Asia Pacific presence through enhanced research and development, an expansion of its sales network and increased tire production capacity. (Tyres & Accessories)