SHANGHAI – Eaton has announced the opening of its Vehicle Group Asia Pacific Technical Center in Shanghai. The new technical center will drive the development and product localization strategy of energy-efficient vehicle power management solutions for the Chinese and regional markets.
Eaton Chairman and CEO Alexander Cutler was in Shanghai to preside over the opening of the new technical center. The occasion also marks the issuing of Eaton’s China Sustainability Report for 2013.
“The opening of the new technical center enables Eaton to better serve the high-growth Asia Pacific markets by bringing the innovative and energy-saving solutions closer to our customers,” Cutler said. “Today also underscores our long-term commitment to China, which has been a major growth market for Eaton and continues to be of great strategic importance.”
With a $3.3 million investment, the new technical center occupies 1,200 square meters with seven major labs. Eaton says this facility will further strengthen the local testing and development resources of Eaton’s Vehicle Group, and significantly upgrade its ability to work with the customers in the development of new engine platforms and efficient solutions in support of the largest passenger and commercial vehicle market in the world.
“We are well-positioned to participate in China’s massive urbanization and will continue to expand our engineering and manufacturing presence in this important market,” Cutler said. “Protecting and improving the environment through innovation are among Eaton’s highest priorities. We are confident that we can help our customers here address the great energy challenges as China promotes a new model of sustainable urbanization.”
Underscoring Eaton’s sustainability commitment, the company today officially issued its China Sustainability Report for 2013. It is Eaton’s sixth annual sustainability report in China since 2008, detailing major progress achieved in areas such as environment, health and safety performance, employee engagement and community enrichment. By sharing Eaton’s customer initiatives in supporting China’s sustainable urbanization, the report also showcases the latest energy-efficient innovations in areas such as buildings, transportation, data centers and lighting.
During 2013, Eaton invested $644 million in research and development to continue to launch power management solutions that decrease energy consumption, reduce carbon emissions and help its customers increase their productivity and profitability. For example, Eaton is helping the world’s leading automakers answer the challenge of growing fuel-economy and CO2 emissions regulations. Today, Eaton owns more than 10,000 patents throughout the world, and was granted 1,200 patents during 2012. Eaton was named one of the Top 100 Global Innovators by Thomson Reuters for its outstanding innovation capability.
In China, Eaton now has six R&D and engineering centers, including a global corporate research and technology center in Shanghai. Eaton also has made extensive efforts to cooperate with Chinese universities, research institutes and academia to drive progress in research and development and the cultivation of local talent.
Eaton began its operations in China in 1993 by launching its first manufacturing facility in Jining of Shandong Province. Since then it has significantly expanded its presence to include 28 manufacturing facilities and more than 18,000 employees. Eaton has set a sales target of $2 billion in China for 2015.
