WENDEL Stahl has several automotive industry Centers of Excellence around the world. Covering almost every continent, the centers are located in Mexico, the US and China. In September 2015, we opened a brand new Center of Excellence at our headquarters in the Netherlands, where we aim to inspire our customers by showcasing our latest innovations. This center focuses on developing high-performance and sustainable solutions for car interiors, varying from smart surfaces that change color with the temperature, to special haptics for a warm and pleasant touch. In addition, key customer trials will be conducted at the center that will serve as a basis for the development and application of new solutions.
Car interior expert
The opening of this latest center supports Stahl's strategy for growth within the automotive industry. At the center, we demonstrate how the sector can explore combining different interior materials and surface capabilities to unique effect. For example, selecting colors and finishes of leather steering wheels or car seats to perfectly match the seat and trim materials on dashboards and gearshifts.
State-of-the-art testing
Our center is equipped with state-of-the-art machinery to cater to the increasing needs of the automotive industry. Examples include a unique coating, lacquering and printing line featuring a full-scale vacuum forming machine to produce full door panel skins. It also boasts two unique squeak & rattle testing machines for seating & trim materials and weatherstrips. This line is further enhanced with a number of additional high-spec instruments, which enable us to test according to global car manufacturers' specifications.
Some examples? Think of technology that can reduce the weight of the interior by using lightweight leather, or solutions to problems that frequently cause frustration among consumers, like scuff marks and stains on seat upholstery and squeaky and rattling seats.
Sustainable building
We strongly believe in taking responsibility, whether we are developing new products or building new offices, factories and centers. As such, we have designed our new Center of Excellence to be energy neutral. It has a green roof to offset the grass that was removed in order to build the center. In addition, the building has solar panels, a heat exchanger and rainwater drainage to maintain a groundwater level that will keep the land hydrated. The Center has been built in line with and will be certified under the BREEAM standards for sustainable building design.
The Stahl headquarters Center of Excellence will be one of the first BREEAM certified laboratories in the Netherlands. Something we are naturally very proud of!
|
distributed by
|
