Adient breaks ground on ‘largest-ever’ automotive seats prototyping and testing facility in India

Adient, a provider of automotive seating, has broken ground on a new automotive seating prototyping and testing facility in Pune that the company says will be “the largest of its kind ever to be built in India”.

Construction of the new facility marks a major expansion of Adient’s existing technical center in Pune, already a world-class facility with the largest workforce among the automotive seating suppliers global network of tech centers.

The new facility, which is scheduled to open in late 2018, will provide physical testing to augment the capabilities of the existing technical center in Pune, a global Center of Competence at Adient for computer-aided engineering, computer-aided design automation and finite element analysis simulation expertise. 

First established in 2000, Adient’s India Tech Center today has a total headcount of approximately 1,000 engineers, which consists of roughly 850 engineers based locally in Pune and a further 150 engineers stationed at Adient locations outside India on global assignments.

Situated on a 20,000 sq m site near the existing tech center, the new prototyping and testing facility will boast “full-scale” prototyping, testing, and trim capabilities, enabling Adient to conduct full product verification in India to global customer and regulatory standards.

The facility will house a fully hydraulic acceleration sled test system, offering precision pulse matching, full payload capability, and high-speed video capture from onboard cameras.

A 6-axis shaker table at the facility, complete with semi-anechoic chamber, will enable NHV (noise, vibration and harshness) analysis and road durability testing.

Dr Detlef Juerss, vice president, engineering and chief technical officer at Adient, says: “As well as underscoring our long-term commitment to India, this investment of more than $30 million is an important milestone for Adient as we optimize our engineering footprint around the world to deliver global standard product development and innovation capabilities wherever our customers are.

“With this new facility, we will be able to fully execute product development including design and product validation for global and local launch programs right here in Pune, all backed by cutting-edge infrastructure that will be truly unrivaled in India’s automotive industry.”

Richard Chung, vice president, innovation at Adient, says: “Adient has for many years benefited from its strong focus on design in India, a dynamic environment that is rich in talent and creative inspiration.

“Our India Tech Center team already plays a vital role in Adient’s global industrial design operations, providing designs to support our customers today and imagining concepts that will shape the experience of mobility in the future.

“I am very excited about the potential we can unleash in Pune as we accelerate our design and innovation processes here.”

Murali Rajagopalan, director and country manager, Adient India, says: “Adient was one of the first global automotive tier 1 suppliers to enter India.

“Over the past two decades since then we have built world-class manufacturing and product development capabilities across the country.

“We work closely with our customers, who recognize that success in India depends on developing India-specific products.

“India is phasing in new safety regulations for which development activities need to begin now. As far as Adient is concerned, the timing could not be better. When this new facility opens we will be able to support our customers on an entirely new level, so I see this as an exciting new chapter for Adient India.”

Adient, then a division of Johnson Controls, first established its operations in India in 1995 through the formation of Tata Johnson Controls, a collaboration with Tata Automotive Components.

Adient, which recently celebrated the first anniversary of its spin-off as an independent automotive supplier, today has more than 2,500 employees at its wholly owned subsidiary Adient India.