Sep 26, 2009 1:14 PM

At an event in Bangalore, India, recently, ArvinMeritor officially opened a new technical center that will lead the company’s advanced product development initiatives for its portfolio of axles and brakes for commercial and other vehicle applications in the Asia Pacific region, and will support the company’s engineering needs in North America, South America, and Europe.

The company hosted customers and suppliers—including guest speakers Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director, Bharat Forge Ltd; and Kevin Thieneman, India country manager, Caterpillar Asia—at a grand opening ceremony. The ceremony included a tour of the facility highlighting the center’s engineering capabilities, specifically:

•Product Design and Development including design optimization and value engineering.

•Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) including finite element modeling and analysis.

•Benchmarking and Testing area that will house dynamometer rigs for axles and brakes, road load data acquisition, and hydraulic rigs for vertical fatigue and side skid.

The Bangalore Technical Center occupies approximately 16,000 square feet of office space, with an additional 4,000 square feet dedicated to a test lab. About 100 employees will be employed at the facility, which will be a critical element in the company’s global engineering network that also includes R&D labs in Troy MI; Cameri, Italy; and Cwmbran, United Kingdom.