Pune: H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) has officially opened its new Pune, India, business office and a new R&D centre in its Shirwal, India manufacturing facility. The facilities were inaugurated by Jim Owens, president and chief executive officer, on 18 and 19 March, 2017, thus, marking the conclusion of its first phase of investment of USD 20 million in India. This expansion strengthens H.B. Fuller’s commitment to customers in India and the neighboring areas.
H.B. Fuller has had a local presence in India since 2011 through its 24,000-metric-tons-per-annum manufacturing facility in Shirwal, India, located 65 kilometers from Pune. Through the addition of its new business office in Pune, as well as its new state-of-the-art R&D centre, the company will be able to help its customers solve problems, and create new solutions, more rapidly than ever before.
“We are pleased to be expanding our footprint in India. We are optimistic about the new opportunities our new business office and R&D centre will provide us – and our customers. By having a state-of-the-art facility and adhesive experts on the ground in India, we will help accelerate innovation in the region and help drive customer performance,” said Owens.
Says Kamal Johari, managing director of Nobel Hygiene, “We’re really looking forward to leveraging H.B. Fuller’s new R&D capabilities in India. Having the strength of this leading global adhesives provider in our local community will be a key competitive advantage for our company.”
The new Pune, India business office houses 50 employees in customer support and administrative roles, and offers a modern atmosphere to encourage innovative thinking and to host customer meetings. Spanning 5,000 sq. ft. of the Shirwal manufacturing facility, the new R&D centre features dedicated areas to conduct experiments, run demonstrations and train customers on its hot melt, water-based, anaerobic and cyanoacrylate technologies. Its close proximity to the production floor also increases collaboration between the company’s R&D and operations teams.