Lord expands Michigan technology centre

By Liz White, ERJ staff

Wixom, Michigan-Lord Corp. has expanded its facility in the Detroit area to serve the automotive market more effectively.

Lord will site its automotive sales office in the new 1770-m2 unit in Wixom, as well as a 720-m2 formulation and testing laboratory and a training room for the automotive aftermarket. The site also contains a garage for hands-on training in automotive uses.

"Key to our product design and development process is realistic testing," said Brett Luketic, market manager-automotive OE/Aftermarket. "We needed an area that would allow for activities ranging from process qualification to durability testing," according to Luketic.

Lord makes speciality adhesives and polyurethane coatings as well as electronic and rubber-to-metal bonded vibration and noise control solutions for the automotive market. Its products are used at all stages of vehicle life-in pre-assembly of components, by automotive OEMs, and in vehicle repair.

"The new facility will allow our technology-based company to better serve and train automotive customers on a variety industry issues-ranging from acrylic, epoxy, and urethane adhesive solutions to applications know-how," said Dan Adam, senior global account manager, in the company statement. The new facilities, “allow us to offer a complete solutions centre," he added.

Some 20 people have transferred to Wixom from Lord's Farmington Hills, Michigan facility.