Michelin upgrades major technology centre

Clermont-Ferrand, France – Michelin has completed the first phase of an upgrade project at its Ladoux technology centre, the French tire-maker announced on 14 Oct.

The project, which aims to improve innovation at the centre and facilitate interaction between staff and their ideas, cost €270 million and will be fully operational by early 2018.

A key part of this project is the RDI Campus (for research, development, industrialisation) which is on a seven-hectare piece of land.

The unit will house 80 platforms with an area of 300 sq. metres each, designed to accommodate cross-functional and multi-disciplinary research.

This new design mode, according to Michelin, will enhance its ability to innovativeand reduce the lead-times to market.

The concept is also expected to increase interaction between the different skill sets, as well as the quality of life in the workplace, with services better adapted to the needs of the staff.

Currently, 70 percent of Michelin tires are developed at its research site the Ladoux Technology Centre in the outskirts Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The 450-hectare facility consists of 79 buildings, tracks (totalling 43 kilometres in length) and employs 3,300.

The site was set up in 1965, and the upgrading project started in December 2013.

The centre studies material design, tire design and simulation work, while also produces prototype compound rubber and tires.