Cooper Standard in global expansion mode

Novi, Michigan – Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. is drastically increasing its global technical capabilities and North American manufacturing presence with a variety of moves.

The firm plans to open a new North American innovation centre in Livonia, Mich., nearly doubling the size and scope of its current centre in nearby Farmington Hills. Chief Operating Officer Keith Stephenson said the facility is set to open in October.

In a separate move, Cooper Standard is investing $1 million (€850,000) to expand its manufacturing capabilities for coolant tube and hose assemblies, transmission cooling lines, and fuel and brake lines at Surgoinsville, Tenn., in response to customer growth. The firm confirmed that the project will create about 98 new jobs.

Finally, the company celebrated the opening of both a test and a prototype center in Shanghai to support growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Stephenson said the project represents a $5.8 million investment and expects employment to reach about 100 engineers in the coming months.

"We've seen our core customers making investments in that region," Stephenson said of Asia-Pacific. "As we see them invest in that region, we want to make investments to help support them as well as develop very strong relationships with the local Chinese car companies. We see this global car company customer base and this regional car company customer base, and we want to support both with our core product lines. This has been a very positive journey for Cooper Standard and it's very important to us as we try to grow our business globally. We've put our money where our mouth is in terms of investment and reaping benefits for our company and our shareholders."

Doubling up

Stephenson said the firm's new technical center will include all of the employees at the Farmington Hills facility. Employment will increase, but the firm still is finalising total employment numbers as the project is nearing completion.

Investment details were not disclosed.

"As our business has grown and our investment into innovation has grown, we decided to expand our footprint and our capabilities," Stephenson said. "We're in the process of completing a new innovation center. We are moving into a new facility in Livonia and we think it's going to be a very unique facility. It will go from the molecule development all the way through to the product and everything in between."

Cooper Standard currently operates regional centers in Farmington Hills for North America; Lindau, Germany, for Europe; and Shanghai for Asia-Pacific. Stephenson said the new center in Livonia will nearly double the size and include enhanced capabilities compared to its current facility.

"Each of our facilities have unique capabilities," Stephenson said. "This, in terms of sealing and material research sides of our business, will be our leading facility in the world. But each of our facilities have unique capabilities where we home room certain technologies they develop.

"Our three facilities are world-class," he added. "We're really pleased now within each major region of the world to have what we think are world-class testing and development facilities for our customers. That's a point of pride for us."

As for Tennessee, a spokeswoman said the investment is geared toward adding to its current facility in response to increased demand for fluid transfer and fuel and brake products—both of which are produced using rubber and plastic compounds. Once complete, the site will employ about 500 people.

Asia focus

Cooper Standard has been busy in Asia-Pacific, specifically China, during the tenure of CEO Jeffrey Edwards. When he took over in 2012, the firm had a total of three facilities with less than $100 million in revenue and about 500 employees in the region.

Now the firm operates 17 plants with nearly $600 million in revenue and about 5,300 employees. Stephenson said the goal is for Cooper Standard to generate more than $1 billion in the Chinese market by 2020.

"We were late to China and I think in the last five years we've made a significant commitment to expanding our footprint in China while continuing to invest in our core markets in North America and Europe," Stephenson said. "Jeff Edwards joined the company in 2012 and has tremendous experience in the region. He's been very passionate about driving our growth in that marketplace, I give him great credit."

The test and prototype centers, located at the same 25,000-sq.-ft. facility, will be located about 30 miles from the firm's regional headquarters in Shanghai, also the home of its regional technical center. Currently, the two centers combined employ about 50 engineers, but that number is projected to double in the coming months, Stephenson said.

The prototype center focuses on material science development and prototyping new technologies. The test center will focus on validation and testing, both designed to support the regional research and development center.

The new centers are the latest in a string of moves for the firm in the Chinese market, drastically increasing its presence in Asia-Pacific. Other key deals include:

•           Acquired Huayu Automotive System Co.'s share in the two firm's Chinese joint venture—Huayu-Cooper Standard Sealing Systems Co. Ltd.—becoming the majority owner with a 95% equity. Cooper Standard invested $60 million in the deal, announced in September 2014 and closed in first quarter of 2015.

•           Also in 2014, established another joint venture in the Asia-Pacific region with Japan-based Inoac Corp., Cooper Standard Inoac Ptd. Ltd., of which Cooper Standard owns 51%.

•           Opened two new facilities in August 2015—one in Kunshan and the other in Shenyang, China. The Kunshan facility was the second in the area at the time and includes a manufacturing and test center dedicated to fluid transfer and fuel and brake delivery systems. Shenyang focuses on sealing systems. Combined, the moves added more than 500 employees, including about 20 engineers to support development of global platforms designed in Asia.

•           In February 2016, the firm opened two more facilities in China, this time in Huai'an and Chongqing. The facility with Huai'an was the first under its Cooper Standard Inoac joint venture and focuses on fluid transfer systems products. It was projected to reach 300 employees at the 50,000-sq.-ft. site. Its Chongqing facility employed about 200 at its 193,000-sq.-ft. facility at the time. It focuses on fluid transfer systems, fuel and brake delivery systems, and sealing systems.

•           In the third quarter of 2016, Cooper Standard acquired the automotive fuel and brake business of AMI Industries for an undisclosed amount, adding two facilities in China and one in India. It also opened its new India headquarters and technical center in Pune.

Stephenson stressed that these moves are all focused on producing products to service their respective local markets.

"All the investment we've made in China from a manufacturing standpoint is geared toward supporting the local Chinese market," Stephenson said. "We're not trying to move to China, leverage China's cost structure and ship back into North America or Europe. This is all about investing in China for China to support our growth in that region."