Visteon Opens Visteon Village in Van Buren Township
New Corporate Offices and Innovation Center Promote Greater Collaboration and Innovation
VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich., Aug. 6 -- Visteon Corporation has begun moving employees into Visteon Village, its new, 800,000- square-foot corporate offices and innovation center in Van Buren Township, Mich. The move consolidates employees from 13 Southeast Michigan facilities to realize cost savings and efficiencies and to provide customers with enhanced product innovation.
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Visteon Village is situated on a 265-acre site and was designed to facilitate innovation and collaboration among customers, employees and supplier partners. The Village will initially house 3,200 employees and is one of four Visteon facilities in Southeast Michigan that will consolidate employees formerly located at multiple sites. It has nine buildings, including a central building called "Village Center" overlooking a 37-acre lake.
"Visteon Village enhances our emphasis on our customers, creates a sense of unity among our employees, and helps us share best practices," says Mike Johnston, Visteon president and chief executive officer. "Visteon is bringing its people together in an open environment that is geared toward achieving greater efficiencies and added value for our customers. Visteon Village will help us expand and evolve that initiative."
The Village, which is eight miles from the geographic center of Visteon's Southeast Michigan employee base, consolidates much of the administrative, customer support and research and development work now performed at 13 non- manufacturing sites throughout the area.
"Consolidating activities from 13 sites to Visteon Village and three other main facilities will result in significant cost reductions for the company," adds Johnston. "There are savings in facility and equipment-related costs, but we also will realize other financial benefits from the increased efficiency and productivity of our employees."
The Village houses customer business groups, product line teams, innovation and advanced business development, global program management, aftermarket, information technology, corporate relations, finance, marketing, testing, a design center and labs. The new corporate offices also include six dedicated customer innovation centers, as well as three product innovation centers.
Customer service centers are dedicated to individual customers and will be used to conduct general business and for the proprietary development of products and technologies. Product innovation centers are where Visteon product line teams design and develop concept technologies for potential customer sales.
"Visteon Village embodies our commitment to being a customer-focused organization," says Julie Fream, Visteon vice president and general manager, DaimlerChrysler customer business group, North America. "Our customers, suppliers, employees and visitors will experience an energized atmosphere designed to encourage creativity, collaboration and innovation."
With its team-oriented environment and centrally located functions, the Village will help the company better support its customers and develop the innovative products they want and need. It will also allow Visteon to better prioritize its resources to move products seamlessly from creation to launch. Upgrades to Visteon's information technologies will provide further improvements in efficiency.
Amenities on the Village's "Main Street" will include a convenience store, a salon, a restaurant, a bank and a fitness center, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2005. The site also features a nature trail through the wooded wetlands, which will be available for both employees and the community to enjoy.
An important focus of the development of the Village was its sustainable design, which provides for minimal impact to the environment within the 265- acre site. Visteon planted 5,000 trees throughout the campus to enhance the environment.
Located approximately 25 miles west of Detroit, Visteon Village is two miles north of the I-275 and I-94 interchange, bounded by I-275 on the west, Ecorse Road on the north and Tyler Road on the south.
Visteon Corporation is a leading full-service supplier that delivers consumer-driven technology solutions to automotive manufacturers worldwide and through multiple channels within the global automotive aftermarket. Visteon has approximately 72,000 employees and a global delivery system of more than 200 technical, manufacturing, sales and service facilities located in 25 countries.
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