Lear Corporation Unveils Total Systems Capability With $40-Million Expansion
24 June 1999
Lear Corporation Unveils Total Systems Capability With $40-Million Expansion To World Headquarters and Technology Center Complex
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., June 23 -- Lear Corporation on
June 22 unveiled the $40-million expansion to the company's World Headquarters
and Technology Center complex in Southfield, Michigan (USA), a symbol of the
company's commitment to its total interior systems capability.
The complex sits on a 24-acre site that modestly fronts Telegraph Road (M-
24) and includes a new major addition to the Technology Center to expand
Lear's styling, design, testing and validation capabilities, as well as a new
administration building and renovations.
"With the completion of our new World Headquarters and Technology Center
complex, Lear is well positioned for continued global leadership into the 21st
Century with the state-of-the-art technology to design, develop, engineer and
validate total vehicle interiors for the global automotive industry," said Ken
Way, Lear Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This is an extremely
competitive industry and today we are proving that we are continuing to invest
in our business to ensure that we have the total capability to provide our
customers with superior interior and electronic and electrical distribution
systems."
Lear's Technology Center now occupies all of the former two-story
headquarters building. The facility has been totally renovated and includes a
40,000-square-foot expansion to the company's adjacent Development and
Validation Center.
The Technology Center's new entrance is a two-story, glass-walled lobby
and display area. Nearby, a sky-lighted, circular room and connecting
corridors showcase the Industrial Design staff's work including interiors
styling and concept displays. The Lear Reality Center uses the latest in
computer technology and design software to bring together the company's design
staff from around the world to work together on a design project using an
interactive, "white board" drawing board that also allows customers to see the
real-time changes in realistic, three-dimensional designs.
Lear's Concept Development Studios, where artisans demonstrate and deliver
the company's Advanced Technology products as production-quality samples, have
been transferred from a nearby facility to a 32,000-square-foot area of the
Tech Center. The new location offers a convenient access to and interaction
with 600 Lear designers and 1,500 engineers and technical staff worldwide.
The expanded Development and Validation Center has nearly tripled in size
and consolidates operations from six Lear facilities. It offers Lear
customers total interior validation capability using state-of-the-art testing
equipment and processes. The Center features new acoustical modeling, system
development and testing facilities including a reverberation room, hemi-
anechoic chamber, chassis dynamometer, four post road simulator, and noise
quality evaluation lab. It's part of Lear's ongoing drive to provide vehicle
interior systems that meet or exceed all of the acoustic performance standards
and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) targets established by the vehicle
manufacturer.
The Center's Safety System Validation capability includes North America's
only MIRA side impact system for crash simulation studies, testing of interior
components for compliance with head impact protection standards, static air
bag deployment lab, and dynamic computer simulation and modeling. The Product
Life Simulation technical staff analyze interior system and component
durability, including vibration control, track system durability and
reliability engineering support for Lear's worldwide engineering operations.
Connected to the Technology Center by a glass-encased walkway, the new
90,000-square-foot, three-story Lear Corporation Headquarters building
features a two-story lobby sheathed in glass. The lobby's welcome center is
surrounded by ever-changing product displays and perimeter glass-enclosed
conference rooms for use by employees, suppliers and customers. Overlooking
the lobby on the second floor is the conference/training center.
Daylight pours through 55,400 square feet of glass into the building from
the north and south on all three floors, filling the building with natural
light. Efficient, computer-controlled heating and air-conditioning keep the
interior comfortable while maintaining environmental standards. The building
is equipped with user-friendly workspaces and offices, along with the latest
in business equipment, security systems and audio-visual tools.
A large, dual-purpose area at the west end of the building serves as both
a cafeteria and auditorium. Recently, it was the site of the company's annual
stockholders' meeting. An adjacent room can be cordoned off for private
meetings and outside is a patio for functions during good weather.
The Lear Corporation World Headquarters and Technology Center complex is
home to more than 1,000 employees and is located on Telegraph Road between
Eight and Nine Mile Roads in Southfield. The location provides ready access
to the North American manufacturers that are part of Lear's worldwide customer
base, as well as to the Lear customer focused divisions that serve them.
FASCINATING FACTS . . .
About Lear Corporation
* Lear is a global leader in automotive interiors with these worldwide
rankings: #1 in seat systems; #2 in headliners; #3 in door panels, electrical
& electronic distribution systems and flooring & acoustic systems; and #6 in
instrument panels.
* Lear is the only automotive supplier with 100% digital, dedicated
Industrial Design studios.
* Lear has the only large-diameter, four-wheel-drive, dual-surface
dynamometer in the United States (It accommodates vehicles as large as 10,000
pounds with a wheelbase of 180" -- or the largest pickup truck being produced
today).
* Lear's dynamometer will accumulate 25,000 miles of road testing in a
typical year -- equivalent to driving along the equator and making one
complete lap of the earth.
* Lear has the only MIRA side impact system in North America (Don't blink
or you'll miss the action -- it's capable of reaching 100 Gs in only 25
milliseconds.)
* Lear is the world's largest consumer of automotive body cloth.
* Lear is the only Tier One automotive supplier providing full, on-site
consumer clinics, with drive clinics, focus groups, seat studies,
ingress/egress studies and even special studies on fabric. (We interview and
collect data from an average of 1,200 consumers each year at dedicated
facilities at our World Headquarters and Technology Center complex.)
* Lear engineers and technicians tear down and document -- piece by piece
-- more than 50 vehicles each year.
* Lear is the only Tier One supplier to have a unique, Intranet-
accessible, real-time Technology Database.
* A resistor the size of two clicks of a #7 pencil lead is one of the
smallest parts that Lear purchases but it's also a large purchase -- about 60
million a year.
A Fortune 200 company, Lear Corporation is one of the world's
largest automotive suppliers, with 1998 proforma sales of more than $12
billion. The company's world-class automotive interior products are designed,
engineered and manufactured by more than 100,000 employees at over 300
facilities located in 33 countries. Information about Lear and its products
is available on the Internet at http://www.lear.com.