Cooper Standard opens innovation center in Michigan

Livonia, Mich. — A wild, fun future is on the horizon for the automotive industry, and Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. is prepared to meet it head on.

The firm recently opened a new 137,750-square-foot global technology center in Livonia, offering capabilities in material science, tooling, development, production and validation. The site will serve as the company's global hub for innovation and is one of three regional technical centers—with similar facilities in Shanghai and Lindau, Germany.

The Livonia center will employ up to 94 people at full capacity, consolidating the assets and capabilities from its Farmington Hills, Mich., technical center and Bowling Green, Ohio, test lab.

"We were committed to putting in place a world class technology center in North America," Chief Operating Officer Keith Stephenson said. "We wanted to go all the way from material science, creating new materials, through prototyping, tooling and into production-ready. We can go from material science to a finished product that we think is production quality. We think that is a great opportunity. That material science is going to touch on all of our product lines, and we want this facility to be one of three like this in the world for Cooper Standard."

Cooper Standard has been investing in innovation for some time now, and the Livonia center is just the latest piece as it gets ready to develop parts that will help shape the automotive industry's future.

The center leads Cooper Standard's global material research endeavors, from basic chemistry through end products, and supports all of the firm's product lines, which are divided into four segments—sealing, fuel and brake delivery, fluid transfer, and anti-vibration systems.

The Livonia center will employ up to 94 people at full capacity.

It offers a fully integrated material development laboratory, provides prototype production, offers production equivalent lines for pilot activities, and features an innovation showroom and vehicle display area, among other capabilities.

"We created this place to go faster with our innovation," said Chris Couch, vice president, innovation and product groups. "We've been investing in innovation for many years. The first dedicated group was set up in 2013, but the bits and pieces to do that work were scattered around the company. We consolidated in some lab equipment, pilot production lines, tool shop, etc., and got them here under one roof. Now instead of having to beg for time at the plants to do trials, we can go full speed ahead here without breaking into production. And being all under one roof leads to better ideas, speed and accuracy in the trials we're doing."

As autonomous vehicles and ride sharing become more of a reality, Couch said the firm expects miles driven to increase exponentially in certain markets. That will lead to increased requirements for performance and durability. Cars today drive maybe two hours per day, but if that increases to 20 then the seals and parts inside the car need to become more durable.

Vehicle electrification also is becoming a reality, and while Cooper Standard supplies plenty of parts to the powertrain, Couch said the firm is not afraid of the change—in fact it's embracing it. While the fuel line disappears in electric vehicles, he said those vehicles still will require brake lines, a sealing package and actually consist of three to five times more coolant hoses that offset the loss of fuel lines.

And as electric vehicles become more prevalent, cabin noise will become more of a focus. Couch said that OEMs have provided data that show after the engine and powertrain, the largest contributor to cabin noise is the vehicle's glass run system.

"We're clearly seeing the need for lightweighting and improved cooling technology," Stephenson said. "When you take the white noise from the engine away, you suddenly notice other noise in the vehicle coming from the exterior and external environment. There's a need for an improved sealing systems technology, which many people don't think about. But all of a sudden there's no more noise coming from the powertrain so it's really driving us to invest significantly in our hose and sealing business."

And regardless of what comes of the U.S. regulatory environment under the current administration, the trend of more fuel-efficient vehicles isn't going anywhere.

Extrusion lines at Cooper Standard's Livonia, Mich., facility allow new product testing without interrupting production.

"There are the macrotrends, which I don't think have changed much in the past couple of years," Couch said. "The regulatory aspect that pushes us toward lightweighting is not new. Even if the regulatory environment in the U.S. dials down a bit with the new administration, the U.S. is only 14 percent of the global market. This is still going to be important everywhere else."

Cooper Standard has already rolled out some unique products, highlighted by its new material development—Fortrex.

The new lightweight elastomeric material combines the best attributes of EPDM and thermoplastic vulcanizates, two common materials used in sealing. The firm said Fortrex offers weight savings up to 30 percent compared to EPDM, and avoids the compression set issues associated with TPVs, resulting in a stronger sealing system and reduced cabin noise. It does not weather like EPDM and can be color-matched.

The technology already was picked by two large SUV programs from Detroit OEMs and was named a finalist for the 2018 PACE Awards, given out by Automotive News, which is a sister publication of Rubber & Plastics News.

The firm also released its ArmorHose III, which uses some chemistry from Fortrex and sealing blended with other technology to produce a hose that provides a 37 percent weight reduction compared to EPDM.

Couch said both products are two examples of the firm's i3 program—which stands for imagine, initiate and innovate. Anyone in the company, from plant-level associates to senior level executives, can participate and submit new ideas.

Those ideas are then evaluated by the firm's Global Technology Council, chaired by Couch and consisting of the firm's regional engineering vice presidents.

So far, it's paying off big. Cooper Standard sold $385 million of innovation orders through the second quarter of 2017 and is targeting nearly $1 billion in innovation-related sales by 2025.

The firm also is expanding its horizons a bit, looking for new opportunities beyond that of the automotive industry.

Cooper Standard's lab allows it to perform a variety of tests on its products and spearhead the firm's material science development efforts, leading to new products like Fortrex and Armor Hose.

The firm recently opened a 138,000-sq.-ft. facility in Sherbrooke, Quebec, which consolidated three facilities and brought the 250 employees in its Industrial Specialty Group together under one roof.

The site will produce extruded EPDM rubber sealing products for the non-automotive industrial, commercial and specialty vehicle markets. It will also house a new enterprise resource planning system and provide employee skill enhancement programs.

Stephenson said ISG currently accounts for less than 5 percent of Cooper Standard's global sales, or about $170 million based on its 2016 total of $3.47 billion. The firm is targeting other transportation segments outside of automotive, such as commercial vehicle, agricultural equipment and construction.

ISG initially will focus on North America, but the goal is for it to evolve into a global unit.

"We've had a small business for our non-automotive segment," Stephenson said. "A few years ago we put a formal structure around that group in North America with a dedicated leader to that business. His team is working with commercial vehicles, agriculture and industrial equipment builders. The thought is to take the technology we're developing in the automotive space and scale that technology for other adjacent markets. To do that effectively, we want a dedicated team, with dedicated facilities, and over time we want to grow that business substantially."

But it's also looking to go beyond transportation through licensing agreements for its unique material science capabilities, like Fortrex, bringing it to other industries outside of automotive/transportation.

"Our hope is we have multiple partners servicing multiple end markets for Cooper Standard," Stephenson said. "We're clearly going to maintain and expand our leadership position in automotive, but we really believe in this material science. We can bring that material solution into other markets with partners who can utilize it for what they're doing today."