Industrial thread giant Coats has opened the first of three Innovation Hubs, intended as dedicated centres around the world for collaboration with a range of partners including customers, universities and start-ups.
The front entrance of the Coats Innovation Hub at Sevier
Coats Innovation Hub – America, at the company’s Sevier manufacturing site in North Carolina, USA, will develop new products and processes in apparel, footwear and performance materials, for sectors including automotive, oil and gas, protectivewear and telecoms. The hubs are designed to provide “creative and inspiring spaces where an innovative idea can be developed collaboratively and rapidly worked up into a prototype design which is then manufactured in a standalone pilot factory.”
The US hub was formally opened by chairman Mike Clasper and group CEO Rajiv Sharma, with other members of the Coats Board. Innovation Hub – EMEA, in Bursa, Turkey, and Innovation Hub – Asia, in Shenzhen, China, will be opened in early 2019.
The Hub’s main foyer
Sharma says: “Coats is a pioneering company aiming to deliver further revenue growth from higher performance and value enhancing new products that do not even exist today… Customer centric innovation is an important part of our future growth strategy and the inauguration of the Innovation Hub – America is a key milestone.”
The US facility comprises three zones. The Innovation Gallery features a video wall, display pods of the most recent product developments and a timeline tracing UK-based Coats from its origins in Paisley, Scotland, to the FTSE 250 global manufacturing company it is today. There is also a Materials Lab, where customers can collaborate directly with R&D technologists, and a Prototyping Area that includes a pilot factory with a full range of manufacturing machinery.
The Hub includes conference facilities
To support the opening, Coats has created a 360-degree ‘virtual tour’ of Innovation Hub – America.
