8. DENSO (China) Investment, Co., Ltd., Shanghai Technical Center opened
1. DENSO (China) Investment, Co., Ltd., Shanghai Technical Center opened
Technological innovation is at the core of a company’s stability and longevity, and this is especially in today’s world of accelerating scientific and technological innovation. Ever since its founding, DENSO has remained steadfastly committed to technological innovation. The main objective of its business operations is to develop cutting-edge technologies and produce advanced products, which it does by investing approximately 10% of its sales each year in product research and development. Since the establishment of DENSO (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, “DICH”) in 2003, each of DENSO’s businesses has steadily grown, but the technical aspects still depend on the support of headquarters in Japan. However, with the huge potential of China looming ahead, it was clear that developing and producing products and services to meet the needs of Chinese customers was the key to opening up this market and succeeding in business. This led to the opening of DICH’s Shanghai Technical Center (hereinafter, “SHTC”) in March 2006, with the privileged but very difficult mission of developing the technologies and products that the Chinese market would require in the near future.
At that time, DENSO’s Chinese business was just starting up, and its technological development had to be started from scratch. When the SHTC was first opened, it had only 30 employees and was limited to supporting development projects conducted by headquarters in Japan. But the opening was a clear demonstration of how DENSO was firmly rooted in the Chinese market and was aiming to truly localize its business. It also expressed the company’s determination to gradually expand the scale of the SHTC and raise the level of its R&D. At the time, SHTC had just launched, but it had set itself a broad goal to “train local technical staff from scratch to spearhead R&D of products required by the Chinese market.”
SHTC subsequently relocated and expanded to meet China’s ever-expanding market. The aim was to improve service levels and competitiveness, and to promote a design system that meets market needs and is rooted locally. In November 2012, the cornerstone ceremony for the new SHTC was held in Xinzhuang Industrial Zone, where it had been relocated, and was attended by senior officials from the development zone and the company. At the end of 2013, after more than a year of preparation, the building at the new address was inaugurated. The new SHTC had a total site area of 34,000 m2 and, as of 2015, 500 employees. After that, DENSO focused on the SHTC to accurately identify customer and market needs, and to develop products that meet local customer needs and are highly competitive in price.
2. Opening ceremony of Shanghai New Technical Center
On July 18, 2014, the opening ceremony of the new SHTC was held at the new address in Xinzhuang Industrial Zone, and was attended by many industry media members, along with Deputy District Mayor Zhang Guokun of the Min District Government Standing Committee; Ma Jing, deputy director of the Shanghai Economic Information Commission; Wang Beijun, secretary of the Xinzhuang Industrial Zone; and Koichi Maruyama, vice consul general of the Consulate-General of Japan in Shanghai. In his opening remarks, DENSO President Nobuaki Kato thanked the government and related organizations for their great support, and said that with the opening of the new SHTC, the company hopes to further strengthen its local development system that integrates sales and technology, thereby contributing to China’s automotive industry.
The construction of a new SHTC, including an integrated laboratory building, began in 2012 and was officially put into operation in July 2014. The new SHTC includes an environmental wind tunnel, an environmental laboratory, an exhaust gas laboratory, and an engine laboratory, enabling the measurement and evaluation of performance and durability of car systems and engines and facilitating the development of competitive systems and products. A showroom was also set up on the first floor of the center to showcase the full range of DENSO’s advanced technologies. The showroom began operations in April 2014, along with the launch of the new SHTC. Divided into the three areas of “environment,” “safety,” and “comfort and convenience,” DENSO’s products in various fields were displayed, with a focus on “system products.”