Novares, automotive plastics supplier, inaugurated its newly built skill center for powertrain products at its site in Lens, France. The center is one of eight in Novares' global network of skill centers across the globe and employs 160 powertrain specialists who design lighter and greener engine parts for the automotive industry.

LENS CENTER REDUCED THE WEIGHT AND COST OF INDIVIDUAL ENGINE PARTS

The Lens center made its name reducing the weight and cost of individual engine parts by between 30 and 50%, finding plastic alternatives to parts traditionally made of metal. Now the center is focusing on today's challenges of achieving greener, more sustainable vehicles and reducing CO2 emissions, winning prizes in recent years for innovations in fuel-cell technology and hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

READY TO MEET THE PRESSING CHALLENGES OF TODAY'S GREEN AGENDA

The newly built 7,500 m2 center is equipped with laboratories and state-of-the-art mechanical simulation equipment and brings together the company's best engineering and research experts in this field. "The new skill center at Lens will not only give our expert teams the best facilities in which to develop their innovations, it will also become an international center of excellence, where we can show our global customers the fruits of our considerable R&D investment and how this translates into innovations that will help the cars of tomorrow meet the pressing challenges of today's green agenda," said Pierre Boulet, Novares CEO.