USA - AkzoNobel celebrated the opening of a new USD 60 million, 2.800-square-meter research and development facility and customer support center in High Point, North Carolina.

It represents according to company officials the largest single capital expenditure project the company has made in its wood coatings business in the past decade.

“We will use the new laboratory to leverage the latest best practices,” said Jim Kavanagh, managing director of industrial coatings. “The application center will contain the latest application and testing equipment that will allow us to mimic our customer's lines and environments. We will be able to accelerate the time it takes to scale up products for launches without wasting our customer's valuable line time as we can efficiently and predictably develop, test and industrialize our technologies to meet customer requirements."

During the opening ceremony, company employees demonstrated the new equipment for AkzoNobel customers attending the event. Visitors also got to see lab technicians at work developing the latest innovations in wood finishing.

AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 150 countries.