H.B. Fuller has opened its new Pune, India, business office and a new R&D center in its Shirwal, India, manufacturing facility. The facilities were inaugurated by Jim Owens, president and chief executive officer, on March 18 and 19, marking the conclusion of its first phase of investment of $20 million in India. This expansion strengthens H.B. Fuller’s commitment to customers in India and the neighboring areas.

H.B. Fuller has had a local presence in India since 2011 through its 24,000-metric-tons-per-annum manufacturing facility in Shirwal, India, located 65 kilometers from Pune. Through the addition of its new business office in Pune, as well as its new state-of-the-art R&D center, the company will be able to help its customers solve problems, and create new solutions, more rapidly than ever before.

“We are pleased to be expanding our footprint in India. We are optimistic about the new opportunities our new business office and R&D center will provide us – and our customers. By having a state-of-the-art facility and adhesive experts on the ground in India, we will help accelerate innovation in the region and help drive customer performance,” says Owens.

Kamal Johari, managing director of Nobel Hygiene, adds: “We’re really looking forward to leveraging H.B. Fuller’s new R&D capabilities in India. Having the strength of this leading global adhesives provider in our local community will be a key competitive advantage for our company.”  

The new business office houses 50 employees in customer support and administrative roles, and offers a modern atmosphere to encourage innovative thinking and to host customer meetings. Spanning 5,000 sq. ft. of the Shirwal manufacturing facility, the new R&D center features dedicated areas to conduct experiments, run demonstrations and train customers on its hot melt, water-based, anaerobic and cyanoacrylate technologies. Its close proximity to the production floor also increases collaboration between the company’s R&D and operations teams.