Henkel inaugurates its latest €130 million investment
Henkel has officially opened the doors to its new Inspiration Center Düsseldorf (ICD). With a floor area of 47,000 square meters, the ICD provides space for 30 laboratories, four technology centers and room for more than 650 Henkel experts.
With an investment of EUR 130 million euros, the Adhesive Technologies business unit has built a global innovation and customer center next to its headquarters.
“The ICD marks the largest single investment in our company's history and is a key element of our strategic framework for purposeful growth. With this state-of-the-art building, which is unique in the industry, we have created the infrastructure to take the innovation capabilities of Adhesive Technologies to the next level,” said Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel, in a press release.
On a total of seven levels – in addition to office workplaces and conference rooms – the center comprises of 30 laboratories with various research and testing facilities, four technology centers with double-height rooms that house, among other things, pilot production lines and equipment for large-scale applications such as in the automotive industry or for engineered wood. The company says that the laboratories are modular, meaning that they can be adapted quickly and flexibly depending on the research and development task and to support collaboration between teams.
“The ICD reinforces our commitment to further strengthen our globally leading portfolio and know-how in materials science and to create value for our customers,” added Jan-Dirk Auris, Executive Vice President Henkel Adhesive Technologies. “We offer our employees here an inspiring working environment that promotes knowledge exchange and daily collaboration and uses state-of-the-art technologies. At the same time, the ICD brings our entire portfolio to life for our customers and enables close collaboration with them and with external partners on novel future-oriented solutions. Our focus is particularly on sustainable innovations that contribute, for example, to CO2 reduction for our customers or to new solutions for a circular economy.”
The building offers space for more than 650 employees from the areas of research and development, product development, application technology, technical service and innovation.
