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Kistler, a worldwide supplier of precision sensors, systems and instrumentation for engine, chassis and vehicle development, as well as manufacturing process monitoring and vehicle component manufacturing systems, today announced the official opening of its new Kistler North America Technical Center (Tech Center), located at 30280 Hudson Drive in Novi, Michigan, USA. The Tech Center was formally opened for business on Thursday, April 25th, in an official ribbon cutting ceremony and private reception attended by 120 Kistler customers. Welcoming customers to the facility were Rolf Sonderegger, CEO of Kistler Instrumente AG; Nick Wilks, Kistler Continental Head of the Americas; David Staudt, Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Novi, Michigan; and the evening's keynote speaker, award-winning automotive industry journalist John McElroy, host of the popular television and radio shows, "Autoline Daily", and "Autoline This Week." Also on display at the event were a number of active demonstrations of Kistler vehicle sensing technologies for engine development, hybrid electric vehicle testing, vehicle dynamics and crash testing. Noted Nick Wilks, "The opening of our new Technical Center clearly demonstrates Kistler's firm industry commitment to bringing world-class technical expertise and support closer to where our major customers operate. This new facility offers both Detroit area customers and our welcomed worldwide visitors the direct benefits of hands-on assistance from our highly experienced in-house team on their unique requirements. The combination of product offering and support provides individually customized turnkey solutions for vehicle testing that are truly unmatched in the industry. We look forward to bringing such capabilities to the North American marketplace, and to growing our collaborative presence here." Area Kistler customers now have immediate access to fully dedicated on-site technical product sales, service and applications engineering support for their automotive testing, crash test, hybrid electric vehicle, vehicle dynamics and test laboratory requirements. In addition to Kistler sensors and instrumentation, the new facility supports the KT North America portfolio of on-board, off-board and in-dummy crash test data acquisition systems and software; and Corrsys-Datron vehicle dynamics testing technologies. Home to 21 Kistler employees, with future capacity for up to 50, the Tech Center has been wholly designed and developed with the needs of the Kistler customer in mind, including: three external hybrid electric vehicle charging stations; a purpose-built customer training theater, complete with a demonstration room of Kistler product technologies; and in-house videoconferencing facilities, for collaboration with global experts at other Kistler and customer facilities. In addition, three fully secured and equipped garage work bay areas are expressly designed to support new vehicle product testing, process improvement and automotive R&D activities. The area is complete with a 10,000 lb hoist and exhaust system setup, with capability for vehicles to be driven directly into the facility from a private back entrance. Available onsite and local field testing capabilities include system setup and support, customer vehicle installation, and product rental services for engine combustion analysis, using the Kistler KiBox® ToGo; wheel force measurements, via the Kistler RoaDyn® wheel force transducer assembly; and vehicle dynamics testing, via the Corrsys-Datron RV-4. In addition, an onsite electronics repair and evaluation area actively supports customer product field verification testing; process improvement evaluations; and the development of specific hardware and software for the assembly and testing of customer product solutions. The area features state-of-the-art equipment and specialty flooring to protect against the harmful effects of electrostatic discharge (ESD) on sensors and instrumentation. A purpose-built onsite calibration service center further supports A2LA accredited in-house calibrations of Kistler, KT Automotive and Corrsys-Datron instrumentation to ISO17025 standards, with additional capabilities to be added in response to customer demand. The North America Technical Center is the latest in a series of fully dedicated technical service and support facilities for Kistler worldwide, joining existing operations in Stuttgart, Germany; and Shanghai, China; with another planned for Pune, India, in the near future. Each Tech Center facility is fully equipped with the necessary in-house expertise, calibration service offerings, applications engineering and technical support for customized and localized vehicle testing solutions, incorporating the use of Kistler product technologies. www.kistler.com
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