The 160,000 square foot Global Research Center will focus on solutions for the company’s can business and will be the central point for technical activities including engineering, manufacturing and metallurgy.
The facility includes a variety of material development and testing laboratories, a pilot beverage can production line and plans include a small scale aluminium rolling mill.
Center focus
The full scale site opened to focus on coatings, the shapes and sizes of cans and bottles and mechanical surface testing on aluminium.
The firm said they hope the center will increase collaboration with customers, enabling development of innovative and sustainable aluminium products.
A Novelis spokeswoman told FoodProductionDaily.com: “Some manufacturers don’t have their own testing facilities so we can do trials for them and improve the overall process.
“The centre will look at coatings, shapes of aluminium cans and bottles, mechanical testing and aluminium sheet testing for end use in the beverage market.
“It brings the centre closer to our global headquarters in Atlanta and with the growth in the beverage market it is a good time to reinforce and enhance the R&D we have.”
Novelis aim to have 80% recycled content across their products by 2020.
Customer benefit
Stefan Erdmann, Novelis’ vice president of Global R&D, said: "The new Global Research and Technology Center will bring together some of world's leading metallurgists, materials scientists, engineers and technologists all working for the benefit of Novelis' customers across the globe.
"The center will tackle challenges ranging from increasing fuel efficiency in automobiles to making consumer packaging and electronics products more sustainable."
Novelis is partnering with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Southern Polytechnic State University on research opportunities, recruitment and internships.
The company operates in 11 countries and has more than 11,000 employees and reported revenue of $11.1bn in 2012.