The effort started with just one engineer, Mr. Yang said, but that number quickly grew to 10 by year-end. Kenda American Technical Center (KATC), as the operation is called, now has 18 engineers working on designing tires to be sold in North America.
But Kenda is nowhere near where it wants to be with its R&D efforts. In the next few years, Mr. Yang expects to have as many as 60 engineers working out of the new 45,000-sq.-ft. facility, once it is open.
“We hope in the next five years to have some success in the OE market,” Mr. Yang said.
Kenda purchased the building for the KATC, which is located across from Akron Canton Airport in Green, and has been renovating it, adding equipment for testing and a small lab. The company will open it with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 10.
The facility will focus on all technical aspects related to Kenda's product range, including bicycle, ATV, lawn and garden tires, in addition to passenger and light truck tires.
Prior to opening the tech center in Tallmadge, all Kenda tires for North America were designed at the company's R&D center in Taiwan. The tire maker also operates a technical center in China.
Tire Business interviewed Mr. Yang in July at the company's booth during the Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo. Kenda was there, he said, to look for new distributors in areas of Central and Latin America, where Kenda lacks good representation.
“The Latin America market is tied in with the North American market,” he said, “so the product developed by the KATC technical center will greatly benefit the Latin America market.”
In Latin America, Kenda has a strong presence in Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, according to Mr. Yang.
Kenda reported tire sales of $1.17 billion in 2014, placing it 28th on the Tire Business 2015 Global Tire Report ranking of the world's 75 largest tire makers.
The company, which has its North American headquarters in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, manufactures bicycle/wheelchair, motorcycle, industrial, trailer, ATV and passenger car and light truck tires at five factories worldwide, including one in Taiwan, another in Vietnam and three in China. Kenda also is broadening its product portolio into medium truck tires, starting with a dedicated truck tire factory being built near its car tire plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, Province. Production expected to begin by 2016.
Following the decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to place stiff antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese passenger and light truck tires imported into the U.S., Mr. Yang said Kenda has been decreasing its shipments gradually from China to the U.S. and shifting more to its Taiwan plant.
Could Kenda build a tire factory in the U.S.? Mr. Yang doesn't rule it out.
“This is something to be considered for in the future,” he said. “It is still too early to make any commitment, but I'll never say no to anything.”
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To reach this reporter: [email protected]; 330-865-6131.