CHANGZHOU, China—Arlanxeo opened its new rubber technology center in Changzhou, located on the campus of its EPDM plant.

The center is one of the firm's global rubber testing centers and will bring many advanced analytical testing capabilities under one roof, capable of testing and mixing a wide range of rubber products.

The firm said that bringing the testing, mixing and production capabilities onto one site will enhance the strength of the EPDM plant and position Arlanxeo to meet the challenges currently presented by the market situation. The move also underscores the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, Arlanxeo said.

"We believe that this move ties in with our focus of serving our customers better by improving our systems and processes in the APAC region. The new RTC will continue to strengthen Arlanxeo's product portfolio to meet the region's growth potential," Arlanxeo CEO Jan Paul de Vries said in a Dec. 15 news release.

The center consists of five different laboratories each with a different focus—mixing, rheological, physical testing, wet and analytical testing operations. The labs are led by two teams, rubber mixing and rubber testing.

Arlanxeo China was established in August 2016. The EPDM plant in Changzhou has a capacity of 160,000 metric tons per year and began operations in 2015.

"While the products manufactured at the plant have been well-received, underlining our customers' confidence in our locally-manufactured rubber products, the RTC adds additional value to Arlanxeo world-class EPDM plant," Ming Cheng Chien, Managing Director of Arlanxeo China, said in a statement. "Having the RTC at the same location streamlines our production and technical processes, brings us closer to our customers in order to serve them better."

Arlanxeo was formed in April 2016 as a 50-50 joint venture between Lanxess A.G., which carved out most of its rubber related activity and sold half of it to Saudi Aramco for $1.3 billion dollars. The venture reported sales of $2.92 billion in 2015 and employs 3,800 people with 20 global production sites.