Since January 20, Grand Rapids site houses the American counterpart of the 507 Fab House (in Châlette-sur-Loing, France): the 616 Fab House or North America Innovation & Business Development Center. Its function is the same as the 507 Fab House: welcoming our customers so they can discover Hutchinson’s entire global product range and offering a forum for exchanges for the teams.
The 616 Fab House offers innovative, welcoming, high-tech facilities: several conference rooms with interactive screens, videoconferencing facilities, a telepresence room, a showroom presenting our solutions, a 3D printer, and much more. More than 170 guests attended its opening ceremony, including the members of Hutchinson’s Operational Committee, representatives from the governor’s office, the US Congress and the mayor of Grand Rapids, as well as our academic partners, the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University, and of course our customers.
As with Building 507, the 616 building involved a historical renovation, covering the entire third floor of the Grand Rapids production site, an industrial space that was more than a century old, with typical features for Michigan. Today, the 616 Fab House is a 1,500 square meter red brick space, with hardwood flooring and timber beams.
