Tokyo (April 28, 2010) - Today, Bridgestone held the opening ceremony for its Global Manufacturing Education Center ( G-MEC ) in the Bridgestone G-MEC Building (referred to as the G-MEC Building hereafter), a training building established in Kodaira City, Tokyo.

G-MEC was established in 2007 to train employees involved in the all areas of manufacturing—including manufacturing of tires, diversified products and raw materials—on a global basis. The company held the ceremony at the newly opened G-MEC Building to officially launch the new G-MEC training and education program. G-MEC is responsible for developing a wide variety of training programs and educating the instructors that will come to represent each region. Among the training programs offered are programs that teach the fundamentals of manufacturing—including safety and disaster prevention, environmental management, quality management—based on the actual equipment and sites used in manufacturing, and training that makes use of cutting-edge facilities. Additionally, instructors that have finished their education train employees involved in manufacturing at their own respective plants around the world. Accordingly, G-MEC is developing training programs on a global basis.

The G-MEC Building is adjacent to the Tokyo Plant and technical centers also located in the Kodaira area. By taking advantage of these facilities, G-MEC is able to efficiently provide hands-on training at mass production facilities and using cutting-edge technologies all at once.

The Bridgestone Group, in order to build the foundation for future growth, is aggressively investing in growth markets and strategic products. Examples of these investments include the establishment of a new plant in India, increasing production of the Wuxi Plant in China and the Kitakyushu Plant, and increasing a production base of adhesive film for solar modules (EVA film). Through the proactive training of employees utilizing G-MEC, Bridgestone Corporation will raise the standards for manufacturing, and will work to further improve its corporate operations from the perspective of both hard and soft elements.