Dorel Technical Center for Child Safety

Dorel is investing $21 million through 2013 in our new state-of-the-art Dorel Technical Center for Child Safety to drive technological advancements in child passenger safety. The Technical Center, opened in September 2010, marks the first major initiative in the Company’s car seat product capital investment program. The first phase involved an expenditure of $3.6 million and has resulted in 26 new jobs with plans for a total of 100 new positions in Columbus by the end of 2014. Ninety percent of Dorel’s North American car seats and 50 percent of DJG USA’s total business are currently produced and distributed from the Columbus facility. The new facility is integrated in DJG’s Columbus 1.1 million square foot campus which can produce up to 20,000 car seats per day.

This new, one-of-a-kind facility centralizes much of DJG’s North American product development, bringing together the industry’s best R&D talent and technology to foster cutting-edge innovation of juvenile products. The Technical Center encompasses everything necessary to conceive, build and test car seats in one ultra-modern, state-of-the-art facility.

The Dorel Technical Center for Child Safety features specialized research and design facilities, including computational engineering resources, environmental lab testing, three independent crash test sleds, and advanced side impact testing capabilities. It is an industry first and underscores Dorel’s ongoing commitment to leadership in safety and innovative design.

Air Protect^®

An example of this innovation is Dorel’s cutting edge Air Protect^® technology, design and innovation which were developed by Dorel Juvenile Group in conjunction with Kettering University’s renowned Crash Safety Center. Dorel’s exclusive Air Protect technology is designed to protect children in side impact collisions, putting a state-of-the-art layer of protection where it’s needed most, around the child’s head.

Side impact crashes have dramatically increased since the 1980s, and today are the deadliest kind of automobile crash for children. The vast majority of these fatalities are due to head trauma, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Air Protect was developed as a result of a revolutionary testing method. The Dorel/Kettering Method uses an intruding door technique, to simulate a real world side impact crash with far more accuracy.

Dorel recently began offering Air Protect technology in a full range of infant, convertible and booster car seats covering all child weight and height requirements for child restraint systems, with seats to fit every family’s budget.

Quality Assurance Across the Globe

Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana and has a Design and Development center in Foxboro, MA. In these locations, the teams build in quality, safety and reliability from the concept stage through development and continuously improve with feedback throughout the life of the product. DJGs commitment to quality is global. Quality assurance is also maintained through Dorel China’s eight offices, employing more than 250 Dorel employees. The Dorel China Quality Assurance team is located in strategic locations near our factory base providing numerous support functions. This team ensures Corporate Quality Policies and product Quality Requirements are incorporated into all of our Asian produced product. The qualified staff made up of Quality Engineers, Quality Assurance Auditors, and QC are involved in activities such as vendor qualifications, auditing, new product development, production pilots and release to production. This staff also coordinates third party testing, product improvements, in-process and final product inspections. DJG has laboratories in Columbus and Foxboro and the newly established Dorel China Lab in Kunshan, China creates internal testing capabilities to support new product development and to ensure high quality products are manufactured.