Research & Innovation

The 200 researchers at the Center seek to understand physical and chemical mechanisms and elaborate new technologies.

The 15,000 m² site boasts state-of-the-art laboratories, pilot workshops and technology buildings for large-scale testing as well as high-tech equipment including electron microscopes, field-effect microscopes and nano-scale instruments.

Lafarge's research projects are built around 3 main themes:

• end-customer performance, whether in terms of product finish (quality, aesthetics, new functions, etc.) or product implementation (ease of use, productivity, etc.),
• industrial performance, notably the improvement of production processes and environmental performance,
• preparation for the future, notably sustainable development imperatives, such as saving energy and raw materials and limiting CO2 emissions.
  
  

Discover the life at the Research center on video!

The decentralized network of Technical centers means product innovation can easily be adapted to the needs of local markets.

Technical centers and application laboratories work with factories, country teams and Businesses to:

• develop products suited to local needs,
• improve industrial performance.

With excellent knowledge of local markets and local needs, laboratories and technical centers are ideally placed to communicate local requirements to the LCR. For example, Avancrete bagged cement was launched in Malaysia having been developed at the Asian Technical Center, which is based in Kuala Lumpur.

Factories throughout the world can also call on a network of local experts to intervene rapidly to improve processes in plants, for example by optimizing formulas to reflect the availability of local raw materials.

Lafarge has 4 Technical centers for Cement located in:

• Vienna, Austria, serving Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East (Cement Technical Center - CTEC),
• L'Isle d'Abeau, France, serving Western Europe and Africa (Technical Center Europe and Africa - TCEA),
• Montreal, Canada, serving the Americas (Corporate Technical Services - CTS). The CTS has a branch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, serving Asia (Asian Technical Center - ATC). The ATC has a branch in Beijing, China.

The Technical Development Center for the Gypsum Business is based in Avignon, France. The headquarters of the Business are also located here, facilitating exchanges and synergies between researchers and marketing and production.

The Center studies the application of products and systems in real environments. For example, the Center has a very sophisticated acoustic measurement laboratory which allows it to:

• analyze different systems developed all over the world and evaluate and measure their performance under identical conditions,
• promote knowledge transfer between the countries where the Group operates.

The Lafarge Technology Center at L'Isle d'Abeau, near Lyon, employs 500 people of 20 different nationalities in:

• the Research center,
• several key entities of the Cement Business:
  • the Western Europe and Africa Technical Center,
  • the Cement Performance Department,
  • the Training Department,
    

• the Intellectual Property Department,

• the Technological Watch Department.
  
  

Each year, the Technology Center welcomes nearly 20,000 visitors from around the world!