Bangalore: Sigma-Aldrich expanded its footprint in India by inaugurating its Global Shared Services (GSS) Center. The center will provide support to the company globally by offering value-added capabilities to drive business growth and accelerate operational excellence. 

The GSS Center is situated in Bangalore and is spread across 45,000 square feet. The opening of the new GSS facility closely follows the recent celebration of Sigma-Aldrich's 20 year anniversary of conducting business in India and is yet another recent example of the company's continued investment in talent and highlights its commitment to the Asia Pacific region. Sigma-Aldrich has showcased noteworthy Asia Pacific investments in the last few years, including opening of a new packaging facility in Bangalore, India; opening of a new facility in Wuxi, China (which is now fully operational) and completion of a new SAFC Hitech precursor manufacturing facility in Taiwan.

The company recently reorganized itself to enhance focus on core market segments to better attune solutions and services to meet the needs of a diverse customer base. The company defined three new strategic business units - Research Markets, Applied Markets and SAFC Commercial. Each intends to tailor product innovation programs, sales and marketing channels, and customized solutions in a manner that best suits the specific needs of the customer segments they serve from research to manufacturing. The expanded product portfolio is expected to be available in India by the second quarter of the year and already is being distributed in other regions within Asia Pacific.

Ms Karen Miller, senior vice president, corporate development and corporate communications, Sigma-Aldrich, said that, "India remains a major focus for Sigma-Aldrich. With GSS, we will leverage our capabilities, talent and infrastructure in India to better serve our global customer base. Our highly educated colleagues in GSS are supporting many of our global functions, including strategic marketing, sales support and business analytics."

Mr Jason Apter, vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Sigma-Aldrich, said that, "In challenging economies, successful companies are those that are best able to meet their customer needs and our markets in Asia Pacific are no exception. To reinforce this commitment, we are excited to be bringing the VetecTM brand of products to Asia Pacific and an expanded consumables offering to provide more complete solutions for various research and applied market segments."