Mitsubishi Electric Automation (Japan) - Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced on June 20, 2023, that it will invest an additional 42.5 billion yen, or approximately 275 million euros, to construct a second production building for the manufacture of factory automation (FA) control-system products at Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture part of its Nagoya Works campus. The initial investment, announced on March 28, 2022, was for a single production building due to start operations in April 2025. This plan is now being expanded to add a second production building with a planned start of operations slated for April 2027. Overall, this increases the total cumulative investment to 55.5 billion yen, or approximately 360 million euros.

The two production buildings will be closely integrated to streamline their operations. As next-generation factories, both 5G communications and AI will be utilised, as well as advanced supply chain management (SCM) and engineering chain management (ECM) based on Mitsubishi Electric's "e-F@ctory"* concept. The expected benefits include accelerated productivity and quality-improvement cycles, shortened delivery times, and high-quality, high-efficiency production.

In addition to realising a highly automated production process, resistance to demand fluctuations will be strengthened by improving logistic efficiency through the use of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and synchronised production by utilising digital twins, to ensure customers can receive a stable supply of products. 

Furthermore, through various CO2 reduction initiatives at the new facilities, Mitsubishi Electric will continue to contribute to the realisation of a carbon neutral society.

Picture 1 Caption:

Illustration of new production buildings at Owariasahi (Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture).