“Similar to the investments in Slovenia and Allershausen, these two new projects are part of our long-term strategy for the Europe and Africa region. We are further expanding our engineering and production capacities, enabling us to respond even better to customer requirements,” says Bruno Schnekenburger, President of the Robotics Division, Yaskawa Europe. Only a few months ago, Yaskawa announced two major investment projects. The company is planning to open a new European robotics development centre and a new robot production plant in Slovenia, and to extend its Robotics Division headquarters at Allershausen near Munich by a further 5'000 square metres of useable space. Yaskawa has now disclosed plans for two further major projects with over 10'000 square metres of production and office space, involving a total investment of over EUR 10 million. A new building with a floor space of 6'700 square metres is to be built in Nantes, France. At the new location the Drives, Motion and Control and the Robotics product sectors for the French market are to be brought under one roof. “With an increase in floor space of more than 50% we will be well positioned for the future and able to serve our customers even better and more efficiently,” says Xavier Lucas, President of Yaskawa France. In addition to the construction project in France, the existing administration building in Torsås (Sweden) is to be refurbished and upgraded to the latest standards (Evertiq reported). The project comprises a new 2'600 square metres factory building and 300 square metres of new office space. The new building is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018. In Sweden (Torsås) and Slovenia (Ribnica), Yaskawa will be manufacturing positioners, tracks, jigs and standardized welding cells for the whole of Europe and Africa. Furthermore, patented gripper technology for the beverage industry in Europe will be produced in Sweden. At its Swedish plant, Yaskawa will also pursue the development and construction of special robot systems for the automatic repair of wooden pallets.