Mitsubishi Electric expands with second production building in Owariasahi, Japan
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will invest an additional JPY 42.5 billion yen, or approximately EUR 275 million, 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, which was announced back in March 2022, was for a single production building due to start operations in April 2025. This plan is now being expanded with the addition of a second production building with a planned start of operations slated for April 2027. Overall, this increases the total cumulative investment to JPY 55.5 billion, or approximately EUR 360 million.
The two production buildings will be closely integrated to streamline their operations. As "next-gen factories", both 5G communications and AI will be utilised, as well as advanced supply chain management (SCM) and engineering chain management (ECM). The expected benefits include accelerated productivity and quality-improvement cycles, shortened delivery times, and high-quality, high-efficiency production.
In addition, 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.
The first production building will have a floor area of 33,600 square metres. The second production building will offer the company an additional 30,000 square metres of floor area.
Mitsubishi Electric says that the global demand for FA control-system products is expected to grow over the medium to long term due to increasing capital investment in the manufacturing sector – particularly in fields related to decarbonisation, such as EVs and lithium-ion batteries, and digital-related fields such as semiconductors and electronic components.
