The Polish electronics industry is anything but static
There’s been a lot of movement within the Polish electronics industry during the year. Evertiq has listed some of the bigger events that have taken place in the country during 2023.
On the 26th of October 2023, Evertiq Expo in Warsaw will take place at the PGE Narodowy Stadium. In the lead-up to the event, Evertiq has taken a look back at the investment in the Polish electronics industry since the start of the year.
Some years ago, Swedish AQ Group opened its new Wiring Systems factory in Poland. And as we said good bye to 2022, the company announced that it would expand the site further as a response to increased customer demand. The company is expanding with 5,000 additional square metres in additional rented premises. AQ is currently planning to put the new premises into use at the beginning of 2024.
As we started 2023, EMS provider Scanfil announced that it would invest EUR 6 million to increase the manufacturing capacity at its operations in Sieradz, Poland. An investment that will result in a new production line as well as warehousing automation.
In addition, Scanfil intends to expand the existing factory with an additional manufacturing building which will add approximately 8,000 square metres to the company’s operation.
In February Volvo Cars revealed plans to open a brand new Tech Hub in Krakow. The company said that the hub will be a key software development centre and will play a crucial role in reaching Volvo’s ambitions to be a fully electric brand by 2030. The goal is to have the Tech Hub operational by the end of this year, with around 120 engineers in place.
In April European industrial real estate developer Panattoni said that it was building a new BTO factory in Western Poland for an unnamed "giant of the electronics industry." Information indicated that the unnamed giant could be none other than South Korean electronics company Samsung.
During the same month, Kongsberg Automotive officially opened its new plant in Brzesc Kujawski plant in Poland. The opening of the 6,000 square metre facility has created approximately 300 new jobs.
In late April, Japanese Daikin broke ground on a new factory in Poland. The EUR 300 million investment is expected to be completed by the summer of next year. The company expects to start production of heat pumps at the factory in July 2024. The investment is set to create 1,000 jobs by 2025 and 3,000 jobs by 2030.
Another company investing heavily in the production of heat pumps is Bosch, who announced that in order to keep the ramp-up of heat pumps running at the required speed, Bosch intends to step up its investments.
The company is investing EUR 255 million into a new Polish heat-pump manufacturing site in Dobromierz in Lower Silesia, roughly 70 kilometers from Wrocław, by the end of 2027. Construction work is to start in 2024. The start of production is scheduled for the end of 2025 and some 500 new jobs are to be created by 2027.
In May, Lighting expert Trilux announced that it continues to expand in Europe. Near Lublin, about 160 kilometres southeast of the Polish capital Warsaw, the German LED lighting specialist is building a new plant to produce luminaires.
The company expects to complete the construction of the new manufacturing facility during the spring of 2024. The planned production facility – which will offer the company 23,000 square metres of space – is an important addition to Trilux's existing plants. Construction started during the summer, and the new plant is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024 with up to 250 employees.
In June, Swedish telecom company Ericsson hit a major milestone in Poland having produced one million 5G radios with the millionth radio unit to be installed at Telia. The Flex factory in Tczew, Poland is one of the main European facilities for Ericsson’s 5G radio production. It produces the bulk of the volumes going to Telia´s network.
US chipmaker Intel has also eyed Poland and sees the importance of the country. The company has selected an area near Wrocław, Poland, as the site of a new cutting-edge semiconductor assembly and test facility. With an investment of USD 4.6 billion, the facility will help meet critical demand for assembly and test capacity that Intel anticipates by 2027.
When completed, the facility – which will have the capacity to expand – will support approximately 2,000 Intel employees.
During the same month, electronic and SiP manufacturer USI broke ground on its second factory in Poland. The new factory aims to strengthen the company's manufacturing capabilities to meet the increasing demand for EV and green energy solutions in the European market.
The new factory, located in Kobierzyce in Wrocław County, is expected to create up to 1,000 job opportunities and according to the current schedule, USI anticipates that the new factory will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2024.
In August it became official that Scanfil had decided to invest in a new factory building of 14,000 square metres in Sieradz, Poland. The new building will increase the factory floor area by over 70%.
The project started in August 2023, and the new building is estimated to be ready for production in the second quarter of 2025. Scanfil is investing EUR 20 million to construct the new building.
As August was drawing to an end, Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt assembled its first battery systems at Northvolt Dwa in Poland and at the same time announced that it had raised of USD 1.2 billion to finance plans for its further European and North American expansion.
The company launched the construction of the new facility back in 2022 and completed the project just ahead of the summer of 2023. Operations were relocated in July according to schedule. The new facility offers the company approximately 15,000 square meters and facilitates a considerable increase in capacity. The total investment budget for the project was about EUR 7.13 million.
In October, newly-founded Brussels-based European EV battery materials producer IONWAY announced that it had chosen to build its first cathode active material (CAM) production plant in Nysa, Poland, adjacent to Umicore’s existing CAM plant.
The new company, a JV by Volkswagen Group-owned PowerCo and Umicore, is scaling up the EU footprint in the e-mobility business with the ambition to grow its annual production capacity to 160 GWh per year by the end of the decade – which corresponds to 2.2 million EVs. The project is expected to create about 900 industry jobs in Nysa towards the end of the decade.
It's evident that the Polish electronics sector is growing in significance on a global scale. The domestic electronics sector includes everything from high-tech engineering firms, EMS providers, PCB makers, component distributors, equipment manufacturers and distributors. Poland is also causing a stir in the European battery industry, as well as in related sectors.
Take the opportunity and meet the Polish electronics industry during Evertiq Expo in Warsaw on the 26th of October 2023 at the PGE Narodowy Stadium.
