Mitsubishi opens new FA company in China

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. announced that it will strengthen its factory-automation equipment business in China by establishing a company in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China in June this year. The new company, Mitsubishi Electric Automation Manufacturing (Changshu) Co. Ltd., is expected to begin operating in December 2012 and will target annual sales of around $400 million by March 2016.

The firm will manufacture and sell servo motors, numerical controllers and other drive products to capitalize on rapidly increasing demand for FA equipment in China's huge manufacturing sector. With a planned workforce of 450 employees by March 2016, the company is expected to play a key role in expanding Mitsubishi Electric's FA business in China.

The Chinese market is experiencing buoyant capital investment, especially to meet the fast-rising demand for smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices. As manufacturers expand production capacity for these products, they also have been investing more heavily in automation due to labor shortages and rising wages.

Mitsubishi Electric Dalian Industrial Products Co. Ltd. was established in Dalian to manufacture circuit breakers from 1994, and then added electrical discharge machines and inverters in 1999. Ryoden Automation (Shanghai) Ltd., now Mitsubishi Electric Automation (China) Ltd., was set up in Shanghai in 2002 to handle sales in the domestic market.