Japanese motor maker infuses P40B more into PH operations
A Japanese electric motors manufacturer will invest P40 billion to expand its production line in the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said, helping beef up exports to markets such as the United States and the European Union.
Nidec, a leading producer of motors found in hard disk drives, automobiles, consumer and industrial equipment, would break ground for a new facility sometime in the third quarter of this year, DTI said in a statement on Thursday.
“Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez announced that Nidec will infuse new investments in the amount of P40 billion in an expansion project meant to increase its production capacity for strain wave gears by an additional 50,000 units per month,” the statement read.
Harmonic system
According to the DTI, Nidec is riding on the increased market demand for a harmonic system, a kind of electric power system. The added investments will bring the factories’ total combined monthly exports to the United States, European Union, India, Korea, China and Brazil to 80,000 units.
The new facility will cover an area of over 35,000 square feet, complementing the firm’s current 3.5-hectare production space. Four hundred new jobs will be added to Nidec’s workforce, bringing the total to 1,000.
Nidec first established a factory in the Philippines in 1995. It now has two factories, one in Laguna and another in Subic, which are engaged in manufacturing motors and reducer gears, according to the DTI.
Its Philippine operations were previously mainly devoted to the production of spindle motors and related products, the DTI said. But it has since expanded its manufacturing activities to cover more high-tech gear products used in the aerospace, robotics and solar tracking industries.
“As the only country in the world producing high precision gear components, [the] DTI, the primordial agency tasked with facilitating the entry of foreign direct investments to the Philippines, will lend support to Nidec’s aspiration to achieve No. 1 status as global specialist in harmonic drive systems,” Lopez said.
“As robotic systems and automation related technology are increasingly defining the configuration and operational systems of factories around the world, [the] DTI is grateful that Nidec has poured resources to training Filipino engineers develop skills related to the production of precision motors and reducers,” he added.
