Nidec, a leading producer of motors found in hard disk drives, automobiles, consumer, and industrial equipment, will infuse P40 billion in an expansion project meant to increase its production capacity.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement Nidec is scheduled to break ground for a 3,500-square facility in the third quarter of 2022 to complement its current 3.5-hectare production space.
The project will create 400 new jobs to Nidec’s workforce, targeted to reach a total of 1,000.
The expansion will increase the capacity for the manufacture of strain wave gears by 50,000 units per month.
Nidec said it is riding on the increased market demand for harmonic systems. The added investments will bring the factories’ total combined monthly exports to the US, EU, India, Korea, China, and Brazil to 80,000 units.
Nidec first established a factory in the Philippines in 1995. Its two factories in Laguna and one in Subic are engaged in the manufacture of motors and reducer gears.
Philippine operations were previously devoted mainly to the production of spindle motors and related products. Nidec has since expanded its manufacturing activities to cover more high-tech gear products used in the aerospace, robotics and solar tracking industries.
The company initially planned to increase production of components for HDDs. A contraction in the global market for small sized spindle motors led to a shift in corporate strategy.
The company has relocated all its planetary gear business from China to the Philippines.
Subsidiary and sister company Nidec Shimpo, one of the biggest global innovators for precision gearing solutions started mass producing robotic components developed in Japan in the Philippines. The components have been described by developers as extremely silent with zero backlash and smooth rotation.
As robotic systems and automation related technology are increasingly defining the configuration and operational systems of factories around the world, DTI is grateful that Nidec has poured resources to training Filipino engineers develop skills related to the production of precision motors and reducers,” Lopez said. – Irma Isip
