Japanese robot research and development company FANUC invests 10 million to increase production of CNC devices

Japan's large-scale CNC system and industrial robot Ru0026D and manufacturing company Fanuc will invest 130 billion yen by 2016 to build new factories and research institutes in Japan. A new factory will be built in Tochigi Prefecture, starting from parts and components for the integrated production of numerical control (NC) devices that are the brains of machine tools. At the same time, a new office building for research and development of CNC devices and robots is planned in Yamanashi Prefecture. Numerical control device is an indispensable and important part of machine tool automation. It will actively invest in strategic components that account for more than 50% of the global share in order to capture the demand for automation that is expanding worldwide. Fanuc President Zenji Inaba revealed the above news in an interview with the 'Nihon Keizai Shimbun'. Four factories will be built in Tochigi Prefecture to manufacture equipment that controls the movement of machine tools such as numerical control devices. Together with the Yamanashi factory, the total production capacity will increase by 40%. It plans to recruit 100 people and put it into operation in October 2016. The investment amount is about 100 billion yen. Due to the one-stop production from parts, the investment will double the original expectation, but by using conveyor belts and introducing self-developed robots, 'production efficiency will be increased by more than 10% compared to existing factories' ( President Inaba). The numerical control device is a device that automatically controls the machine tool, and plays a role in improving the machining accuracy when producing parts and molds. Recently, in emerging economies such as China and India, demand for CNC-equipped machine tools is expanding due to stable quality and rising wages. Depending on the trend of demand, further enhancement of production capacity in Tochigi will be considered. In addition, Fanuc plans to expand its research institute in the area where its headquarters is located in Yamanashi Prefecture. Invest 30 billion yen by May 2016 to build 4 new office buildings. Technicians will be recruited to conduct a wide range of research from CNC units to machine tools and robots. In early February, U.S. investment fund Third Point, known as an “influential shareholder,” acquired Fanuc’s shares. Fanuc accepted its proposal and will effectively use about 1 trillion yen of funds on hand for share repurchase. President Inaba emphasized: 'We will expand our main business through down-to-earth business activities to enhance corporate value.'