The company says it will begin construction on a new press manufacturing facility in January 2007, because its second factory completed earlier this year, is running at full capacity.
Ryobi’s newly expanded 19,973 square metre manufacturing centre—known as Hiroshima East Plants 1 and 2—generated a 60% increase in production capacity when the second plant became fully operational in late October 2006, according to the company.
Ryobi officials say the newest facility, Hiroshima East Plant 3, will be at full-scale operations in September 2007. It will add another 9197 square metres of manufacturing space and represents a total expected investment of $US27 million.
When the third facility is completed, Ryobi will have 29,170 square metres at its Hiroshima East operations, more than double the production capacity Ryobi had in March 2006.
The Ryobi Hiroshima East center represents global best practices in manufacturing and printing equipment production, one US customer says.
“Workers build each customer’s press to order. All press components are individually checked for quality and inspected by technicians and specialised machines in micron-level detail. Each press is thoroughly tested before being shipped to the customer.”
Ryobi says it has installed special equipment at its Hiroshima East facility to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It also unveiled new press technology designed to reduce waste and use of chemicals.
