Technical Insight
Rohm To Build Major Manufacturing Base In China (News from Japan)
Rohm Co. is to build a major device manufacturing complex, similar in size to its Kyoto factory, in the Chinese city of Tianjin, at an estimated cost of over 10 billion (US$85 million). The company aims to increase its overall production capacity for lasers and LEDs by 2030%, to meet the growing demand for components used in cell phones and digital home appliances. Rohm has leased a 110,000 m2 tract of land in a special economic development zone in Tianjin, and will start work building two factories at the site this spring. Although the new facility, scheduled to begin operations in spring 2002, will export products globally, it will primarily target major Japanese and U.S. microchip and consumer-electronic companies with plants in China. Rohm will install its most advanced manufacturing equipment at the new plant, and will also close its smaller factories in other Tianjin locations and consolidate all manufacturing at the new site.
