Osaka, Japan, Mar 21, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - Panasonic Corporation today announced the opening of a new facility in Vietnam that houses a washing-machine manufacturing plant and an R&D center. The facility is part of the company's plans to drive and expand its home appliances business in the ASEAN region. Panasonic Appliances Vietnam Co. Ltd. (PAPVN), which operates the facility, held an opening ceremony on March 20 at the site in Thang Long Industrial Park in the northern province of Hung Yen.
The new factory will start mass production of top-loading washing machines in April this year with a production capacity of 600,000 units a year. The production will focus on energy-efficient and water-saving washing machines with Panasonic's unique Econavi functions in addition to high-performance machines that offer a variety of wash cycles such as "gentle handwash," "fragrance" and "baby care." One-half of the output will be for the domestic market, and the remaining half will be exported to the other ASEAN countries and the Middle East. The factory will have about 300 employees in the fiscal year through March 2015 (FY 2015).
The R&D center will design and develop refrigerators and washing machines as well as components and devices used in them in close cooperation with R&D centers in Japan and Panasonic's production bases in the other ASEAN countries. In the future, the center in Vietnam will serve as the focal point to coordinate Panasonic's R&D activities in the region, PAPVN has been operating in Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi since 2003, manufacturing refrigerators for Vietnam and the other ASEAN countries, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
The new facility in the park strengthens PAPVN as the core base for Panasonic's refrigerator and washing-machine businesses in ASEAN. PAPVN will accelerate efforts to nurturehuman resources who can support its R&D activities to evelop and manufacture products tailored to each market. Through these efforts, Panasonic aims to contribute to the economic development of Vietnam.
New Factory and R&D Center in Vietnam
Name: Branch of Panasonic Appliances Vietnam Co., Ltd. in Hung Yen
Address: Plot G2, Thang Long Industrial Park, Yen My, Hung Yen Province
Site area: 52,000 m2
Washing Machine Plant R&D Center
Products: Top-loading washing machines
Capacity: 600,000 units per annum (FY 2015 ending in March 2015)
Employees: Approx. 300 (FY 2015)
Mass
production: Slated for April 2013
R&D Center
Services: Design and development of refrigerators and washing machines
as well as components and devices for Vietnam and other ASEAN
countries and Japan. Coordination and support of development
centers in ASEAN.
Start of
operations: March 2013