NTN invests 20 billion yen to establish new bearing plant in Wakayama Prefecture

On March 23, 2018, NTN announced that it will invest 20 billion yen in Hashimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, to establish a new bearing plant (=photo). The new plant will produce radial bearings with high value-added features such as low friction and long service life for markets such as electric vehicles and industrial machinery. The total floor area will be approximately 60,000 m2.  Construction is scheduled to begin in July 2018, with mass production starting in June 2019.  The company plans to operate the plant initially with approximately 350 employees.  NTN will reorganize its radial bearing production, which has been spread across five sites in Japan, and consolidate production of high value-added products at the new plant.

The new plant is equipped with the latest high-productivity equipment, as well as IoT and AI systems. The plant also strengthens supply capacity, responding to new products and cutting prototype delivery time in half, as well as reducing production lead time by one-third compared to the previous model. Recently, demand for high-value-added products has also increased in the automotive and industrial machinery markets, such as construction equipment, robots, and machine tools. To respond quickly to the growing demand, the company decided to build a new plant and reorganize its production system.