Panasonic plans to move air conditioner production to Japan

Japan: Panasonic said it would transfer back to Japan the production and development of certain air conditioners currently produced in China for the domestic market.

Room air conditioners for the Japanese market are currently produced at its Kusatsu plant in Shiga Prefecture and Guangzhou plant in China.

“In the future, we will invest in facilities such as the Kusatsu plant to produce high-end, high-value-added, high-end, and mid-range models expected to be demanded by the Japanese market, and transfer production plants from the Guangzhou plant,” the company said.

according to Nikkei AsiaThe Japanese manufacturer will spend about $70 million to build a new production line at its factory, with the shift of production to take place in stages this year.

“Our company has traditionally advocated ‘produce locally, consume locally’ manufacturing, taking advantage of our location close to markets to develop products that reflect customer needs in a timely and rapid manner,” the company said in a statement.

Panasonic said the move will reduce distribution inventory and prevent shortages. In addition, new methods of standardization and modularization of parts will be introduced, significantly reducing development and manufacturing time.