Thailand’s automotive market is booming: in 2016, nearly two million cars were manufactured there, significantly more than in the UK or Italy. Bosch is responding to this rising demand. Following a one-and-a-half-year construction phase, the company is opening a new plant for injection technology in Hemaraj, 130 kilometers east of Thailand’s capital Bangkok.
It is the first smart factory in Thailand, and the second Bosch Mobility Solutions plant there. Prior to the opening ceremony, Peter Tyroller, the member of the Bosch board of management responsible for Asia Pacific, said: “Localication is a top priority at Bosch. The new plant will enable us to respond to growing automobile production in Thailand and to serve international as well as local automotive customers on the spot.”
The supplier of technology and services is focusing heavily on connected manufacturing at the new factory. Between 2015 and the end of 2017, Bosch will have invested some €80m in total in the new smart factory in Thailand.