Motion control and robotics specialist, YASKAWA, is continuing its expansion and investment in its European production capacity with new manufacturing facilities in France and Sweden. This is in addition to the new facilities recently announced for Slovenia and Allershausen near Munich.

Commenting on the expansion, Bruno Schnekenburger, president of YASKAWA Europe Robotics Division, said: “These are similar to the investments in Slovenia and Allershausen and are part of our long-term strategy for the Europe and Africa region. We are further expanding our engineering and production capacities, enabling us to respond even better to customer requirements.”

These new production facilities will be in Nantes, France providing floor space of 6,700 square metres combining drives, motion and control with robotics products for the French market while in Torsas, Sweden an existing facility is to be refurbished and upgraded to the latest standards.

They are in addition to YASKAWA’s recent announcement that the company is investing in a new European robotics development centre and a new robot production plant in Slovenia, and extending its Robotics headquarters at Allershausen near Munich, by a further 5,000 square meters of useable space.

These investments are part of the group’s European initiative as announced by Hiroshi Ogasawara, president and CEO of YASKAWA Electric, and Manfred Stern, corporate vice-president of YASKAWA Electric and CEO of YASKAWA Europe at a recent press conference.

Whilst expanding its infrastructure, the strategy also includes a strengthening of development and application engineering, accompanied by acquisitions to reinforce the Energy and Marine divisions.