KYOTO, Japan — Nidec Global Appliance, holder of the Embraco brand of refrigeration solutions, started its new fiscal year announcing the investment of $70 million to leverage and set up new production lines of refrigeration compressors and condensing units in several parts of the world. The new lines will increase the annual production capacity by more than 10 million units, which will be added to the current capacity of 45 million compressors and condensing units per year. The investment goes to manufacturing plants that produce Embraco solutions in Austria, China, Brazil, and Mexico.
“This investment is motivated by a composition of factors, being one of them a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic: as people all around the world are spending more time at home, it has become increasingly important to re-evaluate the level of quality and energy efficiency of residential appliances,” said Nidec Global Appliance’s CEO, Valter Taranzano. “In parallel, more people at home means more consumption of fresh food, increasing the demand for refrigeration in the food retail sector, such as supermarkets and convenience stores.”
In Fürstenfeld, Austria, the investment of $5 million in the manufacturing plant is enabling it to start the production of two variable-speed models, FMX and VES.
In China, Nidec Global Appliance’s manufacturing site in Beijing is receiving an investment of $3 million to increase the annual production capacity of VES, VEM and FMX. The target market for the products are Asia, mainly China and Japan, Europe, and the United States.
“For being variable-speed compressors, with the option of running on natural refrigerants, these solutions optimize energy consumption and give OEMs the flexibility to customize their product according to each market need,” said Guilherme Almeida, strategic planning vice president at Nidec Global Appliance. “From the end users perspective, whether they are food retailers or homeowners, these compressors mean efficiency, reliability, sustainability, and energy savings.”
In Brazil, the manufacturing plant located in Joinville will receive $21 million in investments to add a third production line of EM compressors and deliver additional 2.5 million units per year, on top of a $4 million investment already on going to increase productivity.
In Mexico, the production site in the city of Apodaca is receiving investments of $35 million to build a new production line of ES compressors, increasing by 60% the site’s production capacity. It will be focused on responding to the North American market demand, supporting the transition to natural refrigerants in this region, with the addition of an increased cooling capacity in comparison with previous families. In total, Nidec Global Appliance is investing about $70 million in its plants in Mexico, focused on the aforementioned capacity increase and processes automation.
Another investment is being made in condensing units’ production capacity expansion. Nidec Global Appliance will invest around $2 million in its Itaiópolis’ manufacturing, in Brazil. The investment will increase production capacity by 25%, serving mainly the Brazilian, Latin American, and North American markets, with a smaller portion destined to Europe and Asia. The plant in Itaiópolis produces condensing units of all sizes, from the ones used in water purifiers to the ones with 6HP of capacity, used in cold rooms.
“In addition to responding to our customers' demand, this investment package also puts us ahead of the game to support the transition to natural refrigerants and to variable-speed (more energy-efficient) compressors, which are two movements that are ongoing in different stages in many parts of the world,” said Taranzano. “And, of course, we need to have the production capacity required to support our future growth plans.”
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