To improve the effectiveness of its domestic market competition and prevent issues that may come from US trade restrictions, Mitsubishi Electric, a Chinese manufacturer of programmable logic controllers and other business automation equipment, plans to establish full supply chains in China.
Initial steps are anticipated to result from Mitsubishi Electric’s regional partnerships and purchasing, with investments and other arrangements beginning in the upcoming year. More cutting-edge products are likely to observe, but at a rate that won’t derail Japan’s production, employment, and industrial leadership.
Kuniaki Masuda, the company’s CFO, told the Nikkei that Mitsubishi Electric will be able to satisfy demand by sourcing products solely from China in the future, even though the company now exports items to China from Japan and other nations.
This is consistent with Western businesses like ABB, Volkswagen, and Bosch, which have all established or are expanding their operations in China.
In programmable logic controllers ( PLCs ), Mitsubishi Electric competes with Siemens and Fanuc in computerized numerical control ( CNC ) systems, as well as Siemens and Rockwell Automation. It also makes industrial robots, human-machine interfaces ( interactive screens ), servomotors, inverters, power distribution and control equipment, and other products used in factory automation.
Mitsubishi Electric is well established in China, with a office in Beijing, income offices in other major cities, factories producing business automation technology, elevators and escalators, air conditioners and energy silicon devices, R&, D centers in Beijing and Shanghai, and a research collaboration in electricity systems and environmental technologies with Tsinghua University.
In 2018, Mitsubishi Electric announced a” strategic partnership” between two of its group companies, Mitsubishi Electric ( China ) and Mitsubishi Electric Automation ( China ), and China’s state-owned Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute ( ITEI ) to support Beijing’s” Made in China 2025″ initiative:
The Chinese government released its Made in China 2025 roadmap in 2015, stating that it would help China become a global manufacturing powerhouse. Mitsubishi Electric Group built its Smart Manufacturing Comprehensive Test Platform [which ] in order to support standardized intelligent manufacturing…
In a joint effort to support Made in China 2025, the strategic partnership [with ITEI] will concentrate on promoting defined intelligence production. Mitsubishi Electric will continue to support the… Platform with the company’s most recent FA components and technologies and verify the use of cutting-edge technologies like edge computing and artificial intelligence ( AI ) for intelligent manufacturing. The company hopes that with these efforts, it can promote standard, smart manufacturing for use in China.
In 2025, Mitsubishi Electric will expand its strategic relationship with China and more integrate its business automation business with the world’s largest manufacturing nation.
In China, it’s competing with it. They include Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Denso, Epson Robots and Nachi-Fujikoshi from Japan, ABB and Kuka ( now owned by China’s Midea Group ) from Europe, and Rockwell Automation from the US.
All of these businesses have regional colleagues and produce some goods in China. In Shanghai, ABB runs one of the most technologically advanced and largest technology companies in the world. It has participated in Belt and Road activities as well as Made in China.
Rockwell Automation, which entered the Chinese market in 1988, has facilities around the nation that serve a wide range of companies. The US government was reportedly looking into the possibility that the business was “exposing important US system, military, and other state assets to a potentially severe cyberattack through one of its China-based services” in 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Rockwell Automation stated at the time that it hadn’t been informed of any inquiries but that it would work with it whenever needed. Bloomberg wrote that an analysis” did show US anxiety on China.”
However, US officials are now more concerned and willing to impose sanctions on both China and their supporters. In this scenario, Mitsubishi Electric’s decision to isolate its supply chains for business automation in China makes sense both politically and economically.
Mitsubishi Electric’s two main industrial automation products are programmable logic controllers ( PLCs ) and computerized numerical control ( CNC ) systems. The firm has a number of well-known rivals in each item and a long list of Chinese rivals trying to succeed.
As defined by Israeli robotics company Unitronics“, A Programmable Logic Controller, or PLC, is a rugged machine used for commercial technology. These controllers can manage a particular method, system work, or even an entire generation line. The PLC receives information from connected sensors or input devices, processes the data, and triggers outputs based on pre-programmed parameters. PLCs are employed to operate industrial robots.
Computer numerical control ( CNC ) is a manufacturing technique that automates the control, movement, and precision of machine tools through the use of pre-programmed computer software, according to the technology website Informa TechTarget. CNC systems are also employed with other types of industrial equipment.
Other top producers of PLCs include Siemens ( Germany ), Rockwell Automation ( USA ), ABB ( Switzerland/Sweden ), Schneider Electric ( France ), Omron ( Japan ) and Delta ( Taiwan ). Chinese PLC producers include HollySys, Wecon, Inovance Technology, Chint, Kinco and Xinje. Fatek ( Taiwan ) and LS Electric ( South Korea ) also have a presence in China.
Other top producers of CNC systems besides Mitsubishi Electric include Fanuc ( Japan ), Siemens ( Germany ), Haas Automation ( USA ), Heidenhain ( Germany ), Okuma ( Japan ), DMG Mori ( Germany/Japan ) and Bosch ( Germany ).
Chinese producers of CNC systems include Guangzhou CNC, Shenyang Machine Tool, HuazhongCNC, Shenzhen Inovance, Nanjing Estun Automation, and close to a dozen other companies identified by DeepSeek, which notes that” …the industry is dynamic, with rapid advancements in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies.”
The world’s largest industrial robot market is China. China accounted for 51 % of the total number of industrial robot installations worldwide and 41 % of the total stock in 2023 ( the most recent year for which complete data is available ), according to the International Federation of Robotics.
Mitsubishi Electric has an estimated 5-10 % of the Chinese industrial robot market, according to industry and market research sources, ranking below only Fanuc, ABB and Yaskawa. Its market share for CNC systems in China is thought to be 10-15 %, with a high end concentration.
According to various market research firms, China currently accounts for more than 30 % of the world’s machine tool market, and Chinese demand is projected to increase by as much as 50 % by 2030. The Chinese market for CNC systems accounts for between 10 % and 10 % of Mitsubishi Electric’s.
China accounted for 22 % of Mitsubishi Electric’s factory automation revenues in the fiscal year to March 2024, 15 % of its total sales, and 27 % of its operating profit. The Chinese market for industrial automation equipment is very large, expanding rapidly, and fiercely competitive. Both Mitsubishi Electric and its rivals cannot afford to lose it.
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