Yaskawa makes Kočevje its leading European robotics base with new investment

SLOVENIA, July 2 - The ribbon was cut by Yaskawa president Hiroshi Ogasawara and Yaskawa Europe president Par Tornemo alongside Economy Minister Anže Logar.

The distribution centre and the additional facility for production of robotic systems was build next to Yaskawa's existing factory on the outskirts of Kočevje in the south of the country.

The centre will serve as the main logistics hub for receiving and fulfilling robot orders from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

By the end of the financial year of 2027, at least 80 percent of orders from these markets will be processed in Kočevje.

The new production facility will take over robot production from Yaskawa's other Slovenian location, Ribnica, to consolidate all Slovenian operations at a single site.

This will make the Kočevje complex Yaskawa's largest facility in Europe, and with it, Yaskawa aims to become one of the leading industrial robot manufacturers in Europe, the company's executives said at today's inauguration event.

According to Tornemo, the new distribution and production facilities will enable them to optimise operations and shorten delivery times.

"Given the current global economic conditions, customers in Europe and beyond benefit greatly from short supply chains. At the robotics plant in Kočevje, we can now offer them primarily large and very large robotic welding systems," he said.

Together with other executives, Tornemo highlighted the advantageous location of the Kočevje factory, near to the port of Koper, the supportive local environment and the ample space available.

Ogasawara thanked the Slovenian government for consistently supporting Yaskawa's investments in Slovenia.

He announced the Yaskawa campus in Kočevje will become their most important production and sales hub for industrial robots in Europe.

Minister Logar, who assumed office in early June, said that the state would continue to support investments with high added value, innovation and advanced technologies.

"In Slovenia, we're not afraid of robots ... Our task is not to defeat them but to create the conditions that will attract other high tech companies to Slovenia."

He said he was happy and proud that a company like Yaskawa chose Slovenia for its expansion and logistics centre, while urging its executives to tell their partners or even rivals "that Slovenia will be the right environment for establishing their regional centres".

While Yaskawa received state support amounting to 25 percent of the investment value when building the Kočevje factory in 2017, this time it did not apply for funding because then the investment should have created new jobs, which will not be the case, said Yaskawa Slovenija president Hubert Kosler, who sees such conditions as outdated.

If a company is engaged in robotics, as much of the production as possible should be based on robotisation and automation, he said. The company therefore applied only to one of SPIRIT Slovenia's open calls and received EUR 800,000.

Founded in 1915, Yaskawa is a leading provider of technological solutions in robotics, drives and control systems in the world. Its annual sales amount to around EUR 3.6billion. In Kočevje, it employs 215 workers, the vast majority Slovenians, said Kosler.

Source: STA