Bigger factory with more efficient processes

TDK’s Hongqi plant in China has a new home which, at 97,000 m², is a third larger than the old factory. The move is accompanied by many improvements: even more efficient production processes, short paths between warehouse and production, and further reductions in energy consumption. Employees benefit from amenities such as modern sleeping quarters and canteens. 

The move to a nearby industrial park had become necessary, because numerous expansions over more than 20 years had made the existing site too small.

Automation and Industry 4.0

Automation and digitalization are being advanced at the new facility, too, as i4.0 solutions are further ramped up. Today, 45 percent of processes are already automated and robots are used in 30 percent of production lines - a figure that is set to increase further. Intelligent monitoring processes – when winding toroidal cores, for example – analyze key parameters in real time and display the findings immediately on the machines. Product quality forecasts and predictions regarding necessary machine maintenance are made on this basis. 

Quality control for TDK's more than 600 different products manufactured in Hongqi also runs to a high degree with digital support, ensuring the greatest possible transparency. The number of engineers here who develop customer-specific products for customers in China and, increasingly, worldwide is growing constantly. 

Figure 1:

More and more i4.0 solutions and robots are being deployed all the time.

Figure 2:

Automated production of Fuel Injection Transformer (EHR Series).

“The move further expands TDK's already strong development and manufacturing presence in the world's largest electronics market and increases its competitiveness," says TDK Electronics CTO and COO Dr. Werner Lohwasser. “Short distances and highly automated processes further shorten our time-to-market. And our i4.0 solutions implemented on site will also help us serve our customers even better than in the past.”

Strong partner to the automotive industry

The Hongqi facility produces a broad spectrum of inductors. Staffed by more than 4,200 people, it is one of TDK’s biggest factories. Transformers, wound inductors, signal EMC filters and power EMC filters are made here – products that ensure uninterrupted data transmission in vehicles, for example. Accordingly, the automotive industry is the plant’s major customer, accounting for about 60 percent of sales, followed by industrial electronics customers (30 percent) and manufacturers of information and communication systems (10 percent). 

Figure 3:

Hongqi manufactures a broad range of products, including transformers, coil inductors, signal EMC filters and power EMC filters

The Hongqi facility was opened in 1997 in Zhuhai, a city of over a million inhabitants. Zhuhai stands on the Pearl River delta, about 50 kilometers west of Hong Kong. A year later, production activities also began at the neighboring Zhuhai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) plant, where film capacitors, ceramic protection devices and temperature sensors are now manufactured.

Profile of the Hongqi site

Products

• Transformers
• Signal use inductors
• Power use inductors
• Signal EMC filters
• Power EMC filters

Accreditations

• ISO 9001
• IATF 16949
• ISO 14001