Nippon Thompson Co., Ltd. will increase the production capacity of its Vietnam plant, IKO Thompson Vietnam Co.,Ltd. Particularly, the company has signed a land use sublease agreement (LSA) with Amata City Halong Industrial Park, Quang Ninh province in northern Vietnam.

The construction of the new plant will begin in January 2025, with production expected to begin in 2026.

Propels Production Might

The company will channel ¥8 billion (US$53.16 million) as an investment to the new facility, which will rise on 37,500sq.m site.

Nippon Thompson established the Vietnam plant in Haiphong City in 2006 as a consolidated subsidiary. Presently, it has three plants producing crossed roller bearings used in linear motion guidance systems, industrial robots, and other products.

The company is promoting its long-term vision, “IKO VISION 2030,” which aims for sales of 100 billion yen or more in FY2030, based on the expectation that demand for its unique products, such as linear motion guidance systems, will increase over the medium to long term, especially in the electronics industry. The new plant in Vietnam will respond to the expansion of global demand.

The company has a strong presence in China as well. Recently, Chinese companies are advancing the domestic production of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Against this backdrop, Nippon Thompson puts in place a manufacturing system for products for the Chinese market at UBC. Presently, UBC is producing IKO-brand needle bearings. The company is considering expanding production items at UBC.

Further, the company’s Vietnam plant has No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 factories. It also has in place an integrated production system for LM guides. At present, it produces miniature-type LM guides in mass volume.

Also, it manufactures cross roller bearings used in the transfer section of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and in industrial robots. However, production at the three factories is not enough to meet increasing demand. For that reason, the company started considering building a new plant in Vietnam.

-21 March 2024-

*This is an English translation of a Japanese article originally published in the March 15, 2024 issue of Dempa Shimbun Daily.