HORIBA STEC to Build New Factory in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto

HORIBA STEC, Co., Ltd. (hereafter HORIBA STEC, President: Dan Horiba), a group company of the HORIBA Group leading the semi-conductor business, is to build a new factory in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture, to manufacture HORIBA Semiconductor's mainstay products such as mass flow controllers and chemical concentration monitors. Land has been acquired at Annex Kyoto Miwa of Osadano Industrial Complex, where HORIBA’s R&D base, Kyoto Fukuchiyama Technology Center, is also located. Construction will begin in July 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in January 2026.

The HORIBA Group’s semiconductor business has achieved steady growth in the past several years, including reaching the targets for net sales and operating profit set out in our medium-to long-term management plan “MLMAP2023^*1” two years ahead of schedule. HORIBA STEC, which holds an approximately 60%^*2 share of the global market for mass flow controllers (MFC), the driver behind that growth, has been increasing production at its Aso factory (Kyushu in Japan) and strengthening its overseas production framework. With the semiconductor market expected to grow even further over the medium to long term, to fulfill its supply responsibilities as a leading MFC company in that market, as well as to respond to all manner of future measurement demand, HORIBA STEC has seen the need to further strengthen its production framework, leading to the decision to build the new factory.   

The new factory will feature an extensive production area that is able to accommodate a wide range of applications. Built with the HORIBA Group’s largest ever investment (approx. 17 billion yen), it will act as the core factory for mass-production technologies to promote automation and efficiency improvements with state-of-the-art equipment. This will increase the company’s MFC production capacity in Japan by up to approximately three times its current level (Kyoto and Aso factories). The new facility will also produce chemical concentration monitors, which are another core product of the semiconductor business, and there are also plans for production of products and systems related to the semiconductor business and other businesses’ products. The aim of this project is to establish long-term, stable supply structures in all directions.

In addition, through collaborations with the neighboring R&D base, Kyoto Fukuchiyama Technology Center, the new factory will engage in synergies for the early implementation of cutting-edge technologies.

Features of the new factory

(1) Establishment of a long-term, stable supply structure

• In addition to the semiconductor business-driving MFCs and chemical concentration monitors, it will also take on a wide range of production, including print substrates used in HORIBA STEC’s own products, products and systems related to the semiconductor business, and other businesses’ products.
   
• It will promote automation and efficiency improvements with an automated MFC production line and the introduction of delivery robots to link different processes.
   
• It will have a production area of approximately 10,000 m², giving it the flexibility to accommodate long-term expansion of demand.
  ⇒ State-of-the-art equipment and the extensive production area will enable the expansion of MFC production capacity in Japan by up to approximately three times the current level (Kyoto and Aso factories).
• It will aim to achieve energy savings across the entire factory, including the installation of a renewable energy system that uses power generated from hydrogen, as an initiative to reduce environmental footprint.
   

(2) Product performance improvement and acceleration of development cycle through synergies with cutting-edge technologies

• Taking advantage of its location adjacent to the R&D base, Kyoto Fukuchiyama Technology Center (expansion decision made in September 2023; new wing scheduled for completion in April 2025), it will engage in R&D of flow standards technology that is being pursued by the Center and in synergies for the early implementation of the outcomes of industry-academic collaborations. It will also promote the improvement of existing products’ performance and the acceleration of the new product development cycle.

Facility Overview

*1　MLMAP (Mid-Long term Management Plan)
The HORIBA Group uses the term MLMAP for its medium-to long-term management plan.
*2　According to research by HORIBA Ltd. (as of December 2023)