Mexico plays a strategic role in Kyocera’s solar module manufacturing plans, not only as a production hub but also as a potential growing market for the company’s solar solutions.
You may be familiar with Kyocera, a Japanese manufacturer of microelectronics packaging, industrial ceramics, cutting tools, solar panels, cell phones and office equipment. What you may not know is that Kyocera boasts a rich history of operations in Mexico, since Kyocera Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. (KMX) began manufacturing products in Tijuana, Baja California in 1989.
KMX has proved successful with a variety of manufacturing processes in the past 23 years. The hard-working employees of KMX have helped the company improve yield, reduce cycle time and lower defect rates on some of its most important products by executing complex technology transfers, adhering to the core principles of continued process improvement and a “customer-first” attitude.
“Tijuana has played a key role in Kyocera’s expansion, thanks to its pool of talented employees who have a strong commitment to producing high-quality products,” says John Rigby, President of Kyocera International, Inc., the firm’s San Diego-based North American headquarters and holding company. “Support from Mexican leaders and employees has made us stronger, and allowed us to serve more customers with high-value-added manufacturing,” he continues.
One area in which KMX has played a strategic role in Kyocera’s success is its solar module manufacturing expertise.
KMX began solar module production in Tijuana in 2004. In 2007, the company broke ground on its new, large-scale solar manufacturing facility in Tijuana, which represented an aggressive plan to more than double its annual solar capacity. KMX’s new, world-class production center –a two-story plant with 223,000 square feet of production space– for multi-crystalline silicon solar cells was inaugurated in 2009.
In 2010, the facility put the icing on the cake by installing a 100kW solar electric generating system on its roof. Now, in addition to manufacturing solar panels, KMX is producing clean, renewable power that flows directly from the sun through its solar array and into the power grid.
Today, KMX is Kyocera’s chief manufacturer of solar modules for North America; the plant’s production capacity continues to grow as demand for solar energy increases.
To read the complete article, visit the Kyocera Blog: KSI Solar News.
