The Hindu Business Line : Canon bets big on Shanghai copier unit

Mr Tetsuro Tahara, Chairman of the Board and President of Canon (Suzhou) Inc, said the $100-million (around Rs 436 crore) plant would be engaged in the production of medium to high-end products in the copier range of products, including colour digital and versatile digital copiers.

About 90 per cent of the total investment has come from Canon Inc and the rest 10 per cent from Canon China Inc. The construction of Canon Suzhou plant began in 2001 and it represents largest production facility worldwide in terms of investment, production capacity and product lines.

The plant released the first shipment of its digital copier tailor-made to the Chinese market in September 2003. The main product to come out from Canon Suzhou is the iRC 3200 colour digital multi-function printer.

Mr Tetsuro said that more than 90 per cent of the production catered to exports and the remaining went into the domestic market. About 80 per cent of the machine was being manufactured at the Chinese plant and the rest, the high-end accessories were being sourced from Japan, the main plant.

Copier machines with speed more than 50 copies per minute was being manufactured in Japan, he noted.

Mr Tetsuro noted that in addition to making quality and advanced products, Canon Suzhou had also introduced the cell production system, one of Canon's unique concept to China. In 1998, Canon began to eliminate its conveyor belts and introduced the one-worker or small worker team cell production, a brand-new manufacturing system that allows a worker to put together an entire digital copier by himself, giving full play to the workers' versatility.

Since introduction in 1998, its plant's productivity has increased by 30 per cent at an average, cutting the aggregate length of their conveyor belts by 16 km and reduced carbon dioxide emission by 30,000 tonnes. In 2004, Canon has plans to launch in the Chinese market more than 100 new consumer and professional products, with the target being set as one or two products every week, he added.