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Teco invests $10m in smart plant and signs Finnish deal
The Taiwanese motor manufacturer Teco Electric & Machinery has invested more than $10m to create what is describes as the world’s first “smart” motor production facility. It has upgraded an existing plant in Taoyuan, more than doubling its production capacity for IE3 motors from 100,000 to 220,000 motors per year, and cutting production costs by about 10% compared with traditional manufacturing processes.
Teco’s upgraded plant uses technologies such as robots, 3D vision systems and automated guided vehicles. The number of workers needed in the plant has been reduced from 60 to 20, and output has increased from 10 motors per worker per day, to 34.
Teco has also signed an agreement to produce equipment for the Finnish heavy-duty drivetrain expert, Visedo, which has developed a technology called SRPM (synchronous reluctance assisted permanent magnet), which, it claims, is more efficient than drivetrains based on conventional induction or permanent magnet motors. The technology can be used in hybrid or fully electric drives for marine vessels, road vehicles and heavy-duty machinery.
Visedo CEO Kimmo Rauma predicts that the technology will disrupt the market for large electrically-powered vehicles.
“The revolution to electrify the world’s transport and transition away from diesel reliance is already underway,” he says. “But, until now, the industry producing powertrains for heavy-duty electric vehicles and machines has been dominated by AC induction.
“Our SRPM technology allows Visedo to deliver the market’s most efficient hybrid and fully-electric solutions that are also smaller and lighter than our competitors,” he continues. “Visedo can already guarantee better performing hybrid and fully electric drivetrains in a more compact and robust product – our partnership with Teco will allow Visedo also to compete at the scale and volume of our tier one OEM rivals.”
