Siemens to build Chengdu plant, R&D base
CHENGDU - Siemens AG announced on Monday it will set up an industrial automation manufacturing and research and development (R&D) base in Chengdu, Sichuan province, a move to further exploit China's western market and enhance R&D capability in the nation.
The base will be Siemens' largest digital factory in China and the third R&D center for its industrial automation business, following ones in Germany and the United States. It is scheduled to begin operations by the first half 2012.
The idea behind the digital factory is to cover the whole production chain - covering design, manufacturing, logistics, marketing and sales - digitally and integrate the use of IT systems throughout, which is expected to shorten the time it takes products to reach the market by 50 percent, Siemens said.
