& Daikin Industries and Gree Electric Appliances joint venture Back in March 2008, Daikin Industries, Ltd. based in Osaka, Japan and Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai based in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, PRC, signed an agreement to fuse Daikin’s prowess in energy-efficient technology together with Gree’s expertise in production and procurement of raw materials and parts, to manufacture economical and high performance inverter air conditioners. The companies plan to establish a joint venture to manufacture compressors and printed circuit boards (PCB) for inverter controllers; both of which are the key components of global residential air conditioners. The two companies have been cooperating on the production of small inverter air conditioners since the beginning of 2008. This time, they will begin collaboration on production of key components. Gree and Daikin have invested 51% and 49%, respectively, of the total investment of the new plant. The joint venture will begin to produce compressors in the spring of 2010 with a yearly production capacity of 1 million units. In 2012, the production capacity will be increased to 1.5 million units each year. The production of PCBs, which include inverter controllers of the air conditioners, will also begin with a yearly capacity of 1.5 million units soon. Gree is one of the largest air conditioner manufacturers throughout the world. It produces about 15 million economical air conditioners each year. During the spring of 2008, Daikin had commissioned Gree to produce 500,000 small inverter air conditioners for the Japanese market. The two companies have also agreed to establish a joint venture for the production of injection molds for air conditioners. Daikin will plan and develop the products, Gree will manufacture for Daikin, and the products will carry the Daikin brand. Gree will establish a dedicated production line with special inspection equipment for Daikin products to assure product quality meeting Daikin’s standard.
Strong and Strong hands in hand
On 18 February, 2009, Gree and Daikin Industries held a great strategic conference in Zhuhai, China.
Five Areas of Collaboration 1. Joint development of inverter air conditioners, 2. Joint production of key components, 3. Joint production of molds, 4. Joint procurement of raw materials and parts, 5. Commission of inverter air conditioner production for the Japanese market.
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