Hisense opens Western Cape manufacturing plant

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10 July 2013 News

Brett van den Bosch

Hisense officially unveiled a new high-tech manufacturing plant for its white goods and consumer electronics in the Western Cape in early June.

Initially manufacturing flat-panel televisions and refrigerators, the 25 000 m² facility is set to expand to almost twice that size as it expands production to include washing machines and air conditioners by the end of 2014.

The Chinese company held an opening ceremony at the Atlantis plant that was attended by the Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel; the Governor of Western Cape Province, Helen Zille; Dr Lan Lin, vice president of Hisense Group; as well as other South African and Chinese luminaries.

Hisense invested an initial sum of R350 million in the facility, which was complemented by a R28,6 million grant from the Department of Trade and Industry. The Industrial Development Corporation has also reportedly agreed to provide funding for the next phase of expansion.

The plant currently employs 300 production staff, who are expected to produce 40 000 television sets per year, and the same number of refrigerators. Hisense technicians and engineers from China are training these employees as part of a skills transfer programme. This headcount will double later this year and will swell to over 1000 when the facility is expanded.

Although the majority of the components in its products are currently imported in the form of complete knockdown kits, Hisense says it is sourcing printed circuit boards and certain specialised electronic components locally, and is working towards achieving a 60% majority of locally sourced components.

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