Rockwell Automation Announces New Manufacturing Facility in Chennai

Rockwell Automation, the American industrial automation leader, is expanding its manufacturing footprint in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by establishing a new facility in Chennai. This strategic move is expected to bolster the company's supply chain in the region and enhance its global manufacturing capabilities.

The new factory, spanning 98,000 square feet, will be located in Oragadam on the outskirts of Chennai. It will be built adjacent to Rockwell’s CUBIC manufacturing facility, which the company acquired in 2022 as part of its purchase of CUBIC, a specialist in modular systems for constructing electrical panels.

The facility, expected to open in the first half of 2025, will initially employ about 230 workers, with plans for further expansion. Dilip Sawhney, Managing Director of Rockwell Automation India, mentioned that the Chennai location offers strategic advantages due to its proximity to the port and a strong local talent pool. "The location will also help us create synergies with our existing CUBIC facility and increase agility and productivity in the region," he added.

Rockwell Automation's new facility in Chennai will manufacture equipment to world-class standards, serving both domestic and global customers. The primary aim of this investment is to build a resilient supply chain in the APAC region. The company's headquarters is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it employs approximately 29,000 people across 100 countries. In India, Rockwell has a manufacturing unit in Noida and R&D and software development centers in Bengaluru and Pune, with a workforce of over 4,000 employees.

The announcement of the Chennai facility follows discussions at the Tamil Nadu Pavilion during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024, where Rockwell's global CEO, Blake Moret, met with the Tamil Nadu delegation. Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Rajaa highlighted on X (Twitter) that this investment is “just the beginning of a stream of new AdvTech investments Tamil Nadu is going to witness in the advanced manufacturing sector in the coming years.”

With this expansion, Rockwell Automation aims to further solidify its position in the industrial automation sector and leverage Chennai's strategic advantages for its manufacturing and export operations.

HBL