KOE, a manufacturer of industrial LCDs, has announced an expansion of display module production capacity at its Kaohsiung plant from 180,000 modules per month to 450,000 modules per month by March 2017.
Parent company Japan Display (JDI), a global supplier of small and medium-sized displays, reported that the increase in production capacity is being driven by a growing global demand for display modules used in automotive applications. The number of displays installed per vehicle is increasing as the trend for more electronic systems, such as for navigation, driver-assist, safety, and network connectivity, continues to grow.
It is predicted that the annual growth rate of displays used for in-vehicle systems will continue to be more than 10% for the foreseeable future. The expansion of KOE’s module production capacity is one of the key measures being implemented to achieve continued growth in the automotive market.
Raymond Sun, managing director, KOE Europe said, “KOE has abundant experience in producing high-quality, high-technology displays used in high reliability markets such as healthcare, industrial and aerospace. The production of automotive display panels will have a strong influence on the design and development of the next generation of KOE’s Rugged+ industrial displays. Additionally, the expansion in production capacity will contribute greater economies of scale across all of our product line-ups.”
KOE has received ISO9001/TS16949 quality management system certification which is required for the manufacture of automotive related products. KOE is installing new machinery and will be ramping-up production from May 2015 onwards. Following the production capacity expansion, KOE will produce more than one-third of JDI’s medium-size (over 7-inch) automotive displays, and will become the second largest plant within JDI for medium-size automotive display production.
KOE became a wholly-owned subsidiary of JDI in 2012, developing and supplying specialised industrial displays for high-reliability applications. KOE’s global sales and marketing operations are supported by KOE Europe, KOE Americas Inc., and KOE Asia Pte.
