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Panasonic Factory Automation Announces Name Change
January 27, 2005 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
ELGIN, Ill. — As of January 1, 2005, Panasonic Factory Automation has been renamed Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America (PFSA). This change unifies the company's capital equipment business globally under the Panasonic name, while reinforcing the greater consultancy role that PFSA has taken on for its customers. In coming months, similar name changes will be rolled out to other Panasonic operations in Europe, Asia and China.
"As customers have increased their outsourcing efforts and have become leaner, they've come to rely on PFSA for design solutions all the way to a final product. In addition, they want our input on the most efficient way to operate their factory processes and our heritage as a manufacturing leader allows us to provide the types of insights they are looking for," says Tom Gebhardt, PFSA president. "Our new name reflects this marketplace reality, as consulting is where we expect much of the company's growth to come from in the future."For Panasonic, software and process application support has become the fastest growing part of its business as customers continue to migrate manufacturing overseas. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, and PFSA's new name will help clarify its identity in the marketplace.
"While outsourcing continues to grow in popularity and is seen as a 'silver bullet' for managing cost issues, it creates a new set of challenges for customers that previously hadn't existed because of less control over their manufacturing operations," says Gebhardt. "Consequently, traceability, which allows customers to know all the details of a how a piece of equipment was built, is emerging as a critical issue, particularly in the automotive and medical industries. As a global company, PFSA now operates as a more integrated organization that can provide traceability information to customers in a timely manner, regardless of where components were assembled."