12 TVBEurope Workfl ow
Sony’s Technology Centre Zooming in on camera construction
66,000 units serviced per year, 13,609 shipped, 450 unique circuit boards produced, 54 diff erent products manufactured, two hours per camera build — just some of the stats from Sony’s Technology Centre, a 30,000sqm building in South Wales and Sony’s only facility outside Japan to produce HD cameras. Holly Ashford paid a visit
OPENED IN 1992 by Queen Elizabeth II, the site at Pencoed was initially created to manufacture Sony CRT TVs for the European marketplace. The two sites in South Wales produced one television every eight seconds and employed 5,000 people. Seven years later, the Centre began producing SD cameras, expanding into the HD market in 2006, and today, staff numbers around 400 people. However, recent Sony
announcements suggest the growth and optimism at the site is not shared by all Sony divisions. In February, after 17 years in the PC business, Sony announced its was getting out, selling its VAIO laptop computer brand to Japanese investment fund Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) and cutting jobs. Sony instead decided to focus on the manufacture of games consoles and smartphones, as well as its studios, and made clear that its TV division would be split into a separate subsidiary as
part of a restructuring programme. This was followed in May by Sony posting an £808 million quarterly loss, due to the sale of its VAIO business and a drop in value of its overseas disc manufacturing and battery business.
Sony’s best-kept secret Yet, Sony’s other focus — high- end cameras — remains seemingly unscathed, evidenced by the continued output and dedication from its UK team. Rather than manufacturing in Asia, as many
tech companies choose to, the company’s Technology Centre is located in Pencoed, Wales; a rural town with a population of 11,000, perched on the Ewenny River. It is no surprise that Claus Pfeifer, Sony Europe’s strategic marketing manager, introduces the site as “Sony’s best-kept secret.” The company’s focus on quality has managed to withstand cuts,
as Pfeifer explains. The company “is the market leader in live production, because the quality is there,” he said, of operations at the Wales site. “The customers are trusting in these products because we put a lot of effort into making and testing the best quality products.” The quality is maintained due to the human effort involved in the manufacture
www.tvbeurope.com July 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52