US Facilities · Robotics / Industrial automation
Yaskawa America to invest $180 million in a Wisconsin headquarters and factory campus
- Company
- Yaskawa Electric (via Yaskawa America) (Kitakyushu, Fukuoka)
- Project
- New North American headquarters and manufacturing campus, Franklin, Wisconsin
- Value
- $180M
- Status
- Announced. The consolidation is planned over 8 to 10 years.
- Date
- 2025-06-13
Yaskawa America will spend at least $180 million to expand its Franklin, Wisconsin site into a campus of more than 800,000 square feet. The campus will become its North American headquarters, replacing Waukegan, Illinois, and will combine its Illinois and Wisconsin operations, including robotics and semiconductor-related production. The company expects more than 700 new jobs, and Wisconsin offered up to $18 million in tax credits.
Why it matters
Making robots and motion-control equipment closer to U.S. customers lowers Yaskawa's tariff exposure, as U.S. factories automate more. The project is one of the larger Japanese factory commitments made while tariffs were rising.
What Yaskawa America makes
Yaskawa America builds industrial robots, motion control products, AC drives and solar inverters for industries from semiconductors and machine tools to HVAC and oil and gas. The move unites the drives and motion division's offices and factories in Illinois and Wisconsin, and the new campus will also hold a training center.
The timing
The plan came as parent Yaskawa Electric marked its 110th year and Yaskawa America its 58th in the US. Chief executive Mike Knapek announced it with Governor Tony Evers. The state's tax credits depend on how many jobs are created and how much is invested.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
