Electronics company LG South Africa expected to increase its television manufacturing output to 320 000 units by 2015 at its Johannesburg facility, LG production manager Noelin Pillay revealed during a recent media tour. He told Engineering News that the facility, which opened in 2011, currently produced 280 000 units a year.

After years of subcontracting its manufacturing operations to Lesotho, LG decided to open its 12 000 m2 facility in Germiston, which supplies LG products to Southern Africa.

“To increase our manufacturing output by next year, we are looking at adding another ten people to our production line. We have also introduced innovations, such as automatic screw machines, to help speed up the line and increase our output by at least 10%,” said Pillay.

LG also invests in upskilling its operators, who are sent to Korea each year to acquire skills in the latest processes, giving the company a competitive edge.

The media was taken on a tour of the facility’s television production line, from the mounting of printed circuit boards to the final assembly line.

Every television unit undergoes rigorous testing before being passed through processes and eventually being dispatched to the warehouse.

The television sets also undergo stringent environment tests to examine how they will endure different conditions, such as high temperatures.

Pillay believes that there is significant growth in the market from a consumer perspective. He added that LG was attempting to tap into the higher-end market.

“We see a lot of Chinese and other competitors coming out with the lower-end products, but our focus is the higher end. The South African market is definitely growing and there is huge opportunity, as consumers are looking towards the higher-end products and larger sizes, in which we are quite competitive,” he said.

LG recently launched its 105-inch ultra-high-definition television, worth R1-million, which Pillay believes is a step towards the higher-end products.