Hitachi Rail announced the opening of its lighthouse digital factory in Hagerstown, Maryland. The company expects the $100 million, 307,000-square-foot carbon neutral factory to deliver railcars for customers across North America, including metros in the Washington D.C. area, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The lighthouse factory will also include a demonstration of One Hitachi’s technologies via an immersive and interactive customer experience center.
By showcasing digital and transformative technologies in this factory for customers and partners, the Hitachi Group aims to address customer challenges across North America and beyond as One Hitachi, further expanding and deploying HMAX across a wide range of industries and business sectors.
The factory will feature 1,300 jobs, with up to 460 working directly for Hitachi Rail on site in roles that will harness AI and smart manufacturing principles. The total added value of the new digital site is set to be more than $350 million per year.
“Able to deliver up to 20 rail cars per month, the factory will be working at full pace to deliver important railcar contracts across North America, including in the Washington D.C. region," Hitachi Rail Group CEO Giuseppe Marino said.
With digital at its core, over $30 million has been invested in digital enhancements, and the plant has been designed with a focus on high quality production and customer value creation. The smart factory harnesses real-time supply chain and manufacturing monitoring, local component manufacturing using 3D printing and on-site additive manufacturing for spares and tooling and full transparency on product quality.
The plant emits zero CO2 emissions, combining solar panels and additional electricity needs fulfilled by an agreement to source 100% renewable electricity.
The site includes substantial plantings and AI systems that monitor and optimize energy consumption efficiency. Hitachi Rail expects the plant to operate with zero landfill waste from day one and save 800,000 kilograms of CO2 annually through its solar panels.
