SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY : Western Digital Uses Robotics Technology at Singapore Plant

Western Digital Corp. has opened a new assembly line at its computer disk drive manufacturing plant in Singapore that is equipped with $7.5 million worth of robotics technology and other equipment.

The automated assembly line will produce disk drives that use so-called voice coil technology, which is faster and less expensive to produce. Disk drives, which fetch and store data in a computer’s memory, constitute about half of Western Digital’s sales.

“This is a strategic investment in one of our core businesses, placing Western Digital at the forefront of disk drive manufacturing technology,” said Roger W. Johnson, chief executive.

Western Digital plans to phase out its earlier generation of “stepper motor” disk drives by the end of the year. The robotic assembly equipment should help reduce human error in production, the company said. The factory is designed to churn out a disk drive every 15 seconds.

Western Digital employs 3,000 people at its Singapore plant.

Increased demand for the company’s disk drives should offset any layoffs that might have resulted from automation of the plant, said Robert Blair, a company spokesman.