Mubasher: The Bosch Group, a global supplier of technology and services, has inaugurated a EUR 1 billion ($1.2 billion) chip plant in Dresden in Germany, marking the biggest single investment in the group’s more than 130-year history.

To be an important part of the semiconductor manufacturing network, the wafer fab is a smart factory that is highly automated and fully connected with machines and integrated processes, combined with methods of Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to a press release on Monday.

The plant will start producing semiconductors, which be will be installed in Bosch power tools, in July, six months earlier than planned, while chip production will start in September for automotive customers.

The Chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, Volkmar Denner, said: "Thanks to the combination of artificial intelligence and the internet of things, we are creating the basis for data-driven, continuous improvement in manufacturing."

Meanwhile, the EU Commission Vice-President, Margrethe Vestager, said: "The state-of-the-art technology showcased at the new Dresden wafer fab is a great example of what public and private European actors can achieve when they join their efforts."