Ducommun opens first plant abroad
Joseph C Berenato, chairman and chief executive officer of Ducommun Incorporated, displays high-performance and high-reliability commercial microwave switches being produced at its plant in Saraburi.
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Ducommun Incorporated, a California-based manufacturer of assemblies and parts for commercial, military and space aircraft, last week officially opened its first manufacturing operation outside the United States.
The plant, in Saraburi province, marks its first significant move into Asia.
"We want to grow our business in Asia, and our Thai facility will become a key part of our growth in this region," said Todd Rosin,
vice president of Ducommun Technologies, one of the company's two business units along with Ducommun AeroStructures.
The plant has required an initial investment of US$2.3 million (Bt87.5 million), including a five-year contract with PV Group for leasing a property with 10 rai of land and factory buildings.
Occupying manufacturing space of 2,100 square metres, the plant has the capacity to produce 2,000 high-performance and high-reliability commercial micro-wave switches a month to serve the growing demands of telecommunications and automated test-equipment manufacturers in the US and key Asian markets, particularly Japan, Korea and China.
The first shipment of 2,000 switches will be sent to the US this month.
Ducommun Technologies (Thailand) Ltd will develop the site to accommodate expansion.
"We chose Thailand to set up our first production facility outside the US because of the quality of its workforce, favourable laws and central location in South East Asia," said Joseph C Berenato, chairman and chief executive officer of Ducommun Incorporated.
"We also plan to expand our facility in Thailand with another 6,000 square metres of production space in 2007 or 2008 to expand the production of microwave switches and other products, including aluminium sheet metal made with a computer numeric control machining process."
Berenato said the company had not yet decided its investment budget for the second phase.
Rosin said business conditions in Thailand were more favourable than in the US for exporting products to China because Thailand had a trade agreement with China with no import duty for certain products.
"Thailand has implemented good intellectual-property control. The treaty between Thailand and the US signed in 1968 allows American companies to do business in Thailand in the same way as local companies," said Rosin, adding that these factors allowed the company to develop its business faster in Thailand.
Berenato expects the Thai plant to achieve export sales of $1.2 million in the first 12 months and to grow to $4-5 million in 2008.
Ducommun Technologies is a leading player in design, development, manufacturing, integration and test capabilities in the areas of missiles, space, sensors, simulation, complex electronic/mechanical assemblies, illuminated cockpit displays, RF systems and space-qualified motion-control devices.
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn,
Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul
The Nation
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