Minister Martin announces €30 million investment at Sanmina-SCI in Fermoy

New Centre-of-excellence, transformation of facility and up-skilling of staff to service the medical industry and the creation of 50 highly skilled jobs

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin TD today (Thursday 28^th June 2007) announced that Sanmina-SCI, a leading electronics contract manufacturer, is to undertake a €30 million investment for the transformation of its Fermoy, Co. Cork, facility into a manufacturing and design Centre-of-excellence for the medical industry. Up to 50 highly skilled engineering and other professional positions will be created as a result. It will also consolidate the existing employment in Fermoy, further enhance the facility’s position within the parent company and will make it a flagship operation within Sanmina-SCI.

Supported by IDA Ireland, the investment will establish an R&D centre of engineering excellence to develop and design processes and products. Additionally the investment will facilitate the continuous upgrade of the facility and equipment to enable it to stay ahead of the ever increasing and exacting regulatory and quality standards of the medical industry. Upgrading of the skills of existing employees plus the addition of new highly skilled professionals in multiple disciplines is envisaged.

Sanmina-SCI is the world’s largest electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider to the medical industry. It provides manufacturing, design and supply chain management solutions for original-equipment-manufacturers (OEMs). Its Fermoy facility, which serves customers in both the electronics and medical technologies industries, employs 400 permanent employees and 200 temporary employees and is the largest medical unit within Sanmina-SCI.

Minister Martin said “This is excellent news for Fermoy and the surrounding area. The move from mainstream contract electronics manufacturing to medical device manufacturing is an outstanding success for the Fermoy facility. The investment in higher skills and higher value products is in line with the Government’s and IDA’s strategy for the international manufacturing sector in Ireland. It will transform the facility into a world-class medical technologies EMS site, which will have the capability to capitalise on the new opportunities and growth potential of the medical industry. I congratulate all those involved in winning this investment.”

Hari Pillai, President of Global EMS Operations, Sanmina-SCI, said “Fermoy is a strategic site for the company within its European operations and this transformation of its capabilities, with the addition of design collaboration, is a very important development for the Irish operation. Our strategy is to maintain and enhance our leadership position in the EMS industry by providing end-to-end services, from research through manufacturing to after-sales support; by collaborating with customers on the design and manufacture of new products and processes; and by continuing to seek out opportunities in sectors new to us. The Fermoy facility will play a major role in achieving these aims. Its track record, workforce flexibility and Ireland’s medical technologies industry, as well as IDA’s support, were all major influences in the selection of Fermoy for this investment.”

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