IMI to open production facility in Serbia

IMI COO Gilles Bernard announces nearing completion of IMI’s facility in Serbia, its 20th factory across the globe

Ayala-led Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI), one of the world’s biggest electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers, will switch on a new manufacturing site in southeastern Europe’s Republic of Serbia by September or October this year.

The new production site at the Balkan peninsula will be IMI’s 20th factory, boosting its global manufacturing footprint and complementing production hubs in the Philippines, China, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, United Kingdom, Mexico and the United States.

“The opening of this production facility in southeastern Europe offers significant growth potential that will support the growing market for automotive components in Europe,” IMI chief operating officer Gilles Bernard said during the company’s stockholders meeting at the Laguna Technopark yesterday.

IMI chief financial officer Jerome Tan estimated that once fully built over three phases, the factory in Serbia could contribute some $250 million in annual revenue. He added that IMI was just about to complete the first phase of the facility.

Tan said the Serbia plant would be like an extension of IMI’s existing facility in Bulgaria, which was difficult to expand due to limited manpower availability.

Last year, IMI spent $65.3 million to expand capacity in Europe and Mexico. Its sales team bagged $314 million in new contracts last year, half of which were customers in Europe. The automotive segment accounted for about 58 percent of the newly awarded projects.

“With the company’s global footprint, and a window into the disruptive technologies of the future, IMI is primed to adapt to technological transformation in the global manufacturing industry. This unique vantage point—built around a strong track record and an understanding of new technologies and applications reshaping business models, production systems and even entire organizations—will be instrumental in our strategy for years to come,” said IMI chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

About a decade ago, IMI decided to invest in and focus on the automotive sector. Today, the company has become the sixth largest automotive EMS in the world.

“As a partner-of-choice in building technologies like sensing cameras, advanced driver assistance systems, lighting, body control modules, battery management and displays, we will be a critical contributor to the digital car of tomorrow,” IMI chief executive officer Arthur Tan said.

Last year, IMI reported more than $1 billion in revenue, a milestone for the company.