New Kinpo Group (NKG), one of the largest tech conglomerates in the world, has always been in search of sites to set up manufacturing hubs, particularly in the Southeast Asia region. In 2000, the group established its foothold in the Philippines through AcBel Polytech (Philippines), Inc., which produces printed circuit board and cable assemblies, transformers, and switching power supplies. In 2012, NKG further expanded operations through Cal-Comp Technology (Philippines), Inc. (Cal-Comp Technology). Since then, NKG has continued to ramp up its investments locally, becoming the largest Taiwanese investor in the Philippines with USD 172 million outlay. In fact, the Philippines is NKG’s fourth largest research and development hub in the world.
Cal-Comp Technology’s 140,000-square meter facility in Lima Technology Center in Lipa City, Batangas also houses its subsidiary Kinpo Electronics, which supplies approximately 70 percent of the total scientific calculator demand globally.
Cal-Comp Technology’s Philippine operations houses more than 50% of the manufacturing process of a leading external HDD global brand, as well as the production of smart home appliances. From its first site at Carmelray Industrial Park 2 in Laguna, the company opened its second manufacturing facility at the First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) in Batangas in 2015.
The second facility has allowed Cal-Comp Technology to accommodate in-house supplies, thus strengthening the company’s vertical integration capabilities. It exceeded 20 million units of cumulative production volume for external HDDs in 2017, and began shipment of a leading brand of supersonic hair dryers.
NKG will soon be introducing its New Era AI Robotics to the Philippine market, which produces ‘Service Robot’, a smart humanoid robot with features such as smart voice interactivity, facial biometrics identification, POS systems, and more. With these facets borne out of Cal-Comp Technology’s world-class R&D, this IoT service robot is set to revolutionize local industries such as healthcare, banking, convenience stores, retail shops, and theaters, among others.
Shortly after, it brought its first robotic arm used on its surface mount technology (SMT) production line, and increased its range of smart home appliances with the first shipment of a leading model of cordless vacuum cleaners.
Today, Cal-Comp Technology in the Philippines has become one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products like calculators, keyboards, LEDs, hard drives, and various home appliances, with registered revenues of USD 210 million in 2017, owing to exports in the US, Japan, Europe and China.
NKG’s 10,000 employees in the Philippines have also increasingly become part of the global tech supply chain, with products made for headliner brands such as Casio, Texas Instruments, Canon, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.
Cal-Comp Technology currently employs robotic arms in its surface mount technology (SMT) production line, as one of its key strengths as a company is automation capabilities. Cal-Comp is backed by the New Kinpo Group, a USD 6.3 billion global electronics company from Taiwan. It is currently operating in seven countries––USA, Mexico, Brazil, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines––covering approximately 1,846,435 square meters of factory space and employing over 39,000 employees worldwide.
Investing in the Philippines
According to NKG and Cal-Comp Technology CEO Simon Shen, the emerging local manufacturing talent is what makes the Philippines very attractive to foreign investors with a global scale of operations. “Our company has been in the Philippines for almost 20 years and we plan to expand our foothold further. We will continue training the local labor force because we believe in their hard work and talent,” says Shen.
Cal-Comp Technology’s Philippine R&D hub is currently run by 142 Filipino engineers. The group is also set to open two new facilities that will increase its production capacity, with 8,000 new jobs available to Filipinos. At present, it employs around 9,500 Filipinos in its two main sites located at the FPIP and the Lima Technology Center in Batangas.
One of NKG’s nine R&D hubs around the globe is located in the Philippines, composed of 142 Filipino engineers. The group is also set to open two new facilities to increase their production capacity, which will open up 8,000 more jobs to Filipinos.
“We want to help strengthen the Philippines’ technology industry as we’ve made it one of our core manufacturing hubs in Southeast Asia. We consider the Philippines as our partner and we hope to continue working together for many more years,” says Shen.
Cal-Comp Technology plans to expand its local facilities through a P6.77 billion initial public offering later this year. The fresh capital will fund the construction of two additional production sites, acquisition of new equipment, and strengthening of local operations’ R&D capabilities.
The company is also going to introduce its own-branded products to the domestic market. Shen reveals, “While majority of our current revenues come from exports, we see the potential in the domestic market, which is why we are very keen on expanding our operations in the Philippines. We wish to provide Filipino consumers and industries access to the latest innovative products which will bring individuals, families, and businesses to the future.”
ADVT