Furukawa Electric Group to Open Auto Wiring Harness Plant in Philippines

Furukawa Automotive Systems (below FAS), a 100% subsidiary of Furukawa Electric to manufacture automotive components headed in Shiga, Japan, announced on Thursday FAS constructs a new plant for automotive wiring harness in the Philippines. FAS invests approximately 3 billion yen for the plant to start operation in March 2013. Capital fund of the Philippine subsidiary is 1 billion yen wholly owned by FAS. The new plant will mainly export the products for Japan.

The new plant will be located in Lima Technology Center, Lima, Batangas (65 kilometers south from Manila). A one-story plant with 21,000-square-meter floor area will be constructed on a site of 50,000 square meters. The employee number will be approximately 2,500 at the end of 2014.

The annual output capacity will be approximately 8 billion yen in value. Furukawa Electric group’s current supply capacity of automotive wiring harness for made-in-Japan vehicles is approximately 70 billion yen per year. The group’s output capacity will increase by about 10%.

Furukawa Electric group launches local production of automotive wiring harness in the Philippines for the first time. Labor cost is lower in the Philippines than in China or Vietnam where Furukawa Electric group has operated production sites for automotive wiring harness. Transportation distance to Japan is shorter and country risks are lower.

Moreover, Furukawa Electric group has already operated Philippine production site for steering roll connector, one of the main components for automotive airbags. Then the group has information and knowledge on local laws and institutions.