WD Establishes R&D in Singapore

Western Digital has established a research and development center in Singapore, where the company will leverage the local talent pool and expertise of research organizations, such as Singapore’s A*STAR Data Storage Institute (DSI), and universities in the development of advanced hard drive technologies.

Located in Singapore Science Park, near WD’s newly acquired media manufacturing operation, the Western Digital Singapore HDD R&D Center is now operational. The company also announced that it is entering an agreement with DSI to collaborate on the development of advanced head, media and hard drive system design.

The proliferation of content on personal computers, storage devices and social networks is driving demand for higher capacity hard drives and the advanced science and engineering behind them. WD’s focus for the new center is the development of future solutions for hard drive recording heads and media, system design and manufacturing processes. An estimated 65 research engineers will be hired within the next three years.

"Singapore has built a wealth of engineering talent, now available to WD," said Tim Leyden, WD chief operating officer. "This is a product of a supportive government, R&D resources from DSI and universities, and a long history of hard drive industry manufacturing and engineering operations in the country. The resulting environment has produced an advanced technology research and human resource culture that makes Singapore an ideal location for WD investments."

"DSI is very pleased to be collaborating with WD. I believe we will be able to add value to one another, further pushing the limits of drive technology and bringing about new and advanced storage solutions to the industry," said Dr. Pantelis Alexopoulos, executive director of DSI.

WD will have invested S$500 million (approximately $390 million USD) in Singapore over the next five years, including its recent media plant acquisition, capital equipment for capacity expansion and technology enhancements and the HDD R&D Center.

Comments

The first HDDs were assembled in USA and then in Europe. But Singapore has a deep history in connection with this industry.

Tandon and Micro Peripherals landed in 1981 for floppy disk drives. But the real pioneer was controversial Tom Mitchell who decided in 1982, only three years after the birth of Seagate, to transfer all production of 5.25-inch HDDs from Santa Cruz, CA, to launch the first Winchester drive plant in Asia, with the help of C.S. Tien, a remarkable local engineer..

Other ones that move there for disk drives or their components include CAM, Computer Memories, Conner Peripherals, Control Data/Imprimis, Cybernex,IBM, Halo, Hoya Magnetics, Hyundai, IBM, Intégral Peripherals, Maxtor/MiniScribe, Micropolis, Mitsubishi Chemicals, MKE/Quantum, Nidec, PrairieTek, Rodime/Myrica, Showa Denko, StorMedia, SyQuest, Tandon, Unisys, Zentek/Orca, and also WD that inaugurates its first plant in 1988.

Following this intense activity, The Singapore's government decided to help the HDD makers not only for assembly but technology, and to improve the country's own know-how. That the reason of the establishment in 1992 of the Magnetics Technology Centre renamed Data Storage Institute in 1996.

In 1993, data storage devices represented half of Singapore's computer products exports. Nearly 50% of all HDDs produced in the world came from this country between 1986 and 1996, but this percentage then dropped steadily, going down from 1997 to 33% in 2000.

About all manufacturers - but Hoya/WD for disks - progressively left Singapore to other Asian countries with cheaper salaries, mainly Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines and more recently China. WD closed its Tuas plant in 1999 to move in Malaysia. Seagate is currently closing its HDD manufacturing facility in Ang Mo Kio - apparently the last HDD assembly plant in Singapore -, a move that will cost 2,000 workers their jobs.

For WD, it's not a coming back in manufacturing. It's just an investment in R&D with the collaboration of the excellent team of DSI in core HDD technology.