… But Magnecomp Restarting Suspension Production on November 7th

The floods in Thailand and the resulting impact on the PC supply chain continue to dominate the news. With two production and engineering facilities north of Bangkok, in Wangnoi and Rojana, Ayutthya, Magnecomp Precision Technology Pte. Ltd. (MPT)’s operations were disrupted by the devastating floods that have been problematic in the nation since mid-July.

          Aerial view of Wangnoi District

MPT’s plant, located in the Rojana Industrial Park, where approximately 20% of the company’s total production was performed, was shut down on Oct 8, 2011 as flood waters breached the dikes around the estate and the plant itself was inundated with water on Oct 9, 2011. All employees are safe.

MPT’s Wangnoi plant was shutdown on Oct 12 and floodwaters have surrounded the plant since Oct 13, 2011, rising to a peak of 0.6M on Oct 21, 2011. Flood defense measures taken by the company and the extraordinary efforts of the team of determined employees, have successfully kept the plant safe and dry. As of Nov 5, 2011 flood water levels surrounding the plant have fallen to 11cm. MPT Wangnoi is resuming production from Nov 7, 2011, aided by the fast construction of an elevated employee walkway and a vehicle bridge at the plant, allowing the resumption of traffic into and out of the compound.

Albert Ong, President and CEO, said: "Our primary thoughts have been for the millions of Thai people whose lives have been severely impacted by this unprecedented disaster. Our first response and concerns were for the safety and well-being of our employees and their families. We have been able to contact almost all of our employees with our emergency SMS broadcast system throughout this crisis, which proved to be very effective in communicating with our personnel as the challenges mounted.  We secured the continuation of our payroll to assure that pay reached all of our Thai employees during this difficult period. Through the valiant and creative efforts of our MPT team, we have been able to keep our Wangnoi plant safe and dry despite being surrounded by flood waters. Thanks to their tireless work, we are now able to resume production and take an important step towards restoring and rebuilding the lives of our employees and meeting our customer’s requirements."

"In our Rojana factory, and with thanks to the quick action and initiative of our team, we managed to move almost 95% of production equipment from the first floor prior to the inundation of the flood waters which breached the dikes at the Rojana estate. The team’s nearly heroic efforts assured the safety and successful defense of our primary Wangnoi facility. In addition, the team was able to go above and beyond this effort, to extend support to our surrounding community with delivery of drinking water and supplies. Notably, throughout the crisis, the company did not have to shut down clean rooms  at MPT’s Wangoi factory which contributed to the company’s expedient resumption of production."

As noted at the start, MPT’s Rojana facility did not fare as well. Like all other factories in the Rojana Industrial Estate, it was flooded with water levels slightly over 2 meters. The first floor is inundated with flood waters to this day, but the second floor has remained out of reach to the water. Based on the current recovery schedule provided by the Rojana Industrial park management company and Thai authorities for the removal of flood waters from the estate, MPT advises that they do not foresee starting up Rojana until sometime in CQ1 2012.

According to MPT officials, the company had fortunately completed clean room expansion in the Wangnoi facility recently, making urgently needed space available, into which assets from Rojana, and already staged at Wangnoi, ready for commissioning. This will allow MPT to achieve the combined output of the former prime suspension production of both factories to pre-flood output levels in CQ1’12 at its Wangnoi, Ayutthaya, Thailand plant.

The team of employees and management at Magnecomp Precision Technology exemplify the determination to overcome the odds during the many days of flood crisis in Thailand.

Reporting: Gary Davis