Home communication big potential for Elcoteq Tallinn

How does the development look for Elcoteq in Tallinn in 2008? In the Tallinn plant Elcoteq plans to increase it capacity in the Home Communication business area, where the company sees big potentials and opportunities, Mr. Mäki told evertiq.com. The Home Communication business area includes the production of set top boxes and PCB assembly for the digital TV-s. How important is the Tallinn plant for Elcoteq in Europe? Does the Tallinn plant support local customers in the Baltics or is that factory only focused on supplying Elcoteq’s sales and capacity needs in other regions? According to Mr. Mäki the Elcoteq Tallinn plant is very important for the company in Europe. The Tallinn plant is mainly having European based customers, however the plant also serves customers from other regions but European customers are its main focus. The plant is currently not supplying that many customers from the Baltic’s, mostly customers from other parts of Europe, Mr. Mäki told evertiq.com. Which customer segments are you focused on in the Tallinn plant? Plant’s main focus is the communication networks production and home communication products. Mr. Mäki said that currently these two segments fit best for Tallinn plant, however if a customers requires production of for example Personal Communication then the company is ready. How do you see the competition from China? Mr. Mäki said that the competition from China for Elcoteq Tallinn is not direct but indirect. Logistic has become very expensive at the moment and therefore Elcoteq Tallinn has an advantage compared to Asian plants as the plant is working mainly for European customers. He also mentioned that Elcoteq has four plants in Asia three of them in China and one in India to serve the customers on the Asian market and therefore the plant in Tallinn doesn’t feel a direct competition. Are you planning to hire some new employees for the plant in Tallinn? Most probably, but it depends on exact orders and agreements with our customers, Mr. Mäki explained. He also said that at the moment the main focus is on retraining of existing employees in order to increase their competence and improve the multiskillness. This enables the existing employees to produce different products and in that way the company doesn’t need to hire new employees. Will Elcoteq Tallinn make any investments in the near future? It is depending on the development, Mr. Mäki said. However he mentioned if the company will make any investments in the future it will mainly be in new test equipment. But he also pointed that all this depends on which products the company will produce for the customers and the needs to invest in new equipment. He also said that it happens that the company transfer machines from its plants around Europe or even globally, depending on the capacity needs. He said that transferring some machines around Europe is pretty easy. Communication Networks products are what have mostly increased at the plant in Tallinn, while home communication is a new area for the company in general. The plant in Tallinn was started in 1992 as a pilot project and became an official company in 1993. Through the years the company has produced wide range of electronics. In 1993 the company started with electronics parts for sewing machines for Husqvarna. Later on the main products were computer display electronics, accessories for mobile phones (battery chargers) and audio-video components. In 1997 the company started with the production of industrial electronics.In 2004 the company divested its industrial electronics business and at the moment telecommunication is the focus for Elcoteq.