Aspocomp invests €10 million in its Oulu plant

With these investments the company is preparing for an expected growth in demand; generated by the ongoing digitalisation worldwide, such as the rise of 5G technology and AI applications. Aspocomp has two main objectives with the investments; firstly the company aims to grow its new customer segment, the testing of semiconductor components, by producing high-tech PCBs to meet the testing and R&D needs of customers. Secondly the company will increase its production capacity, especially to cater to the rapidly rising demand coming from the 5G and automotive industries. “It is clear to us that the development and testing phases in which PCBs are required will be increasingly challenging in the future. They involve a very high level of technology. In this business, speed is service and it creates demand. Moreover, PCBs suitable for testing are produced in volumes that are a good fit for our Oulu plant, but not for Asian high-volume suppliers, which means that our market position will be excellent after the investments,” says Mikko Montonen, CEO of Aspocomp. The second part of the investment, increasing capacity, aims to further Aspocomp’s position as a strategic partner to key players in the automotive and telecommunications industries. “For instance, when autonomous cars become widespread, this will create additional demand for our products, as will the common use of 5G technology. In the case of autonomous cars, for example, there is no margin for delays in data transmission, not even a millisecond, and this sets tough requirements for components used for this purpose,” says Montonen. Aspocomp’s Oulu plant currently has around one hundred employees. With the new investments the company will create more than 30 new positions, most of them at the Oulu plant. The EUR 10 million investment will primarily be made in 2018 and 2019 – the floor space of the plant will not be expanded, as the additional capacity will be built inside the current facility.