Universal Electronics launches corporate restructuring

“During our 30-year history, we have never been more excited about the market opportunities ahead of us,” says Paul Arling, Chairman and CEO of Universal Electronics Inc., in a press release detailing the plans. “To more effectively capture these opportunities, we are conducting a focused corporate streamlining aimed to increase operational efficiency and to free resources for strategic investments. “ The company expects to enhance its competitive position and diversifying into new markets; and with that gaining new customers. Among these key initiatives include corporate and regional office relocations, UEI says that it’s doing this to better and more efficiently serve its customers. First, to better support China engineering and manufacturing centers, UEI is moving its regional engineering, supply chain and customer support functions out of its current Hong Kong offices and relocating to existing UEI facilities in Panyu and Shuzou. This process began back in late 2018 and is expected to be completed over the next three to six months. Second, in order to counter the rising cost of finance and administration services in Southern California and to help ensure the flow of skilled talent into the organisation, the company is relocating its corporate headquarters from Santa Ana, California to Scottsdale, Arizona. This move will affect back-office functions and related positions, mostly finance, accounting, legal, HR and IT, which are expected to transition to the new corporate headquarters over the next three to nine months. UEI will keep its technical, creative, and innovations teams located at the existing Santa Ana facility. Customer Service will be moved to the facility in Monterrey, Mexico (UEM). At the same time UEI is actively upgrading its manufacturing footprint outside China. To offset the impact of higher US tariffs for products that are made in China, UEI is moving production to UEM – its expanded facility in Monterrey, Mexico – and to a newly-assigned (unnamed) contract manufacturing partner in the Philippines, the company states in the release. During the transferring of production and supply chain for the US market to selected new territories, the company is also optimising its manufacturing footprint in China to continue to meet the needs of customers in other international markets. UEI anticipates completing these transitions in the first half of 2019.