Incap inaugurates plant in Estonia

"Each of our factories plays its part in strengthening our overall capacity and in adding key elements to our offerings," said Jorma Terentjeff, Chairman of Incap's Board of Directors, at the inauguration of the new factory building in Kuressaare on Tuesday 19 September 2006. At the celebration, Estonia's greeting was presented by Andres Tint, Deputy Secretary General for EU and International co-operation from Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The Finnish Government was represented by Anssi Paasivirta, Permanent Secretary of State. The roles of Incap Kuressaare and Vuokatti factories have been clarified so that they round out each other's operations. At the Kuressaare factory in Saaremaa Incap will centralise the actual manufacture of the ordered amounts of electronics articles along with products calling for a higher degree of manual fabrication. The Vuokatti facility will be developed for prototype manufacture, ramping up new products as well as demanding testing and servicing. The new building has a total floor area of 3,700 square metres and it will triple Incap's previous production facilities in Kuressaare. Incap has had a production facility in Kuressaare since 2000, when the company bought a local electronics manufacturer. Assembly operations will be continued in the old factory building and new employees will be trained there. This means that there will be a good 5,000 square metres of available floor space. At present, Incap has 150 employees in Kuressaare. In order to ensure a pool of qualified employees, Incap is carrying on co-operation with both the local vocational school and the Kuressaare College of the Tallinn Technical University. "We're working hand in hand to develop students' capabilities of performing tasks at a modern, international electronics production facility. At the same time, we're improving the possibilities of local youth to find jobs in their home community. This is of great importance to the future of Kuressaare as a whole," said Jorma Terentjeff. In June, Incap purchased two new SMD assembly lines, one of which has been installed at the new factory in Kuressaare. Mr Terentjeff points out that major capital expenditures likewise bear witness to Incap's strong belief in the growth of its business and to the company's desire to develop into an ever more important player among European contract manufacturers. Thanks to the capital expenditures that have been made, the technological level and manufacturing capacity of the unit in Estonia have risen significantly. This will make Incap well placed to achieve net turnover growth and acquire new customers in Scandinavia and Central Europe. Indeed, Incap has recently concluded a co-operation agreement with Electron Tubes of England for the manufacture of photomultiplier tubes that are used in various measurement devices.