Ayala unit bags outsourcing deal with Mazda

MANILA, Philippines - Integrated Microelectronics Inc. (IMI), a unit of Ayala Corp., has bagged a new outsourcing deal involvingthe production of airconditioning system for Mazda vehicles.

Thus as the manufacturing firm said it is on track to hitting the billion-dollar revenue mark by 2016 as it serves the growing needs of the automotive industry.

In a disclosure, IMI said it started last month the production of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and blower units for Japan Climate Systems Corp. (JCS) in its Guadalajara plant in Mexico.

IMI said JCS is “outsourcing to IMI the development of small plastic molds and plastic injection, and complete product assembly of HVAC and blower units intended for Mazda cars.”

Mazda is one of the main shareholders of JCS, a Japanese firm that develops, manufactures, and sells airconditioning, thermal control, and cooling apparatus for automobile and industrial machinery.

“As Mazda expands its business in Mexico as a part of its strategy to better serve North American, Latin American, and European demand, we have likewise established our presence in Mexico in an IMI facility,” said JCS president Toshiki Hiura.

Hiura said the manufacturing line in IMI’s Mexico plant is its second global strategic production center following China.

“Through this partnership, we also expand our company’s business in automotive electronics, especially for the North American market,” said IMI president Arthur Tan.

Aside from Mexico, IMI has manufacturing sites in the Philippines, China, Singapore, the United States, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, allowing the company to assist original electronic equipment makers serving regional or international markets.

“The thing is, most of our business is global so we continue to bring in new businesses and customers but not necessarily in the Philippines only but also in other operations globally,” Tan said.

IMI is on track to becoming a billion-dollar company in terms of revenues in 2016 by serving more energy, mobility, power, healthcare, industrial and security firms, Tan said.

The 20th largest provider of electronics manufacturing services in the world will spend $18 million this year to expand regional operations.

IMI is targeting to further grow its partnership with automotive manufacturers. “Automotive is a very wide space in the industry because it requires different types of products,” Tan said.

The Ayala-led firm is a leading worldwide provider of electronics manufacturing service and power semiconductor assembly and test services.