SWCC Showa Holdings to Expand Output of “4 Growth Area” Products

SWCC Showa Holdings, Japanese major electric wire and cable maker, will expand output capacity of seismic isolator, heat roller for printer and copy machine and wiring harness for electronic appliances at home and abroad, which are regarded as “4 growth business areas” with compact power cable accessories in its 3-year management plan to March 2008.SWCC will expand heat roller output capacity at Vietnamese plant by 1.5 times from the present within half year to March 2007 by introduction of additional productive equipment in the plant which started operation in spring 2006. SWCC also plans to establish a new production base for wiring harness in China within fiscal 2006 ending March 2007. As to seismic isolator SWCC will introduce a new press machine for large diameter products at Sagamihara plant in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Then the firm can expand output capacity and increase size lineup of seismic isolator.Heat roller demand is currently very strong for middle- and small-sized lower grade printers. SWCC’s Vietnamese plant specializes in low-end heat roller and the productive equipment is recently short to cover the demand. In Chinese market SWCC aims to reinforce wiring harness supply system especially for home appliances when Japanese electronic manufacturers continue to shift their production bases to China. Seismic isolator demand is increasing rapidly for condominiums and semiconductor plants and SWCC estimates the annual sales could increase to 2.7 billion yen in fiscal 2006 and 3.4 billion yen in fiscal 2007 from 1.1 billion yen in fiscal 2005.SWCC produces heat roller for office automation equipment at Ebina factory in Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan for high-end equipment, at Fuqing Showa Seiko Electric in Fujian Province of China for middle grade equipment and at SWCC Showa (Vietnam) for low-end equipment. Output capacity of Vietnamese plant was less than 200,000 units per month when the subsidiary started operation.SWCC produces wiring harness for electronic appliances at the domestic subsidiary located in Hyogo Prefecture, Daiji, at Jaxing Showa Interconnect Products in Zhejiang Province of China, at SWCC Showa (Dongguan) Factory in Guang Dong Province and SWCC Showa (Vietnam). Toshio Tomii, president of SWCC Showa Holdings said the new production base in China would become as large as Dongguan factory or middle size between Dongguan and Jaxing. There are about 700 employees at Dongguan factory and about 1,200 employees at Jaxing currently.SWCC Showa Holdings plans 3.8 billion yen of capital expenditure for fiscal 2006 and 5.5 billion yen for fiscal 2007.