Japanese wiring producer Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems (SEWS) expects its production facilities in Romania to generate higher turnover this year, considering the investments made in boosting their productive capacity.
"We logged five million-euro turnover in our first year in business, 2002, and reached almost 30 million euros in 2003. We will make 24-30 million pounds sterling (35-44 million euros) in 2004; in two or three years Romania might even become the leader of the SEWS Europe group," Florin Ionut, SEWS Romania chief financial officer told Ziarul Financiar.
The company owns a factory in Deva where it makes electrical wiring for Renault, and one in Orastie, where it makes wiring for Honda. It also owns a facility in Alba Iulia, which manufactures cables for Toyota.
SEWS is now running an extensive investment programme that will see its production capacity in Romania triple upon completion. The company furthermore concluded works on the facility in Deva this spring, where its eight million-euro investment doubled the productive capacity.
The second factory, located in Orastie, will begin operating at full capacity towards the end of the year.
The new wiring factory in Alba Iulia will start working at full capacity in January 2005. The investment made in Alba Iulia is in excess of 10 million euros, 6 million euros of which account for the actual construction, with the rest being spent on equipment and furnishings.
"We are now operating at 15% capacity and working for Toyota's Yaris and Corolla models," stated Ioan Topa, SEWS Alba Iulia's head of logistics. The company has begun to staff the factory before being able to take advantage of full productive capacity.
"Personnel recruitment began in Alba Iulia early in the year when we had to choose the first employees to train at the facility in Orastie. We have rented a location in the city and 250 employees are being trained and helped to develop skills through a special programme, utilising trainers from our factories in Romania and Poland. It is important for them to acquire skills in a specific direction and moreover realise they must make no mistakes and do their job responsibly. We make electrical wiring that ends up used in cars and any mistake means a potentially serious accident," explained Ioana Popa, SEWS Alba Iulia's HR manager. She added the number of employees would go up to more than 400 in two months and to about 1,200 by yearend.
SEWS' Romanian subsidiary was established in 2000. The investment in Romania is part of Sumitomo Electric's wider expansion programme that was announced in 2002, allocating approximately ten billion yen (75 million euros) to develop production centres in Romania, Poland and Slovakia.
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