Ten kilometers from its existing plant, Dell's Asia Pacific president expects to draw a wider pool of workers with a new plant situated on the mainland.
Confirming earlier reports, Chip Saunders, Dell's president for Asia Pacific has revealed that the world's second largest PC maker will open its second plant in Malaysia by first quarter 2001, and it will be four times larger than its existing one in Penang.
Retrofitting of the one million sq feet built-up factory, which is located on the mainland, will be completed soon and Dell expects to move the production equipment in by February. Chip could not comment on the value of the new plant nor the number of staff to be employed but said "it will be substantial."
Currently, Dell employs 1,400 people at its Penang plant, regarded highly when compared with its sister plants in the United States, Ireland, Brazil and China. The Penang facility was set up in November, 1995.
"We are pleased with the quality of the workforce and the proximity of partners and suppliers on the island," Chip said, but he thinks that Dell will be able to tap a wider pool of workers with the new plant on the mainland, some 10 kilometers from the existing plant.
Recently, Dell Asia Pacific confirmed that batteries shipped with their notebooks manufactured in Penang and Xiamen were not affected by a company recall of certain notebooks.
In China, Korea and most recently India, Dell went full swing into its direct model. With the opening of distribution centers in 11 cities in India--described by Chip as the last frontier for Dell in Asia--he believes Dell has participated in every major marketplace in Asia.
Dell's two plants in Asia ship directly to 13 markets in the region and 26 countries via distribution. On October 4, Dell said its third quarter revenue is growing slower than expected at about 7 percent sequentially due to weak sales in Europe.
