Business

Thursday October 14, 2010

NI to build US$40mil facility next year

By DAVID TAN
davidtan@thestar.com.my


GEORGE TOWN: National Instruments (NI) will start construction of its US$40mil manufacturing facility, to be located on a 17-acre site in Bayan Lepas, in the first half of 2011.

NI (Penang) managing director Rajesh Purushothaman said it was currently in the design phase of the facility, which was scheduled for completion in 2012.

“About US$80mil has been allocated for our operations in Penang over a 10-year period. Some US$40mil of this amount is for the manufacturing facility, which is the first phase of the project,” he told StarBiz.

Rajesh Purushothaman says the company is well diversified

He said by end-2012, NI would have about 200 staff including engineers and technicians working at the facility.

NI also recently appointed DB Schenker, a Germany-based logistic group, to distribute its test instruments and industrial automation products from Penang to the Asia-Pacific market.

Rajesh said NI had started to distribute its products in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and the Asean region.

“The Asia-Pacific is a growing market for us. In the first half of 2010, about 28% of NI’s revenue came from the region, compared with 25% a year ago,” Rajesh said.

With operations in Bayan Lepas, DB Schenker has over over 1.4 million sq ft of warehouse facilities spanning 10 locations throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

NI manufactures computer-based measurement and automation software and hardware products, which are used to build virtual instrumentation, and control systems for applications such as manufacturing test, laboratory automation, data acquisition and industrial control.

The products cater to industries such as the automotive, defence and telecommunications.

“These products are brought in from our manufacturing facilities in Hungary and the United States. None of these segments contribute more than 15% to the group’s revenue.

“We are well diversified and cushioned against the impact from a slowdown in any of these sectors,” Rajesh said.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI posted a net income of US$24.6mil on revenue of US$212mil for the second quarter ended June 30.

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