Quality questioned as jobs go at Ericsson plant

ERICSSON is shedding one third of its staff in Porirua just two years after opening a plant to support the ultra-fast broadband rollout.

The technology giant said the cutbacks were not quality related but union officials claim faulty products prompted the review.

When Ericsson opened its $15 million facility in December 2013, the plant was the only fibre optic duct manufacturing facility outside of Sweden. It made up to 60 metres per minute of 20 different types of product, designed to be filled with the optical-fibres that carry our internet traffic.

It supplies ducting to Chorus as part of the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) and rural broadband initiatives (RBI).

Ericsson plant manager Tony Brown said at the opening more than half of its 30 workers were Porirua residents.

‘‘We are producing jobs and income for families here,’’ he said.

It is understood a quality control issue led to faulty ducts being manufactured and supplied to Chorus, resulting in months of delays for the Chorus roll out.

A spokeswoman for the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union said there had been various issues at the plant and confirmed there had been problems with faulty ducts. These were being dealt with by an internal process, she said.

‘‘The consequences [of the faulty ducts] will be job losses,’’ she said.

Ericsson Australia and New Zealand head of communications Selina O’Connor said about 10 roles from its workforce of 32 people were going. The change would see seven people lose jobs, as three roles were already vacant.

The job losses came after an extensive review of business projections, and in consultation with staff and were made to address changing demand in the New Zealand market, she said.

‘‘These changes are not related to a quality issue.’’

A Chorus spokesman said at one stage there was an issue with the quality of ducting, but it had since been resolved.

The UFB and RBI projects continued to be on schedule and as far as he knew, all the ducting continued to be produced at Ericsson’s factory.