Japanese tech firm opens Subic R&D center
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Subic technology firm Sanyo Denki Philippines Inc. (SDP) has opened a research and development (R&D) facility here to serve as the hub of product development for the company’s three design units.
The firm, located at the Japaneseowned Subic Techno Park here, inaugurated the Sanyo Denki Technology Center (SDP-TC) last week, an expansion project for the company that had so far invested $121.97 million since its establishment here in 2000.
SDP CEO and President Koichi Uchibori said the newly inaugurated facility was built to serve as the research center for the Sanyo Denki’s Design Division in preparation for the expansion of the firm’s Design Department.
The company reportedly plans to increase the number of design engineers who will handle new product development projects in the future. With more design engineers, the firm expects more new product development projects could be completed.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, who attended the inauguration, said Sanyo Denki ’s new project “will bring the future of technology to Subic.”
She said that aside from the fact that SDP would be hiring more lo-
cal workers, the technology transfer would again put Filipino workers on top of the game.
“Subic would benefit more from the transfer of knowledge and skills,” she added.
SDP, engaged in the manufacture of uninterrupted power system (UPS), cooling fans, servo amplifiers and stepping motors, operates three factories in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Currently employing 3,883 workers, SDP was listed as the
second-top exporter in Subic in 2018 with freight-on-board (FOB) value of $178.65 million.
Its Subic operations include highly efficient automated production lines such as the surface mount technology (SMT), and a department for developing and designing cooling fans.
SDP senior executive operating officer Kauro Tamura said the SDP-TC will consolidate the technology development base for its three design departments that respectively tackle fan design,
servo design and power design.
SDP design division supervisor Michiro Watanabe said Sanyo Denki’s efforts to enhance its operations in Subic has resulted in the establishment of the SDP-TC, the third building it has put up here since 2000.
“This comfortable work space will allow us to go on with the business, with the combined efforts of the Japanese management and the Filipino staff, to deliver world-class products with higher performance and higher quality,” Watanabe also said.