Lenovo Announces Plants in Mexico, India

By Anuradha Shukla

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Lenovo will open two new, state-of-the-art manufacturing plants and fulfillment operations centers in Monterrey, Mexico, and Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, India.

 

Aiming to meet the need for Lenovo products in these economically vital markets, both facilities will support regional customer requirements including product assembly and configuration, distribution services and logistics as well as additional value-added services.

 

While the Baddi facility will be operational in the third fiscal quarter of 2007, the Monterrey plant is expected to come online by mid-2008. Lenevo will use these new manufacturing plants to significantly increase global production capacity of Think-branded and Lenovo-branded PCs.

 

The company will invest over $30 million in this project, which includes the cost of construction, tooling, salaries, taxes and additional contributions to the local, regional and national economies.

 

“These plants are an investment in Lenovo's future that leverages our world-class manufacturing base in China and extends it globally to satisfy demand for Lenovo products in vital economic opportunity areas,” said Gerry P. Smith, senior vice president of Lenovo's Global Supply Chain in a statement.

 

Smith continued: “This announcement, together with the new facilities we recently announced in Shanghai, China, and North Carolina, will help us to improve our competitiveness and cost structure as well as accelerate our ability to reach new markets and buyer segments.”

 

Lenevo is also scouting locations in Central and Eastern Europe for a similar type of installation. The company has manufacturing facilities in Beijing, Huiyang, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, and Pondicherry, India, and a new fulfillment center in Whitsett, North Carolina, announced last month.

 

The Monterrey facility will constitute a 260,000 square foot (24,155 square meters) area, and will have a production capacity of five million PCs, employing approximately 750 people. The facility representing Lenovo's largest manufacturing investment to date outside of China, will supply PCs to customers throughout the Americas.

 

The Baddi plant with an annual capacity of two million units, will serve the growing India market. The plant initially will measure 130,000 square feet (12,077 square meters), and employ approximately 350 people.