Plexus Corp., the Product Realization Company, officially opened its expanded Design Centre and new manufacturing facility this month at the Pyramids Business Park in Bathgate, creating 130 new jobs.
An official opening ceremony performed by Mr John Swinney, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, marked the event which was attended by invited guests and Plexus employees.
Plexus has invested £9 million in the expansion of its UK Product Realization capabilities, working closely with Scottish Enterprise on funding support. The opening of the expanded facilities, including a 15,500 sq. ft. design centre and a 47,000 sq. ft. manufacturing site, will facilitate Plexus’ regional growth and increase the engineering and manufacturing credentials for its UK customer base. The new facility brings together design, prototyping and manufacturing under one roof.
“After announcing our expansion plans at the end of last year, we received very positive feedback from our local customer base, confirming that our decision met the demand for UK based design and manufacturing solutions,†commented Steve Frisch, Plexus Regional President (pictured left).
The Cabinet Secretary John Swinney said, “Plexus are demonstrating themselves as a key player in the technology and engineering sector and a significant contributor to the Scottish economy. The work of Plexus and how it has successfully developed high-value design and manufacturing solutions for its customers in professional markets is to be commended. The Scottish Government is committed to the continuing development and support of the technology and engineering sector that currently employs around 150,000 people. ”
At a time when many students are demanding vocational courses that lead to jobs, not just debt, he added, “The Scottish Government and its agencies are actively working with the sector to ensure the best match between the output of the education system and the input to industry. Scotland’s universities have a world class reputation in science and engineering research. We are establishing a number of Innovation Centres which will enable industry and academia to work much more closely, such as the new Innovation Centre for Sensors and Imaging Systems.â€
The latest addition to Silicon Glen, Plexus is a global design for manufacture and manufacturing company in the electronics industry delivering optimised Product Realization solutions through a unique Product Realization Value Stream service model. This means that a company can either come to them to just have a design it already owns put into production or they can approach Plexus with a plan for a product and then Plexus will work with them at every stage from design through to manufacture. This is why they talk about product realization – it means, in the simplest terms, that they can make your ideas for a product into reality.
This model has attracted customers in the Americas, European and Asia-Pacific regions working in the Networking/Communications, Healthcare/Life Sciences, Industrial/ Commercial and Defence/Security/Aerospace sectors.
The design centre and manufacturing site are now fully operational and complement Plexus’ existing manufacturing facility in Kelso.
