PCH International employee in Shenzhen, China
Cork-headquartered supply chain management and development company PCH International is to employ an extra 1,500 people in Shenzhen, China, more than doubling its global headcount, with the building of a new energy-efficient facility in the city’s Futian Free Trade Zone.
PCH International, which was founded by Liam Casey in 1996, has its corporate headquarters in Cork and an operational headquarters in Shenzhen, China.
Up to now, it had employed 1,200 people, including 80 at its Cork base. With revenues of US$400m a year, the company comes up with the design, manufacture and distribution of hardware.
Just five days ago, PCH International announced its acquisition of the Silicon Valley company Lime Lab, a development consultancy that works with industrial design firms to develop products. PCH plans to create 15 new jobs in San Francisco, California, by the end of 2012, with plans to double this to 30 in 2013.
As for its new facility in Shenzhen, the company said today the 290,000 sq-foot centre will be fully operational by the end of July. The facility will employ a further 1,500 people, across a range of disciplines, including finance, logistics and supply chain.
CEO Casey said today the company is seeing a massive increase in demand from its global clients.
“This new facility will cater to their needs. This facility will offer expanded packaging, configuration, postponement and fulfilment services – everything our clients require to finish and perfect their products,” he said.
Casey went on to say that Shenzhen is an ideal location as the Futian Free Trade Zone is close to the firm’s partner factories, as well as a highly skilled workforce.
In terms of the energy efficiency credentials of the new facility, PCH said it will feature many energy-saving technologies that will qualify for LEED-CI (leadership in energy and environmental design, commercial interiors) certification later this year.
The company is aiming to put more efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems in place in order to make savings of around 18pc in energy consumption.
PCH will also be using T5 lighting, with the aim of making 30pc savings. As well as this, it is hoping to reduce its water consumption by 40pc.
“This is part of an ongoing process at PCH to drive energy efficiency in the supply chain, not only in our own facilities but also in partner facilities,” said Casey.
