XP, Forton XP Power, James Peters

XP Power takes over Shanghai manufacturing operation and expands production facilities

News Release from: XP Power
28/02/2008

XP Power announced today that it has bought out its partners 50% shareholding of their manufacturing joint venture, Forton XP Power. The $2.5m deal gives XP Power complete control and ownership of the 26,000 sq ft power supply manufacturing operation that was established with Forton in 2006.

Expansion plans, already commenced, will provide an additional 60,000 sq ft of manufacturing and administration space. As part of the increased manufacturing facilities, a short-run production line will be set up. This will allow pre-production units to be delivered to customers within 4 – 6 weeks of order. With an increasing number of customers requiring modified standard power supplies, the short-run facility will also give customers early access to product so that they can complete their own prototype and system testing early.

James Peters, Deputy Chairman XP Power comments, “Driving down product cost and having total control of product quality are extremely important to us. This acquisition enables us to achieve both these goals. A strict quality regime is vital to our business; our customers, large and small, highly value it too.” He continues, “Having our own purchasing team in the region means we can review the build cost as part of our design cycle with a bill of materials based on locally available parts. Unit design can be quickly adapted should some components prove to be difficult or expensive to source. We believe that being totally responsible for product quality, designing-in at point of component source and the introduction of a short-run facility gives us a strong competitive edge.”