Taiwanese firm allots $10M for Subic expansion

TAIWAN — Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd. will invest $10 million next year for the expansion of its operations at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. 

In an interview, Tong Lung president and CEO Danny Yang said they will put up a new factory adjacent to their existing plant which was built also at a cost of $10 million.

The company, which designs and produces doorknob sets and lock sets, will build the new factory near its first production facility at the Subic Bay Industrial Park in order to meet the growing demand for high-end locks worldwide.

Once operational, the new factory will increase the company’s output by 30 percent, he said.

By the end of the year, the Subic operations of Tong Lung will boost production to one million products monthly as compared to the previous capacity of 300,000 per month.

Likewise, the new factory will create 600 additional employment on top of the current 500 jobs. 

The completion of the new factory will make the Subic operations the biggest Tong Lung factory outside Taiwan.

In addition, Yang said there is a possibility that Tong Lung will invest more if it decides to build its own supply chain in Subic.

He said the only problem with locating in Subic is the lack of supplies. Currently, the company sources its supplies overseas. 

“We are trying to convince our suppliers to move to Subic,” he noted. 

Through its main factory in Taiwan and the Subic offshore unit, the firm is capable of producing 1.8 million locksets a month with the help of computer-aided design and automated precision machinery. It exports its products in Asia, America, Europe and Africa.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza said the expansion project “is further proof that Subic continues to be a viable investment destination.”  

For his part, SBMA chairman Feliciano Salonga said manufacturing firms in Subic enjoy high productivity because of the distinctive skills of Fillipino workers. 

“The manual dexterity of our workers is very high, and their eye-hand coordination is very good,” he noted. “Products made in the Subic Bay Freeport are also very competitive because the cost of labor here is lower compared to other places.”