Renesas enhancing localization of products in India!

Renesas Electronics was among the worst hit companies during the Japanese earthquake in March this year. To its credit, Renesas restarted production at its quake-hit factories by mid-June. For the record, Renesas' Naka factory had been the worst-affected by the March 2011 earthquake. The Naka factory produces around 20 percent of MCUs and SoC solutions, and about 10 percent of analog and power devices.

According to Jeffrey Soh, director - South Asia & Pacific Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Singapore Pte. Ltd, power shortages had been created by the earthquakes. "The Naka plant was the most affected. It has been housing 65nm and 90nm process technologies. We have had very good support from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)," he said.Jeffrey Soh and Sunil Dhar, Renesas.

On June 1, 2011, the Naka factory started production again. "We are now in full recovery. We still have to recover a lot of backlog," noted Soh. From the earthquake to the recovery of the Naka plant, Renesas was able to start the production of automotive processors. The massive earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami in March saw Renesas strengthen its business continuity plan (BCP) and re-inforce the risk management system. "We have now taken up BCP. The earthquake only accelerated the BCP," said Soh.

So, what's the outlook like for 2012? According to Jeffrey Soh, there are double challenges. First, there is the high Yen. However, the high Yen has forced Renesas to be even more competitive. "We expect the Japanese government will roll out a recovery plan," Soh, noted.

Renesas' situation in India
Elaborating on Renesas' India plans, Jeffrey Soh said: "We plan to grow in India. We have spent the last five years cultivating the Indian localization. Here, we are developing all India based solutions." Out of the 30 products that have been developed in India so far, Renesas has been able to help 16 companies up until now.

"We have built a company that works on the localization of products. We are soliciting a lot of Japanese support to enhance the Indian localization of products," he added.

According to him, besides mobile communications, healthcare and medical electronics, automotive electronics and smart energy, Renesas is also looking at developing the power electronics segment in India.