Although First Philec is relatively young, its major subsidiaries have been operating as early as 1969 when Philippine Electric Corporation (Philec) was set up to manufacture distribution transformers (DT) for its sister company, the Manila Electric Company or MERALCO. Presently, Philec is the industry leader and with a share of 70% of the DT market (as of December 2008). Philec seeks to further enhance its existing transformers with more efficient, and environmentally-friendly designs. It aims to expand its customer base and tap the overseas market.
In 1991, First Electro Dynamics Corporation (FEDCOR) was established primarily to support Meralco’s distribution transformer repair requirements. Since then, FEDCOR has developed its capability to repair power transformers up to 15 MVA, special line equipment, and automatic voltage regulators (AVRs) among others. Fedcor has strategically positioned itself to build on its competence of providing repair and technical services for transformers, and transformer-related products. Fedcor is actively pursuing possible tie-ups with foreign companies to provide sophisticated and advanced T&D technical services to the local industry.
In 1996,
First Philippine Holdings Corporation entered into a joint venture with Sumitomo Electric Industries (51%) and Sumitomo Corporation (9%) to set up First Sumiden Circuits, Inc. (FSCI). This marked the entry of the group into the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry. The company, which won the local equivalent of the Malcolm Baldrige Quality award in 2008, manufactures flexible printed circuits for Sumitomo’s customers such as Nokia, Toshiba Matsu*bleep*a Display, and Western Digital.
To create a formal structure that harnessed the expertise of the businesses to meet their growth initiatives for the overall Lopez group. This led to the inception of First Philec in 2004 to become a flagship for manufacturing excellence and to fulfill the roadmap to become a core business unit.
Backed by a strong mandate from its parent, First Philec aggressively searched for new businesses and found an opportunity in a supply requirement for dry-type transformers from a leading global manufacturer of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) devices. To serve this need, First Philec incorporated First Philippine Power Systems, Inc. (FPPS) in 2004 and built its manufacturing plant in Cavite and commenced operations in June 2006. Aside from global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), FPPS also supplies dry-type transformers to domestic commercial and industrial establishments.
First Philec grouped its manufacturing businesses into two sectors, namely: the Electrical Utilities Sector composed of Philec, Fedcor, and FPPS; and the Electronics Sector, with First Sumiden initially as the only company. Each sector was tasked to carry out the mandate of growing its businesses in their respective fields which subsequently, in 2007, resulted in the addition of two new companies to its portfolio.
The Electrical Utilities Sector created an incubation company known as First Philec Manufacturing Technologies, Inc. (FPMTC) to serve as a vehicle for its new products and services. It organized a central engineering design team to develop new product lines and continuously innovate its existing products to adapt to the changing requirements of the electrical transmission and distribution industry. The team successfully introduced switchgears and substations to the market last year. It recently completed its new amorphous core fabrication plant to produce more energy efficient, environmentally-friendly transformers.
Meanwhile, First Philec expanded its electronics portfolio into the photovoltaics (PV) industry through First Philec Solar Corporation (FPSC). The company was incorporated on October 24, 2007 and is a joint venture with Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing, Ltd. (SPML), a subsidiary of U.S. publicly listed company SunPower Corporation. The JV provides wafer-slicing services for the solar industry. It is the first silicon wafer slicing company in the Philippines.
