First Philec aims to attain core business status by 2012 with a revenue goal of P15 billion pesos or USD 340 million, and an income of P1 billion pesos or USD22.7 million .

 

To achieve its P15 billion goal by 2012, the company embarked on a strategy of expansion into new markets and businesses through targeted acquisitions and partnerships; and the diversification of its product lines.  The expansion plan is reinforced by a continuous build-up of capabilities and organizational strengthening.

• Target niche businesses for partnerships or acquisition.  The company shall undertake a series of partnerships with, or acquisitions of target niche businesses in the global market where it can compete. The focus shall be on industrial markets where supply chain logistics combined with operational excellence are key determinants of success.  First Philec shall also focus on industries at the mid-level range of technologies in electro-mechanical engineering, where it is competitive, and can be globally deployed.
  


• Grow existing businesses and diversify into new product lines.  In parallel, First Philec shall continue to grow its existing businesses where it has a solid manufacturing track record.  Along with this effort is a plan to acquire new competencies that will allow the Company to improve on its existing products and diversify into new product lines.  While serving the domestic market, First Philec shall test the global market through exports.  In the process, the company expects to gain more knowledge of the global customers and enable it further improve on its products to compete regionally and globally.
  


• Strengthen the Organization.  First Philec believes that the strength of the plan rests on the strength of its organization.  Therefore, it shall continuously seek to enhance the growth team’s skills and organizational work ethic and culture by espousing its core values of excellence, teamwork, and integrity which are critical to the success of the company.  For this, the company has adopted the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Standard as a framework in shaping the company’s processes to assure a greater probability of attaining its targets.
  

The Electronics Sector plans to engage in both the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and the photovoltaic (PV) industries.  Both EMS and PV are global businesses that shall enable the division to balance its business portfolio, and hedge against currency, market and technology risk.


The vision for EMS calls for establishing a global footprint, with manufacturing facilities in low cost locations, and design & prototyping facilities and sales & marketing offices as close to our anchor clients.


To pursue the EMS business, the electronics division plans to (a) build on FSCI by expanding its business thru vertical integration (FCA, SMT, and Flexwire Assembly), (b) start developing the division’s box build capabilities by working with a leading semiconductor company, initially to serve the requirements of Lopez Group companies for set-top boxes, toll collection systems, electronic ballasts and watt-hour meters; (c) identify and acquire EMS companies, both local and overseas, which we can be acquired consistent with the  vision for a global footprint.


Similarly, the plan for developing the PV business calls for establishing manufacturing facilities beside First Philec’s partners, while opening the door for providing similar services for other PV companies.  Foremost among the divisions priorities are to (a) build on FPSC by gaining the technological knowledge about the industry; (b) establish a track record to be able to build additional facilities to support the requirements of our partner; (c) build competencies to move up the value chain, from supply chain efforts to source materials such as ingots, wafer sawing, panel assembly and system installation; and (d) establish joint ventures with other technology leaders in the PV industry, to engage in supercell manufacturing and module assembly.

The Electrical Utilities Sector has adopted a two-pronged growth strategy:  the first is to increase its business portfolio through product and services diversification, and the second is to establish an overseas manufacturing presence.


To increase its product portfolio, the sector formed a central engineering team to search for allied business lines, set up possible trading partnerships, and continuously innovate its existing products to adapt to the changing market requirements.  


It plans to build up its power transformer manufacturing capacity to meet the increasing demand for padmounted transformers in both the domestic and foreign markets.   The division has also started developing its services business by upgrading its testing capabilities, and looking into new services such as gas and oil diagnostics, and the full servicing of AVRs and SLEs.  The division has also initiated its trading businesses and plans to pursue trading partnerships with global players to supply the T&D industry of the region.


In 2007 the Electricals Division established First Philec Manufacturing Technologies Corporation (FPMTC) to serve as an incubation company for all its new businesses.  It successfully introduced its new product lines of switchgears and substations to the market and plans to produce higher capacity units in the following years.  FPMTC also started construction of its amorphous core manufacturing plant in Taytay, Rizal.  The plant was completed in the first quarter of 2008 and is now fully operational.

In 2008, First Philec produced the first Philippine-made mobile substation for Visayan Electric with a capacity of 33 MVA.  It is the largest substation to date built by Philec in collaboration with First Philec Manufacturing Technologies Corporation (FPMTC), our incubation company focused on innovation.  The mobile substation shall provide additional or emergency power to remote towns and barangays in Southern Philippines.   In urban areas where maintenance work is required, the mobile substation may also be used as a temporary substation while repair works on the fixed substation are performed.  First Philec intends to play a more significant role in the electrical transmission and distribution (T&D) industry as it continues to enhance its technical design competencies. This shall enable the company to continuously improve and expand its T&D product lines and compete in the regional market.

Having gained the market leadership in the Philippines for distribution transformers, the electrical division expects to derive new growth for this product line in the overseas market.  It has initiated discussions with possible partners in the Asia-Pacific region to set up manufacturing plants in countries with large untapped markets and/or low-cost structures.


The Electricals Division foresees a more aggressive growth performance in the next few years as it introduces more business lines to the market through FPMTC and expands its geographical reach to new markets both locally and within the region.