U.S.-based PCB and RF components and microwave assembly manufacturer TTM Technologies, Inc. has broken the ground its new manufacturing plant in Penang, Malaysia. Accordingly, the new plant carries a proposed capital investment of US$130 million through 2025.

TTM’s expansion to Penang, Malaysia aims to respond customer requirements for advanced technology PCB supply chain resiliency and diversification in regions beyond China.

Highly Automated, State of the Art

TTM selected Penang for the new plant after careful consideration of investment and operating costs, customer proximity, and supply chain support. Particularly, Penang has a well-established electrical and electronics (E&E) industry ecosystem.

Moreover, the new plant will serve TTM’s global commercial markets including networking communications, data center computing, and medical, industrial, and instrumentation.

This state of the art, highly automated plant will rise upon approximately 27 acres of industrial land at Penang Science Park.

The company expects construction to take 12 to 15 months followed by equipment installations in the middle of 2023. Pilot production may begin in the second half of 2023, with volume production commencing in 2024. Eventually, in 2025, the new plant will ramp up to full Phase 1 capacity.

TTM expects the new plant to achieve full run rate revenue of approximately US$180 million in 2025. The factory will have the capability to support a 25 percent upside Phase 2 expansion.

Strengthens Supply Chain

YAB Tuan Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang, congratulated TTM on achieving this milestone, citing Penang as one of the major players in the global semiconductor industry, particularly in assembly and test as well as equipment manufacturing. Moreover, the state has five decades of manufacturing excellence.

With PCB and substrate being an emerging subsector in Penang, Chow said the addition of TTM will sharpen further the local talent’s capability in advanced PCB technology solutions.

Lim Bee Vian, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO), Investment Development, of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)  remarked, “MIDA is confident that Malaysia’s comprehensive E&E ecosystem, the capability of our local talent, and our well-developed semiconductor supply chain that supports long-term growth provide vital building blocks for investors like TTM to expand in the region.”  Meanwhile, Tom Edman, President and Chief Executive Officer of TTM, said the new plant will mark the start of an important new chapter to the company’s mission to support its customers with differentiated high value-add engineering and PCB product solutions. In addition, Edman said TTM is responding to customers’ needs for supply chain resiliency, regional diversification, and growth capacity.