The new plant will be established in Bagaluru, R&M’s largest site worldwide for the manufacture of fiber optic cabling components.
May 29, 2024
R&M, the globally active Swiss developer and provider of high-end infrastructure solutions for data and communications networks, opened a new fiber optic plant in India in mid-May. The entire infrastructure was relocated to Bagaluru, in the north of Bengaluru. Investments were also made in new production lines and production capacity was further increased. Bagaluru is R&M’s largest site worldwide for the manufacture of fiber optic cabling components.
“Demand for fiber optic connectivity solutions from R&M is increasing in India and Asia in general. The driving forces are broadband supply, 5G and data centers. That’s why we’re building up additional manufacturing capacities here. The fiber optic plant plays a key role in our regional growth strategy and strengthens our position as a top-quality vendor of connectivity infrastructure solutions,” explains Laurent Amestoy, Executive Vice President R&M APAC.
“With this investment, we are reaffirming R&M’s commitment to a long-term involvement in the growth market of India. The new plant will also assume a global function. As the largest production site, it provides flexible and responsive resources for our supply chain. This makes us more competitive and also ready for a new upswing in western markets,” says R&M CEO Michel Riva.
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“Bagaluru provides the ideal premises in the dynamic industrial agglomeration of Bangalore. The plant is located just 10 kilometers from the international airport. Spread over three floors, the new building offers flexible expansion options and 400-500 modern workplaces. Our production operation works in accordance with the high Swiss quality standards that R&M represents worldwide. Due to demand, we are already planning two and three-shift operations,” says Markus Stieger, COO of R&M.
R&M has had its own production facilities in India since 2014. Initially, the focus was on assembling fiber optic patch cords for the global market. In 2018, R&M opened a plant with 200 workplaces in Jakkur near Bangalore. Demand on site increased rapidly with the broadband rollout and rapid data center growth.
Today, R&M supplies India’s entire telecom industry as well as metro and smart city projects with a comprehensive fiber optic portfolio. In addition to infrastructure solutions for FTTx networks, R&M India also offers the development of dedicated cabling solutions for enterprises and data centers. Since 2023, R&M has been very successful with fiber optic connectivity solutions for the base stations of the new 5G networks in India.
R&M India promotes sustainability in several ESG areas. The plant in India is certified in accordance with international standards for occupational safety, quality and environmental management. Employees present their questions and statements to managers in regular open-door meetings. One example of how the volume of waste is being reduced is that the use of disposable plastic bottles has been discontinued.
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Regular local charity initiatives are also part of the commitment, such as providing children with school bags and textbooks so that they can take part in lessons. A long-term afforestation project in Errabadu is helping to provide livelihoods for Indian farmers and contributing to CO2 compensation.
