Electronics manufacturer Sanmina is to create 150 jobs in an expansion of its Cork-based medical production facility.
The move will provide several new automation lines for the production of wearable medical devices, and add to its more than 400-person workforce in Ireland.
The jobs are expected to be created over an 18-month period, mainly focused on engineering and technician roles to support and deliver the new manufacturing plant and oversee quality control. Hiring is under way.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin hailed the expansion as a “strong vote of confidence in the skills, talent and ability of the workforce in Cork and beyond” as well as a sign that Ireland remains an attractive destination “for international investment and a global leader in medical technology innovation”.
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“This expansion underscores Sanmina’s long-term commitment to Fermoy and to Ireland as a centre of excellence for medical technology manufacturing,” said Sean Moran, a senior vice-president at the company.
The Fermoy site, which is the US-listed manufacturer’s largest in Europe, first opened in 1989.
He said the plant had been “central to our success and to supporting the growth of our customers in the global medical device marketplace while creating high-quality employment and opportunity in the region”.
The company manufactures an array of medical devices including patient monitors, ultrasound systems, CT scanners and X-ray equipment. It also has manufacturing plants in Germany and Finland, and two in each of the UK and Hungary.
The tech firm consolidated its operations in the Republic in 2002, closing an electronic manufacturing services operation, later shutting the doors of a plant in Antrim in 2007 to relocate to eastern Europe.
Mary Buckley, executive director of IDA Ireland, said the expansion would “future-proof the site”, noting the investment “demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to the Southwest Region”.
