'Best kept secret in manufacturing' - Auckland wiring manufacturer shifting offshore operations from China to Samoa

Fero will start operations next week in Apia and is urging other businesses to do the same.

An Auckland wiring manufacturer is withdrawing its offshore operations from china and transferring them to Samoa.

Wiring company, Fero, will start operations next week in the island country and is urging other businesses to look at doing the same.

Fero General Manager, Sam Fulton says, "we see Samoa as the best kept secret in manufacturing i think there is a lot of opportunity to look close to home and not go to the standard Asia, China, Vietnam or Taiwan manufacturers".

Fero provides wiring for the technology sector and a quarter of its finished product is sourced from China, but from Monday it's going to be made in Apia at the former Yazaki premises where the same kind of product was made.

When the Japanese company closed its operation here earlier this year, more than 700 people lost their jobs.

Greg Fulton, managing director of Fero told 1 NEWS, "they were purpose built premises for our industry the wiring industry the quality they have been producing up here has been exceptional they haven’t had a quality issue for four years so we know they can do it really well".

Problems with quality and the challenge of distance were some of the reasons to relocate from China.

Fero's signed up 75 former Yazaki employees, in the next two years it intends to expand to 200 staff.

With Samoa's help, the world's their oyster.

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