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NAI, a designer and manufacturer of custom interconnect solutions, announces the opening of a manufacturing plant in Mexico that will produce interconnect devices, including cable assemblies, harnesses, and box builds.

A press release said that the primary purpose of the 38,000-sq-ft plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, is to provide local support to NAI’s existing and new customers in the nearby region, as well as to improve logistics with closer proximity. The investment will also create manufacturing flexibility in Mexico, including the ability to create dual capacity in multiple plant locations. This new-dual sourcing capability offers customers an alternative to maintain continuity of supply during challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The site can also be expanded.

The products to be made serve core markets of industrial, medical and telecom providers. Cable assemblies typically include fiber optic and/or copper cables (and may also include power cables), with connectors attached at one or both ends. They are used to interconnect different types of equipment and instruments. Several hundred SKUs will be initially transferred to this Saltillo plant and set up for immediate production. Operations are scheduled to begin in February 2021.

U.K.-based Volex, a manufacturer of standard and custom cable assemblies, reports that it has agreed to buy cable harnesses maker Silcotec for just shy of £16 million.

Per multiple media reports, the cash and stock deal will enable Volex to continue its mission to further consolidate what was described as the “highly fragmented cable assembly industry.” A few weeks earlier, Volex bought U.S.-based MC Electronics, a peer, in an all-share deal worth up to £2.6 million.

Based in Ireland, Silotec offers cables, assembles and box builds for the medical industry. Per the company’s website, it has a Centre of Manufacturing Excellence in Komarno, Slovakia. “Silcotec Europe can accommodate almost every sub contract manufacturing need. With 65,000 sq ft in Slovakia and the skilled teams within it we consistently adopt, adapt and improve our manufacturing systems to meet individual client needs.”

“This acquisition is an important step in expanding our Cable Assembly activities in Europe,” Volex Chairman Nat Rothschild said.

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