History (1997): Seagate not Just Fishing in Ireland

Two big HDD manufacturers are investing massively in Ireland, Quantum/MKE and Seagate Technology.

The former group chose the Emerald Isle for the assembly of drives. The latter also, but with additional plants for components (heads and platters).

Seagate clearly likes Ireland. And not only for the island’s charm, its greenery and its fishing. Ireland boasts capable workers and quality engineers, at labor costs that remain quite reasonable. What’s more, local authorities are taking great pains to attract foreign investment.

For example, in Northern Ireland, the Industrial Development Board is a veritable war machine when it comes to welcoming industry. Total investment in this country grew 25% in 1996, with companies committing nearly $1 billion.

“Global market leaders from North America, including Caterpillar, Emerson Electric, Ford, Liberty Mutual, Seagate and others invested a total of more than $700 million during the past year,” said IDB SVP in North America, Bill Montgomery.

Seagate alone has invested on 6 different occasions since 1993. The latest IDB-backed investment, a $240 million expansion of the company’s thin-film wafer lab facilities a half billion dollars.

Two plants in Northern Ireland …
In Northern Ireland, Seagate has set up 2 plants in Springtown, Londonderry (County Derry), produces wafers implanted with thin-film magnetic heads. The plant currently employs 924 people. Seagate has just announced a $250 million expansion of the existing operations.

This second 290,000 square foot facility will be operational in December 1998 and will create up to 1,125 new jobs. The expansion will provide space for the potential doubling of Seagate’s local R&D organization.

Nearby in Limavidy, still in County Derry, Seagate established a $100 million facility in 1996 to manufacture nickel aluminum disk substrates, which will hold 759 people when fully operational.

…and two others in the Republic of Ireland
Moving on to the South, in the Republic of Ireland, Seagate has opened or will open 2 other plants. In this country, there is a Ministry for Enterprise and Employment that is particularly effective, headed by Richard Bruton, a tenacious personality who doesn’t balk at traveling all the way to California to find “clients,” and whose knowledge of the storage industry is remarkable for a political figure, even if he sometimes keeps those around him waiting during the delayed inauguration of a Clonmel factory.

In fact, it was in June 1995 that Conner Peripherals (and subsequently, Seagate) founded its Clonmel (County Tipperary) HDD assembly plant, which was not officially opened until June 4 of this year, complete with the local priest’s benediction.

The ancient facility, acquired from Digital Equipment, is Seagate’s sole HDA plant in Europe since the closing of Conner Peripherals plant in Ivrea, Italy.

The factory’s debut has been spectacular, given that its total production had already attained a million HDDs by June 1996, 1.5 million by January 1997, 2 million by April 2007, and 2.5 million by the end of last month. The factory is capable of producing 9,000 drives per day, just under a tenth of Seagate’s total production throughout the world.

A second opening in the Republic has just been planned, this time in Ringaskiddy (County Cork), approximately 9 miles south of Cork City. The 200,000 square foot plant, which represents a total investment of $223 million, is expected to employ 1,030 people and, when fully operational, to have an output capacity of 1O million magnetic platters per quarter. Construction of the facility on a 26 acre green site will start next October. Production is expected to begin in August 1988.

This article is an abstract of news published on ≠114 on July 1997 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.

Note: Seagate shuts down Northern Ireland plant in 2007, cutting 780 employees.