SWISS cable specialist Reichle & De-Massari (R&M) has opened a new 1,500 sq m assembly and production facility in Modon Industrial City 2 in Riyadh.

The company said in a statement it was a strategic move to significantly boost the delivery speed and flexibility of its fibre optic solutions in Saudi Arabia. The expansion follows the establishment of the company’s first-of-its-kind patch cord assembly facility at its regional hub in the Dubai Airport Free Zone (Dafza) in 2012.

Manzoor Ali, managing director, R&M Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, commented: “R&M is today recognised as one of the top three cabling vendors in the region thanks to our strong local presence, together with Swiss engineering. A few years ago we had a vision of becoming the leading cabling vendor in Saudi and to achieve that vision we have been investing in the country for the country.

“R&M is one of the fastest and most efficient vendors in the market and having this new facility in Saudi is testimony to our commitment to the market. It will allow us to become more customer-oriented and add value to the local market with our expertise.”

In order to meet and exceed industry standards, R&M ensures that its products are manufactured under strictly controlled quality conditions, the statement said. The Saudi facility will have dedicated QC personnel. Every raw material batch will be strictly monitored by the Swiss headquarters to ensure that the R&M Swiss quality is maintained. Staff at the new facility will receive state-of-the-art training at the company’s headquarters in Switzerland.

The cabling specialist is looking at tapping into the kingdom’s home-grown talent pool which it believes will help build a motivated and sustainable workforce. “In the first phase we are hoping to open doors for young Saudi technical personnel and the facility is equipped to have up to 20 technicians working in a single shift,” said Ali, speaking about the company’s staffing plans at the new unit.

R&M develops and produces passive cabling solutions for communication networks and has established itself as a leading producer of high quality copper and fibre-optic solutions. The company has set up its own sales organisations in 30 countries and these are streamlined into eight sales regions. Around two thirds of R&M’s sales revenue is generated abroad. In 2014 sales reached around CHF 211 million. More than 5 per cent of sales revenue is invested in research and development every year. R&M is ranked as one of the 500 leading companies in Switzerland and currently employs 800 people. It is wholly owned by the Reichle family and managed as an independent family business.