The Cicor Group continued to grow in the 2019 reporting year by gaining market share in a difficult economic environment. As a result, the expectations for sales and profitability development were met. Thanks to the significant reduction in net working capital, Cicor generated in 2019 an excellent free cash flow, which allowed a further reduction in net debt. Important mile-stones were the establishment of the printed electronics application laboratory in Bronschhofen, the commissioning of a new plating line for printed circuit boards in Boudry and the relocation of plastics production from Singapore to Batam (Indonesia). Cicor‘s strategic focus on demanding applications in medical technology, industrial electronics and aerospace and defence is showing results. A high single-digit number of important new projects will enter into mass production in 2020, which is why Cicor expects to continue to grow faster than the overall market.
With a population of 265 million, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and by far the largest economy in Southeast Asia. Economic growth has recently been close to 5.2 percent. The production site for assembly and precision plastic injection molding in Batam was founded in 2000 and employs around 670 people today. As a globally active outsourcing partner, the Cicor Group is responsible for the development and manufacturing of numerous electronic and plastic components for leading companies. As a reliable partner, Cicor offers development services, high-quality printed circuit boards, printed electronics, electronic manufacturing services, tool design and fabrication, plastic injection molding and box building from one single source. Cicor produces at ten locations worldwide – from the market for the market.
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Leading companies from the medical, industrial and automotive sectors value the Southeast Asian Cicor operation in Batam (Indonesia), established in 2000, as a production partner for high-precision plastic injection molded parts and electronic assemblies. Today, the production facility with around 650 employees is very much geared to the specific requirements of medical technology and is ideally located, just an hour’s ferry ride from Cicor's Asia HQ and Engineering Center in Singapore. High-quality injection molding tools are designed and manufactured at this location. The cross-border cooperation between the Batam (Indonesia) and Singapore sites offers customers the decisive added value to obtain tools, plastic parts as well as vertically integrated secondary processes and assembly services from a single source. Cicor supports its customers in tool design and fabrication up to series production of high-precision plastic parts and complete devices including electronic assemblies, which are produced at the Cicor site in Thuan An Town (Vietnam). The efficient cooperation between the development engineers and the production departments ensures a constant exchange of know-how and technology. In the 2019 reporting year, the IT landscape was also optimized in such a way that all processes are now mapped in a common ERP system (SAP).
TOOL DESIGN AND FABRICATION
After the relocation of injection molding capacities from Singapore to Batam (Indonesia), the competence center for tool design and fabrication was further optimized at the Asia HQ in Singapore. Tools with up to 64 cavities are designed using modern CAD/CAM software and optimized with an integrated mold flow analysis. In the local production department, the high-precision molds with cold, semi-hot and hot runner systems are manufactured on highest-quality CNC and EDM machines. The hardened tools have a lifetime guarantee of up to 1 000 000 cycles.COMPETENCE CENTER FOR PRECISION INJECTION MOLDING
In Batam (Indonesia), Cicor has established a competence center for precision injection molding. In addition to standard plastic parts, micro injection molded parts with a diameter of 2 mm and microstructures with a wall thickness of only 0.4 mm are produced there.
On more than 1 200 m2 in ISO-class-7 clean rooms, components for medical applications in particular are manufactured on state-of-the-art injection molding machines with a clamping force of 20 to 468 tons. The clean rooms are validated for medical “ready-to-use” applications and are equipped for injection molding as well as assembly and packaging activities. This allows the products produced by Cicor Batam to be used for medical purposes without further sterilization.The injection molding process is highly automated. The machines have an automatic material supply system with an integrated dehumidifier and the injection-molded parts are removed from the mold by a servo-robot arm with a vision system and are automatically placed on a tray provided for this purpose. The certified clean rooms and ISO certifications in the areas of quality and environmental management as well as occupational safety, medical and automotive guarantee the highest level of safety and reliability for customers from all over the world.
ULTRAMODERN SPRAY PAINTING LINE
As an extension of its existing range of services, Cicor Group commissioned a new state-of-the-art spray painting line in Batam (Indonesia) in summer 2019. Following a successful test phase, the first customer parts have already been coated with this system since the fourth quarter of 2019. This new line from a renowned European manufacturer is equipped with an ultramodern painting unit and a dry filter system, thus meeting the highest quality standards. The system is able to spray complex parts with recesses and curved surfaces in high quality. Thanks to the accuracy of the robots used, a very high repeatability of the coating parameters can be ensured. This enables Cicor to guarantee a consistently high quality of the coated products.ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLIES FROM VIETNAM
In addition to the electronics production facilities in Arad (Romania) and Bronschhofen (Switzerland), Cicor also has a site for electronic manufacturing services in Thuan An Town (Vietnam). The location is 20 km from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and offers PCB assembly, as well as box building including plastic injection molding services. It is located in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park and, like all other Cicor locations, has a state-of-the-art machine park. The ISO certifications in the areas of quality and environmental management and medicine enable the factory in Vietnam to supply leading customers in the medical, industrial as well as automotive and transport sectors.ASSEMBLY OF PLASTICS AND ELECTRONICS
At the Batam (Indonesia) site, the plastic parts are finally assembled together with electronic parts according to the customer’s requirements. This work can be carried out in a regularly controlled environment or in an ISO-Class-7 certified clean room. Various welding processes are available for the closing and sealing of housings. Before delivery to the customer the devices are tested with specific test procedures. These include amongst others temperature cycling, variable humidity conditions and salt spray tests. With the additional spray painting capabilities at the Batam (Indonesia) site Cicor is now in the position to offer its customers complete high-quality solutions from a single source, from the mold to the plastic parts and the paint finish to the final assembly, including electronics.