James Phillips, the managing director of the footwear manufacturer Ecco Thailand, said yesterday, October 19 2011, to Bangkok Post that the Thai unit would ask the parent company’s owner, who was flying in from Denmark yesterday, to set up temporary production facilities in non-flooded areas near Bangkok.
The Thai unit’s plant, with a staff of 3,500, in Ayutthaya’s Saharattananakorn Industrial Estate, has halted production since Oct 4, while a smaller plant in Phichit province with 1,500 workers is ramping up production to normal levels after a brief disruption stemming from a supply shortage.
The proposed temporary site, accounting for 30% of Ecco’s normal production, would start up this year.
Ecco’s Thai unit last year generated revenue of 150-200 million (6.31 billion to 8.4 billion baht) or 30% of the company’s global sales.
