Global excellence centres ‘way forward’
The bulk of PCH International’s 3,000-strong workforce is located in China, but key elements of the company’s global operations are managed from its global headquarters in Mahon, Cork.
“You look at all the multinationals that are based here. They manage European business out of here — I think it’s wrong. I think they should be looking at management of global businesses out of here. There are huge opportunities for global centres of excellence out of Ireland,” he said.
Mr Casey believes this gives his company a competitive advantage, utilising Ireland’s time zone between the US and China, with Irish workers able to communicate during their working day with customers in the US and their Chinese operations.
“CEOs think about value creation, politicians think of job creation — they are completely different. We have to think of different types of jobs. I think we need to look at the flow of products, flow of information and the flow of cash. We are perfectly placed to manage the flow of information and cash on a global basis; we do it out of here. We use the time zone as a competitive advantage for us. This is a way CEOs get value and the politicians get jobs, he said.
PCH International, a technology product development and supply chain solutions company, is investing millions expanding its services with a new low carbon, energy-efficient facility in the heart of Shenzhen’s Futian Free Trade Zone. The company lists Apple and the biggest names in consumer technology among its customers and Mr Casey said their purpose is developing partnerships and delivering peace of mind to customers
“Your are guaranteed that on the kind of projects we work on, if something goes wrong, somebody on the customer’s side gets fired — so we make sure they don’t get fired.
“We work with companies that are passionate about design, passionate about their brand, passionate about the consumer experience. It is not a big box retailer, with no brand. We are not interested in that.
“If Wal-Mart came to me and wanted me to do a product, I’m not going to do it for them. They will see us as a cost added, not a value added.
“So there has to be a brand, so we can add value and we can defend the brand and protect the brand for them. That’s what we do for customers, we make sure they get peace of mind, we make sure their product ships on time. If all those things don’t happen there are huge consequences, especially with a brand, because its value can be destroyed overnight,” Mr Casey said.
Mr Casey is slow to name his customers, but PCH was recently named by Apple as one of its suppliers. “Yes we work with Apple, but we don’t get into the specifics,” he said.
Customers of big brand websites are buying PCH-made products in a seamless way that is all administered from the company’s Mahon headquarters
“We have products being delivered to people’s homes all across America today that left China 48 hours ago, direct to the consumer, seamless, invisible, ordered off big brand websites. All tracked from our office in Mahon.”
Mr Casey does not see any return of technology manufacturing jobs to Western economies from China in the short term.
“The labour cost content is a very small part on a device; on a cell phone, tablet or ereaders it is less than 5%, it could be as low as 2% depending on the product. Why do people manufacture in China? It’s down to the eco system of raw materials, it’s down to the skilled workforce.
“If America stopped playing basketball 15 years ago, if it then had to put a team out today to play against somebody, they would not do very well. They’d struggle to get a team and they’d struggle with the skills. Skills — whether its work, whether its sport — evolve. When it evolves like that you have a gap in how to actually get things done,” he explains.
Mr Casey said the company has no immediate plans for an IPO as it is well financed, but said if they were to it could be in the US or UK. Industry insiders estimate that Mr Casey’s stake in PCH would be worth a minimum of €100m in a stockmarket float.
“We have just announced a huge expansion, last year we raised quite a lot of money. We could go anywhere, we are always looking at financial opportunities. An IPO is one of a multitude of opportunities out there,” he said.
