Manufacturing companies ‘need to lead in innovation, marketing’

Tony Boyle, Chief Executive of the Sigma Wireless Group, has said that Irish manufacturing companies will not be able to compete on a global basis, unless they become more involved in designing new products and services for world markets.

"The challenge was not just to get involved in R&D, but in a much more marketing-orientated type of product research and development, clearly focused on what people want to buy in the international market place," he said.

Boyle was speaking at the National College of Ireland, at a breakfast meeting in which the college’s final-year students showcased projects submitted as part of their Software Systems degrees.

Sigma Wireless employs over 400 people and recently announced an additional 60 manufacturing jobs, following an €8m R&D programme to create advanced infrastructure antennae for the global mobile phone market.