FEC Plans to Expand Production Capacity at OFS to Meet Global Demand

TOKYO and NORCROSS, Ga., Sept. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Furukawa Electric Company (Furukawa Electric) today announces plans to nearly double its 2016 optical fiber manufacturing capacity by 2019 and to increase its optical fiber cable manufacturing capacity as well, thereby creating over 400 jobs over the next two years. 

Between 2014 and 2016, Furukawa Electric increased its global fiber production capacity by 20% and planned to achieve another capacity increase of 20% by 2018. However, in order to meet the strong customer demand for optical fiber and optical fiber cable, the Furukawa Electric board approved $150 million capital spending for further expansion in production primarily in the U.S. and Europe through the optical fiber and cable operations of OFS, its wholly owned subsidiary.

"The proliferation of hyper-scale and edge data centers, 5G wireless, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), along with the greater digitization of communications in business, are creating the need for fiber in the network around the world," said Timothy F. Murray, head of the Global Optical Fiber and Cable business of Furukawa Electric and CEO of OFS.  "Furukawa Electric is responding with greater capacity as we foresee this demand continuing into the next decade with communication traffic estimated to increase during this period. Furukawa Electric will continue to serve its global customer base and to contribute to growing communication solutions in the market through a company-wide effort."

About Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (www.furukawa.co.jp/english) is an $11 billion global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of fiber optic products, network products, electronics components, power cables, nonferrous metals, and other advanced technology products. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Furukawa operates production facilities on five continents around the globe, including OFS in the U.S.A., Europe and China.

About OFS
OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, connectivity, FTTx and specialty photonics solutions.  Our marketing, sales, manufacturing and research teams provide forward-looking, innovative products and solutions in areas including Communications, Medicine, Industrial Networking, Sensing, Aerospace and Defense applications. We provide reliable, cost effective optical solutions to enable our customers to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's digital and energy consumers and businesses.

OFS' corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and includes technology powerhouses such as AT&T and Lucent Technologies. Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications.

For more information, please visit www.ofsoptics.com.

SOURCE OFS

Related Links

http://www.ofsoptics.com