Swiss cable company opens new facility in Dafza

Reichle & De-Massari (R&M), the Swiss structured cabling specialist, has unveiled its new patch cord assembly facility in the company's regional hub at the Dubai Airport Freezone (Dafza).

The Swiss cabling company, which started operations about 14 years ago, is expanding its Middle East operations from Dubai by opening a new assembly plant for patch cords. In view of the growing demand for secure cables for the telecom, computer and other networks in the Middle East and Africa region, the company has chosen Dubai for the new facility because of logistical convenience.

The new assembly line, the first of its kind in the region, was inaugurated by Peter Reichle, owner and executive board member of R&M, the company's COO, Markus Stieger and Jean-Pierre Labry, R&M's Executive Vice President for Middle East & Africa, in the presence of  Walter Deplazes, Consul General of Switzerland (Dubai & Northern Emirates), Peter Harradine, President of the Swiss Business Council in Dubai, officials from Dubai Airport Free Zone as well as R&M's partners and end users from the MEA region such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.

These cables are widely used in telecommunication, healthcare, petrochemicals, defence and banking. According to the company, a major reason for data loss and network failure is due to poor quality cabling.

Besides serving R&M customers in the Middle East and Africa, the assembly plant will also supply patch cords to countries in the Asia Pacific region including India, China, Japan, Singapore and Australia.

“Our customers would previously receive patch cords from our headquarters in Switzerland, but as the region now has  its own assembly facility, our Middle East and Africa customers as well as those in Asia Pacific can be assured of faster delivery,” said Peter Reichle.

Sixty employees from 14 nationalities work in the company’s facility at Dubai Airport Free Zone. One reason for choosing Dafza is that eighty per cent of its cargo is coming by air freight and the location within the city is convenient.

The patch cord is a  cabling component for data centres and setting up the assembly facility for the same is in line with the company's aim of being recognised as the region's leading data centre solutions provider by 2013.

Patch cords, which are also vital for office cabling, are most widely used for connecting endpoint devices such as laptops, telephones and desktops to wall outlets, or in interconnection of network equipments like port switches and servers. These cords require a high degree of flexibility and customisation of their lengths and types to meet various infrastructure requirements.

“Having the first of its kind patch cord assembly facility in Dubai will allow us to be more customer-oriented and will help us become the fastest and most efficient vendor in the market,” said Jean-Pierre Labry, Executive Vice President of R&M MEA.

Markus Stieger, COO of R&M in Switzerland said, “Rather than testing only samples from the production batches, at this R&M facility, every single patch cord will undergo a two-level performance test. Cables which pass these tests are then branded under the R&M global 'freenet' warranty programme. Every raw material batch is strictly controlled and monitored by the Swiss headquarters to ensure that R&M’s Swiss quality is maintained. The assembly

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