Semiconductor equipment supplier VDL Group opens new facility in S'pore, will expand hiring

Straits Times

2 days ago

The facility will boost the company's existing manufacturing capacity in Singapore by 30 per cent. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – A Dutch semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplier with roots in Singapore going back to 1970 opened a third facility on June 2 and said it plans to hire 400 more staff here over the next five years.
VDL Enabling Technologies Group's new 20,000 sq m facility in Pioneer comprises an office block, warehousing and logistics space, and a clean room that produces parts for companies that make semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The facility, called SQ1, will boost the company's existing manufacturing capacity in Singapore by 30 per cent. VDL said it had invested more than $50 million in the plant, but declined to disclose the exact amount.
The company currently employs around 800 staff in Singapore.
While SQ1 has capacity for 100 staff, the remaining new hires will be spread across its other facilities. Roles include those in engineering, supply chain management and administration.
VDL Singapore managing director Chiam Sing Chung told The Straits Times on June 2 that the company will invest another $100 million over the next five years to upgrade infrastructure at its two existing manufacturing plants and at SQ1.
The investment will go towards hardware, machinery and clean room facilities.
Mr Chiam added that VDL Singapore has not seen 'a very adverse effect' from global tariffs so far, and is aiming to grow its revenue from the current $400 million to $1 billion within the next five to six years.
'If we talk about a realignment of the supply chain, then Singapore, generally speaking, is a good place for this realignment, so we see some new opportunities coming along,' he said.
Headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, VDL has had a presence in Singapore for 55 years. It set up its first plant here in 1970 as the Philips Machine Factory, producing parts for its then parent company, Philips.
VDL now has operations in 20 countries.
Mr Jermaine Loy, managing director at the Economic Development Board, said at the opening ceremony of the new facility that Dutch companies such as VDL have been integral to Singapore's economic transformation, playing key roles across different sectors, including energy, electronics and precision engineering.
He also noted that Singapore's semiconductor industry accounts for about 6 per cent to 7 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and employs around 35,000 people – about 10 per cent of chips and 20 per cent of semiconductor equipment produced globally each year are made here.
'We have built a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem – from integrated circuit design, to wafer fabrication, to assembly, testing and packaging, to headquarter functions and R&D (research and development), and supported by a strong network of semiconductor equipment and materials companies,' said Mr Loy.
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