DIXON TECH'S FORWARD THINKER

Sunil Vachani is building scale and leveraging product design to make Dixon a more globally competitive contract manufacturing firm.

- ARNIKA THAKUR

IN A SWANKY building in Noida’s Sector 16, about 650 Dixon Technologies employees in anti-static blue, yellow and green checked jackets and hats are working in the afternoon shift. In the printed circuit board (PCB) segment, machines assemble reels of tiny components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors and technicians perform quality checks. On a separate floor, rows of workers put together cameras, speakers, screens and other components to make smartphones, which are then packed in colourful boxes for shipping to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the U.S., apart from the Indian market. The unit produces 22,000-27,000 Motorola smartphones everyday. This is one of Dixon Technologies’ 21 facilities in the country which make everything from mobile phones, LED TVs and washing machines to security surveillance systems and lighting solutions for some of the world’s biggest consumer electronic, mobile, lighting and home appliance firms such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Philips, Panasonic and Bosch.

Now, the electronic component manufacturer is scaling up further with a larger facility in Sector 68 Noida which will make phones for Xiaomi. The 3,00,000 square feet unit has been built at an investment of ₹250 crore (total expected investment is ₹400 crore) in the first phase and will employ 5,000 people. It is expected to make 2-2.5 million units every month. The company expects revenues from the new unit to start coming in from October-December quarter. In FY23, phones and electronic manufacturing service (EMS) accounted for 43% revenue.