Cloud conglomerate Cisco likely to pick Flex as manufacturing partner

Cloud conglomerate Cisco, which has announced its intention to begin manufacturing in India, is likely to choose Flex India as its manufacturing partner in the country, according to a report in The Economic Times. Flex India is a subsidiary of Flex Ltd, a US-based multinational electronics manufacturing company.

The manufacturing process will begin in Flex India’s manufacturing unit, which is located in Chennai’s Oragadam special economic zone (SEZ). It is the only unit which had enough capacity to handle the volume of products Cisco is aiming for, the report said. A government official said the firm plans to begin the manufacturing of blade servers, towers, and racks by the end of the calendar year.

A source told ET that Cisco has been conducting regular meetings with both state and central government officials. Company executives had met state and central government officials in Davos and indicated that they will manufacture in India.

In a press release, Cisco said that it was “partnering with a contract manufacturer in southern India”. The company said the manufacturing unit will build Cisco’s technology for cost-effective delivery of services and applications, and support complex cloud computing environments. However, Cisco did not disclose the partner it was working with or the location of the plant.

The company had announced its plans to start manufacturing in India on May 10. Cisco would target $1 billion worth of exports and domestic products over the next few years from the unit in Tamil Nadu, the firm’s CEO Chuck Robbins had said. The manufacturing unit was likely to start making products over the next 12 months and create roughly 1,200 jobs, he had said.