FSCI Appoints New President

First Sumiden Circuits, Inc. (FSCI), a pioneer manufacturer of flexible printed circuits in the Philippines, had a change of leadership in April 2001 after its outgoing president, Mr. Akira Nishimura, accepted a new assignment in Japan. FSCI is a P1.5 Billion joint venture among Japan-based Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) and Sumitomo Corporation (SC), and the Lopez Group’s First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC).

Indicative of the Japanese group’s confidence in Filipino leadership, a Filipino was appointed as FSCI’s president after five years of operation. Dan Lachica, an Electrical Engineering graduate of the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and an MBA graduate of the San Jose State University, California, assumed the position on April 7, 2001. Fresh out of college, he was recruited by Procter and Gamble as a Production Manager. In 1980, Mr. Lachica left for California and worked in Silicon Valley for 16 years. He had successful stints with multinationals such as Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and Texas Instruments, working his way up to senior management level and gaining experience in world-class manufacturing techniques and methodologies.

In 1996, Mr. Lachica was enrolled in the MSEE program at Stanford University when he was hired by Iomega Corporation to be the Managing Director of its Philippine operations. He returned to the Philippines after a 16-year absence. After Iomega transferred its Zip drive manufacturing operations to Penang in 1999, Mr. Lachica gave up his expatriate status to remain in the country. He joined the Lopez Group in May 1999 and was seconded to FSCI as the Senior Vice President for Operations. After nearly two years with FSCI, Mr. Lachica is now the company’s 4th President.

Mr. Lachica is currently pursuing his doctorate degree at De La Salle University, and shares his global experience with young professionals as a part-time Professor of Operations Management and Human Resource Management at Ateneo University’s Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Lachica considers the global economic recession and inventory correction to be the biggest challenges being faced by FSCI. Although he sees a slight recovery in Quarter 3 spurred by demand for consumer products during the Christmas season, he believes that the slump could last for the whole year, and possibly through the first quarter of next year.

During these tough times, the new President is set to meet the challenges head-on. Mr. Lachica would like FSCI to concentrate on improving quality, reducing costs and guaranteeing on-time delivery. He believes that by eliminating waste and maximizing efficiency, FSCI will be able to weather the current economic storm. In the years to come, the new President would like to see FSCI reach its full potential, surpass global standards and become the best SEI subsidiary, if not the best FPC manufacturer in the world.