IBM (NYSE:IBM) today opened the IBM Singapore Technology Park (ISTP), a new manufacturing facility for its System z mainframes and high-end Power systems.

Based in Tampines, the $90-million facility was opened by Singapore’s Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Rod Adkins, IBM Senior Vice President and Group Executive, IBM Systems & Technology Group.

The facility will be operational in June and will reach full capacity in the fourth quarter of 2010.

 

It will serve as IBM’s manufacturing and fulfillment center for IBM’s high-end systems clients across Asia, Africa and Europe. The 365,000-square-foot facility will also be responsible for the manufacture and fulfillment of IBM disk and tape storage technology, as well as related hardware appliances worldwide.

 

The ISTP is part of a global network of high-end manufacturing or development plants that include new facility openings in the last four months in Guadalajara, Mexico, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Manchester, UK, as IBM continues to invest in and build on its market-share leading lineup of workload-optimized systems.

 

“The opening of IBM’s Singapore Technology Park is a significant milestone in the strong partnership between Singapore and IBM. IBM’s investment affirms Singapore’s capabilities for complex, high-value manufacturing and global supply chain management. It also reinforces Singapore’s drive to be a leading knowledge economy, powered by digital intelligence,” said Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance, Singapore.

 

IBM says Singapore was chosen as the site for the new facility because of its geographical location close to a growing number of global clients investing in modern IT infrastructures powered by systems optimized from the microprocessor to hardware and software to handle demanding new applications for clients worldwide. Being based in Singapore also provides IBM with increased access to talent and suppliers that are crucial to the manufacturing process.