Pandora, the world's largest jewellery manufacturer and exporter, says its second crafting factory at Gemopolis Industrial Estate in Bangkok is due to start commercial operations in the first quarter of next year.
The construction cost represents more than 20% of the 9-billion-baht investment in the 2015-19 expansion programme, said Nils Helander, senior vice-president for manufacturing and managing director of Pandora Production Thailand.
This new factory is being built with Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements, offering nearly 19,400 square meters of production space. Advanced technology and equipment will be installed to dramatically reduce production lead time.
Pandora's innovation centre at Gemopolis Industrial Estate is also scheduled to open at the end of this year. The venue will showcase Pandora's latest advanced products.
The company has plans to renovate the first crafting factory at Gemopolis after the second building is done. Together with the renovation, a new office building, a food centre, parking lots and conference rooms will be added nearby.
Pandora just opened a new production facility in Lamphun in January, where it anticipates as much as 25% of its total jewellery volume will be produced by the year-end.
"We are very confident our expansion programme will play a vital role in promoting Thailand's jewellery manufacturing industry internationally. Most importantly, it reinforces Pandora's vision to become the world's most-loved jewellery brand," Mr Helander said.
After the completion of expansion programme in 2019, Pandora will hire 20,000 employees, 5,000 for Lamphun, 8,000 for the first crafting factory and 7,000 at the second crafting facility, both at Gemopolis.
Last year, Pandora generated over 100 billion baht revenue, a 21% increase from 2015. It created 122 million pieces of jewellery.