Earlier this month Tweakers.net had the opportunity to take a look inside the Dane-Elec memory factory in Galway Ireland. Needless to say, we couldn't let this opportunity slip away, and so Femme (founder of Tweakers.net) and Wouter went to Galway to see the place where all of Dane-Elec's memory for the European market is produced.
Before we get into the actual producing process we'll give you a little info about the organization behind Dane-Elec. The company was founded in the year 1985 by the French David Haccoun en Nessim Bodokh, who got to know each other 2 years before, because they worked at the same department. These two guys decided to start for themselves, an started their own company involving alarm systems and passing on all kinds of electronic components. After two years of 'getting to know the market' they decided to specialize in distributing memory for computers.
Because the process of making memory requires large investments and know-how, they sticked to selling third party components and products. Soon Dane-Elec became a large European distributor for the Japanese brand OKI, but also Samsung and siemens were sold. Their ambition was to make their own memory sticks. And so, in 1996 they opened a factory in Galway. Two years after that they opened a small facility in Irvine, California. This factory however is a lot smaller that the building in Galway
Dane-Elec is still managed by David (CEO) and Nessim (COO), from their headquarters in France. Besides managing and selling from France, they also have their Research and Development there. The company has contacts will all the large players in the memory market and went to the stock market in 1997. Because of their success they opened offices in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and England. The Irish factory delivers to all the European sellers. The American division of Dane-Elec is independent; the complete production for the American continent is done in California.