Irish China expert takes the 'hard' out of hardware

Creating a drone or Internet-connected kitchen scale is hard, particularly when it involves manufacturing in China. Things get easier when you meet Liam Casey.

The hardest part may be finding him. His company, PCH International Ltd, is based in Cork, Ireland, but Casey spends most of his time in the air－flying between China, San Francisco and the international conference circuit. Once you find him, Casey and PCH can help convert a doodle into a consumer product in less than a year.

For almost two decades, the Irish CEO has built a network of around 100 trusted factories in Shenzhen, China's manufacturing heartland, to supply technology companies including Apple Inc, Beats Electronics and Xiaomi Corp.

Over the past five years, PCH grew more than sixfold and now boasts more than $1.1 billion in revenue. After buying beleaguered online retailer Fab in March, Casey has turned his attention to startups, taking small equity stakes in return for bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and China.

Casey grew up on a dairy farm in County Cork, leaving school at 18 to spend a year working in the fashion trade. In 1996 he visited California, where he spotted an opportunity to help Western companies source parts from Asia. When he got home he founded PCH－named after the Pacific Coast Highway.

He focused on sourcing computer components from Taiwan for United States manufacturers setting up in Ireland. He would fly directly to factories to negotiate, and ship faster than competitors. When his Taiwan supplier moved to the Chinese mainland, Casey followed. Over time he built up a map of the capabilities and reliability of different factories. By 1999 he agreed his first deal with Apple, and by 2011 he had raised $84.5 million in venture capital. PCH now employs 2,600 people across nine offices.

PCH can take a simple sketch and move it through design, prototyping, engineering, manufacturing, packaging, distribution and retail. In 10 months it moved Drop, a connected kitchen scale, from idea to Apple Store for a startup called Adaptics.

"This is unheard of," said Casey, pointing out that technology companies typically have a two-to-three-year product cycle.

"We think we can bring that process down to around six months," he said.

The first startup Casey helped was bike accessory company Blaze.

CEO Emily Brooke, a physicist-turned-designer, had a "really crappy prototype" of her Laserlight, which projects a bike symbol several meters in front of the bicycle to alert drivers to the cyclist's presence, and a "great story".

PCH helped Blaze ship "Apple-quality products" with a tiny London-based team. "PCH has the leverage with suppliers to get us better deals," Brooke explained.

Blaze Laserlights are now available in major UK retailers such as Evans Cycles and Wiggle as well as through the company's website, with orders fulfilled by PCH.