Ericsson pumped out the first 5G product from its Texas factory, taking the next step in a push to diversify its supply chain that the Sweden-based vendor initiated in mid-2018.

The first product to roll out of the “smart factory” in Lewisville, Texas, was Ericsson’s millimeter-wave (mmWave) Street Macro product. This is a radio access network (RAN) product that is targeted at mmWave deployments and is also being used within the Texas production facility. The company in a statement to SDxCentral added that it will add support activities for new 5G products to the facility.

While “smart,” the facility initially counts approximately 100 employees. The facility itself is not expected to be fully operational until later this year.

The vendor previously noted that the plant will produce 5G and advanced antenna radio systems for 5G deployments in the United States as that is where it’s seeing a bulk of the initial market deployments. The company also aims to make the factory at least 28% more energy efficient than comparable buildings.

Ericsson initially announced the production facility last July, with plans to have it “operational in early 2020.” It followed that up by announcing its location and 300,000-square-foot size in September.

The location puts it near a production facility for antenna-maker Kathrein, which Ericsson acquired last year, and less than 20 miles from its North America headquarters in Plano, Texas. The vendor also has a tower training facility in Lewisville, and announced plans to open a software development center alongside an ASIC design center in Austin, Texas.

Ericsson initiated the move toward U.S. production facilities in 2018. Niklas Heuveldop, president and CEO of Ericsson North America, at that time told SDxCentral that the plan puts company resources and innovation closer to important customers in one of Ericsson’s largest markets. He noted that the U.S. had accounted for at least 25% of the vendor’s overall sales for the previous 7 years.

“I’ve been impressed with the activity in the U.S., especially with IoT and industrial IoT,” Heuveldop told SDxCentral. “And there’s a lot of excitement in the investment community as well. The U.S. is on fire.”

Ericsson initially worked with manufacturing partner Jabil to construct equipment at a Jabil facility in St. Petersburg, Florida. That location began producing radio equipment for the U.S. market by the end of 2018. Ericsson today explained that it was moving all production to its Lewisville facility.

The vendor's U.S. move also keyed into growing supply-chain security concerns. Ericsson previously explained that the new facilities would tie into its global infrastructure, adding that it does this by “securing fast and agile deliveries to meet customer requirements.” Any term associated with “secure” has become increasingly important for telecom equipment providers looking to supply equipment to western countries.

Ericsson has been on an operational upswing. Its most recent fiscal quarter showed a profit despite a slowdown in 5G activity in North America. However, it also reached a $1.06 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the quarter for bribing high-ranking government officials and falsifying financial documents for a 17-year period across six countries.