SANMINA-SCI"s newly-appointed bosses in Greenock spoke today about their confidence in the future of the Spango Valley operation.

On 18 February, Jim Campbell will become senior vice president of Sanmina for worldwide manufacturing and Bill Milliken will take over as plant manager in Greenock.

Both men are lifelong IBM employees, with most of their time spent at Greenock, and they said they believed that was important for confidence and continuity.

Speaking about the three-year deal signed last week for Sanmina to take over manufacturing at Spango Valley and take on 650 IBM workers, Mr Milliken (48) said: 'This a formal contract. It"s a very strong position. There"s a desire that the contract last longer, but clearly that depends on our ability in terms of delivery and quality as well as this plant delivering to Sanmina"s expectations in terms of profit and loss. The future is very much in our hands.' Mr Milliken said everyone who is transferring from IBM to Sanmina will be having discussions with management before 18 February.

He said IBM had received a very positive response from the workforce and that he was proud to be part of the team.

He said: 'People have said we understand what"s happening to us now, we"ve got a future and we can contribute. I"m absolutely delighted with the way people have responded.' Some employees have told the Telegraph they are worried that this will be a repeat of the Solectron affair in which IBM workers were transferred from Greenock to Port Glasgow and then told to move to Dunfermline or lose their jobs.

Mr Milliken said Sanmina had made a very big investment in Spango Valley by buying 640,000 sq ft of manufacturing space.

He said: 'They have made that level of investment for the future and not for short-term gains, and I think that"s a very positive message from them to the manufacturing employees here.' Asked about what would happen to people"s final salary pensions, Mr Campbell (50) said there will be a six-week consultation period which will include pensions.

He said any decision about bringing back to Spango Valley the 80 IBMers transferred to Sanmina at Faulds Park last January was a decision for Sanmina, and one neither he nor Mr Milliken could comment on until they actually join the company next month.

Questioned about how Sanmina could make a success of manufacturing at Spango Valley when IBM pulled out of it, Mr Campbell said: 'IBM has made a decision that it will concentrate its energies on providing services and solutions for customers and not to manufacture these types of products.

'But this is Sanmina"s core business. They are one of the biggest companies of this type in the world and they are very confident they can make a going concern of this. And we will certainly be working to make sure it happens.' Asked if IBM had been faced with a decision to make massive job cuts or transfer manufacturing to Sanmina, Mr Campbell said: 'IBM looked at the situation and concluded this was the right thing to do. IBM always likes to act pro-actively rather than let events come along.

'Sanmina are a world-class company and one of the leaders in this field. With IBM having made this decision in terms of manufacturing, absolutely the right place to be is with someone like Sanmina. We are going into it with enthusiasm.' IBM still has a number of manufacturing sites around the world, but Mr Campbell said it would be speculation to talk about whether or not these would continue in operation.

Mr Milliken said that one of the most exciting things for the future was the prospect of Sanmina bringing in other work to Spango Valley.

He said: 'We have a single major customer at the moment, but now with the list of customers on Sanmina"s books, some of them among the biggest in the world, we have an opportunity and not just in the manufacturing environment. It could be in configuration or repair, for example, so there is a definite possibility of getting other work.

'We want to establish ourself, get the transition over, make sure we have the credibility and build on it.' The Telegraph asked Mr Campbell and Mr Milliken to comment on the closure of Fullarton"s, where Sanmina made computers for IBM until the plant closed last Monday with the loss of 500 jobs.

We pointed out that one of the redundant workers said at a mass union meeting: 'How can Sanmina get away with taking on 650 people at IBM and bagging us in the same week?' Mr Campbell said: 'There are two separate situations. I can"t comment on Fullarton"s decision at Faulds Park. They made that decision based on the situation as they saw it.' He added: 'The deal we have just agreed with Sanmina is completely separate, and we think it is the right thing for IBM and for Sanmina - and we"re confident it will be successful.'