At International Rectifier’s El Segundo manufacturing plant, several hundred employees clad in white protective suits work in sterile facilities to design and build the company’s power-saving semiconductors.

But if the company had executed the consolidation plans it laid out during a recession-fueled sales slump in 2009, that manufacturing floor would be empty today.

What saved the El Segundo plant from powering down? Part of it was an industrywide turnaround as the recession eased. Another part: The company’s chips go into popular products, including some for Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

The company makes tiny chips that convert electricity coming from an outlet or battery into power. The technology operates a wide range of equipment, including energy-saving washing machines and automatic steering in cars. In all, the company’s products go to about 40,000 manufacturers.

Thanks to increased sales, the company pressed pause on the money-saving efforts that would have closed the El Segundo plant and consolidated operations at other manufacturing facilities. Instead of cutting back, it has even increased production.

“We actually got to a point where we feel pretty comfortable,” said Oleg Khaykin, the company’s chief executive. “This factory in El Segundo, they’ve done a good job of reducing costs and making themselves run efficiently. So we said, let’s turn on the remaining capacity.”

The El Segundo plant has added employees to bring the number of workers to 210. Of course, the apparent downturn that has taken hold lately could push International Rectifier to revisit its consolidation plans, but for now the company is manufacturing at nearly full capacity. The company has 4,900 employees worldwide, up from 4,500 last year.

International Rectifier, which also has facilities in Temecula; Mesa, Ariz.; St. Paul, Minn.; and Newport, Wales, reported earnings that reflect the increase. In August, it reported fiscal year revenue of $1.18 billion, which was up 31 percent from the previous fiscal year. Net income was $167 million – more than double the previous year’s $80.8 million.

Analysts say International Rectifier’s growth is partly the result of focusing on making chips for energy-efficient products, which are popular today, as well as for the automobile industry – which requires more units as the number of electronic components increases for every vehicle.

“They have done a pretty solid job relative to their peers,” said Ramesh Misra, analyst with New York equity research firm Brigantine Advisors. “I think energy efficiency is going to be a very big driving factor for them.”

But the picture was a little different in 2008.

Khaykin took the helm of the company when it was recovering from a hostile takeover attempt and a legal battle with the previous chief executive over trade secrets. That litigation remains pending.

Then the recession sent the semiconductor industry plunging. The electronic devices that use International Rectifier’s chips stopped selling, which led to a slowdown in orders.

So Khaykin drafted plans to consolidate the company’s manufacturing plants, known as “fabs” because that’s where the semiconductor fabrication occurs.

“When the market dropped like a rock in the end of 2008, we already had factories that were underutilized. Then they became really underutilized,” he said. “It costs a lot of money just to operate the fab. We had to lay plans to reduce our manufacturing footprint and consolidate.”

Khaykin planned to shut down the fab in El Segundo but keep the company’s headquarters there. The plans also called for closing part of the fab in Wales.

But he didn’t have to close the El Segundo facility because semiconductor sales picked up last year as the recession eased. The Wales fab was partially closed, only to be reopened later.

The industry grew 32 percent to $304 billion last year, according to El Segundo market intelligence firm IHS iSuppli.

Dale Ford, senior vice president of market intelligence at IHS iSuppli, said International Rectifier benefited from positioning itself in high-growth segments of the semiconductor industry, specifically power management and energy efficiency.

“They grew stronger than the overall semiconductor industry partly because of their participation in power management,” Ford said. “There was a very strong demand for those components.”

Power management devices make up the company’s largest segment. Its power management chips convert energy to more efficiently operate a wide range of computer and telecommunication devices. Equipment manufacturing customers such as Samsung helped that segment of the company bring in $457 million during the last fiscal year.

The company’s energy-saving chips, its second largest segment, are used by manufacturers of consumer products such as LED light bulbs and low-power washing machines.

When Khaykin joined the company in 2008, he focused the manufacturing strategy on these segments and went after the biggest customers.

Challenges ahead

Today, the company manufactures 70 percent of its chips in-house and outsources the other 30 percent. That’s an increase in external manufacturing from last year.

Brigantine Advisors analyst Misra said bulking up external manufacturing would provide a good buffer for the company should it face a future market slowdown. That way it can cut back on external operations without shutting down its facilities or laying off workers.

“Having a balance between the portion that is manufactured in-house and that is outsourced enables a company to be less susceptible to near-term volatility in the market,” he said.

But it looks like the company could soon face a hurdle on its path to recovery.

In August, International Rectifier gave guidance for the upcoming quarter that was below Wall Street expectations, resulting in its stock price falling.

Khaykin announced that he expects revenue for the current quarter to range from $290 million to $310 million, down from the $321 million that Wall Street expected.

That still puts the company above the $281 million in sales during the same period last year, although it’s a slight decline compared with revenue of $317 million in the most recent quarter.

After the guidance announcement, the company’s stock fell $2.49, or 11 percent, to close Aug. 18 at $20.35. The share price has rebounded some, closing Sept. 7 at $21.33.

Khaykin said the lower guidance is the result of recent economic turmoil in Europe and market volatility in the United States.

“This time, everybody has hit the brakes and it’s slowed down the supply chain significantly,” he said.

Khaykin said he expects the El Segundo manufacturing plant to remain in operation for many years.

But Misra said he wouldn’t be surprised if renewed market instability changed the chief executive’s mind.

“As demand eases off a little bit, I think they’ll reconsider delaying their factory consolidation plans,” he said. “That’s just the nature of business.”