Developed at a cost of $10m, the facility can operate at a capacity of 200,000 production hours a year, a 54% increase from the previous site.
The facility is also expected to support the fabricated metal products and machinery & equipment industries. The 11th Malaysia Plan has identified these two areas as key drivers for the manufacturing sector to attain its projected growth of 5.1% per annum.
“With a built-up area of close to 15,000sq m sitting on over 26,000sq m of land, the plant is also the largest and first-of-its kind crane manufacturing facility in Malaysia and the region,” the company said.
Capable of building cranes of up to 50m span, this plant will primarily serve MHE-Demag customers from Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Singapore, in industrial sectors where lifting, moving and maintenance of materials or machineries are required.
Karl Tilkorn, regional managing director at MHE-Demag, said: “This investment cements MHE-Demag’s commitment to Malaysia over the past 40 years, and is an important step forward for us. This plant is the largest and most modern of our eleven manufacturing facilities across the South-East Asian region. Each industrial crane needs to be individually designed and custom fabricated, hence the larger production facility along with state-of-the-art equipment will allow us to maintain our leadership position to meet the high standards required by our growing customer portfolio, particularly with the prestigious projects we have secured.”
The facility will also host MHE-Demag’s regional training centre, where employees and customers throughout the Group will attend skills training and upgrading programmes to ensure excellence in operations, maintenance and safety for industrial cranes is maintained.
The factory was built in reference to the Malaysian Green Building Index, incorporating the most environmentally friendly solutions.
Frankie Chan, managing director of MHE-Demag Malaysia said, “We have put a lot of focus on creating conducive work areas that have a low impact on the environment. This includes building for natural ventilation and employee well-being; from utilizing translucent panels to allow for extensive natural light to investing in ergonomic workstations. The construction process of this manufacturing facility was also personally managed by our regional director, Joergen Moeller, from design to final stage.”
The Bukit Raja manufacturing facility is also a showcase of MHE-Demag’s solutions. MHE-Demag material handling products such as lift trucks, dock levellers, aerial work platforms, building maintenance systems for safe working at heights, as well as automated car parking systems are employed in industrial applications throughout this facility.
Easily accessible via the North Klang Valley Expressway, Federal Highway, the New North Klang Straits Bypass and the new proposed Coastal Highway, the Bukit Raja manufacturing facility also connect to major ports such as Port Klang, Northport and West Port within 30 minutes.
Besides Bukit Raja, MHE-Demag has another manufacturing facility at Simpang Renggam, Johor, and twelve sales and service offices within Malaysia.