EG Industries partners Yamaha Motor Co to set up smart lights-out factory in Penang
22 May 2023
Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider EG Industries Bhd (EIB) has partnered with Yamaha Motor Co Ltd, a renowned Japanese automation giant, to set up a smart lights-out factory in Penang.
The collaboration was marked by the signing of a tripartite agreement between EIB’s subsidiary SMT Technologies Sdn Bhd and its Malaysian distribution agency, Premtronic Sdn Bhd.
The agreement paves the way for the establishment of EIB’s 5G automated intelligent surface mount technology (SMT) production lines, which will be deployed in their upcoming smart lights-out factory in Batu Kawan, Penang.
EIB group chief executive officer Datuk Alex Kang said partnering with Yamaha is part of the company’s strategy to escalate the value chain in EMS and certainly assures its current and potential clientele of EG Industries’ commitment.
Kang said this is particularly crucial as the company serves international leaders in advanced technology products, such as 5G optical modules.
“By deploying an integrated platform utilising Yamaha’s technologies, we will be able to implement non-stop, no-defect and operator-free production processes.
“This will help us create a high-efficiency environment, supported by Yamaha’s one-stop smart solution concept where the same equipment manufacturer configures the entire production line to maximise quality and quantity to harness synergies,” he said.
Kang also said the company had steadily progressed on this new smart 4.0 manufacturing plant since its ground-breaking in November 2022.
When it begins operations in 2024, he said EIB will be well-positioned to reinforce its reputation as one of the world’s largest EMS solutions providers.
“Beyond being the technology user, this partnership will also transform EIB into a 5G high-speed connectivity module provider as Yamaha will collaborate with EIB to use its 5G technology in future lights-out projects.
“This would eventually open up a new revenue stream to deploy EIB’s 5G high-speed modules in other lights-out factory setups across other technology players,” he said.
EIB said the partnership arrangement would be Yamaha’s first undertaking in Malaysia.
With their vast experience and technical capabilities, it said Yamaha would be amply positioned to support EG Industries to implement lights-out manufacturing using EIB’s 5G modules.
EIB estimates to invest up to RM80.0 million in capital expenditure (capex) in phases over two years to implement and commission the intelligent production lines.
Targeted for commencement in the first half of 2024, EIB’s smart lights-out manufacturing plant creates a fully networked environment that digitises material flow for autonomous manufacturing.
This will be managed by a remote team of highly-specialised experts responsible for data management, production planning and quality control.
Source: NST
