PERI Group sets up first manufacturing base in Malaysia
SUNGAI PETANI: PERI Group, the world’s largest producer of formwork and scaffolding, has opened its first manufacturing base in the country for its low-weight formwork system through an agreement with Luster Industries Sdn Bhd (Luster), here, yesterday.
This will be the third global manufacturing facility for the group. The other two are in Italy and India.
The three-year agreement inked between Luster’s wholly owned subsidiary, Luster Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd and Polytech S.r.l., a member of PERI Group, is expected to further strengthen the PERI DUO (DUO) formwork system market in the region.
Signing on behalf of Polytech S.r.l was its managing director Kai Hollman, while Luster was represented by its deputy managing director Liang Wooi Gee.
Hollman said the company aimed to produce 100,000 pieces of the DUO formwork system through Luster, targeted for the local and regional markets.
“Last year, we produced 200,000 pieces of the DUO formwork system from our facilities in Italy and India.
“We hope that the new facility will help us increase our annual total production to 300,000 pieces.
“Our manufacturing facility in Italy is already fully booked, while our Indian facility is expected to be totally booked by the end of the year, thus our desire to open a new manufacturing facility in Malaysia.
“Besides meeting local and regional demand, we can also use the facility to meet demand from other parts of the world,” said Hollman after the signing ceremony yesterday .
He said the lightweight formwork system, which is used for forming foundations, walls, columns and slabs for construction purposes, had huge market potential due to its durability and ease of handling.
According to Hollmann, the number of countries that made use of its formwork system had risen from seven in 2015 to 70 last year.
He said the DUO formwork system also had a strong market presence in the United States, China and Africa.
“PERI Group has recorded a turnover of US$1.8 million (RM7.04 million) last year for both formwork and scaffolding. We hope to double that revenue this year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Liang said Luster targeted to garner an estimated RM12 million in turnover each year for the DUO formwork system manufactured at its factory in Sungai Petani Industrial Area here.
He said the production of the formwork system would begin before the end of this month.
“Due to the large market value for the product, we believe the volume of sales will increase in the near future.
“We are proud to be chosen to manufacture the product and it is a testament to the good work that Luster is doing in Sungai Petani,” said Liang.
He said besides marketing the product to the local and Southeast Asian markets, Luster also planned to use the formwork system in its property development projects in the country.