Continental plans RM32.7m plant upgrade

Automotive Components Malaysia Sdn Bhd, an automotive component maker, plans to invest approximately €7 million (RM32.7 million) to transform its Penang plant into an advanced Industry 4.0 smart factory.

The investments will include the expansion of the warehouse space and the research and development (R&D) centre to accommodate more engineers.

“We expect this smart factory to be fully completed by 2020. It will not disrupt the existing production operations. More jobs will be created and the R&D office will see to an increase of another 150 engineers,” said its managing director Luciano Oliveira at the ground breaking of the Continental plant.

As one of the 30 Central Electronic Plants (CEPs) worldwide, the facility enhancement will make the production system more flexible and always connected with roboticbased technology for improved production quality.

“Continental believes that employees and communities are an important factor in driving the success of an organisation, so we also introduce the C Drive Programme to train more engineers,” he said.

Targeting 25 to 40 graduates a year, the six-month C Drive Programme will start in July and it also offers attractive employment benefits.

Continental Automotive Components Malaysia, which has been operating in the country since 1985, is a component supplier for powertrain, chassis and instrument cluster meter for various brands of vehicles, including Proton and Perodua.