Leuze building new plant in Malaysia

Sensor company Leuze has announced that it is constructing a new plant in Malaysia, scheduled for completion in 2022. To tap into the Southeast Asian market, Leuze had already established a subsidiary in China in 2006. Another followed in Singapore in 2015. Due to high demand from the Asian markets, another international Leuze production location, which supports the multilocation production strategy of the company, is being constructed along the New Silk Road in Malacca, Malaysia.

“The construction of a new plant in Malaysia … represents for us a strategically important component in our global growth strategy,” said Matthias Höhl, Vice President Asia at Leuze. “Asia is a rapidly growing market in the area of electronics and promises significant undeveloped potential. An example is in the area of laboratory automation, one of our focus industries.”

The new production location operates as Leuze electronic assembly Malaysia Sdn Bhd and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leuze electronic GmbH + Co. The plant is being constructed on a site area spanning over 17,000 m². Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022 and, in an initial expansion phase, approximately 4,500 m² will be prepared for production and warehouse logistics operations as well as 1000 m² for administration. Growth potential exists for a doubling in a second construction phase. Following the initial expansion phase, up to 200 new employees will work in the new Leuze plant in Malacca.

The essential features of the Leuze factories duplicate those of the company’s main production facilities at the company headquarters in Owen in southern Germany.

“Our production facilities have the same layout worldwide: work islands are constructed, tested and duplicated in Germany and can be used anywhere in the world,” said Sebastian Raible, Director Global Projects Operations and project manager of the construction project in Malaysia.

With the new production location, Leuze’s continental structure in Asia will be expanded further.

“By producing our sensor solutions at multiple locations around the world, our logistics flows can be optimised and the delivery capability further improved,” said Jochen Wimmer, COO of the Leuze electronic Group. Production currently already takes place in Germany, in the USA, in Brazil and in China. In Malacca, Leuze will primarily produce sensors for the local Asian market.

“A multiple-location production strategy contributes to the optimisation of our production strategy worldwide,” said Wimmer. “During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, transfers and compensations are possible that positively influence our global capability to act and deliver with respect to our international customers. This allows us to significantly minimise risk. Particularly since we make a system-relevant contribution, for example, in intralogistics and in laboratory automation with the use of our sensors.”