PNE PCB Bhd
plans to scale down its manufacturing activities in Malaysia by the end of next year and increase production at its China subsidiary, said its executive managing director Jonathan Tan Kong Guan.
He said the production capacity at the Johor plant in Tebrau industrial area would be halved to 100,000 sq m per month.
Tan said the manufacturing activities would be taken up by wholly-owned China subsidiary, PNE Electronics (Dong Guan) Co Ltd, which was now undergoing upgrading works.
Upon completion of the upgrading works in June, monthly production at the HK$88mil plant would increase to 200,000 sq m from 100,000 sq m currently.
Tan said it had no plan to close down the Johor plant as it would continue servicing niche customers, mostly multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the region.
“Most of them still prefer to outsource made-in-Malaysia parts and components due to their good finishings and high quality,” he told StarBiz after the company's AGM last Wednesday.
Tan said the Government had issued the company a licence to operate as an international procurement centre (IPC) to distribute parts and components and completely assembled products worldwide.
He said the first shipment of products for the IPC from the China plant would arrive in Malaysia via Johor Port in Pasir Gudang towards the end of the month.
Tan said PNE Electronics (Dong Guan) was ready to compete with other existing printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturers in China with its high quality finished products and prompt delivery.
“Others might reduce their prices to get business but we are not into that as we believe customers will decide the best for themselves,” added Tan.
PCBs are normally used in remote controls, calculators, keyboards, facsimile machines, multimedia equipment, CD-ROMs and high-end audio-visual equipment.
For the financial year ended Sept 30, 2003, the company turnover rose 10% to RM72.1mil from RM65.4mil. However, pre-tax loss increased slightly to RM10.9mil from RM9.9mil.
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