Packaging
Thailand Affiliate Begins Construction of New Plant to Enhance Production Capacity
Monday 29. December 2008 - Daifuku (Thailand) Ltd. ("DTL"), an affiliate of Daifuku Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Osaka, Japan), will construct a new plant in the Pingthong Industrial Park, located in Chonburi province. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on October 22.
DTL was established in 1991 as the Daifuku Groups fifth overseas affiliatefollowing other affiliates established in the U.S., Canada and Singaporeto handle sales, installation and service of material-handling (logistics) systems for Thailands automobile industry. In 1995, DTL opened the Chonburi Plant for system manufacturing. It now houses DTLs headquarters.
As Thailands domestic automobile industry has grown so has DTLs sales. To keep up with demand, DTL obtained additional manufacturing space within Chonburi province, at Pingthong Industrial Park. Because the company expects orders and production to continue on the upward trend, DTL will construct a new plant on a 33,600 sq.m plot of land that the company acquired within Pingthong Industrial Park a year ago.
At the new facility, DTL aims to produce more system domestically than it has in the past, which will strengthen the companys cost competitiveness and improve product quality. The move will also enhance the production capacity of the Daifuku Group as a whole. DTL aims to increase market share of manufacturers and distribution centers in other industries, which will position the new plant as another important production center for Daifuku in Asia outside of China, South Korea and Taiwan, where the Group already has manufacturing facilities.
The site for the new Pingthong Plant is a 15-minute drive toward Bangkok from the Chonburi Plant. The plant spans 7,500 square meters (including office space). The new addition includes area for painting, assembly of machinery and controls, and testing. Construction costs are estimated at 800 million yen, which DTL procured in full through self-financing. Completion of the plant is slated for June 2009.
Profile of Daifuku (Thailand) Ltd.
– Main Office: Chonburi province (110 km southeast of Bangkok)
– Office: Bangkok
– Established: May 1991
– President: Kazunobu Hirotsu
– Employees: 75 (as of December 31, 2007)
– Capital: 152.7 million baht (capitalized in full by Daifuku Co., Ltd.)
– Net sales: 5.6 billion yen (fiscal year ended December 2007)