THE Electrolux group plans to purchase more parts and components from Malaysia as part of its target to source US$1.2bil worth of materials from Asia by 2005, its general manager of International Purchasing Offices (Asia) Jay Cheng said.
Malaysia is currently the fifth or sixth biggest Asian supplier to Electrolux. The other Asian suppliers are China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
“We are not aiming to change the ranking but to increase the quota as much as possible. We see some strengths in Malaysia,” Cheng told a press conference at the company’s buying mission in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The mission includes one-to-one business meetings with over 60 shortlisted Malaysian suppliers.
Among the attractions offered by Malaysia were its stable cost given the fixed exchange rate, quality products and other incentives that made the country an ideal place for long-term business ventures, said Cheng.
“Apart from plastic and metal components, we are also looking for electrical and electronic parts. We are open to other components like information technology system as we are coming up with Internet-control appliances,” he added.
At present, Electrolux sources some US$300mil worth of components and parts from Asia out of its total purchasing requirement of US$6bil to US$7bil.
Ninety nine per cent of these materials are exported to its plants in Australia, the United States and Europe.
Electrolux is the largest manufacturer of refrigerators, freezers, cookers, lawn mowers and chainsaws and a world leader in professional products like self-service and in-house laundries.
From The Star