Increasing demand for robotic and automation in Malaysia is expected to grow this year.
According to The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Industry 4.0 is the adoption of smart manufacturing. In line with the government’s transformation plan, the 2050 National Transformation (TN50) focusing on industrial revolution towards the adoption of automation and smart manufacturing concepts and technologies.
Danish collaborative robotics company, Universal Robots (UR) doubled its distribution network in the country with a growing network of distribution partners in Klang Valley, Johor Bahru and Penang which showed increased by 40 per cent from 2010 to 2015.
UR expanded its distribution bases in Malaysia and its collaborative robots (cobots) are distributed by DF Automation, EPCO Precision, PBA Systems, and TMS Collaboration. Industries that are interested in cobots includes electronics, automotive, metal, medical, pharmaceutical, plastics & polymers and consumer products.
Universal Robots’ General Manager for Southeast Asia and Oceania, Shermine Gotfredsen said Malaysia is the key market for Universal Robots in Southeast Asia due to its active interest and high demand for automation. While they have experienced growth across the region, Malaysia has seen significant growth due to the diversity of the country’s industries.
This means there is a wide spectrum of potential applications of UR cobots across different sectors. UR also recognise the importance of the Malaysian market, and have doubled their distribution network, consisting of distributors and system integrators.
“Our projects are mainly focused on enhancing operations in small part assembly works for electronics manufacturing clients with the aim of allowing them to achieve higher quality, consistency and higher return on investment. Universal Robots’ extensive experience in automated and collaborative assembly operations convinced us that they are the right choice for us to enable our clients to achieve their automation objectives. Their support channels have been very effective in helping us offer better automation solutions to the end-users.” said TT Vision Technologies’s Director, Goon Koon Yin.
“Businesses, especially those with tight operating margins like SMEs, need to look for ways to maximise their resources without compromising production quality. We believe our state-of-the-art cobots are the right tools to achieve this goal. Malaysia and Southeast Asia, like much of the world, is seeing rapid growth in the demand for industrial robots. Manufacturers are turning to automation to improve product quality, productivity, and profits through long-term enhancement of reliability and cost reduction in overall industrial operations,” added Gotfredsen.
“The adoption of automation has enabled Malaysian companies to increase production volume by as much as 300 per cent on average, without significant payroll expansion. Some companies have also reduced defects by as much as 90 percent by automating operations.” she added.
UR is currently participating in METALTECH – ASEAN’s largest international exhibition for the metalworking and machine tool industries. The exhibition is open to the public over 18 years of age and older from May 24 – 27 at Putra World Trade Centre.