PROTON OPENS NEW REGIONAL PARTS CENTRE IN SABAH TO MEET MARKET DEMAND
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New RPC has 2.5 times more floor space to reduce parts lead time by up to 30%
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Improved spare parts supply to support growing East Malaysia market demand
Kota Kinabalu, 12 August 2024 – National carmaker PROTON is thrilled to announce the expansion and official launch of its regional parts centre (RPC) at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, following the launch of a similar facility in Sarawak last year. This latest addition to the company’s spare parts storage and distribution operations is capable of reducing lead for spare parts time by 30% on the back of increased output capacity from PROTON Parts Centre Sdn Bhd (PPCSB) in West Malaysia as well as parts procured via direct shipment from overseas, meeting the growing demand in PROTON’s third highest state for vehicle sales in Malaysia.
Tucked away in a commercial area in Inanam, PROTON’s newest RPC boasts a built-up floor space of approximately 28,000 sq ft, which is 2.5 times bigger than its previous location. It can receive up to six containers of parts on site simultaneously, up from two containers previously, and is currently processing an average of 26 containers per month to fully utilise its capability to store up to three months of stock. With more storage spaces for parts, lead times to deliver to dealerships and customers could be reduced.
“With growing customer demand over the past few years, PROTON’s previous warehouse facilities in Sabah were overflowing with parts and running inefficiently due to a lack of space. The opening of this new facility in Kota Kinabalu will complement its counterpart in Kuching and both will function collectively as parts distribution centres for after sales parts and components for East Malaysia.
“This overall improvement in storage has created a buffer for demand surges and fluctuations, enabling us to increase parts throughput and as of today, we are rapidly addressing the backlog of orders from our dealers and customers in this market,” said Edmund Lim, Vice President of Sales and After Sales, PROTON Edar.
Weekly airfreight and sea freight to boost order fulfilment thanks to increased storage space
PROTON’s RPCs in East Malaysia can handle up to 28 containers from West Malaysia and overseas per month, an increase in capacity from the previous limit of 24 containers per month. With the increase in parts shipment, the company’s order fulfilment in Sabah is expected to improve exponentially as up to three months stock of parts can now be stored at the location.
PPCSB also deployed a new warehouse management system (WMS) at all its locations earlier this year, enabling the daily delivery capacity at the new RPC to jump 66% to 300 lines in July from 180 lines previously, with a maximum capacity of 400 lines slated to be achieved by September. The added space also allows the allocation of 8,500 bins to store parts, up from 5,000 bins in the previous facilities. As a result, the stock value is expected to increase 1.5 times to RM9 million by December 2024, up from RM5.8 million a year earlier.
PROTON market share in Sabah stands at 27.4% year-to-date
PROTON’s market share in Sabah has ascended steadily from 10% in 2018 to 25.9% in 2023 and currently stands at 27.4% year-to-date for 2024, fuelled by the popularity of the new X-series models as well as the evergreen Proton Saga. In 2023, sales of Proton vehicles in East Malaysia contributed 15.8% to the company’s total sales volume. The top three Proton models sold were the Proton Saga with 13,700 units followed by the Persona with 4,264 and the Proton X50 with 2,955 units, respectively.
“Proton sales in East Malaysia have multiplied by a factor of 3.1 times to 23,871 units in 2023 from 7,697 units in 2018. With 8,000 bookings for the 2024 Proton X50 under our belt plus the upcoming 2025 Proton X70 launch this month, we foresee another increase in the state by the end of the year. Therefore, with the rise in sales leading to a higher demand for parts, the launch of a larger, more advanced parts centre will guarantee adequate parts supply not only for new vehicles but also to improve our after sales service,” added Edmund Lim.