Operations Review - ChartNexus

Operations Review
PROTON Tanjung Malim
PROTON Tanjung Malim is the largest manufacturing and assembly plant within the Group.
The plant complex, which sits on 1,500 acres of land in the state of Perak, facilitates the
processes of engine machining, stamping, body assembly, painting and final assembly.
The plant has a capacity of 150,000 units per year and can operate on a two-shift basis.
However, due to the global economic crisis, since December 2008, the plant has been
running on one shift. By switching to one shift, PROTON was able to relocate excess
manpower to the MVF in preparation for the production of the Exora. As such, this enabled
the Company to minimise cost and retain skilled personnel.
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The MVF was also given the task of producing the Exora. Produced in 18 months, this was
deemed an outstanding feat in the automotive world. Since the plant had previously been
manufacturing the Waja, all facilities had to be either modified or newly installed with
equipment to manufacture the MPV.
Daily meetings attended by top Management were held to ensure that the manufacturing
decisions were made quickly and in a decisive manner. Comprehensive online training and
quality improvement teams were formed using the PROTON Production System (PPS) as the
main driver. All cars had to also undergo tests to ensure that there was no rattling or other
noise defects.
Featuring an automatic transmission when it was first introduced, PROTON has in July
introduced a manual version of the Exora to cater especially for the Indonesian market.
The monthly production volume is targeted at 3,000 units per month and is expected to
increase when export to Indonesia begins. Following its introduction in Indonesia in July
2009, the Exora will be launched in Singapore, Brunei and Thailand.