special feature - Australian Automotive Aftermarket Magazine

NEWSINTERNATIONALNEWSAUTOMECHANIKA MALAYSIAGEARS UPFollowing the success of the previousevent, the sixth edition of AutomechanikaMalaysia, (previously known asAutomechanika Asia) will return to Malaysiaat the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre fromMarch 25–28 2009.Organisers claim Automechanika Malaysiais the leading automotive parts andaftermarket trade event in the area. Exhibitorsfrom 14 countries and regions includingAustralia, China, France, Germany, HongKong, India, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, SaudiArabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and theUnited Kingdom have confirmed theirattendance.A total of 150 exhibitors and over 5000trade visitors are expected to take part in thisimportant biennial event.Exhibitors will be showcasing acomprehensive range of automotive productcategories in 5000 sqm of exhibition space.As the region’s major automotive parts andaftermarket trade platform, AutomechanikaMalaysia has attracted many leading brandnames.Running alongside the trade fair will be aseries of value-added fringe programmes forattendees to explore the latest trends andindustry developments and to network andexchange information with industry expertsand peers. These include:• Automechanika Academy – an in-depthdiscussion and exploration of topics onautomotive original equipment andaftermarket by industry professionals;• CATER Workshop on Mass Customisationof Vehicles – aimed at mass customisationof vehicles, this workshop will share stateof-the-artknowledge, results and theoutcome of the CATER project which issupported by the European Commission;• Federation of Automobile WorkshopOwners’ Association of Malaysia(FAWOAM) Annual Convention – an annualconvention including seminars andtraining sessions, organised by FAWOAMfor its 3,000 members nationwide;• Product Presentation – a platform forexhibitors to make a more detailedpresentation of their products and servicesto a specialised audience.DENSO IS SUPPLIEROF THE YEARFor the second consecutive year, DENSO Australia Group has successfullywon the prestigious Supplier of the Year award from the Federal Chamberof Automotive Industries (FCAI) in recognition of its excellence as a firsttier automotive component supplier to the Australian automotive industry.The award, based on selectionby the local car industry, wasassessed on product development,quality, timely delivery, competitivepricing, project management andcustomer service, aspects whichDENSO believes are vital to thesuccess of its operations.The DENSO Australia Group,comprising of DENSO InternationalAustralia (DIAU) and AustralianAutomotive Air (AAA), has a 600-strong workforce whichmanufactures engine coolingsystems, air conditioning, air intakesystems, fuel pump modules andinstrument clusters as well as thesales of imported, and aftermarketproducts.DIAU Managing Director, NeilKitamiya, said there were manyareas where the company couldbecome innovative, especially in theenvironmental area.“This is particularly important asAustralia embraces the global carbonemission reduction challenge,” he said.“The group has a sound history of beingenvironmentally focused; evident in itsindustry leading IS014001 EnvironmentalManagement System accreditation, and bybeing the first manufacturer to release CFCfreecar air-conditioners.”AAA Managing Director, Russell Pettis,said the current economic downturn hasadversely affected the Australian automotivemarket.“Consequently the industry must improvein all areas of business to survive,” he said.“The qualities which have helped DENSOAustralia Group to achieve this award willneed to be further enhanced to assist us toget through these turbulent times.“The award is reinforcement for us thatour improvement journey is heading in theright direction.”DENSO is proud of continuing its localmanufacturing in supporting the automotiveindustry and local economy.DENSO Australia Group’s parentcompany, DENSO Corporation, has recentlyDENSO Corporation has developed anair conditioning unit for cars, which isabout 20 percent smaller in volumethan the conventional product.developed a new air conditioning unit, whichis about 20 percent smaller in volume thanthe conventional product.The new system will be installed onToyota’s new compact car, the iQ.With improvements including new resinmolding technologies, DENSO reduced thesize of the blower fan for the new airconditioning unit.This allows the blower unit containing theblower fan to be reduced by almost half thesize of the conventional unit, contributing tothe size reduction of the air conditioningunit.The new air-conditioning unit also can bemounted in the centre of the instrumentpanel to create more legroom for the frontpassenger.DENSO achieved this by integrating theblower unit – which generally is separatedfrom the main unit and located above thefront passenger’s leg space - into theuppermost side of the main unit.8 AU T O M O T I V E A F T E R M A R K E T M AG A Z I N E M A RCH 2 0 0 9 www.aaaa.com.au