Proton has launched a new regional parts centre (RPC) at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, which it says will reduce lead time for parts delivery by 30% to meet growing demand in its third highest state for vehicle sales in Malaysia. The carmaker also has another RPC to support customers in East Malaysia located in Kuching, Sarawak – this was launched last year.
The new RPC is located in a commercial area in Inanam and boasts a built-up floor space of approximately 28,000 square feet, which is 2.5 times bigger than the 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 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,” said Edmund Lim, Proton Edar’s vice president of sales and aftersales.
“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,” he added.
Proton notes in its release that its RPCs in East Malaysia can handle up to 28 containers from West Malaysia and overseas per month, which is four containers more per month than before. Proton Parts Centre (PPCSB) has also deployed a new warehouse management system at all its locations earlier this year.
This is said to enable daily delivery capacity to increase by 66% to 300 lines in July from 180 lines previously, with a maximum capacity of 400 lines set 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.
The carmaker also said sales in East Malaysia have increased by 3.1 times in recent years from 7,697 units in 2018 to 23,871 units in 2023. Last year, sales of Proton vehicles in East Malaysia contributed 15.8% to the company’s total sales volume, with the Saga being the most popular model, followed by the Persona and X50.
“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,” commented Edmund Lim.
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