Adient Automotive Seating, a subsidiary of Adient PLC recently announced that its latest foam plant in Alor Gajah, Melaka has started exporting headrests to Thailand and Indonesia.

According to AJ Dabydin, Managing Director of Adient, “since 1983 we have been consistently investing to improve and expand the capability and capacity of our manufacturing operations in Malaysia and with our new foam plant in Alor Gajah, we are elevating to become an automotive export hub for the Southeast Asia region.”

He added that through this initiative, they will drive parts localisation, develop local suppliers, and create more job opportunities and export revenues for Malaysia.

“Leveraging on Adient’s global manufacturing best practices we provide the joy of driving with the safest, most comfortable and most entertaining mobility solutions that truly care for people and respect our planet,” said Dabydin.

Adient’s environmental approach shaped the new Alor Gajah foam plant operation strategy with the implementation of a rainwater harvesting system to reduce the dependency on town water and installation of solar panels to produce electricity that powers various pieces of equipment.

The factory is also equipped with low carbon emission equipment, LED lighting and manages risk through environmental management systems and appropriate certification such as ISO14001.

Using the Hydra Manufacturing System, the plant is able to collect vast amounts of production data from various equipment in real time onsite as well remotely, and use analytics to improve right first time, reduce product defects and rework, and quickly identify root causes of potential issues from heat maps.

Dabydin said that even though a technology-centered approach was adopted, people were at the centre of designing the automation.

“There was a need to re-skill and up-skill the operators for effective man-machine interaction and then keeping them safe through a plant layout that allows for one-meter physical distance and a carefully planned logistic route,” he explained.