Asahi Aero Malaysia opens RM18 million facility

Asahi Aero Malaysia Sdn Bhd today opened a RM18 million aircraft parts surface treatment facility in Klang, its first in Southeast Asia.

The facility, jointly owned by Asahi Kinzoku Kogyo Inc and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, will specialise in cadmium and Zn-Ni plating, as well as boric sulfuric and phosphoric acid anodise processing.

"Asahi Aero Malaysia is delighted to open this one-stop processing facility so that we can be closer to our customers and meet their needs for quality, on-time delivery and greater affordability.

"The new facility will raapidly play a role supporting parts manufacturing for all of Boeing's commercial airplane programmes," said managing director Go Yamanaka in a statement today.

Asahi has five facilities in Japan and one facility in the United States.

It was the first company in Japan to receive the National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Accreditation Programme (Nadcap) certification, a global cooperative accreditation programme for aerospace engineering, defence and related industries, which is a prerequisite to work with companies such as Boeing.

Director of Supplier Management Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Troy Kim said Asahi is a trusted partner to Boeing.

"They have helped meet Boeing's requirements for high quality, competitive pricing and on-time delivery while expanding our supply chain capability in Southeast Asia," Kim said.

Asahi has worked closely with Boeing's Tier One suppliers for nearly 40 years. In 1977, Asahi became a Boeing-approved source for chrome plating processing for the Boeing 727 programme. Today, Asahi supports Boeing on the 737, 747-8, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner programmes.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority has identified the aerospace industry as a key source of growth for the Malaysian economy. Asahi's intention is that its expertise and investment in aircraft parts surface treatment technology will help expand Malaysia's manufacturing sector.

"We are committed to creating local employment opportunities and aspire to become the employer of choice in Malaysia," said Yamanaka. -- Bernama