LIMAHSOON focuses on quality and delivery
The Star, 19 July 2004
AFTER 17 years in operation, LIMAHSOON Bhd
has attained an undisputed reputation as a leading fully
integrated laminated solid wood manufacturer and distributor
for the high-growth local furniture and fixture industry
locally and abroad.
The group, which recorded a turnover of RM44.9mil last year
from making laminated solid wood, has secured an 8% share
of the country's total laminated solid wood market estimated
to be worth RM525mil last year.
Managing director Lim Chong Khim said in an interview with
StarBiz that the group's success and business growth were
based on emphasis on quality by adopting modern technology,
continuous intensive research and development (R&D)
initiatives, professional management and prompt delivery
services since the early days of its inception.
The group to date has obtained international accreditations
such as the ISO9001:2000, EN ISO-9001:2000, BS EN ISO9001:2000
and MS ISO 9001:2000, which help garner the confidence in
its products especially from local customers which export
over 90% of their furniture products abroad. He pointed
out that the R&D on manufacturing processes and testing
coupled with highly advanced technology adopted had given
the group a competitive edge in the areas of attaining and
sustaining high product quality and the improvement in its
existing manufacturing processes.
LIMAHSOON, scheduled for a second board listing this Thursday,
has so far invested quite substantially in its two plants
in Beranang, Selangor, that are mainly involved in saw milling,
manufacture of laminated solid wood and mouldings as well
as provision of pressure treatment and kiln drying services.
The group utilises the "face-joint, butt joint and
without finger-joint" methods in the production of
three grades of laminated boards using rubber woods sourced
mainly from long-term suppliers nationwide. Customers would
have 14 colour options. Besides the standard size sawn timber,
Lim said, the company could tailor-make these laminated
boards, depending on customers' request, and some of the
common thickness are 18mm, 20mm, 22mm, 25mm and 50mm.
"Traditionally, most of our Japanese customers prefer
the finger-joint laminated boards while the American ones
prefer butt-joint laminated solid wood," he said.
Last
year, the group currently utilises 71% of its manufacturing
capacity to produce about 20,000 cu metres of laminated
solid wood per year which serve as semi-finished materials
for producing, among others, wardrobes, cabinets, bed head
boards, interior fit-out and floorings.
Lim has outlined a series of "dynamic projects"
in the pipeline to be carried out within the next two to
three years.
"The group's immediate plan this year will be to embark
on newly improved and enhanced products, namely, furniture
components," he said.
The group has, in fact, ordered some machinery and equipment
to support this new expansion exercise, added Lim.
The LIMAHSOON group has also set its sights on producing
wood chips, which is a new value added product, by next
year.
"Wood chips are an essential raw material for the production
of medium-density fibre boards (MDFs)," Lim said, adding
that the group planned to utilise wastes from its saw milling
operations as well as its cross cutting activities - wastes
like wood off-cuts, slabs and even tree barks to produce
about 100 tonnes of wood chips per day initially.
According to Lim, the growing importance of the furniture
industry as the main user for the laminated boards offers
a big opportunity for the LIMAHSOON group to further expand
its market share in the near future.
Over the past 15 years, the exports of furniture alone,
excluding furniture components, grew significantly - to
RM5.8bil last year from a mere RM235.8mil in 1989.
Wooden furniture have consistently constituted the bulk
of the furniture exports.
Last year alone, Malaysia exported about RM5bil worth of
rubber wood products.
"As it is now, LIMAHSOON can hardly cope up with the
overwhelming demand by our customers, of which the majority
are major local furniture exporters," he added.
To date, 97% of its total production
are for the domestic market while the remaining 3% are for
export.
"Although it is our intention to increase exports to
Asia, Middle East and Europe, we also believe in supporting
the local furniture industry which will continue to register
strong growth in the near future."
As a solution to the increasing demand, Lim said, the group
planned to set up a third laminated board plant next year
in the vicinity of its second plant in Beranang.
"We are still in the early stage of planning but we
hope to finance this new plant from internally generated
funds," he said.
Lim noted that another project to be undertaken in 2006
would be the construction of the group's corporate office
to better reflect its publiclisted status.
For the financial year ending Dec 31, the group has forecast
a pre-tax profit of RM10.7mil on the back of RM47.3mil in
turnover. Since 1999 to 2003, Lim said, the group registered
a compounded annual growth rate of 43.2% in pre-tax profit.
Link captured from: www.thestar.com.my
back
