BNL (Thailand) Limited
BNL’s latest stage of expansion sees a second manufacturing site opening in Thailand.
BNL (Thailand) Limited, is based in the thriving industrial manufacturing centre of Rayong on Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard. Initially taking on assembly for some of BNL’s Asia-based customers, a team of fifty assemblers are due on site later this summer, with production scheduled to begin in October.
As the 2604 sqm facility becomes established, it is expected that there will be further opportunities for other assembly work and some moulding activities to be undertaken. BNL have invested in seven new Krauss Maffei moulding machines ranging from 35 – 160 tonnes, providing a range of moulding capabilities at the factory and bringing BNL’s total machine count to 40.
Dave Clark, International Manufacturing Manager and Gavin Charlesworth, Managing Director of BNL (Thailand) Limited, have overseen the set up of the new facility, collecting the keys from Suchada Limpornpugdee, of Hemaraj Land and Development, at the beginning of June.
Purchased from the Swiss, Sarna Group, at the end of 2005 by Plastics Capital PLC, the last few years have been exciting times for BNL. In 2007, BNL made its first acquisition and the Plastics Capital group listed on the AIM. It has also been a period of significant growth for the company, with considerable investment made in plant and personnel at the Knaresborough site.
The need to plan for new capacity, combined with an increasing proportion of sales of BNL products to Malaysia, China and other Asian countries, prompted BNL to seek a further manufacturing location in the Asia Pacific region. As an emerging economic dynamo for the area, Thailand was chosen for its proximity to major players in some of BNL’s main market sectors.
By bringing production closer to a number of BNL’s key customers and also one of BNL’s major suppliers, efficiencies can be created throughout the entire supply chain.
The establishment of BNL (Thailand) Limited continues the pace of development BNL has set for itself in 2008 and the future, creating opportunities for further expansion and growth.
Updates
July
Our assembly team visited the site for the first time since officially joining BNL (Thailand) Limited. They are due to start work in August.
August/September
BNL (Thailand) Limited has been a hive of activity over the last month, developing quickly towards a fully operational state. The staff celebrated the official start of operations with an opening party!
The assembly team of 40+ are on site and assembly operations are in full swing. All office and quality staff are now recruited, as is the moulding team. All staff are currently undertaking on site training in relevant skills.
The beginning of September sees theThailand team running the first product samples for customer approval and our first customer visit for an on-site evaluation is due.
The seven new Krauss Maffei CX machines ranging between 35 & 160 tonnes have now been installed. All are equipped with the top of the range Krauss Maffei Quality Assurance System and in-process monitoring with ‘out-of-spec’ auto reject facility.