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INSIGHT Kuala Lumpur DESPITE aggressive inroad by Chinese and South Korean air conditioning brands, Carrier (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is confident of improving its market position with the advent of Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) next year, through high-quality product offering, and competitive product sourcing from its factories within the Association of the South-East Asian Nations region. Carrier is among the top three air conditioning company in Malaysia and its manufacturing division, Carrier International Sdn Bhd (CISB) which is located in Bangi, currently export about 70 per cent of its products to West Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Hongkong and Indonesia. According to CISB general manager K.S. Yap, since 1998 the air conditioning manufacturer has been exporting 10 per cent of its products to West Asia, and this is expected to improve to about 15 per cent next year. Carrier (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd general manager Kumar Nathan said the Chinese and South Korean brands have been very aggressive in their pricing strategy in the past year on residential products. Carrier is confident of buttressing its position, as these brands do not generally offer after sales service and parts support. Air conditioners, not unlike other mechanical appliances, need to be serviced regularly to assure peak performance, especially in Malaysia where both the environment and lifestyle has resulted in it being a necessity. Availability of prompt service and parts support is crucial, and in this regard, Carrier Malaysia has over 160 trained service technicians nationwide, in addition to service dealers and dedicated service contractors under the Carrier Neighbourhood Service Programme. For convenience of procuring part, Carrier Malaysia has been investing in company-owned and licensee outlet nationwide under the Totaline brand. These outlets provide genuine air conditioning and refrigeration parts at competitive price and is manned by an air-cond specialist who could provide expert advice. On the local front, the company has charted its strategy in winning the consumers. The Malaysian high-wall air conditioner market is estimated at about 320,000 units, with an annual growth rate of 2 per cent to 3 per cent. Carrier Malaysia's market share on its full product range is in the mid-twenties. In an effort to increase market share, Kumar said that Carrier is conducting road shows nationwide to showcase its full range of Carrier, Toshiba, Totaline and refrigeration products. These road shows also provide a venue to educate the general public on air- cond selection, maintenance and special package for customers who visit the booth. This year, Carrier Malaysia added refrigeration business to its product portfolio. This enables Carrier to be the "One Stop" provider for the cold-chain industry. Carrier is now able to furnish truck, trailer, container refrigeration and chilling system, in addition to cold rooms, display cases at supermarkets, bottle cooler etc. The food and beverage industry is expected to grow with focus on tourism, value-added services in the food industry and export potential of "halal" meat produce to other Muslim nations. In Malaysia, there are a sizeable number of aged chillers (over 15 to 20 years old) that use ozone depleting R-11/R-12 refrigerant that is also inefficient due to wear and tear, and older technology. With growing focus on environmental preservation, the Malaysian Government, which is a signatory to both the Montreal and Kyoto protocol, has been in the forefront through the Department of Environment on efforts to eliminate use of environmentally harmful refrigerants. Carrier Malaysia has been working with both Bank Bumiputra Commerce and Citibank on a novel scheme to self-fund replacement of chillers from savings in electricity consumption and maintenance. The other effort undertaken by the company is on the development of service capability in Malaysia. Carrier Malaysia is now providing a six- month apprenticeship-training programme to 21 Mara students who have completed their two-year education with the Institute. The six months sting will instil practical training on how to service air conditioning units, awareness on environment, health and safety, and other aspects that will be of use when they seek their career in the Industry. On July 17th, Carrier celebrated its 100th-year of innovation, since its namesake founder Willis Haviland Carrier, invented modern air conditioning. Carrier has had its presence in Malaysia since 1955 and the company was formed in 1979, with PNB acquiring a 49 per cent stake in the company in 1986. The operation of Carrier Malaysia is divided into two entities, namely manufacturing and distribution. The manufacturing operation is handled by Carrier International Sdn Bhd while the distribution is handled by Carrier (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Carrier (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has five divisions, namely, Carrier Air conditioning, Toshiba Air Conditioning Group, Totaline Genuine Air Conditioning Parts, Carrier Refrigeration and Carrier Service. The group has 600 staff with 275 with the distribution company and the balance at the manufacturing. It has five branches throughout the country and over 100 dealers and 250 retailers.
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Source: Business Times - Kuala Lumpur
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