News & Stories Behind ESCATEC

Several new production lines are being set up today at our main facility in Penang, which hosts ESCATEC Electronics (EEM) and ESCATEC Medical (EDM).   The new lines are to cater for the initiation of mass production for two new customers, headquartered in Europe and the U.S. respectively, and for an increase in production volumes for an existing customer from Europe.   Due to business growth, it is highly likely that additional new production lines will be established over the coming months, notes Lambert Schutters, General Manager of ESCATEC Penang.   ESCATEC currently operates two production facilities in Penang, both located in the global electronics cluster of Bayan Lepas. The main facility houses the corporate HQ, EEM and EDM while the second smaller facility (referred to internally as P3) focuses on quality plastic molded components.   The main facility started operations in May 2018 and features 22,051 sqm of total production space on the ground floor, with a smaller clean-room on the first floor. The warehouse and shipping departments, and some engineering and production personnel, are adjacent to the production floor. The office area – which houses all the various departments and the corporate HQ – meanwhile is located on the first floor.   Some 700 employees are based at the main facility with many production lines operating 24/7.   The main facility was specifically planned and renovated to accommodate expected strong growth in production volumes, and in hindsight that was a very good decision.   Lambert estimates that EEM and EDM utilised about 40% of the production space when ESCATEC first moved into the building in Q2 2018. That figure is now above 60% and is expected to increase significantly again over the course of the year.   “It’s a good thing we have the room the accommodate new orders and customers,’ notes Lambert.   Besides the two facilities in Penang, ESCATEC also operates another two production facilities in Malaysia –  under ESCATEC Mechatronics Sdn Bhd – in the southern state of Johor Bahru in close proximity to Singapore.   ESCATEC Penang specialises on pcba and box build solutions for the industrial, instrumentation, medical, automotive, building automation, and high-end consumer sectors.   ESCATEC Mechatronics meanwhile focuses on pcba and mechatronic box build solutions for the industrial, beverages, utilities and high-end consumer sectors.   A fifth production facility – ESCATEC Switzerland AG – is based at the beautiful small town of Heerbrugg in Switzerland, a stone’s throw away from the Austrian border. It focuses on high-quality advanced electronics, design and development, industrial, LED & lighting, medical, MOEMs, and box build solutions.   Established in 1974, the ESCATEC Group currently employs about 1600 employees and works closely with a long and varied list of world-leading brands. The Group has the expertise, experience and resources to offer the complete A-Z value chain in relation to electronics and box build solutions.   Cover Photo (backdrop):  The production floor at the main Penang facility. Photo 2: Installing the new production lines. Photo 3: Delivering new monitors for the new production lines.  Photo 4: Lambert with some of his management team. Photo 5: Exterior view of the main Penang facility. Photo 6: ESCATEC Mechatronics's J2 production facility in Johor Bahru. Photo 7: View of the MOEMS division in ESCATEC Switzerland Photo 8: Exterior view of ESCATEC Switzerland in Heerbrugg    

This year the Conference took place on 22nd November at our HQ in Penang. Some 55 representatives from various business partners throughout Asia attended, as well as representatives from all ESCATEC’s business units in Malaysia and Switzerland. 

One of the world’s leading suppliers of safety products and solutions to the marine, oil and gas, transport and building industries, places great value on its long-standing business relationship with the ESCATEC Group.   This customer’s product portfolio comprises fire alarm systems, gas and emission detection, complete fire safety systems and flame detection.   A key point for this customer is that ESCATEC’s senior management and production teams are “open to constructive feedback and eager to please”, said Niklas Gustafsson, a Production Engineer with the customer, during a recent visit to ESCATEC Electronics Sdn Bhd in Penang, Malaysia.   Niklas and his colleagues from Sweden are regulars to ESCATEC Electronics, visiting at least once or twice a year to monitor the production systems and processes and to confer with ESCATEC’s production team assigned to the customer’s products.   Niklas says he has observed a continuous improvement in production processes and product quality over the years in ESCATEC Electronics. The engineers and production operators are receptive to feedback and new ideas and to learning new skills, he says, which makes solving problems a whole lot smoother.   “I enjoy working with the production team and visiting ESCATEC,” he states. It’s also great that Penang with its food, UNESCO world heritage status and tropical weather, is a very nice place to visit.   There is always room for further improvement.   To consolidate processes and product quality, General Manager of ESCATEC Penang (which comprises of ESCATEC Electronics and ESCATEC Medical Sdn Bhd), Lambert Schutters, places strong emphasis on boosting open communication and discussion channels between all levels of employees.   Initiatives implemented towards this end include the reinvigoration of an Employee Suggestion Scheme (nicknamed ESCATIP) where all employees are encouraged and incentivized to submit ideas and feedback directly to the management.   ESCATEC also strongly believes in up-skilling its employees through frequent training and creating opportunities for them to gain a lot of varied experience by meeting and working with customers from around the world.   The leading companies located in the global bustling electronics cluster that is the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone in Penang – where ESCATEC Electronics and ESCATEC Medical are based - generate high demand for good, skilled and experienced talent.   ESCATEC Penang has implemented several measures and is working on introducing several others in order to retain talent and to attract new talent to its workforce, such as facilitating career development, improving remuneration, fostering a sense of belonging and purpose, and positioning the Group as a preferred employer.   Based on personal experience, Niklas says that there are some very talented and capable people at ESCATEC Electronics. “I am always happy when I come here because a lot of work gets done”, he notes.   ESCATEC, from its very early days, formulated and implemented five core values which have been entwined into the DNA of the Group. These core values are widely and regularly emphasised to all employees including new recruits.   The first and foremost of these core values is “Customer Satisfaction”.   As expounded by Group Chairman Christophe Albin, “We recognise our customers’ ever-changing requirements and respond to them quickly. We consistently deliver the best possible service, expertise, quality, lead times and cost efficiency. Our customer relationships are based on commitment, mutual trust, collaboration and co-evolution”.   Besides Customer Satisfaction, the other core values of the ESCATEC Group are: Committed Personnel; Ethical Conduct of Business; Continuous Improvement and Results Orientated.   ESCATEC would like to extend its sincere thanks to Niklas for his willingness to share his experience and opinions - which will help ESCATEC to further improve - and our utmost appreciation to our customer for the longstanding, highly successful and mutually beneficial business relationship.   Photo 1 shows the Production Team having a discussion with Niklas Gustafsson. Clockwise from left: Chang Xin Yi (Test Engineer), Vijay Suppiah (Key Account Manager), Prakash Soman (Process Engineer), Teoh Kim Chye (FA Technician), Ong Yuen Lin (Quality Engineer), and Niklas Gustafsson.   Photo 2 below: Niklas Gustafsson.   Photo 3 below: ESCATEC's core values are emphasized at every opportunity.  

ESCATEC Penang has launched an important new initiative in its continuous quest to upskill & train team members, in the form of a dedicated new "Centre of Learning & Development".   The Centre - located in ESCATEC Electronic's facility in Industrial Zone 4, Bayan Lepas -  was officially launched by Group COO Juha Arola and ESCATEC Penang GM Lambert Schutters.   It will function as a one-stop venue to cater for all Operations-related training needs by facilitating hands-on technical training, instructor-led classroom training, certification and recertification training and online e-learning.   The Malaysian Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) fully underwrote the cost of setting up the Centre, for which the ESCATEC Group is very much grateful. The management of ESCATEC takes this opportunity to say a big Thank You to the HRDF for their invaluable and kind support.    Congratulations are also due to the HR Department for successfully implementing this great initiative.   We need very well-trained employees to support our business growth and this new Centre will certainly play a key role in achieving that.   Photo 1 below shows ESCATEC Group COO Juha Arola (on the right) and ESCATEC Penang GM Lambert Schutter "cutting the ribbon" to officially launch the new Centre of Learning & Development.   Photo 2 shows Training Manager Suhaila Mustapha Kamal giving a tour of the technical training facilities at the new Centre to the COO and GM.   Photo 3 is just everybody having a bit of fun :)