Sandvik is establishing a new production unit in Malaysia for manufacturing underground loaders and trucks. Equipment production is planned to begin in Q4 2023 following factory upgrades and other site improvements.
The expansion will help Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions answer growing demand for its battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). While the new production unit’s primary focus will be BEVs, it will also manufacture conventional loaders and trucks as well as battery cages. Annual manufacturing capacity is planned to increase gradually to 300 loaders and trucks and 500 battery cages by 2030.
The new facility in the 445-hectare Sendayan TechValley business park is located 70 kilometers south of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and 15 kilometers west of state capital Seremban. The factory is 90 kilometers southeast of Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest seaport and one of the busiest container terminals in the world.
“Malaysia is among the most technologically developed countries in Southeast Asia and has abundant skilled labor, strong local industrial suppliers and reliable infrastructure,” said Mats Eriksson, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. “Our mining customers in Asia Pacific will enjoy shorter lead times for equipment manufactured to the same Sandvik standards for quality and safety.”
The new factory will span more than 8,000 meters and include 15 versatile assembly bays. It will support the manufacture of all Sandvik load and haul equipment models and is independent of existing supplier chains. Production ramp-up will begin later this year with Toro™ LH517i loaders followed by Toro™ LH518iB, Sandvik’s newly-announced automation-ready battery-electric loader, in Q2 2024.
“Demand for our loaders and trucks is exceeding our current production capacity at our existing factories,” said Patricio Apablaza, President of Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Load and Haul division. “The establishment of our new production unit in Malaysia will enable flexible manufacturing of both conventional diesel and battery-electric mining equipment.”