Fraba, a supplier of sensors for industrial motion control applications, opened a new manufacturing facility in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This facility will begin manufacturing operations in the spring and operate in parallel with the company's existing European factory. This increase in capacity will help the company meet a growing demand for its products.
Christian Leeser, CEO and principal shareholder of the Fraba Group said: “With a steady increase in the sales of our sensor products, we are outgrowing the capacity of our Polish factory. We are also seeing an evolution of our product mix. So far, we have specialized in a high complexity/low volume approach to manufacturing that we term ‘mass customization.’ The encoders and inclinometers we sell under our Posital brand are designed to meet the needs of machine builders and other specialist customers who required sensors tailored to their specific needs. More recently though, we have introduced products, such as our kit encoders and Wiegand sensors, that will be produced in larger quantities for large-volume OEM customers.”
While the product mix for the new factory will differ from the output of the European facility, both operations will make use of Fraba’s custom-developed digital production control system. This system supports the production process from order receipt, through assembly and testing, to delivery. Making use of cloud-based computing and data management resources, this system supports manufacturing processes that are flexible and responsive, while also assuring high product quality, product traceability over the full manufacturing cycle, and competitive prices.
Products slated for the new 18,000-square-foot factory include kit encoder assemblies and Wiegand sensors.
“Our products have found many enthusiastic buyers worldwide and our new Malaysian factory will help us to serve our customers quickly and efficiently," Lesser said. "Our highly portable production model will enable us to open similar factories in other locations in the future, supporting our strategy of developing FRABA as a truly international enterprise.”