Proton opens new regional parts centre in Sabah to meet growing demand

PROTON has announced the launch of its regional parts centre (RPC) at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, following the establishment of a similar facility in Sarawak last year.

It is capable of reducing lead for spare parts time by 30% on the back of increased output capacity from Proton Parts Centre Sdn Bhd (PPCSB) in West Malaysia and direct overseas shipment.

Proton says the new RPC is to meet the growing demand in Sabah, which is its third highest state for vehicle sales in Malaysia.

Tucked away in a commercial area in Inanam, the new facility boasts a built-up floor space of approximately 28,000 sq ft, which is 2.5 times bigger than its previous location. It can receive up to six containers of parts on site simultaneously, up from two containers previously.

It is currently processing an average of 26 containers per month to fully utilise its capability to store up to three months of stock. With more storage spaces for parts, lead times to deliver to dealerships and customers could be reduced.

The company adds that its RPCs in East Malaysia can handle up to 28 containers from West Malaysia and overseas per month, an increase in capacity from the previous limit of 24 containers per month.

PPCSB also deployed a new warehouse management system (WMS) at all its locations earlier this year, enabling the daily delivery capacity at the new RPC to jump 66% to 300 lines in July from 180 lines previously, with a maximum capacity of 400 lines slated to be achieved by September.

The added space also allows the allocation of 8,500 bins to store parts, up from 5,000 bins in the previous facilities. As a result, the stock value is expected to increase 1.5 times to RM9 million by December 2024, up from RM5.8 million a year earlier.

On the sales front, Proton’s market share in Sabah has ascended steadily from 10% in 2018 to 25.9% in 2023 and currently stands at 27.4% year-to-date for 2024.

In 2023, sales of Proton vehicles in East Malaysia contributed 15.8% to the company’s total sales volume. The top three Proton models sold were the Saga with 13,700 units followed by the Persona with 4,264 and the X50 with 2,955 units, respectively.