Page 37 - Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories no. 4/2017

en years ago, Emhart Glass
(as it was then called) laid
Tplans for a new state-of-the-
art manufacturing plant in Taman
Preindustrian Cemerlang, Johor
Bahru, Malaysia. Construction
began in 2008, and the new plant
was officially opened in 2009.
Covering a total area of around
6,000 square meters, the plant
replaced an existing site managed
by Formac, a former supplier
that Emhart Glass had acquired
in 2006.
THE JOHOR
BAHRU PLANT – JB
Known affectionately within
the firm as “JB,” the Johor Bahru
plant soon developed into a cen-
tral part of Bucher Emhart Glass’
worldwide manufacturing foot-
print.
In the early years, JB’s main
role was the assembly of new IS
machines and cross-conveyors,
plus the fabrication of welded
parts. The new facility included
a job shop and a warehouse, with
space dedicated to training and
demonstrations for both Hot End
and Cold End products. It also
served as a base for service engi-
neers in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2013, the plant was expand-
ed to accommodate the assem-
bly of all BEG’s IS and AIS
machines, while the firm’s older
plant at Sundsvall, Sweden,
focused on servo-driven NIS and
BIS machines.
In its first 10 years, JB has
produced 200 machines for 88
customers in 45 countries. The
shipments went to customers on
all five continents who visited the
JB plant for machine acceptance
tests. The 200th machine was
a 6 1/4” double-gob AIS unit
destined for Vetropack St Prex in
Switzerland.
“We’re delighted to be cele-
brating our 10th birthday here at
Johor Bahru,” says Bryant Wong,
Site Manager. “We’ve come a
long way since we finished our

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