GEORGE TOWN: RGT Bhd’s new 100,000 sq ft manufacturing cum warehouse facility at its Bukit Minyak plant, which is scheduled to start operations early next year, will be producing about RM500mil worth of hygiene care products per annum.

       “This is an augmentation of the present production capacity by 2.5 times. The existing 150,000 sq ft production floor manufactures about RM200mil worth of hygiene care products per annum.

       “The expansion project started last November and was scheduled for completion in October, but because of the lockdown, we are now looking at December to finish the extension,” group chief executive officer Datuk S.H Lim told StarBiz.

       The plant should be operational in early 2022, he added.

       “So far, we have invested RM30mil into the expansion and will inject another RM30mil for the current financial year ending June 30, 2022,” Lim said.

       The group also spent RM15mil on a two-acre site and a factory opposite the present premises. The properties will be used for a future expansion project.

       The new facility will focus on hygiene care products such as dispensers for soap, air fresheners and sanitisers.

       “We have new customers waiting to order from us. Because they are not able to visit us to qualify our manufacturing facility, they have not started placing orders yet,” he said.

       About 70% of its hygiene care products are sold to US-based customers, while Europe consumes the remaining 30%.

       Lim said the group was currently waiting for the US Food and Drug Administration to approve an antidote injection device belonging to a customer.

       “After the approval, we will need to put the prototype on trial run before it can be mass-produced. There is no time frame as to when the product will be released in the market,” he said.

       RGT provides original design equipment (ODM) and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) services for customers involved in the hygiene and air care product industry.

       RGT plastic injection moulding process

       “We also design the electronic boards that go into the products,” Lim added.

       According to Lim, the group is expanding its ODM services which provide designs for customers’ products while maintaining its OEM services, which manufacture products based on the design and specifications of its customers.

       “The goal is to provide value-added services, in the form of product design, to existing customers and new markets such as the medical device industry.

       “We are leveraging on our research and development capabilities and accumulated technical expertise to collaborate with customers in the product design and development stage. These experiences in product design and development will help the group to expand its ODM business,” he added.

       One of RGT’s biggest customers is Rubbermaid, a household name manufacturer of household items.

       The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has, notably, led to the widespread adoption of personal hygiene products to prevent and minimise the spread of the virus, which Lim noted, will contribute to market growth.