Somboon slahes production over crisis in Japan

Somboon Advance Technology (SAT), a leading local automotive-parts manufacturer, said yesterday that it had reduced production by 35 per cent as Japanese carmakers had cut their orders significantly. The tsunami in Japan last month has had a severe impact on carmakers because of a major shortage of components.

Toyota Motor has cut production by 70 per cent. Isuzu and Honda have reduced output by 50 per cent each.

"We have faced significant impact from the disaster, as nearly 100 per cent of our clients are Japanese auto-makers that have set up factories in Thailand," said SAT president Verayut Kitaphanich.

Somboon Group is a local leader in the manufacture of automotive parts for personal vehicles, large trucks, pickup trucks and agricultural machinery.

The group produces a wide variety of parts, including rear axle shafts, trunnion shafts, inner shafts, coil springs, stabiliser bars, leaf springs, chassis parts and engine parts. Its major customers are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with long-term purchase contracts and replacement equipment manufacturers (REMs).

"The good point is that we have diversified customers. Some customers, such as Mitsubishi Motors, which accounts for 30 per cent of total orders, have had less impact from the March disaster in Japan," Verayut said.

He added that the group employed 2,400 people, working eight hours a day.

"We are adjusting our production plan to cope with this negative business environment."

Verayut said Somboon Group had suffered significantly during the 2008 global financial crisis, which resulted in its sales dropping almost 40 per cent in 2009. Sales picked up rapidly last year, however, rising 50 per cent to Bt6.3 billion.

"We earlier set a positive target to grow our sales by between 10 and 15 per cent this year. The company, however, will revise its sales target in line with the uncontrollable negative factors, especially the March tsunami in Japan."

Verayut said that in his view, Japanese people had strong discipline, and the country would recover very quickly. Japan would be back to normal by the end of this year.

Somboon Group has invested Bt10 million in its "Solar Car Park", which has been equipped with Sanyo's HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer) solar cells. Saving up to 100 per cent in office energy consumption annually, equivalent to the emission of 34.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the cells offer the highest conversion efficiency available on the market.

With an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years, the 155 cells are capable of generating 190 watts per panel, or up to 30 kilowatts in total.

Tsutomu Morimoto, president of Sanyo (Thailand), said Sanyo considered Thailand to have high potential for the solar-cell market, as government agencies, the industrial sector and consumers were becoming aware of the use of alternative energy.

Solar energy is not only clean but also helps reduce global warming and carbon emissions, he said.

"Our solar cells are highly heat-resistant and humidity-proof thanks to advanced manufacturing technology. On top of that, they offer 18.9-per-cent conversion efficiency, the highest available in the market currently," Morimoto said.