Automation in the Malaysian wood industry – status, challenges, and constraints from the manufacturers’ perspective

Chan, Nga Mun (2024) Automation in the Malaysian wood industry – status, challenges, and constraints from the manufacturers’ perspective. [Project Paper] (Submitted)

Text FPAS 2024 36.pdf Download (3MB)

Abstract

The Malaysian wood industry has always been known to be extremely labourintensive, and the implementation of automation has proven to be a probable solution to curb such conflict. Therefore, this study dives into the present status of automation, the types of technology commonly used, and the challenges and constraints encountered by local wood manufacturers concerning automation. A questionnaire-based survey was targeted at furniture, moulding, and builders’ joinery and carpentry (BJC) manufacturers in the Klang Valley area, with responses from 30 manufacturers. The results revealed that the current status of automation is low with the common technologies adopted such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer numerical control (CNC) workstations, and low-cost automation (LCA). It was also revealed that factory size and workers’ skills are significant factors in influencing the level of automation. Additionally, as part of the status of automation, the perspective of manufacturers is evaluated based on their reasons and drawbacks of automating. The reasons for automating are driven by workforce downsizing, productivity improvement, and the impact of government policies. The drawbacks of automating are the lack of technical expertise, high maintenance costs, and the workers’ resistance to change. This study revealed the main barriers to technology adoption are the high investment cost, difficulty for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt automation, and absence or lack of government incentives. A key takeaway from this study is established the fact that the provision of incentives and other tangible economic benefits are essential and required when the shared goal is a greater uptake of technology amongst these local manufacturers within the industry, especially the SMEs.

Item Type:	Project Paper
Depositing User:	Ms. ROHANA ALIAS
Date Deposited:	14 May 2024 07:22
Last Modified:	05 Aug 2024 04:17
URI:	http://psaspb.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/1800

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