China might be known as the port of call for manufacturing, but global electronics company Flextronics believes Malaysia offers benefits in certain areas its Asian counterpart currently does not offer.
Mark Shandley, the company’s vice president for supply chain management, noted that a good number of its customers do express a preference for manufacturing their products in Malaysia over China.
“Some of them are more comfortable with Malaysia because of the perception of intellectual protection, or what they believe is the lack of, in China,” he explained.
China’s labour costs might be relatively cheaper but Malaysia offers cost savings from other areas, which then leads to a better overall cost of a few cents per unit, he said. However, manufacturers in Malaysia will have to monitor its rising wage cost level in order to remain competitive.
