New Malaysia HQ to spearhead Music Tribe’s digital transformation plan
08 Jul 2020
Music Tribe, a multi-national leader for professional audio products and musical instruments with operations in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Japan, China and the Philippines, has chosen Malaysia as its headquarters to spearhead the company’s Global Digital Transformation strategy.
Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the announcement is in line with the recent launch of the Lighthouse Project initiative by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia’s latest landmark initiative to encourage more industry players to act as beacons to guide others in applying technologies like artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and other Industry 4.0 technologies.
“This announcement represents a key win for Malaysia and a testament to the nation’s efforts in attracting strategic high-quality investments from international companies.
“Our skilled talent-base, vibrant industry ecosystem and supportive business policies provide all the right criteria to be the preferred investment location for multinational powerhouses to leverage upon,” he said in a statement today expressing support for Music Tribe’s bold venture into Industry 4.0.
He said Music Tribe established its headquarters under the Principal Hub scheme in 2019 to consolidate global leadership and oversight functions.
This operation will house a new digital leadership team tasked with implementing cutting-edge digital platforms aimed at enhancing the experience of Music Tribe’s customers by means of data analytics, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).
“With the successful implementation of this project, we look forward to more industry stakeholders emulating such successes and adopt digitalisation and automation elements within their own operations. Ultimately, we seek to position Malaysia among the top global manufacturing nations with the latest technology adoption and innovation,” he said.
Mohamed Azmin said Music Tribe will also further expand its operations by establishing an Industry 4.0-driven, fully robotised manufacturing facility at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park in Kedah.
He said the company is currently collaborating with Microsoft as well as Siemens to design a full ‘Digital Twin’ or virtual representation of the entire design and manufacturing process flows to be adopted by its manufacturing facility. This new plant is expected to commence operations by the end of 2021.
He said Music Tribe’s latest undertaking is set to digitise Music Tribe’s entire supply chain beginning from design, manufacturing to e-commerce marketing and after-sales service. It is expected to create significant job opportunities in areas such as R&D, supply chain, automation, e-commerce, marketing and finance.
“The company’s project also provides its Malaysian employees a huge opportunity to be at the forefront of the company’s global digital strategy and develop their knowledge and skills in line with the rapidly evolving technological landscape,” he added.
Meanwhile, Music Tribe founder and chief executive officer Uli Behringer said Malaysia’s competitive advantages were the primary pull factor for the company to locate its Principal Hub and new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the country.
“Over the past few years we went through a thorough evaluation process to find the best possible headquarters location. Our focus was predominantly on customer proximity, talent pool, supply chain and especially government support.
“Since we set foot in Malaysia, we have been enjoying tremendous support from the Malaysian government and hence couldn’t have chosen a better location,” he said.
He said the acquisition process for 20.23 hectares (50 acres) of land was accomplished in less than four weeks.
“In today’s world, where time and agility has become critical, in our 30-year experience such business support is simply unheard of,” he added.
Source: Bernama
