Unilin Embraces Malaysia’s Technical Talents and Renewable Energy Efforts

Unilin Group is a global reference in interior design and construction. They develop, manufacture and market laminate floors, luxury vinyl tiles, sheet vinyl, engineered parquet, carpet tiles, wall-to-wall carpeting, wood-based and decorative panels, industrial floors, wall and roof systems and insulation boards.

Founded in the 1960s by about 40 flax farmers, Unilin today employs more than 8,200 employees across more than 105 locations worldwide, of which more than 30 production sites. Together they realised a turnover of €2.7 billion (RM12.2 billion) in 2021.

Unilin Group is a proud member of Mohawk Industries, the global market leader in floor coverings with a turnover of USD11.2 billion (RM50.4 billion) and 42,000 employees.

In 2007, Mohawk acquired Malaysia Wood Industries, a local company located in Kedah that produced wooden furniture parts, doors and floorboards. That company is now known as Unilin (Malaysia).

Unilin (Malaysia) is the sole manufacturer of engineered wooden floor (parquet) of the Unilin Group, and exports 95 per cent of its products globally. The employees from Unilin (Malaysia) perform unique processes such as putty application to ensure and embrace the natural look of parquet.

Via the Unilin way, Unilin Group fosters a culture of boldness that is built on four pillars: Passion, Entrepreneurship, Excellence, and Respect. This allows the company to innovate, take initiative, and push boundaries constantly.

Unilin Group also initiated a safety culture, where all employees arrive safe, work safe and return home safe. To embed this culture, Unilin Group empowers each employee to voice their safety concerns and take care of each other in order to create a safe environment for everyone in the company. As the wood industry is known to be a heavy industry, Unilin (Malaysia) has implemented five Life Saving Rules (LSR) throughout its entire plant. Every employee knows these rules and is equally responsible for compliance to these rules. Unilin (Malaysia) and its employees strive to become a Zero Harm company by 2024.

Malaysia: Unilin’s global parquet manufacturing hub

Unilin is drawn to Malaysia for its stable workforce and the technical talents. Technicians and engineers play crucial roles in Unilin (Malaysia), where automation drives its vital role as the sole manufacturer of parquet in the Unilin Group. Besides technical skills, Unilin was also attracted to invest in Malaysia due to the local communities strong fluency in English, enabling smooth communication between all stakeholders.

Moreover, Malaysia’s geographic location that bridges the East and West, aligns well with Unilin (Malaysia), which exports 95 per cent of its final products.

Taking its Malaysian operations to the next level

Unilin (Malaysia) plans a five-year blueprint investments, which include redesigning and expanding the factory with a strong focus on safety and efficiency.

In addition, Unilin (Malaysia) will be installing around 51,942 photovoltaic solar panels on the entire rooftop of its factory. These solar panels will contribute a total capacity of 2,830.73 kilowatts peak (kWp) of electricity to the grid and will be channeled back to Unilin (Malaysia) for usage. Unilin (Malaysia)’s embrace of renewable energy towards combating climate change is projected to reduce carbon dioxide used by 2,790.96 tonnes.

The solar panels project is fully invested by GSPRAX, a wholly owned subsidiary company national electricity provider Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), in collaboration with Solarvest Holdings,which will install the solar panels at Unilin (Malaysia).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MIDA Kedah worked together with state investment promotion agency Invest Kedah to help Unilin (Malaysia) weather various challenges. Via the Public-Private Partnership Immunisation Program (PIKAS), Unilin (Malaysia) was able to fully vaccinate close to 750 employees. This is a very meaningful milestone for Unilin (Malaysia), as it contributed to the acceleration of the local immunisation effort. Unilin (Malaysia) currently faces a challenge in terms of obtaining fully-certified wood from Malaysia. To address this, Unilin (Malaysia) is actively working with various authorities and fellow timber industry stakeholders to fully-certify its suppliers for Hevea and PEFC wood. MIDA has been instrumental in assisting and facilitating Unilin (Malaysia) in its efforts towards full certification.