ONE ON ONE
A TALK WITH ASSA ABLOY
S
on unlocking new experience to a more open world through innovative access solutions
ince its formation in 1994, ASSA ABLOY has grown from a regional supplier of mechanical locks to becoming an international group with 48,000 employees and operations in over 70 countries. Being a global leader in access solutions, ASSA ABLOY stands committed to delivering an extensive range of access solution products to satisfy the need for security, safety, and convenience. B&I recently met with Mr Rex Pennefather, the General Manager of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Malaysia Sdn Bhd, who shared his thoughts on Malaysia’s market trend and consumer behaviour for smart door opening solutions. B&I: Can you give us a brief overview of your capacity as the General Manager of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Malaysia Sdn Bhd? MR REX: ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Malaysia is part of the greater China and Southeast Asian business unit of the ASSA ABLOY Group. There are a total of eight countries in this business unit, with a general manager or country director domiciled in each country. For general managers like me, our core responsibility involves overseeing all business elements namely full strategic planning, P&L responsibility, channel strategy, stock and distribution management, procurement, as well as supply chain and sales partnerships. The inner workings of our regional office are rather complex, but I am well supported by a strong team of managers who are responsible for the many different facets of the business including projects and specifications, disruptive and innovative retail channels, traditional, modern, and big box retail, distribution partners, finance, supply chain and logistics. Currently, we have about 2,000 customers that we support and service in Malaysia.
B&I: What are your views on Malaysia’s consumer behaviour for smart home solutions? MR REX: I think Malaysia is poised for a great uptake in smart home solutions. As you may know, smart home solutions cover a wide range of products like digital door locks, smart wireless receivers, safes, CCTV and many others etc. One of the fundamental requirements to create a smart home environment is a solid network infrastructural backbone, good connectivity and ubiquitous phone coverage – Malaysia is well on its way to achieve this by strengthening its digital footprint. The country now has seven internet service providers, a growing 5G network and the government has recently launched national digital infrastructure plan, Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA), designed to steer the country towards greater digital connectivity by boosting the efficiency of the national infrastructure and optimising spectrum usage. In terms of demographics, Malaysia has around 77.2% urban population and 84% are under the age of 54. This is an exciting statistic for ASSA ABLOY, as these are considered the new generation of consumers with a growing appetite and willingness to adopt to smart solutions. With these favourable facts in hand, we had expected greater and earlier uptake of smart home solutions. Although we are seeing uptakes in larger, upscale residential and commercial projects, there has been a lesser response from the typical private homeowners. I think one of the stumbling blocks in Malaysia is on the income bracket. For example, in 2019, it was reported that Malaysia’s average salary was RM3,224 and the median was RM2,442 – this is comparatively lower than the neighbouring countries in the region like Singapore and Hong Kong. As a result, smart home solutions are an expensive investment since they are usually priced upwards of RM1,000 per product. Even though the country is still in the early adopter phase we believe with a proper financial model and easy pay type schemes we could drive volumetric uptake of these offerings. I believe people are willing to switch to smart home solutions and therefore, these products should be more widely available to everyone. ASSA ABLOY is currently in the midst of offering more lower-range products into the market ensuring greater accessibility of these solutions to the general population helping to improve their security, safety, and convenience. B&I: What are your projections on Malaysia’s door opening solutions market, in view of COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic situation? MR REX: Like most other industries globally, the Malaysian construction sector took a large knock because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were hopes and expectations that we’ll be recovering in Q1 2021, the sudden spike of infections in January
20 Mar-Apr 2021 | www.b-i.biz
