Johor bahru: US-based digital infrastructure company Vertiv Group expects its Johor manufacturing facility to gradually ramp up production, with about 15 to 20 percent of its production lines currently in operation.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Vertiv's Asia vice president, operations and service operations, Andrew Whall, stated that the newly launched factory is expected to approach its technical production capacity by the end of the second quarter or early third quarter of 2027 (3Q 2027). This growth is anticipated to be supported by the introduction of new products. "We've probably got about 15 to 20 percent of the facility producing right now. I am expecting (technical production) probably towards 2Q or early 3Q 2027," Whall mentioned during a press conference following the launch of Vertiv's Johor manufacturing facility today.
Whall highlighted that the facility has been fully operational since the first quarter of this year, with shipments of its XDU (eXtreme Density Unit) product line already underway. The facility is currently in its first phase of development, with preparations for the second and third phases already in motion to expand production capacity and broaden its product portfolio.
"The (current) factory floor is our phase one. Phase two is already in motion, with additional production lines for new liquid-cooling products as well as SmartRun capacity. We're already in the planning stages for phase three, which will introduce new and different products onto the production floor," Whall added.
He further explained that the production floor is expected to be fully occupied with additional product lines by mid-next year. This expansion will enable the facility to serve both the Malaysian and regional markets, including Australia and South Korea, and create up to 500 skilled jobs in the region.
When asked about the choice of Johor as the regional manufacturing hub, Vertiv's Asia vice president and general manager, Paul Churchill, explained that the decision followed a comprehensive evaluation of locations across Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. The evaluation was driven by growing customer demand and the need for local manufacturing capacity. "We could see there was greater demand and a stronger requirement to have local capacity. We engaged external consultants to help us with that and carried out an evaluation throughout Asia, predominantly Southeast Asia," Churchill noted.
Churchill emphasized that Malaysia was successful in meeting a set of criteria that included connectivity, proximity to the marketplace, educational levels, English language capability, and support from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
In a separate statement, Vertiv detailed that the Johor facility supports end-to-end manufacturing, assembly, and testing for advanced thermal and power infrastructure. This capability enables the delivery of high-density solutions with validated performance to help reduce deployment risk and accelerate time to capacity for customers across enterprise, cloud, and colocation segments.
The facility will manufacture large-scale thermal management, power, and infrastructure solutions for artificial intelligence (AI) and traditional applications. This includes Vertiv CoolChip coolant distribution units (CDUs), Vertiv Power Module and Power Skid prefabricated power systems, as well as the Vertiv SmartRun integrated overhead infrastructure system.
Located in Senai, Johor, the approximately 236,000-square-foot facility is part of Vertiv's expanded manufacturing footprint in Asia. The expansion aims to support growing demand for AI and high-density computing infrastructure across Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The launch of the Johor factory was attended by the chief executive officer of Invest Johor, Natazha Hariss, and MIDA Johor director Mohamad Reduan Mohd Zabri. Headquartered in Ohio, USA, Vertiv operates in over 130 countries and has 30 manufacturing facilities worldwide.