Malaysia
Cooperation
with Bols
for Benelux
Heineken
in
China
Merger
in
M'ï S HEINEKEN BUSINESSNEWS-HEINE
KEN BUSINESS N EWS-HEINEKEN BUSINESS
late the entire brewing process. Video
display panels will show all information
from the various departments such as
the silo building, the brewhouse, the cel
lars and the utilities building. At a
glance the operator will be able to see
which phase of the brewing process
may possibly require adjustment.
In that central control room the HTB
specialists will also lay down the basis
for a system of Computer Integrated
Manufacturing (CIM). With the aid of
this data processing system all key fig
ures needed by, say, management,
quality assurance and stock control can
be retrieved and displayed in the wink
of an eye. The CIM system will not be
installed immediately upon opening of
the brewery. Its subsequent introduc
tion will be taken into account during
the assembly work so that the actual
installation of CIM will present few
problems.
HTB has in the past designed many
breweries throughout the world, but has
never before tackled such an ambitious
project. Simply taking a standard brew
ery plan off the peg and then adapting
it was not on for the HTB technicians.
The Tuas brewery is something really
special for both HTB and Malayan Brew
eries.
Malayan Breweries Malaysia, a
subsidiary of Malayan Breweries
Ltd. (in which Heineken has and
80% stake together with Fraser an
Neave) is to cooperate with Guin
ness Malaysia, which is part of
Guinness PLC in London. The in
tention is that both companies will
be completely integrated. The new
company will be called Guinness
Anchor.
The market base of both companies
will be strengthened through the
merger because of the strong
range of brands they can offer in
Malaysia, including Heineken, An
chor, Guinness and Tiger. The new
company plans to invest 45 million
guilders over the next three years
in modernising the brewery in
Kuala Lumpur.
Heineken plans to cooperate with
Bols (an international drinks
group) to create a better position
for high-proof drinks in the
Netherlands, Belgium and Luxem
bourg. The companies jointly an
nounced this plan in December
1988. Because of various factors,
including the discouragement pol
icy applied by governments, sales
of distilled products such as
geneva, whisky, etc. have fallen
sharply over the past ten years.
By combining forces, both com
panies expect to be able to bring
the downward trend to a halt.
Since 1st January this year Heine
ken has also been active in the
People's Republic of China. To
gether with a number of partners
a joint venture agreement has
been signed with the Shanghai
Mila Brewery. The Chia Tai Group
Thailand and Beverage Invest
ments, in which Heineken cooper
ates with soft drinks producer
Fraser and Neave, will be invest
ing sixty guilders in the Yimin Brew
ery in Shanghai in the years
ahead.
The project is of a small scale and
should therefore be seen as an ini
tial reconnaissance of the Chinese
market by Heineken. According to
the Heineken management, an in
sight into the local brewing indus
try can only be gained by actually
being present there. It is not the
intention that the Yimin Brewery
will start brewing Heineken beer.
43
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN