Osram: Fire damage minimal, production not affected

GEORGE TOWN: Opto semiconductor and lighting solutions producer Osram Opto Semiconductor (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, one of the largest multinational companies in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia, said damage resulting from a fire which broke out at one of its plants in Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, Penang, on Sunday is small in scale and has not affected production.
Osram Opto Semiconductor’s production has since resumed following the fire.
“Production stopped for a while as the power supply was down and it has resumed in stages,” its head of site communication Audrey Cheah told SunBiz via email.
“The damage has not been fully quantified yet, but seems to be on a small scale, not affecting production,” she added.
With that, the German firm is not expecting any disruptions to its product delivery due to the incident.
Cheah said this in response to a social media post that a small fire was detected at Osram’s Penang facility at 9.30am on Sunday, which was “quickly extinguished by the Fire Brigade and onsite emergency response teams”.
Videos and photos of the incident showed smoke billowing from one of the plants and staff gathered at the plant’s compound surfaced on Facebook on Sunday. At press time, the post has been shared 4,563 times.
There were no injuries reported from the incident.
On what caused the fire, Cheah said investigations from the Fire and Rescue Department are still underway.
Osram, which has eight plants in Penang, has had a footing in Malaysia for decades.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed was recently quoted as saying that as the largest employer in the northern region, Osram’s total investment as at October this year stood at RM4.2 billion. It is also expected to offer up to 7,790 jobs by 2020.