Hafele Thailand Ltd, the local unit of the German furniture fittings maker, will invest 700 million baht in 2019 to build a new warehouse on Bang Na-Trat Road, renovate its showroom and upgrade the IT system to improve working processes.
Managing director Volker Hellstern said 450 million baht will be spent for expansion of a warehouse, with a usable area of 10,000 square metres on Bang Na-Trat KM 22 behind the current warehouse sized 10,000 sq m.
"The combined 14,000 sq m will support a stock of more than 30,000 items, up from the current 22,000 items," he said. "Construction started last November and will be completed by year-end."
Some 200 million baht will be invested in an enterprise resource planning system that will be changed to SAP, the German software firm, to improve working processes and connect all Hafele offices worldwide.
That leaves 50 million baht to renovate Hafele Design Studio on Sukhumvit Soi 64, Mr Hellstern said.
"Thailand is much more secure than other countries," he said. "When there is a change [in politics], we haven't seen any drop in the business sector. We don't know what the election will bring, but we don't think there will be a big change in the economy or business."
Hafele, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, aims to have at least 4 billion baht in sales in 2019.
Of total sales, 46% will be from property projects, 19% from traditional trade, 19% from modern trade, 12% from furniture fitting, 1% from six showrooms in Bangkok and key provinces and 3% from others.
Half of the amount will be from hardware equipment, 30% from sanitaryware and bathroom accessories, 15% from electric kitchen appliances and 5% from tools and equipment for technicians.