Truck body builder Centro Manufacturing Corp. has begun the local assembly of the i-Van body option for the Isuzu NHR at its plant in Maguyam, Cavite.
In a statement, Centro vice president for sales and marketing Rommel Juan said the i-Van is the first locally assembled shuttle van to compete directly with foreign imports.
Designing and producing the i-Van is thus a landmark accomplishment for the Filipino firm, Juan said.
Isuzu Philippines launched the Isuzu NHR with i-Van body earlier this year in response to the growing demand for people and cargo transport.
“The i-Van is what we can consider as proudly Pinoy-made. It was conceptualized and designed by Pinoy engineers with local entrepreneurs and their needs in mind,” Juan explained.
“It also considered local driving conditions and terrain; thus, we can say that the i-Van can move more people and cargo easily and more economically anywhere in the country, whether in the urban communities or the rural areas,” he added.
To prepare for this venture, Centro president Raphael Juan said the company had upgraded its stamping facilities to increase its production capacity and give the company better control of the quality, cost and delivery (QCD) of the metal parts needed.
“We recently invested in two computerized numerical-controlled (CNC) press brake machines to beef up our existing stamping capacity,” Juan said.
According to Juan, Centro had purchased a 120-ton top-of-the-line Trumpf CNC press brake made in Austria to handle metal sheets up to 2.5 millimeters thick and over 10 feet long.
A second investment was made in another bending machine, a 110-ton Taiwan-made Jeng Jih NC press brake that could process metal sheets up to 2.5 mm thick and over 13 feet long.
“This will ensure that the various metal parts needed to assemble the
i-Van body are available when needed and probably making us the technical leader in truck body building technology,” Juan explained.
“Coupled with our existing ISO certification and TS 16949 certification we are working for, this will also enable us to produce world-class, export-quality truck bodies for the region,” he added.