I

ndonesia has for years been one of Gunnebo Security Group's main production bases for deposit and cash safes sold worldwide.

Produced by Gunnebo's Indonesia unit PT Chubb Safes Indonesia, the safes are shipped to 50 countries with internationally recognized certifications.

Hindra Kurniawan, country manager of Gunnebo Indonesia, said that the safe factory located in Cibitung, near Jakarta, produced about 33,000 safes a year, most of which are exported. Only about 35 percent of its total production is sold in the local market, while 33 percent is exported to Europe, 14 percent to other Asian countries, 9 percent to the Middle East, 5 percent to Oceania and the remaining 4 percent to Africa, he said.

The Cibitung factory also produces 50,000 fire extinguishers annually. Other Gunnebo factories are located in France, the Netherlands, South Africa, Germany and India.

Safes from the Cibitung plant are exported to Europe under three main brands: Chubbsafes, Rosengrens and Fichet-Bauche, all of which have internationally recognized certifications.

Gunnebo Indonesia's success in penetrating markets, especially in Europe, is due to its ability to comply with international standards. Without certifications, it would be impossible for the company to export its products.

The certification is an important part of the business strategy carried out by the business group's worldwide production facilities. The company's safe factory in Bazancourt, France, which produces security cabinets, safes, transfer safes, vault doors and fire-resistant cabinets, is the only plant in the group capable of in-plant testing for incidents such as manual attacks, fire resistance, material testing and endurance testing in the same conditions as those of the official certification laboratories.

Pieter D. de Vlaam, the group's certification manager, said that the operation of the in-plant testing facility reflected Gunnebo's strong commitment to comply with all the certification requirements.

He said that all new products should be tested to ensure they met the security and endurance requirements set by international certification standards such as the European Norm (EN). Only products that have passed the certification are allowed to be distributed in the market.

'In the Bazancourt plant, even those which have already obtained a certification will be tested randomly every three years,' he said during a recent visit by The Jakarta Post to the plant.

During the visit, De Vlaam and his team demonstrated how fire endurance and burglary tests were conducted in the laboratory facility.

In the fire test, a safe was first put in a furnace and heated to a temperature of around 1,000 degrees Celsius for an hour. After that, the safe underwent an impact test, when it was raised by a crane to a height of nine meters and then dropped. The safe was then put back in the furnace.

De Vlaam said that the safe passed the test if the contents within remained unharmed.

Plant manager Balthazar Nicolas said that in addition to complying with strict certification requirements, the Bazancourt plant was also following changing customer tastes. Unlike in the past, when most safes were painted grey, nowadays safes are painted different colors and built in more stylish shapes. 'Some people hide their wealth and some others want to show off,' he added.

Pascala Seghiri, marketing product manager of Gunnebo France said that safes and other secure storage products made by the Bazancourt plant were distributed not only in France but also in other European countries.

In addition to banks and big companies, the safes are also sold to small retailers and individual customers, she added.

She said that the company also provides security solutions to financial and non-financial institutions including local post office La Poste.

' JP/Hendarsyah Tarmizi