According to PT SEI president director Lukito Wanandi, the company’s LED lamps are equipped with SLS devices that can be controlled and monitored through a smartphone application.

“The SLS application can be easily downloaded via Android [Play Store] or iOS [Apple Store], so even if users are not at home, they can still turn on and off every lamp in their house through their smartphone,” he said after the soft opening of the factory on Thursday.

Production director Sandy Hartono said on the same occasion that each lamp produced by the factory would be equipped with a barcode registered at PT SEI’s data bank so that after consumers bought the lamps, they could independently activate the barcodes through their respective mobile applications.

“After the barcode is activated, the complete data of the lamps will be accessible. The owners can monitor the lamps, their history and current condition,” he said.

Sandy said that in addition to helping meet domestic demand for both houses and street lamps, the factory would reduce the country’s dependence on imports of similar products produced in China.

The company currently has 150 employees and its factory, which cost US$10 million to construct, has the capacity to produce up to 150,000 LED light bulbs per month and 30,000 LED street lamps per year.

“We use 70 percent local components in our lamps. We hope regulators can provide more space for local products to be marketed in the domestic market,” said PT SEI marketing and operational director Ricky Sudito Pontoh, adding that the company was targeting to export 10 percent of its products to Southeast Asian countries.

He said that the factory was currently in the process of fulfilling orders of SLS - equipped lamps, valued at Rp 110 billion ($7.8 million), from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The company plans to market the products to the public next year.

Luki added that he hoped PT SEI’s factory would benefit the Indonesian people, especially those living in Eastern Indonesia who did not have sufficient access to lighting.

In addition, he said, PT SEI planned to produce its own solar power panels for the purpose of charging its street lamps. At the moment, he added, PT SEI was seeking to join hands with the Timor Leste government in constructing a solar power plant.

However, Sandy said, as a new local producer, the factory still faced several obstacles, such as a lack of supporting upstream industries such as producers of integrated circuit (IC), a vital component of the smart system.

“Indonesia does not have manufacturers specializing in IC production that can help us establish the system. We are still relying on IC products imported from Taiwan, the United States and China,” he said. (syk)

Popular

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Palm oil plantation-less mills lead to increase deforestation

Prabowo inaugurates construction of Majapahit palace replica