The Interview

The Interview: Lia Nicholson, Head of Sustainability, Terrascope, Singapore

Transforming the decarbonisation of business, What exactly do you do? As Terrascope’s Head of Sustainability, I build strategic partnerships with key stakeholders to drive corporate decarbonisation at scale. This involves collaborating with industry associations, government officials, regulators, enterprises and other organisations, to identify and unlock opportunities that will significantly reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C. In addition to building partnerships, I collaborate with our data, engineering, product and design teams to optimise the emissions data and insights that our software provides to clients. We help them define clear and actionable steps to transform their operations and supply chains, resulting in positive impacts on both their carbon footprint and bottom line. Prior to joining Terrascope, I was a climate negotiator in the United Nations and senior advisor to the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a bloc of 39 countries facing existential climate risks, and considered the moral voice for climate action. I also spent several years with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership in West Africa, where I trained staff in mayor’s offices across Abidjan, Accra, Dakar and Lagos to prepare city-level carbon inventories and develop Paris Agreement-aligned climate action plans. How are your efforts currently making a difference to climate conditions? At Terrascope, we are focused on accelerating “big” net zero journeys across critical sectors and geographies. We believe that collaborating with large companies and stakeholders in the real economy presents a unique (and largely untapped) opportunity to drive decarbonisation at scale. Combining our deep expertise in data science, machine learning and sustainability, we work closely with clients and partners to identify and unlock decarbonisation opportunities that may have been overlooked. We place special emphasis on accurately measuring and managing value chain emissions, known as Scope 3, which can make up to 90% of a company’s carbon […]

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The Interview: Lim Xin Lan, senior power engineer, CHINT Asia

International Woman’s Day/International Day of Women and Girls in Science is 11 February 2023 and to celebrate www.asiamanufacturingnewstoday.com and www.themirrorinspires.com interviewed Lim Xin Lan, senior power engineer CHINT, Asia. Why did you choose to become a power engineer? My love for numbers led me into Engineering. When I was pursuing my Honours in Electrical Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, I developed an interest in power engineering. In my twenties, I foresaw how I could empower the world as a power engineer. I wanted to make an impact to society at large by ensuring the safe transmission of reliable electricity – a fundamental human need. It has been about a decade since I graduated from school, and I have never once looked back at my decision. Till today, I’m still motivated by my role as I always find meaning in what I do. There can’t be many female power engineers? My undergraduate cohort consisted of about 100 students, and they were mostly male. While the number of female power engineers in the industry today is still outnumbered by men, gender should not be a qualifying factor for this profession. If anything, the small number of female engineers in the industry as a whole represents an opportunity for more women to break into this field. Power engineers, whether male or female, should be driven by a strong sense of intuition, and importantly, a passion to solve real world problems such as the electrification of underserved areas in the world, and to ensure the safety of the end users. What is it exactly that you do? In a nutshell, critical thinking is what I do on a daily basis. I recommend the right solutions to businesses and governments worldwide to ensure the safe transmission of reliable electricity, and at the […]

The Interview: Sojung Lee,TeamViewer, APAC President

How is your company finding current business conditions? As the industry progressively adjusts to post-pandemic life, we are optimistic that the rapid digitalisation of the past three years will continue to impact businesses and their need for remote connectivity solutions. During the pandemic, companies experienced the benefits of remote access to IT and OT devices, reducing travel and resulting in increased efficiency and cost reduction. On top of it, the Industrial Metaverse, facilitated by augmented- and mixed reality, has gained momentum. Already today, but even more in future, frontline workers will be supported by digital tools running on wearables such as smart glasses, to make their jobs smarter, easier, and increase their productivity. We are looking forward to continuously support our customers with our solutions for remote access, IT support and workplace digitalisation for frontline workers. Where do you see potential areas of growth? We see a lot of growth opportunities in the APAC region. Recently, we have opened regional headquarters in Singapore and Korea which emphasises our ambition in these markets. In Korea, for instance, we can report great developments. We are partnering up with Hyundai Motor Company and will provide them with our industry-leading enterprise augmented reality platform and artificial intelligence capabilities. We will help Hyundai Motor to develop an intelligent manufacturing platform and enhance productivity, accuracy and worker safety in a smart factory. How is 2023 shaping up for your company? We are certain that our solutions are highly relevant for customers as they help them to manage remote operations securely, increase efficiency and sustainability as well as overcome labour shortage. Especially in APAC, we see an acceleration of our business and we are positive that this will continue in 2023. Areas for development? In 2023, we will continue our journey to become a more enterprise-focused software […]

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The Interview: Koo Zao Cheong, Regional Business Development Manager, Waterco Malaysia

Water is becoming a rarefied commodity in parts of Africa, how do you see this in Asia? Clean water is a human necessity – without it, all living beings will not be able to flourish. Asia is blessed with abundant water resources, with 47 per cent of the global average of freshwater per person as of 2012. However, issues of water stress and security have risen in recent years due to rapid population growth, urbanisation, increasing water needs from various sectors, and climate change, which is now happening in all parts of the world. Climate change is already an ongoing phenomenon – its negative impact towards the world is now evident such as the worsening of water quality, which will lead to a challenge where access to clean water will be reduced. As such, the right question to ask is how big the impact will be on Asia and the whole world. As a business tool, water needs to be used efficiently. How are you doing this? At Waterco, we understand that clean and safe water as well as efficient usage of it are crucial matters to be considered for most industries. Waterco provides products on water treatment system solutions through filtration technologies to ensure water is safe for its intended use and where possible, water is re-circulated. These can be seen in industries such as aquaculture, agriculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, desalination, industrial water treatments, car-wash stations, lifestyle and commercial swimming pools, spas, recreation parks, fountains, ponds in zoos and more where water is used & reused. Products such as MultiCyclone, filters with “Fish Tail” laterals helps user conserve water. Additionally, our factory is equipped with a rainwater harvesting system where rainwater is collected and kept in storage tanks. The collected rainwater is filtered by our filtration equipment before being used […]

The Interview: Dr. Nelson Cheng,President & CEO,Magna Group

How are you finding current business conditions? Despite ongoing developments around the world such as the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, I remain optimistic towards the current business outlook with opportunities to be tapped on, especially in the chemicals and manufacturing industry. My optimism can be attributed to three questions which I sought to answer when I first started my business some 30 years ago. The questions are: What are the inherent problems of each industry that will remain unsolved over the next decade or two? Which products are recession-proof and why? Who will be my customers, and why will they buy my products? My answers to the above are to continue to develop and provide innovative solutions applicable across a range of industries that see consistent demand regardless of external factors. I concluded that three issues will remain unsolved for a long period of time – namely diseases, corrosion, and friction. Diseases Viruses and bacteria will keep mutating due to the abuse of antibiotics, leading to many new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as MRSA. Antibiotic abuse also lowers our body’s immunity, leaving our bodies susceptible and easily infected with viruses. To combat this, Magna Group has developed disinfectants and sanitisers with high efficacy of up to 99.999%. We experienced skyrocketing sales volumes because of COVID-19. Corrosion According to the fundamentals of material science, all metals corrode regardless of whether they are ferrous or non-ferrous. Based on this knowledge, we have developed a wide range of corrosion inhibitors including anti corrosion packaging, VCI emitters and anti- corrosion coatings. To protect capital intensive assets onshore as well as offshore, we developed the corrosion inhibitors and created an asset enhancement management program. Again, we are experiencing good sales volumes even with the fluctuation of oil prices and clients have engaged us […]

The Interview: FARO

Spokesperson: CHEW Beow Kwan, Product Marketing Associate Manager, Asia Pacific, FARO Technologies. Please tell us what BuildIT Construction is all about? The BuildIT Construction software leverages on FARO’s cutting-edge 3D metrology capability. FARO is to first to offer this fully integrated building lifecycle Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) management tool empowering construction professionals to continuously evaluate projects with real time comparisons against CAD designs using 3D scan data. The software from FARO uniquely enables laser scanner users to perform immediate, real-time build and verify analysis throughout the entire project, and facilitates a new level of cost management and operational efficiency. BuildIT Construction can be fully integrated with 3D data collected from FARO Focus Laser Scanners, optimised for the FARO TracerM Laser Projector for placement and layout of structural components and is compatible with the FARO Laser Tracker for prefabricated modular positioning. It can also be used seamlessly with other third-party hardware. Where do you see this software being used most? Application areas that will benefit most from the BuildIT Construction software include Architecture, Civil Engineering/Surveying, Construction, Facility Management, Historical Preservation, and Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP). AEC professionals will find the software useful for: ⁃ Verifying accuracy of scan data to design models ⁃ Detecting incorrect placement or missing features such as walls, columns, beams, pipes, etc. ⁃ Performing important measurements accurately and quickly ⁃ Inspecting construction for adherence to building standards ⁃ Verifying shifts and movements within structural performance over time with 4D analysis ⁃ Performing real time monitoring of adjacent structures throughout the project lifecycle Is there a lot of construction underway across ASEAN? Prospects for construction in the ASEAN region is generally bright. According to the Global Construction 2030 Report , the ASEAN construction market is expected to exceed US$1 trillion by 2030, with growth […]

Predictive maintenance: spend a little to save a lot

Paolo Carnovale, Head of Industrial Product Marketing, RS Components Spending money to save money doesn’t come easy to some. But in the case of predictive and preventative maintenance regimes – especially for high-capital assets – a relatively modest spend could potentially offset repair or lost-production costs that run into millions. The problem with maintenance spend is that it is very hard to quantify its benefits if nothing actually goes wrong – accountants tend to like tangible figures as opposed to those generated by “what-if” scenarios. Couple this to budget competition from other disciplines and the job of justifying the expenditure becomes even harder. As it is tough to define an “opportunity cost/loss” in terms of maintenance statistically, it is far easier to look at the issues simplistically by determining, for example, the cost of maintenance vs. the cost of repair/replacement and the expected life of a machine or asset vs. its extended service life. In all cases, the cost of lost production, goodwill and customer confidence must also be factored in to this equation. Even with these simple analyses, the need to have maintenance as a strategic element of an operational plan, becomes very clear, but what is the next logical step? For those with complex operations, the obvious route is the deployment of a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS), which will help remove much of the guesswork and workload by defining a strategy and timetable as well as the actual work to be undertaken on individual machines and assets. More often than not, this type of proactive approach is combined with technological solutions that offer a real-time snapshot of machine health. These solutions range from simple temperature sensors and vibration probes all the way up to bespoke, fully featured condition monitoring (CMS) software solutions. How they are selected, […]

The Interview: KC Yee, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Siemens PLM.

KC Yee discusses the Asian manufacturing industry and the need for simulation-driven design in today’s manufacturing world to increase efficiency, productivity and profitability. How do you see the future of manufacturing industries globally? And what is Siemens PLM’s role for the future growth for the manufacturing industry? We’re beginning to see the convergence of manufacturing and information technology, also known as the ‘Internet of Things.’ With more ‘smart’ machinery now connected to the internet and capable of capturing real-time data, product complexity is becoming a big issue, and many traditional manufacturing companies just aren’t equipped with the kind of in-depth IT infrastructure on the product design side. The important thing to realise here is that the manufacturers need to effectively become IT companies in order to capture, control and profit from the data generated by this new generation of smart industrial technology. By controlling and owning that data, it opens up a whole new platform of business. So we believe manufacturers will begin to dramatically build out that infrastructure – most likely through strategic partnerships – and the product lifecycle management (PLM) process itself must now expand to enable and incorporate these new capabilities. Manufacturers must find a way to quickly and efficiently build these vastly more technologically complex products and then leverage that data to drive intelligent business decisions in real-time. Having the ability to capture and analyze real-time data will allow manufacturers to minimise the mistakes that can cost valuable time and resources, but first they must find new ways to incorporate and enable new project stakeholders by providing easier access to product information on an intuitive, user-friendly platform. We see PLM solutions evolving in three major ways, all having to do with enablement. Firstly, through intelligently integrated information – how information is organized to extract value from […]

Optimism high in 2014

Last year, Forbes listed Rockwell Automation as one of the world’s top 100 most innovative companies. The Interview: John Watts, Director -Integrated Architecture Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation SEA Pte Ltd. What have been some of the significant milestones for Rockwell Automation recently? As we look back on 2013, Rockwell Automation continued to see more stability in our local markets and the global economy. We planned for the second half of the year to be stronger in Asia and that is exactly how we performed. How do you see 2014 for Rockwell Automation? Many of the key indicators we track point towards greater year-over-year growth in 2014. Our growth in the last six months, combined with favourable indicators in the developing markets, creates a very good base for optimism in 2014. How is Asia performing vis-a-vis the rest of the company? Over the last five years we have had good growth in Asia. It has been exciting for the company to witness overall strong performance in all regions over the last few years, despite some of the challenges the global economy has presented. Where do you see manufacturing growth across Asia coming from? The industries that we have seen -and expect to see -good growth include Oil & Gas and Mining. In addition, we expect, and are beginning to see, higher growth from the Consumer Packaged Goods industry as emerging markets look to fuel more domestic growth. Which export markets are you moving into? Rockwell Automation has enjoyed significant growth over the last 10 years. We now have offices in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Singapore, which serves as our South East Asia Headquarters. Our Integrated Architecture, Intelligent Motor Control, Solutions and Services – combined with our acquisitions throughout the year -provided significant growth in the […]

The Interview: Soo Kam Tatt, Director, Hypertherm Asia

What were some of the significant milestones of Hypertherm in the past year? At the start of the year, Hypertherm acquired AccuStream, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of water jet cutting products. With this acquisition, we have expanded the range and type of cutting systems available, further solidifying Hypertherm’s position as a multi-cutting technological company. The waterjet application will enable Hypertherm’s cutting solutions to extend to other materials beyond metals, which is a first for us. At the 200-amp range of conventional plasma cutting, we introduced the MaxPro200 in replacement of the Max200 workhorse that has served the industry and us well over the last 20+ years. The MaxPro200 outperforms the Max 200 in terms of cut quality, speed and consumable life with enhanced reliability. Since the launch, this system has received positive reception from our end-users once again. Recently, we launched the Powermax125, a 125-amp air plasma system with 100% duty cycle. Having an air plasma system with a new and enhanced amperage level is an achievement for Hypertherm, enabling the cutting performance of Hypertherm PMX air plasma system to reach new heights in terms of metal thickness for both hand-held and mechanised cutting. With Fiber Laser cutting, we have added a 3kW HyIntensity¨ HFL030 laser unit to the product range. The addition of this system will broaden the range of HyperthermÕs fiber laser system offerings and offer more diverse cutting solutions to the end-users. How do you see 2014 for Hypertherm? 2014 will continue to be a challenging year for Hypertherm, however, there is some optimism of a potential recovery in the US economy and this will be a plus for all. In the Asian environment, the developments and the continued progress in the China recovery, while not at the same pace as before, will be an added boost to […]

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The Interview