The German partner with presence in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

With the first sales concluded in the Philippines and Thailand in the late 1970s, Siempelkamp’s success story in Southeast Asia began. It thus became clear that the presence of Siempelkamp in this part of the world had to be intensified. ‘Germapore Machine Manufacturer Private Limited’ was founded in Singapore in April of 1979. Siempelkamp held a 50 % interest in this company.

When in the 1980s the economy in Asia boomed, the demand for board products, especially in the furniture industry, grew very fast. With it the demand for Siempelkamp press concepts also increased. This resulted in 4 contracts within 5 consecutive years. It was only logical that Siempelkamp took over Germapore in 1982 and was now running its own operation in Asia. In 1989 Siempelkamp Pte. Ltd. Singapore was founded, a name the company still uses today. The area of operation comprises all of the ASEAN countries with an emphasis on Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The focus was set on supplying Asia with new Siempelkamp production lines to meet the region’s fast-growing demand for wood-based panels. With the world’s largest wood resources, both from natural forests as well as rubberwood from plantations around the Equator, the potential in this area was enormous. “This ‘new’ wood species led to a breakthrough development at Siempelkamp and hence to the groundbreaking first use of rubberwood for the production of MDF. This development set new standards in the industry,” says Henning Gloede, Managing Director Siempelkamp Pte. Ltd. Singapore. The intense research and development work and the experiences gained from the first lines running with this new raw material, secured Siempelkamp’s front row seat in the board industry in Southeast Asia. Siempelkamp has sold 45 lines in this region to date.

Present and future

With a significant installed base of machines, that is currently part of 45 lines, the timely supply of our customers with spare and wear parts as well as related services is becoming increasingly more important. “Here, we have been concentrating on reducing delivery times and costs. We have expanded our after-sales services by transferring our knowledge to a larger team of local engineers who are familiar with the local conditions and mentality in Southeast Asia,” reports Henning Gloede.

This competence was bundled in a new branch office of Siempelkamp Singapore in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2007. This step opened up the possibility to use the skilled workforce of this country and to set up the foundation for the next move of Siempelkamp’s activities in Southeast Asia. The set-up of local installation and start-up teams is further advancing Siempelkamp’s customer service and market leadership.

Today Siempelkamp Pte. Ltd. Singapore and the Siempelkamp branch office in Kuala Lumpur employ five committed people for the sales and acquisition of new Siempelkamp lines, spare parts sales, and service support of existing Siempelkamp lines as well as presses made by Metso/Küsters. An additional 25 employees work as service, installation, and startup engineers at the branch office in Kuala Lumpur.

“The same way we as a supplier have evolved over the years, also our customers have evolved and grown in size. Their demands on us as a complete supplier have grown. Their markets have grown from local country-based markets to regional markets, including all ASEANcountries, to global markets. They place increasingly higher demands on the reliability and efficiency of the machines we supply. This market force is the constant motor for us at Siempelkamp that drives our innovations forward and produces increasingly higher efficient and technically sophisticated production plants for the wood-based materials industry,” summarizes Henning Gloede.

Challenges – a new generation

Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam have developed into the regions key suppliers of woodbased panels. The lines are state-of-the-art and are now run by a younger generation of employees. Our experience shows that also our customers and their employees are facing a generational change. This trend is accompanied

The general mechanics and electricians are still essential for the operation and maintenance of wood-based panel lines; however, a new generation of higher skilled electronic and mechatronic specialists is increasingly taking over the actual operations of the lines. This requires not only higher educational standards in local schools and universities, but also better training for the operators of our customers on the automation standards of our machines. This training is usually provided during the design, installation, and startup phases of our equipment, but also needs to be constantly refreshed and updated during the following years. Siempelkamp is providing these services both by on the job training during the installation as well as through class room training at our Siempelkamp Academy in Germany. “Both options are available if desired and requested by our customers,” says Henning Gloede.

“In a constantly evolving world and market, our mission is never completed and needs constant adaptations to such new market environments.”

HENNING GLOEDE, MANAGING DIRECTOR SIEMPELKAMP SINGAPORE

Siempelkamp's technological concept for Singapur and Kuala Lumpur