SIEMPELKAMP in the ASEAN countries
Present partner in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
SIEMPELKAMP has been active in Southeast Asia since establishing its Singapore presence in 1979. Today, SIEMPELKAMP Pte. Ltd. supports wood-based material producers across the ASEAN region with new plants, spare parts, and services, with around 45 plants sold. Henning Gloede, based in Singapore since 1992, shares the success stories developed with customers in the region.
By the late 1970s, SIEMPELKAMP’s success story had begun with the first completed Southeast Asian business deals in the Philippines and Thailand. It was therefore clear that SIEMPELKAMP’s presence in this part of the world had to be strengthened. In April 1979, “Germapore Machine Manufacturer Private Limited” was founded in Singapore – a company in which SIEMPELKAMP held a 50% stake.
When the economy in Asia boomed in the 1980s, demand for panel products, particularly in the furniture industry, grew at a rapid pace – and, correspondingly, demand for SIEMPELKAMP press concepts. Four more contracts in five years were the result. It was therefore only logical that SIEMPELKAMP took over Germapore completely in 1982 and from that point on conducted its own business in Asia. In 1989, SIEMPELKAMP Pte. Ltd. Singapore was founded under the name known today. The business area covers all ASEAN countries, with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The focus was on meeting the rapidly growing demand for wood-based panels in Asia with new SIEMPELKAMP production plants. With the world’s largest wood reserves from natural forests and rubberwood from equatorial plantations, the potential in this region was enormous. “These ‘new’ species led to pioneering developments at SIEMPELKAMP and thus to the groundbreaking first use of the rubber tree for the production of MDF, which set new standards in the industry,” reports Henning Gloede, Managing Director of SIEMPELKAMP Pte. Ltd. Singapore. The intensive development work and the experience gained from the first plants using this new wood species secured SIEMPELKAMP a place in the front row of the wood-based panel industry in Southeast Asia. To date, SIEMPELKAMP has sold 45 plants there.
Present and vision
With an installed machine base that has now grown to 45 plants, the timely supply of our customers with spare and wear parts as well as the associated services is becoming increasingly important. “In doing so, we focus on reducing delivery times and costs. We are continuously expanding our customer services by transferring our knowledge to a larger team of local engineers who are familiar with the local conditions and mentality in Southeast Asia,” says Henning Gloede.
This expertise is pooled in the SIEMPELKAMP Singapore branch established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2007. This step opened up the opportunity to make use of the qualified workforce in this country and to lay the foundation for the next step in SIEMPELKAMP’s Southeast Asian activities. The establishment of local installation and commissioning teams is driving SIEMPELKAMP customer service and market leadership further forward.
Today, five dedicated employees at SIEMPELKAMP Pte. Ltd. Singapore and at the branch in Kuala Lumpur are responsible for the sales and procurement of new plants, spare parts, and services for existing SIEMPELKAMP plants as well as presses from Metso/ Küsters. Another 25 employees work as service, installation, and commissioning engineers at the branch in Kuala Lumpur.
“Just as we have evolved as a supplier over the years, our customers have also developed and grown. Their expectations of us as a complete supplier have increased. Their markets have expanded from local markets to ASEAN-wide and ultimately global markets. They place ever higher demands on the reliability and efficiency of the machines they order. These market forces are a constant driving force for us, pushing our innovations forward and resulting in ever more efficient and technically sophisticated production plants for the wood-based panel industry,” summarizes Henning Gloede.
Challenges – the new generation
Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam have developed into major suppliers of wood-based panels. The plants are state-of-the-art and are operated by younger employees. Our experience shows that our customers and their employees are also undergoing a generational change. This goes hand in hand with the need for new skills to handle the ever-increasing degree of automation of our production plants.
Mechanics and electricians remain important for the operation and maintenance of wood-based panel plants; however, a new generation of more highly qualified mechatronics and electronics specialists is increasingly taking over plant operation. This not only requires a higher local standard of education in schools and universities, but also better training for our customers’ operating personnel in the new automation standards of our machines. This training normally takes place during the installation and commissioning phase of SIEMPELKAMP machine deliveries. It must be constantly refreshed and brought up to date in the following years. SIEMPELKAMP provides these services through on-the-job training during installation, but also at the SIEMPELKAMP Academy in Germany. “Both options are available according to our customers’ wishes and needs,” reports Henning Gloede.
