And while more and more multinational corporations – from IBM to Procter & Gamble, Nikon and Rolls-Royce – have been setting up their research and development operations and other activities in Singapore recently, home-grown industry leaders such as precision parts and product manufacturing specialist Beyonics are taking the lead in using innovation as a growth strategy.

“Singapore may be a relatively tiny economy with a small population, limited domestic market and even more limited natural resources, but it packs a punch as an increasingly formidable country of intellectual capital,” says Beyonics CEO Scott Smith. “We are going to continue to lead from the front – and with Singapore’s vision by outpacing other companies, and other opportunities in the industry – working hand-in-glove with the government.”

With core expertise in precision-engineered components, turnkey electronics subassembly and complete product manufacturing, Beyonics has become a strategic partner of global industry leaders in diverse fields, particularly automotive, medical, industrial and consumer. In addition to plastic injection moulding, aluminium die-casting, precision machining, printed circuit board assembly and deep-drawn metal stamping, it provides an integrated range of design, production, engineering and fulfilment solutions.

The RIE 2020 focuses on four technological domains: advanced manufacturing and engineering, health and biomedical sciences, services and digital economy and urban solutions and sustainability. This brings Beyonics’ expertise to the fore, stimulating partnerships with agencies including the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), which leads the government’s initiatives towards developing the country as a global business centre through sustainable economic growth.

“EDB’s focus is engineering and ours is precision engineering. We fit very well with the overall objective and vision of Singapore, which we believe continues to excel as the precision engineering hub of Southeast Asia,” Smith says. “Much like the government, Beyonics is investing heavily in automation, talent and new facilities.”

Delivering high-value, customised solutions

There is little room for error when serving the world’s tier 1 automotive parts manufacturers. Beyonics serves most of these manufacturers, providing precision-engineered components and aluminium die cast, metal stamped and plastic parts.

With ISO/TS 16949 certification and ultrasonic cleaning to VDA 19 standards, the company ensures that each automotive part such as steering wheel, sensor, power window and engine control unit housing undergoes complete traceability and robust quality control systems including optimum burr control and good porosity control as demanded by top carmakers.

“This level of efficiency allows Beyonics to produce more than 5 million engine control unit housings, more than 1 million complete assemblies and more than 15 million other components every year,” Smith says.

Beyonics responds with similar efficiency to the industrial sector, which demands full turnkey electronics manufacturing services (EMS). ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001-certified, the company offers value engineering, prototyping and test development, and full box build assembly and fulfilment.

“Apart from flexible production systems, Beyonics ensures full traceability from component level to full product, and highly responsive supply chain management,” Smith says. “This makes it an ideal partner for manufacturing industrial products for oil and gas, climatic control and automation.”

As a testament to Beyonics’ stringent quality and safety standards, the company has also become an esteemed partner to globally renowned medical brands. Beyonics supplies precision parts and high-value solutions including clean room plastic injection moulding, in vitro diagnostic (IVD) capabilities and medical device manufacturing.

Leveraging automated processes to maintain strict control and cost management, Beyonics fulfils FDA CFR 821 medical device tracking regulation requirements for Class II and Class III medical devices. In addition to ISO 13485 and JIQ S 13485 certifications, it is also certified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and meets CE requirements, guaranteeing full traceability and stringent safety and quality control.

Such impeccability yields defect-free complex surgical devices, hearing aids and blood glucose infusion meters. Every year, Beyonics’ efficient processes also produces more than 10 million precision plastic syringes, 1 million hearing aid components, 2 million specimen collection containers and 70 million contact lens container components.

History steeped in technology; greater challenges bring new blood

Founded in 1981 as Uraco Precision Engineering, Beyonics grew organically and through several mergers and acquisitions which quickly established not only the company’s expertise but also its reputation as a trusted, highly strategic manufacturing partner to some of the world’s biggest industry leaders.

By 2001, the company already delivered high-volume, high-precision services to prominent clients including data storage specialist Seagate. The following year, Beyonics set up operations in Thailand and acquired Pacific Plastics Holdings with two China operations. It then opened a fully integrated EMS campus in Malaysia in 2005.

Within two years, Beyonics had replicated its EMS campus in Suzhou and Changshu in China and Batam in Indonesia. Through a partnership with Express Manufacturing in 2009, it has also expanded to serve various industrial market segments in the United States and China. It also opened another manufacturing facility in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

In 2015, Beyonics integrated a manufacturing campus in iPark, Johor Bahru, which comprises aluminium die casting, precision machining and electronics manufacturing. Covering 288,308 sq ft, this S$14 million investment provides Beyonics’ customers a one-stop solution. Its new location allows future expansion due to additional adjacent space. In the same year, Beyonics invested another S$11 million in the expansion of its campus in Changshu, China.

Among Beyonics’ biggest milestones to date is its merger with fellow home-grown precision parts and manufacturing expert Chosen Holdings last year. This combined expertise in precision manufacturing, mould design and tool making, automation process, plastic injection and insert moulding reinforces Beyonics’ position as an Asian-based precision-engineering leader that serves blue-chip multinational clients.

Faced with such a remarkable challenge, Beyonics has brought new blood to invigorate its growing and increasingly globalised team. Among the first to step up to the plate is Smith, who joined the company in July last year.

“One of the things that I have been doing since then is topgrading the team,” Smith says. “We searched all over and brought in some new blood who come from different industries and have different ideas.”

Smith reveals that the key is to challenge the conventional wisdom by making sure that Beyonics encourages “cross-pollination” by bringing other resources in to challenge the company’s own questions and capabilities. To help enrich its talent pool, Beyonics also works closely with universities across Singapore and takes in budding engineers for internships on an annual basis.

“I think we have a more diverse team today that can bring some pretty special things to the market,” Smith says. “One of our missions is to grow the business with rock-solid engineers right here in Singapore. This is the opportunity for us to lead from the front, to demonstrate to the government that we are similarly growing and investing with the optimism that we will reap some of the benefits of its assistance in attracting new companies coming into Singapore. Our partnerships – with other organisations and the government in particular – hopefully will help us pursue more win-win opportunities.”

Partner of choice in the new axis of manufacturing growth

In pursuit of win-win opportunities, Beyonics is growing its frontline sales and business development teams in relevant regions. In the medical and automotive segments, for example, the company is investing in bigger teams to serve Europe, North America and China, where its customers are also concentrated.

Such a tailored strategy allows concurrent engagement across Beyonics’ business segments, while its integrated approach of its diversified capabilities ensures that it casts a wider net in the market.

“Beyond innovation and intense engineering, we are a partner of choice due to our strong emphasis on the core criteria such as competitive capabilities, good quality and strong commercial alignment with our customers,” Smith says. “This is complemented by an optimised footprint, a vertically integrated approach and the right people to grow the company.”

These strengths allow the company to grow organically and bolt on potential acquisitions. It is likewise constantly exploring acquisitions that enable it to gain accretive benefits not just financially, but in areas that will allow it to scale faster.

For instance, Beyonics is exploring more metal-related businesses as these will complement the company’s die casting and moulding expertise to effectively provide strong manufacturing solutions during the design phase of its customers’ products.

The company sees itself growing alongside Southeast Asia’s rise as a global manufacturing hub. This comes especially as many precision engineering companies in the region have already evolved and undergone a consolidation phase, which created an unbalanced demand and supply situation over the past five years.

“With demand for services from companies such as Beyonics being greater than supply, it becomes a natural impetus for our future growth,” Smith says. “Southeast Asia is set to become the new axis of manufacturing growth, and we envisage our strong presence in the region will help us – together with our partners and customers – to turn this opportunity into our next successful milestone.”