Lipico Technologies

AT LIPICO Technologies, finger-pointing is a big nono.

If a mistake is discovered, no Lipico worker will say: "Sorry, but this is not my error. It was the other engineer who did it."

"If we make a mistake," says its general manager, Mr Wong Yew Choo, "the company and its staff take ownership of the problem and we put our heads together to solve it. We don't apportion blame."

But service lapses have been few and minor, and Lipico, a local SME (small and medium-sized enterprise), has grown in its 11 years of operations to become one of the world's leading engineering companies for the oils and fat refining industry. It designs, supplies and commissions a full range of processing plants and equipment for oil refineries around the world. These are the refineries which process palm and coconut oils as well as oils from peanuts, sunflowers, soya beans and canola (also known as rape seed).

Mr Wong, 54, who has a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Cranfield University, UK, says: "We consider ourselves a service industry. Complete customer satisfaction is vital to us and this means we must show them that we have absolute integrity, competence and reliability. We work towards realising all our customers' needs. And we always deliver what we promise.

"I constantly remind myself we are a small company facing strong competition in this niche industry and I put myself in a crisis frame of mind so that complacency will not creep in. If we make one major mistake, that will be the end of us.

"We have succeeded because we have a team of competent workers. Half our workforce of 34 in Singapore are engineers including a PhD holder who is into R&D. And all our staff, including the technicians, receive continuous training to upgrade their technical and customer-relations skills."

Knowing that a cohesive, dedicated team is what makes an organisation succeed, Mr Wong allows every worker a share in the company's profits, gives them very generous annual bonuses and takes the entire workforce for annual holidays abroad.

This year, Lipico has again clinched the No. 2 spot in the Enterprise 50 awards. It was also in second position last year.

Its range of services includes customised factory process design, consultancy, training for plant operators, troubleshooting any problem in the production process, plant upgrading, process automation, delivery of turnkey projects and providing the all-important after-sales service.

It has also established engineering and technical service centres in India, China and Malaysia, and has offices in Indonesia and other countries to better serve its customers since this region is where the major oils- and fats-producing and consuming countries are located.

Lipico has so far designed and delivered more than 140 new plants, undertaken 25 upgrading projects, and supplied countless components and spare parts to many parts of the world. The other major processing plants it has established include those which specialise in premium quality fats and which are located in South-east Asia, Japan and Europe.

Three of the world's largest factories which refine oils and fats for bulk exports use Lipico-designed and assembled plants. They are in the Netherlands, Malaysia and Indonesia. Most leading oils and fats manufacturers in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt, China, India, Germany and the Netherlands also use Lipico-designed plants.

Asked about his company's future plans, Mr Wong says: "We may go bigger in designing plants for the biodiesel industry. This is an eco-friendly engine combustion fuel and could be the big thing in energy consumption in the future. We already have such a plant in Indonesia and a second one is on the way there. We have also assigned a team of our engineers for this task."

And will he seek public listing for Lipico? He  answers: "Not for now. We have healthy cash reserves and do not need to raise funds even if we continue to expand globally."

Of the award, Mr Wong says: "We are honoured to be awarded again. The honour must go to the only asset Lipico has - its staff. This is a public recognition of their competence and dedication."

Is this article useful to you?