BY KWEK LI EN LYNN, NGUYEN BAO THU, NUR KHAIRAH BTE ABDUL RAHIM and VO HOANG DUNG

'EITHER I will find a way, or I will make one.' This seems to be the motto of Wong Chung Kang, founder and current managing director of S&W Engineering Pte Ltd.

Started in 1990, S&W Engineering was established as a partnership between Mr Wong and a friend. The company specialises in the provision of engineering services primarily in the shipyard industry. However, his friend decided to pull out during the initial years of operations, leaving Mr Wong to lead this young venture alone.

In 1994, to differentiate S&W Engineering from competitors, S&W Heat Exchangers (S) Pte Ltd was formed through a joint venture with a British company. This subsidiary of S&W Engineering was meant to focus on the design and manufacturing aspects of the heat transfer equipment market.

However, due to differing management practices, the partnership again did not work out. Despite these setbacks, Mr Wong displayed resilience and never lost hope in the future of his companies.

Eventually, S&W Heat Exchangers won over clients with its sincerity and tenacity, as well as excellent technical capabilities as an ISO 9001 company coupled with accreditation with the ASME U, U2, S & R stamp, DNV, Lloyds, ML (China) and NK class. S&W Heat Exchangers continued to grow and today, it constitutes more than 95 per cent of S&W Engineering's total business, mainly from servicing the oil & gas, petrochemical, power plants, chemical and other related industries. It has an order book value of more than $50 million in 2008, representing almost a 70 per cent increase from 2007.

Encouraged by the success, the company is aiming to double its sales revenue to $100 million within the next five years. Plans to expand manufacturing facilities in overseas markets are already underway. In addition to the existing plants located in Singapore and China, S&W seeks to increase production capabilities by sourcing for larger sites in China, and by setting up a manufacturing plant in Brazil.

The opportunity in Brazil came when a client invited S&W to work on a project based there. While seeing the need to collaborate with Brazilian partners in order to leverage on the latter's strengths and familiarity with the local market, S&W is also cautious about collaborations, having experienced failures with earlier partners.

The group emphasises that both time and effort are needed to ascertain if a particular company is an appropriate partner for S&W. Experience from past collaborations has taught it to look for partners who are not only technically competent but also share similar corporate values and directions.

Expansion

Currently, S&W exports 80 per cent of its products to Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Russia, and is an approved exporter under the Major Exporter Scheme administered by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

Mr Wong and his team continually seek to expand S&W's product lines. Exemplifying this fact is the provision of finned tubes and finning machines, a capability that not many companies in this region have. Finned tubes enhance heat transfer efficiency and provide a considerable degree of corrosion protection. Mr Wong also has in mind plans to set up another subsidiary to concentrate on skid packages, which are used for gas compression.

These would significantly enhance S&W's already extensive range of products and services, which includes shell & tube exchangers, air-cooled heat exchangers, finned tubes, finning machines, pressure vessels and charged air coolers. A wide product range also represents a first step towards S&W's vision of becoming a total solution provider in the oil & gas industry.

There are risks involved when a company over diversifies, but S&W ensures that it has ample resources, capabilities and competencies before starting a new division.

Supported by its 210-strong staff, S&W is committed to establishing long-term relationships with its valued clients. It has started providing process guarantees and mechanical and thermal analysis on heat exchangers. Not only do these value-added services assure clients of the products' conformity to stringent requirements, they also ensure a high level of product performance in the years to come. Today, the company counts Petronas, Pertamina, Shell Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Single Buoy Moorings as key customers.

The writers are students of NUS Business School

This article was first published in The Business Times.