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~Star Biz~ Saturday January 24, 2009 KEU eyes new markets
Executive director Jannis Tan says the company is expecting a minimum growth of 10%. She says demand for engineering services and products in Indonesia, to which it recently started shipping its products, and other developing countries is still encouraging, and the increasing sales would be able to offset the expected slight reduction in local projects in the vehicle sector. “This year, we will focus on clinching more projects from the aluminium manufacturing and oil and gas (O&G) sectors in these countries,” she tells StarBizWeek. The company, which used to get 90% of its business from the vehicle sector, expanded into aluminium and oil and gas sectors in mid-2007. KEU has reduced its total sales from the vehicle sector to 50% now. Tan says its diversification would help mitigate the impact of the projected drop in car sales this year. “Engineering solutions are needed in many other fields besides car manufacturing. And we realised the risk of putting all our eggs in one basket,” she says at the company’s headquarters in Rawang. As the total industry volume for the local vehicle industry is expected to fall 12.4% this year, Tan says the number of projects in the sector will be slightly reduced. In previous years, the company used to handle 30 to 40 projects a year. “But fewer new car launches and a slowdown in demand does not mean that manufacturers will stop producing cars. There is still business from the sector,” she points out. However, Tan says, a challenge for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is the lack of government support. “If SMEs are given more opportunity to get involved in government projects in various fields, it would certainly help boost the industry and the country’s economic growth,” she adds. KEU recently bid for some government projects. Founded in 1991 by Tan’s engineer husband Ang Kok Hua, who is the company’s chief executive officer, KEU started by operating from their home, providing engineering services to car manufacturers. Later, Ang rented a factory lot in Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, and took on five employees as it secured more projects. Today the group has 200 employees and five subsidiaries. KEU designs and provides engineering systems and solutions for industrial automation products, including industrial robotics system, electrical control panels, jigs and fixtures assembly, welding machines and press machines. Its customers include local and foreign car makers such as Proton, Perodua, Nissan and Honda. Besides its headquarters and factory in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang, the company also has offices and smaller factories in Port Klang, Subang Jaya, Kota Damansara and Cyberjaya. Tan’s son Janson, 25, has joined the company as corporate management director after completing his studies at Sunway University. According to Janson, KEU will always adopt the latest technology to ensure that it provides quality engineering systems and products to its customers. Last October, the company began exporting its newly developed products – environmental cooling system and energy-saving high-bay lamps or street lights – to Indonesia. “We are looking to tap more new markets this year. The Philippines and Vietnam are potential markets,” Janson says.
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ENGINEERING solutions provider KEU Control Engineering Sdn Bhd is optimistic of sustaining its growth momentum this year by penetrating new overseas markets.