Spotlight On: Beyonics Technology

Scale can be deceiving: $23 million in revenue from a 58-injection-machine operation serving the medical and automotive sector out of Singapore 
sounds like a fairly respectable 
processing operation.

But when you consider Beyonics Technology as a whole is a $1.1 billion electronic manufacturing services (EMS) giant ranked number 14 in the world, you realize that molding currently plays only a minor role in the company’s operations. The Singapore processing operation has, however, been earmarked for major growth.

Beyonics started life in 1981 as a manufacturer of aluminum base plates for hard disc drives and to this day it is one of the largest manufacturers of this component, with a 10%-15% global market share. After falling on tough times during the financial crisis of the late 1990s, new management headed by current CEO CP Goh was tasked to come up with a strategy for growth and profitability. With experience in the EMS sector, Goh saw the need to add more value by extending the company’s reach into assembly and other manufacturing services, including plastic injection molding.

“Most of Beyonics’ current molding capabilities were inherited through acquisitions in the early 2000s,” says Goh. Besides Singapore, key injection molding operations rolled into EMS facilities are found in Kulai, Malaysia, where it operates 52 machines and manufactures products such as satellite terminals, electronic white boards, and battery pack assemblies for notebook computers; Jakarta, Indonesia, where the printers’ subassembly is the main product and 73 injection machines are operated; and in Suzhou, China, where consumer electronics, computers, and appliance parts are molded using 61 machines, including glass insert-molded shelves for refrigerators.

“We are targeting 5% of overall revenue from Singapore, although the challenge in attaining this target is that our other businesses continue to grow,” says Goh (pictured above). “We’re seeing more manufacturing activity by Japanese multinational corporations heading from China back to Indonesia in search of lower costs, for example, which is supporting our business there,” he says.

One reason why the Singapore business revenue is low is that it is component-based, notes Goh. “In order to increase value, we have to follow the EMS model and carry out more assembly.”

The first examples of such success are starting to emerge, although Goh says that long-term commitment is needed to bring projects to fruition. “We sometimes need to assign two engineers full time for up to two years to get a medical device project commercial,” says Goh.

One success story is a surgery drill incorporating a sensor instrument for spinal surgery, and a second is an insulin pump. “The Singapore government has identified the biomedical sector as a priority one for the nation’s industrial base and we hope they continue to attract multinational investment,” says Goh. “Working with startups, however, brings risks because you can never be sure that a development will proceed to the production stage.”

Needless to say, medical molding and assembly are carried out under cleanroom conditions, but Beyonics also goes a step further with its automotive component molding, which is carried out under controlled temperature and humidity conditions with personnel garbed in cleanroom apparel. “This philosophy of cleanliness takes on added importance, considering that all staff are cross-trained to work in both medical and auto,” says Goh. “Automotive is also an area where we can leverage our expertise in deep-draw precision metal stamping and insert molding to produce parts such as sensors’ components,” he adds.

Beyonics is also benefiting from the global emphasis on increased security. Its Kulai facility manufactures surveillance cameras for a leading manufacturer. “The UK already has one of the world’s highest densities of surveillance cameras, and with the Olympics on the way in 2014, demand can only increase,” says Goh. Beyonics also aims to keep a close eye on the markets it serves as it targets growth in the coming decade.

Stephen Moore • [email protected]