Riding on a wave of urbanisation

AFTER almost 60 years of growth, heavy equipment supplier Tat Hong Holdings is restructuring its business to capitalise on a new wave of infrastructure development expected to sweep across Asia in the coming years. With a fleet size of over 1,500 crawlers, mobile and tower cranes ranging in size from under 50 tonnes to 1,600 tonnes, Tat Hong is the largest crane company in the Asia-Pacific region and seventh worldwide in terms of tonnage.

Over the past four decades, it has expanded its footprint to include Australia, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. The company services customers in industries ranging from construction and engineering to infrastructure and energy. The sluggish global economy in recent years has given the company an opportunity to consolidate its business, shuffling assets across their different markets to maximise productivity.

"The business environment has changed in the past two to three years, especially with China slowing down and the impact on Australia's resources industry," explains Roland Ng, Tat Hong Holdings' managing director and group CEO who is also the eldest son of its founder, Mr Ng Chwee Cheng.