Companies should look global to seize growth opportunities: Chan Chun Sing

COMPANIES should take a global perspective from the beginning and look beyond the domestic market to fuel growth, said Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing at a visit to Ascent Solutions on Monday.

"While they are serving markets across the world, the proprietary technology, the control of the IP (intellectual property) is in Singapore," he said, noting the importance of innovative technologies and a keen sense for opportunities.

Internet of Things (IOT) company Ascent Solutions provides tracking and tracing technology for cargo internationally, in countries as far as Ghana. When the company was formed, its founders - including chief executive Lim Chee Kean - recognised the opportunities that a larger market would bring. Its first customers were in Indonesia.

Traditionally, an escort may follow cargo from one point to another but this is labour intensive, said Mr Lim. Many fleet management companies locate vehicles only when in transit, he added.

"We go beyond fleet management, where we integrate sensors and IOT technology into the fleet itself," said he said. With these technologies, companies have data on the location of cargo, the number of pallets and rolling cages, and even the temperature of the items.

Now, the company is extending its capabilities to provide an end-to-end service, with plans to deploy its new bulk storage warehouse system - which cost over S$1 million to develop - in Singapore and Malaysia by the second quarter of this year.

Using software developed together with the Institute for Infocomm Research, the system uses cameras and computer vision to track interactions with cargo in a warehouse. It is able to detect unauthorised actions and tampering with cargo. With its technologies, Ascent Solutions believes that it can provide transparency and trust in trade financing, and appeal to those trading in both soft and hard commodities.

The company said that its bulk storage warehouse system can be deployed in warehouses of many sizes. A 3,000 sq m warehouse would require about 80 cameras to monitor, but costs would vary depending on the configuration of the warehouse. Pillars may block vision, and higher camera placements might increase visibility, for example.

While Ascent Solutions' revenue came mainly from overseas in the beginning, it has begun to see more growth locally as Covid-19 restricted its ability to venture abroad. It now carries out contact tracing, and equips local supermarkets to track and secure their cargo.

Ascent Solutions has also installed IOT devices in about 5,000 - or almost 20 per cent - of the lifts in Singapore's HDB blocks. This is for preventive maintenance, to be prepared for breakdowns. But in the future, this data can also be used to improve ride quality, for example by regulating the speed of the lift based on weight or by using information gathered to deploy robots to clean common corridors on certain floors, Mr Lim said.

"We have three fundamental principles: we want to do things that are innovative, we want to do things that are international, and we want to be very impactful."