Driven by innovation to success

FOUNDED in 2002 with only 2 employees, Omni-Plus System Limited now has manufacturing plants in South-east Asia, nearly 200 employees, and has become the first Singapore company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Prior to its Tokyo listing in June 2021, the company, then known as Omni-Plus System Pte Ltd, had emerged a winner in the Enterprise 50 Awards 2020 and clinched the "Special Recognition - Enterprise Transformation" award.

It was also ranked fourth in the 26th edition of the awards for the 50 most enterprising local, privately-held companies.

The brainchild of chief executive officer Marcus Neo, 56, the once asset-light Omni-Plus System now has research and development (R&D), compounding and manufacturing facilities in South-east Asia.

It designs and sells polymers to manufacturers, including well-known household brands Dyson, Braun and Nokia, for use in their end products.

Spotting gaps

Neo, who worked in the industry for 12 years, identified a potential business opportunity stemming from the gaps he observed.

Omni-Plus System started off as a trading and manufacturing consultancy, and progressed to the manufacture of its own polymers in 2009 when it acquired a manufacturing plant with compounding facility in Malaysia. In 2019, it set up a plant in the Philippines.

Omni-Plus System experiences growth after each crisis through the adoption of new and more robust practices.

The company's compound annual growth rate for FY2016 to FY2021 is approximately 25 per cent. For FY2021, the company actually registered a 30 per cent growth in sales to S$335.5 million.

Thus far, the company's year-on-year revenue has been increasing with the exception of FY2020, when it experienced a dip of 3 per cent due to the pandemic.

Continuous improvement

Omni-Plus System is currently working closely with Singapore Polytechnic's Company and Workforce Transformation Programme, an initiative to help manufacturing companies strengthen their workforce competency and stay competitive.

"If we take care of our people, they will take care of the business," said Neo, who believes in nurturing human capital.

Collaboration is core to Omni-Plus System's corporate culture, where employees have ample opportunities to collaborate with co-workers of different seniority and across departments.

Collaborating with A*Star

Omni-Plus System used to collaborate with both suppliers and clients for R&D into the production of plastic resins with unique properties, such as strengthened heat resistance.

This process had a long lead time as durability tests generally take 8 to 13 months on average.

In 2018, in collaboration with A*star, Omni-Plus System set up an Engineering Centre with a focus on initial product prototyping, R&D, as well as regulatory testing to shorten the lead time.

The R&D centre now boasts an internal materials database of over 500 different formulations, allowing the company to cater to a variety of clients' needs.

By joining forces with A*star, Omni-Plus System managed to reduce the lead time for developing new materials to 3 to 6 months.

Overcoming Covid-19 challenges

The recent Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction caused disruptions, resulting in dwindling sales.

Omni-Plus System's factories were forced to limit production capacity due to manpower and supply chain issues.

Fortunately, prior to the pandemic, the company was already venturing into a cloud-based system to accommodate employees working remotely, and accelerated the digitalising process.

Despite the challenges, the company has proved resilient as it worked hard to recoup its losses.

It saw a V-shaped recovery shortly after, and Omni-Plus System is optimistic that the uptrend will continue.

Going green and future plans

Omni-Plus System is setting up a new Malaysian manufacturing plant, which will be 5 times the size of its existing plant, upon its completion in 2023.

Powered partially by renewable energy, the new plant will focus on the production of green composites.

In addition, the company has developed a more environmentally friendly and lightweight material that uses glass wool materials produced from reused glass.

It is also working on predictive analysis to speed up its R&D process and reduce the time taken to run predictions for new materials creation.

In the next 3 years, Omni-Plus System, which has been serving manufacturers in the automotive and telecommunications industries, aims to enter the electric vehicle and 5G telecommunication industries.

Never one to rest on its laurels, the company is also exploring ways to enter the building and construction industry.