JULY 2018 FEATURE:

With Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) making up a whopping 99% of our enterprises and accounting for about half of Singapore’s GDP, the performance of SMEs has a deep impact on our economy.

A number of SMEs are family-owned businesses and fortunately for our industry, a crop of next generation leaders are making their mark in the transformation journey of their respective companies. Leading the charge are the likes of Next-Gen leaders from Commune, Star Living, Sunray, Admira, Excel Hardware, NS Trading, Benel and Danovel who are imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit and brimming with creative ideas.

Traditionally a furniture manufacturer and designer for overseas brands, Koda has decided to also venture into the retail business. Commune, an offshoot of furniture manufacturer Koda Ltd, was launched on 2011 and the brainchild of third-generation management team members Joshua Koh (CEO), Julian Koh (Group Head of Design) and Gan Shee Wen (Vice-President of Group Sales and Marketing).

The 2008 financial crisis had turned out a blessing in disguise for Koda. According to Shee Wen, when orders from United States and Europe markets started to slow, the company turned its design and manufacturing efforts towards the Asian markets and soon realised there were untapped opportunities in the region.

Faced with thinning profit margins amplified by stiff global competition from other manufacturers, the move to retail has opened up another avenue for growth for Koda. As Shee Wen explains, there is much more money to be made from creating loyalty-inducing brand experiences than simply pushing products.

The Commune brand has since spread its wings to China, where over 30 franchisees provide a ready wholesale customer base for Koda. The business model has proven lucrative and reduces the reliance on low profit margins from its manufacturing ventures.

According to Group Head Designer Julian, the Commune brand goes beyond just furniture products. Customers walking into a Commune store will be greeted with a pleasant scent, courtesy of an in-store scent laboratory that offers customized scents for home use, as well as being served coffee while browsing furniture collections illuminated by specially-designed lighting.

In the case of Star Living,  refreshing their product range to cater to changing consumer tastes and lifestyles are a way to be customer-centric. Group General Manager Xu Xue Ting believes that its stylish Aartical collection which provides a contemporary living solution to the next generation of users, through a curation of furniture and multi-sensorial lifestyle experience with well-thought designs will be a hit with a younger demographic.

The company has also recently invested in digital tools such as Collection, Delivery and Management System (CDMS) and Mobile Inventory System (MIS) to enhance its staff productivity and is starting to see the results.

To be entrepreneurial means keeping an open mind to opportunities. Sensing a need for fellow industry players to digitise, a new digital arm Wizlah was created by Sunray Woodcraft Construction Ptd Ltd to develop a software application that provides technology, mixed-reality (MR), artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the built environment sector. Sunray’s second generation boss Charles Tan believes the construction industry is ripe for a technological disruption.

Backed by strong industry leaders in the construction and AI fields, the team at Wizlah has been working on a platform that would streamline work processes, increase efficiency and productivity for all stakeholders. Wizlah is committed to provide sustainable solutions for the betterment of the built environment sector.

Another firm believer in making good use of digital tools to drive sales revenue is Mr Kaden Choa, second generation owner of Excel Hardware Pte Ltd who has introduced innovative ideas and has successfully increased the sales revenue of his firm over the years.

Next Gen leaders represent the future of their respective firms and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) has been actively promoting its Youth Furniture Committee among its membership network to share knowledge and create opportunities for networking via targeted activities.

As the Chairman of the ASEAN Youth Furniture Entrepreneurs (AYFE) Programme, the SFIC will be hosting the 4th edition of AYFE from 31 October – 2 November in Singapore. Led by Mr Jake Tan, Chairman of SFIC’s Youth Furniture Committee, over 50 Next Gen business owners of the ASEAN furniture and furnishings industries are expected to embark on our shores for a 2.5 day programme that aims to promote an exchange of ideas on Digitalisation in the future ASEAN economy as well as strategic visits to various sites of interest.