Technological and Market Challenges Faced by thePrecision Engineering Industry in Singapore
Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) { Loke Chong LEE

Abstract – The Singapore precision engineering industry, which has grown in tandem with the electronics andsemiconductor industries, continues to underpin these as well as the emerging medtech, oil and gas, andenvironmental and green technology sectors. The PE companies face not only challenges in technology upgrading
but also the increasingly stringent operational and regulatory demands. The recognition of the vital role of the PE
industry in the national economy is manifested by the availability of the numerous assistance and support schemes
and structures.

The Precision Engineering (PE) industry is sometimes referred tosupply chains. Similar swift progress was found in the adoption ofas the mother industry as it serves the important role ofwire cut EDMs for production of precision sheet metal parts.

underpinning many other industries. PE companies are usually

Another milestone for the machining PE companies was thesmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) catering to theacceptance of high speed machining. By using higher cutting

multifarious needs of the original equipment manufacturers

speeds it is possible to reduce the cutting forces imposed by the(OEMs). In the current dynamic trend of shrinking product life

cutting tool on the work surface and obtain far better surface finish.

cycles and increasing product mix and complexity, PE companies

This advantage facilitates the machining of moulds made of hard

have to be agile, adaptive and innovative. The Singapore PE

materials and also the achievement of very thin sections for soft

industry has grown largely in tandem with the semiconductor andmetals such as copper and aluminum. The first generation of highelectronics industries; the modus operandi being the mass

speed machines were mere adaptations whereby a three-axis

production of precision parts and assemblies, with emphasis onmachining centre was retrofitted with a high speed spindle and a

rapid throughput and quality standard in the order of parts per

rotary table incorporated at the worktable to provide two additional

million. Progressively, the PE companies have leveled up to theaxes. Apart from the high cost of such machines, users

production

entailingencountered severe tool wear as existing carbide tools in theinvestments in higher capital equipment, upgrading of skill level ofmarket were not adequately hard to provide an acceptable tool life.

the workforce and the development of the necessary technicalWith the introduction of more dedicated high speed machines thatcompetencies. A major challenge facing the PE companies is thecan reach up to 42,000 rpm and the availability of fine grain coatedrapid changing industrial landscape with the emergence of new

carbide tools the adoption of high speed machining accelerated.

industry

Today, high speed machining has largely replaced die sinkingofhigher

sectors

suchvalue

asaddedmedicalcomponents;

technology(medtech),aerospace, oil and gas, and environmental/green technologies.

EDM in the production of plastic injection moulds. Another area
where the machining community has made significant stride is their

Over the years, the PE companies have responded well to thecapability in computer aided design (CAD). Through a national

numerous national financial and assistance incentive schemes toinitiative in partnership with a major CAD vendor, many of the PE

encourage them to innovate and enhance their technologies andcompanies

capabilities. Taking the example of plastic and transfer mouldcompetencies from 2D to 3D. This served as an important

production, the PE companies have been quick to adopt electro-foundation when some of the companies migrated to 5-axis

discharge machines (EDMs) instead of continuing to rely on skilledmachining to meet the demand for increasingly complex machined

craftsmen and tedious machining. Although the early EDMs werecomponents.

took

theopportunity

toupgradetheirCAD

relative unstable and the need to produce electrodes out ofgraphite and copper was something new to the operators, theThe plastic injection moulding companies constitute a sizeable

perseverance paid off as better quality and more complex moulds

number of PE companies. Faced with fierce competition from thecould be produced in a faster turnaround time. This was critical at

newly industrialising countries, many of these companies havea time when plastic injection moulding of casings and other key

relocated their lower cost operations outside of Singapore tocomponents and transfer moulding to encapsulate integrated

refocus their operations on higher value added products. One

circuits were important parts of the electronics and semiconductor

opportunity came from the surge in demand for plastic lenses andother optical components. There is a steep learning curve as theinstitutes (RIs) were set up in the 1990s, to fill the gap. Unlike theplastic moulding industry has little know-how in optical design,

universities, the RIs were tasked to work on technologies that cancomponents manufacturing and characterization. The moulds andeventually be commercialized. A number of precision engineering

components have to be machined with a diamond tool on an ultra-technologies have achieved this target.

precision machine to attain the complex profile and the opticalsurface finish. Due to the extremely short life of the single crystal

One of these technologies is powder injection moulding (PIM).

diamond tool when machining directly on steel, the mould surface

Although the concept and benefits of PIM have been known foris usually coated with electroless nickel. There are many problems

some time, the commercialization has been limited by the heavy

associated with the machining of such moulds. Firstly, unless thecapital investment and process scalability. A significant advantage

quality of the electroless nickel coating is good pores and otherof PIM is the versatility of the process in terms of the range of

defects will appear on the machined surface, leading to expensive

materials (metals, polymers and ceramics) and the complexity ofscraps. Secondly, the imported diamond tools are expensive andshapes. One outstanding example is the cost effective bulk

have to be shipped to the suppliers for re-grinding. Assistance toproduction of a ceramic wirebonding capillary with an internal

overcome these problems came from SIMTech, which has

diameter of 30 µm and a bore that is smooth to avoid the breakage

spearheaded the development of capabilities in ultra-precisionof the gold wires. Singapore can now claim to be a leading country

machining. Until companies were confidently enough to purchasein the production of PIM parts.

their own equipment, SIMTech offered the service to produce themoulds. There was also the facility to regrind the diamond tools,

Another novel technology that has come out of the laboratory isthus saving considerable time and cost. It was also significant thatliquid forging, which is a casting-cum-forging hybrid process. TheSIMTech researchers came up with an innovation to machine steel

advantage of liquid forging is that while requiring less force thandirectly with minimum tool wear. This breakthrough development

forging, it eliminates the porosity problem associated withresulted in the spinning off of a company, Delta Optics, which now

conventionaltakes on jobs from all over the world. SIMTech is continuing withcomponents with complicated shapes and high aspect ratios. Suchtheir R & D in ultra-precision machining to handle freeformcomponents are usually produced by machining. So far, liquidmachining.

forging has been used to produce a range of heat sinks, especiallycasting.

Liquidforging

isidealforforming

those used for LED lightings. The material for liquid forging is now
Due to their limited resources PE companies do not have much inhouse capability for technology generation. Their low level in therestricted to aluminum. Research is underway to extend the use tocopper and magnesium.

supply chain renders them relatively short term and risk averse in
their outlook. One initiative that has been successful in helping thePE companies is the Local Industry Upgrading Programme (LIUP).
Under this programme a multinational or large local company
works in partnership with a group of the PE companies on specific

The development of such technologies is well beyond theresources and capabilities of the PE companies. However, theaccessibility to such technologies would enhance their range ofofferings and increase their value proposition to their clients.

projects to effect the technology transfer. The manager in thementoring company is fully paid by the programme. Due to thesynergistic relationship between the mentoring companies andtheir PE counterparts, the projects lead to clear goal and benefits.
Under LIUP, there have been cases where the PE companies end
up acquiring operations that were previously in the mentoring
companies. They then enter into a subcontracting arrangement.

The greatest challenge for PE SME companies is to be dynamic inorder to be able to address the fast changing industrial needs. Not
only do they have to be aware of technology trends andpossibilities but only the tightening operational and regulatory
conditions. Even in the electronics industry, stringent quality
specifications are compelling PE companies to produce in a clean
or even cleanroom environment. For example, fasteners for theSingapore has historically looked to the multinational companies tobring in investments and technologies. The situation is graduallychanging with the emergence of some large local companies.
While the R & D activities in these companies have grown, thepace needs to be hastened. To address this, the researchhigh end disc drive are now vacuum packed, with a quality
standard down to particle counts in the order of parts per million.
Similar, if not more exacting demands, are encountered in thegrowing medtech, oil and gas and aerospace industries.