Wangi Industrial is one of the pioneers and value providers of high-quality surface finishing, technical glass, precision optics and optical thin-film coating solutions.
A firm believer of the need to constantly innovate, Mr Chew Ker Yee, Vice-President of Wangi, always seeks to collaborate with customers and machines suppliers to develop new products. However, working with these groups sometimes do not yield the desired outcomes.
“A few years ago, we identified a need to develop the next generation of protective nanotechnology-based diamond-like-coating but we were turned down by a leading technology provider who was not keen to transfer the technology to us,” said Mr Chew.
Undeterred, Mr Chew approached IPI for help to in-source the critical technology and right expertise. The 24-months project facilitated by IPI led to the establishment of an in-house R&D team in Wangi for new technology developments. It has now acquired the know-how to develop and apply the specialised coating for glass and is filing patents for the process and formulation as part of its IP strategy.
According to Mr Chew, Wangi is one of only two companies in the world that has this capability in a specialised application. Wangi’s coating performance is better than their competitors as they have higher diamond content.
“Investing in R&D to innovate and develop new products has always been a big challenge for SMEs due to our limited resources and budget,” said Mr Chew. “Therefore, it is important for companies, especially the SMEs to seek external partnerships using open innovation to speed up the innovation process and improve its efficiency.”
