we built it slow and steady - handheld laser measuring tools

Seng Jincheng started building his bus manufacturing company from scratch.
Fashion Road in 1969
Through pure hard work, thrift and investment in hard assets.
Lim wing hooi reports.
People always wonder if entrepreneurs are born or born, and sometimes argue.
But for Seng Jincheng, starting a business is just a way of life.
SKS car body, founder and chairman of Private Limited --
As the name suggests, it builds buses for heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks
It may be 75 years old this year, but his enthusiasm for the business is so high that he still goes to the assembly line and manufacturing field every day.
He has been in the business since 1969.
"Starting a business is working hard, being frugal and cherishing every opportunity we have," said Soo . ".
Hard work is a prerequisite for life for him, even if some people may disagree with him and say it would be better to work smart.
As a start-up from scratch, Soo is an old school, the kind of school that thinks there is no shortcut to success.
Good things come from hard grafting, and that's how it works.
Soo started working with his brothers at coachbuilding when he was very young.
Basically build the body for the vehicle.
One day, a chasis supplier company approached them and asked them if they would like to coach the company.
It offered to help them establish a separate entity for the work.
Soo and his brothers got this opportunity and he took it with both hands without hesitation.
"I don't think much, because we don't need to take out any capital --
"The company offered to provide all the funds needed from paying rent on land to purchasing raw materials," Soo recalls . ".
This is how Soo's first business venture began.
The company named Hup Lee Coachbuilder (
Meaning the name of "smooth cooperation)
Established in 1969, he was 29 years old.
There are Soo, his six brothers and 15 workers, who use three.
An acre of land in Selangor Puchong.
They work day and night and make the body for the bus according to the contract, based on the pastor supplied to them according to the contract.
While they do not need to come up with capital in advance, they have to pay for the cost of running the business by deducting from the value of the work contract.
"After deducting the fee --
From rent to raw materials-
"We assembled 1,000 cars in the first year and still made some profit," Soo recalls . ". With the hard-
They bought three more pieces of cash.
An acre of land that increases production.
Without determination, Soos is nothing and their business will succeed.
They do it in a frugal way, with whatever equipment and machine they already have.
There is no thing to set aside an operating expenditure budget for a new manufacturing location.
"What operating expenses? ” laughs Soo.
"We moved some of the old manufacturing machines there, took the hammer out and started working," he added . ".
It was not until after they made a profit from the assembled additional vehicle that the Soo brothers began to purchase new machines for the new plant, adding an additional 30%.
They also increased Covent's labor force to about 100 people.
In their opinion, you just don't spend what you don't have.
When they invest, they make sure they get something tangible.
"We invest every penny in the land.
Our products are not small.
We can't do anything without land . "
To understand the size they handle, you must know the size of the bus: 12 m in length, 2.
5 m width, up to 4 m.
Height of Double 1 mdecker buses.
Li is a cautious man.
As one might expect, it has become so profitable to run the company that in 1994 a group of merchants offered to acquire the company and put it on the list, to capitalize on the stock market boom in the 1990 s.
They offered a good price and Soo found it hard to resist.
At last, he sold out with his brothers.
The management team of Soo continued until 1998 (
The deal was completed on 1996)
According to the agreement in order to impart knowledge to the new management team.
This arrangement was also made to ensure that they did not have a competitive company during this time.
What did Soo do after 1998?
Of course, he did not retire.
After all, starting a business is a way of life for him.
What Soo did was to get his family together. wow.
He asked them if they were keen on starting a new company.
This is the birth of SKS coach and the start of Soo and his family's second-stage startup.
Soo believes this is still a profitable business.
His two sons and two nephews also have a background in mechanical engineering, accounting and business.
That's it.
Soos established a new company in 1999, named after the initials of Soo.
They still have six acres of undeveloped land in their hands.
Soos invested about RM7mil and built a coachbuilding factory on it.
Today, SKS coach has developed into a complete
The mature manufacturer of coachbulding and chasis, whose factory covers an area of 23 acres, is located at Kg Pulau Meranti in Puchong.
Thanks to Soo's extensive connection and good reputation in building "bullet" buses
Prove "quality and when the client heard he came back to do business they started looking for him.
With 30 employees in 1999, the company has grown to 400.
Although it is mainly concentrated on buses, the company also makes special requests from time to time.
Ambulance and safety car included.
The buses they built have also grown to include Custom Coaches for exhibitions --
There is a mobile dental clinic, a mobile meteorological center, a private bus with a bathroom and a bedroom.
Customization is a big event in today's business.
Even the standard bus now has many options, from the engine to the interior, to the type and number of seats.
For your standard bus type, prices range from rm50, 000 to RM900, 000, while custom varieties like mobile dental clinics can reach RM2mil!
Soo said that while these buses may be unique, the bus industry is, in general, an industry in which fares are controllable, which makes the price of buses rise, it is difficult for bus service providers to maintain balance of payments.
In fact, the idea of setting up chasis locally is, first of all, due to the fact that products imported from Sweden and Japan are very expensive, especially due to currency fluctuations.
In addition, being able to specify the chasis design allows bus companies to have a say in the coaches they want --
For example, a larger luggage compartment.
SKS began developing its own chasis in 2008, investing in 3D precision measurement tools, simulation software, computerized softwareaided design (CAD)
Software and hardware such as laser
Metal Guide Press.
"We also import specific materials because there are a lot of twisting forces used on chasis that have to meet the requirements of stringet," said Soo . ".
So far, the company has invested about 30 million yuan in this area.
It also invested about RM3mil for thorough scrolling
Excessive testing of their buses has led them to reinforce specific areas of the buses they make.
With these standards, the company has been able to export to countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Bangladesh.
Next, SKS Coachbuilders, who have already opened sales offices in Thailand and Indonesia, also intend to set up a sevicing center overseas.
They are also studying the development of electric buses.
Number of employees: Bus cost 400 yuan: RM250 000 to RM900 000.
Up to RM2mil for custom buses.