Growing with Singapore: Takenaka, P&G, Corning, and SMC recount the highlights of their growth journey

Takenaka: A part of Singapore's most recognisable structures

The early-1970s saw Japanese companies like Sony, Sumitomo, and Kikkoman coming to Singapore to put down roots in our growing manufacturing sector, buoyed by Singapore’s strategic location and the availability of workers. These Japanese corporate giants were key clients of Takenaka’s.

The wave of interest from Japanese companies and Singapore’s rapid industrialisation led Takenaka to expand its offering, by constructing the Singapore facilities of its existing clients from Japan.

From there, Takenaka benefited from Singapore’s rapid urbanisation and technological advancement, as our built environment sector grew and matured. Unlike neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, Singapore’s construction landscape focuses on iconic, complex structures – a building typology that Takenaka excels at.

Among Takenaka’s projects were Singapore’s first airport, Changi International Airport Terminal 1, and the iconic tourist site, the Singapore Flyer.

Takenaka’s impact on Singapore through the years is visible in many landmark projects. From its pioneering work on Singapore's first Housing Upgrading Programme in Marine Parade and Ang Mo Kio, to Terminals 1 and 4 at Changi International Airport, to the National Gallery redevelopment, Takenaka has left a mark on Singapore’s most recognisable structures.

In its 50 years, Takenaka has nurtured local talent, with many subcontractors growing alongside the company to become main contractors themselves. Today, Takenaka Singapore employs over 590 staff, including 360 specialists like project managers, construction managers, site engineers, and BIM modellers, who work on-site.

Deputy General Manager Leslie Teng recently celebrated his 40th year with Takenaka. Rising from a site supervisor to his current role, Leslie is one of the first employees who underwent Takenaka’s HQ training programme. Today, Leslie is doing his part to pass down Takenaka’s unique “Way of Working” to the next generation of Takenaka employees.

50 years on, Takenaka continues to contribute to Singapore’s built environment, staying true to its management philosophy of "contributing to society by passing on the best works to future generations”.

Procter & Gamble (P&G): Freshening Singapore's innovation landscape

P&G has been conducting R&D into skincare and personal health care since the early 2000s, starting off with a small team working in rented lab spaces.

In 2014, it set up the Singapore Innovation Centre (SgIC), seeing the country’s R&D infrastructure and talent pool as an advantage. Singapore’s central location in Asia-Pacific means the P&G team can easily access consumer preferences and understand trends in the fast-growing region.

As SgIC marks its 10th anniversary, it has grown to house close to 500 researchers from 25 countries, with over half of SgIC staff being Singaporean. It is one of Singapore’s largest private research facilities and P&G’s regional innovation hub, developing next-generation products for renowned global brands like Olay and SK-II, to name a few.

One of the many notable products from P&G’s Singapore Innovation Centre (SgIC) is its Febreze and Ambi Pur air fresheners. Codenamed “Project Merlion”, the air fresheners were fully conceptualised in Singapore – from the initial customer research to developing its unique 3D packaging that enables passive diffusion. They now hold the #1 market share in the global air care market across North America, Japan, and the UK.

Dr. Desmond Ng’s research and innovation efforts has played a leading role in creating a new generation of car fresheners with effective anti-bacteria, mold-targeting capabilities.

Since joining P&G in 2019, Dr Ng has filed 14 patents, including a formulation that delivers anti-bacteria benefits, a membrane to improve scent experience, and a device that provides true scent intensity control to consumers. For SgIC, Dr Ng exemplifies the calibre of local talent available here.

P&G's partnerships with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and the National University Hospital have yielded numerous publications and patents.

SgIC’s internship program has also welcomed over 350 Singaporean STEM students in the past decade, underscoring its commitment to nurturing local talent and leveraging Singapore's vibrant R&D ecosystem.

Corning: From television tubes and cookware, to building Singapore's digital future

When Corning established its Singapore office in 1974 with just two employees, few could have predicted its evolution into a key driver of the nation’s digital infrastructure. Today, with a 70-strong team, Corning’s Singapore office serves as its regional headquarters and houses its centre of excellence in supply chain management.

Singapore’s strategic location, forward-looking policies, and skilled workforce have enabled Corning to expand their regional presence. In turn, the company brought their expertise in glass science and optical physics to advance Singapore’s capabilities in data communications and semiconductor optics, contributing significantly to the development of 5G, fibre-to-the-home, and data centres.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, Corning signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with local company Singapore Safety Glass, deepening its commitment to the local ecosystem. This partnership will transfer the technology and skills to produce the renowned Gorilla® Glass used in device screens from Apple to Samsung.

Moving forward, Corning’s focus on photonics will be extremely timely as Singapore gears up for more data centres to meet rising demand, driven by regional shifts to adopt emerging technologies like GenAI and 6G connectivity. Edwin Sia, a Singaporean who is Corning’s director of business development and market expansion for Southeast Asia, leads this charge.

Looking ahead, Corning continues to leverage Singapore’s vibrant ecosystem to drive innovation across its key technology platforms, strengthening both the company’s regional presence, and Singapore’s position as a digital hub.

SMC: From manufacturing to smart factory solutions

SMC, a leader in industrial automation, celebrated its golden jubilee in Singapore this year.

Since its establishment in 1974, the Japanese company has grown from a small sales office to a team of over 120, transitioning from basic manufacturing to enhanced automation and smart factory solutions over the years. This shift was made possible through Singapore’s business-friendly environment and commitment to innovation and sustainability.

Most recently, SMC implemented a 4-bar smart sustainable factory, which integrates cutting-edge automation, data analytics, and sustainability with digitalisation into the production process. The result is a 30% reduction in carbon emissions, and more efficient operations.

SMC's success in Singapore is built on its strong emphasis on talent development. Under the leadership of Singaporean managing director David Wong, SMC has created robust training programmes, including opportunities for employees to train in Japan.

Senior service engineer Dave Chan exemplifies this investment in talent. Through SMC’s training programme in Japan, Dave gained valuable knowledge from his Japanese colleagues, which he now applies to his work in Singapore.

As SMC celebrates its 50th anniversary in Singapore, it continues to leverage Singapore’s robust infrastructure and deep talent pool, to drive innovation in industrial automation.

This is the second article in EDB’s “Growing with Singapore” series, where we showcase companies marking significant milestones in Singapore. Read the first article, where we featured Japanese industrial automation giant Yokogawa, and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce Solutions Asia.