Tokyo-headquartered Makino Asia was among the first wave of Japanese companies that set up in Singapore more than five decades ago. Since then, it has been a fixture in Singapore’s advanced manufacturing sector, which is supported by a robust innovation system and a resilient supply chain network.

For the machine tool manufacturer, Singapore has always been the perfect gateway to access significant markets in the region, such as China and India. Makino also serves customers in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia, and its APAC business contributes more than 40 per cent of its consolidated revenues, with Singapore serving as its APAC headquarters.

In 2018, the company decided to venture into additive manufacturing (AM), recognising its potential to grow more rapidly than the traditional machine tools market, while benefitting from synergies with Makino’s traditional technology and products.

But Makino’s decision to embrace this new technology was a move away from its established expertise in traditional subtractive manufacturing. It required a fair amount of consideration by corporate leaders in Tokyo. Ultimately, the deciding factors for Makino were the advances that its counterparts in Europe and the United States had made in developing vibrant additive manufacturing industries, and EDB’s support and commitment to building an ecosystem in Singapore for 3D printing, including by bringing together other partners.

“Additive manufacturing is a trend we could not ignore. We had discussions with EDB on how to build the ecosystem together and we started to work with a research institute in Germany, where additive manufacturing is more developed, before building our own machines here in Singapore,” said Makino Asia CEO and President Mr Neo Eng Chong.

EMBARKED ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN SINGAPORE

In February 2020, Makino set up an additive manufacturing facility to develop hybrid process chains that integrate 3D printing and post processing. Since then, it has also launched an Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence (AM CoE) in Jurong Innovation District (JID), offering consultancy and prototyping services to support the adoption of 3D printing technology in production.

Makino’s latest AM CoE is both a demonstrator and an R&D facility. Firstly, it serves to demonstrate Makino’s products and solutions for Metal Additive Manufacturing including post processing, automation and digitalisation with a focus on industrial applications and actual production scenarios. Secondly, it is also an R&D facility where Makino develops solutions to push the boundaries of additive manufacturing.  

Makino also shares the same vision as Jurong Innovation District (JID), which was set up by industrial infrastructure developer JTC to transform the future of manufacturing by building an ecosystem to house a variety of partners, providers and talent in the same space. Makino is actively participating in and contributing to this endeavour, of bringing together top-tier companies and talented professionals for interactions that drive innovation and idea sharing.

“As a newcomer to additive manufacturing with close proximity to Nanyang Technological University, we were able to leverage on the talent there and start our materials development projects much earlier than if we tried to do this internally by ourselves,” said Mr William Goh, Head of Additive Manufacturing, Makino Asia.
 
Mr Goh said the collaborations helped to shave off at least a year of research time. It also saved the firm nearly a million dollars in investments into new specialised equipment. Being in close proximity with partners has given them access to advanced equipment which is extremely costly and takes up a lot of space.

“Jurong Innovation District is a one-stop advanced manufacturing hub and home to a vibrant ecosystem of R&D centres, capability developers, solution enablers and innovation adopters. By locating Makino’s Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence here, we hope to foster partnerships with more industry partners and institutions. Businesses can have new opportunities to cross-collaborate and leverage each other’s expertise and knowledge to advance their additive manufacturing capabilities and strengthen competitiveness,” said Mr Neo.

Currently, Makino Asia’s additive manufacturing facility at JID has a team of more than 20 engineers. They support customers throughout the complex process of metal additive manufacturing - from part design, materials selection, and printing, to post processing of their parts. With the full process visible to customers, Makino aims be a strong partner for customers' industrial transformation. In November 2023, Makino launched its first metal additive manufacturing machine, the AML500 High Speed Laser Metal Deposition Additive Manufacturing Machine, at Formnext 2023 in Germany.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Looking ahead, Mr Neo says Makino Asia will continue to be anchored in Singapore. While business costs in Singapore have risen, Singapore’s stability, government support for businesses and talent pool are among the factors that remain attractive to manufacturers, allowing Singapore to capture leadership positions in multiple industries. Singapore is the world’s fifth largest exporter of high-value goods and has 11 per cent of the global market share of semiconductors, for example.

Global companies like Makino Asia are also increasingly placing a premium on stability and resilient supply chains, given macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Singapore is moving to develop a stronger supply chain management ecosystem, including supporting companies to train workers and helping local jobseekers acquire relevant SCM skill sets that are relevant to global businesses.  

Said Mr Neo: “I think most companies are going for low-cost countries. But I hope they also try not to overlook the many benefits and advantages of setting up a company in Singapore. There are things that these low-cost countries may not be able to offer.”