What you need to know about European companies that excel in Singapore

Singapore remains a business hub for multi-national companies and is home to regional headquarters of most global companies.

Find out more about how IFS and SCCP Group succeeded in Singapore.

IFS is a local Scandinavian company founded in 1983 by 5 engineers. After more than 3 decades in the business, IFS is now a leading global provider of ERP solutions with a presence in more than 60 countries and 2,800 employees worldwide.

It is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Stock Exchange, with a net revenue of SKr 2.7billion in 2012. As a global enterprise software vendor, IFS serves industries where asset management, manufacturing, field service management, supply chain management, or project management are core disciplines.

Secret to success

IFS’s secret weapon is its architecture and technology strategy. All other enterprise application software vendors, and their customers, now face the monumental challenge of migrating their mainstream monolithic applications to SOA. This gives IFS customers the enviable advantages of superior agility and lower total cost of ownership.

According to Jan Brunaes, IFS’ President for Asia Pacific, the company manages to succeed in all 60 countries by focusing on the development of one product line. “Our success is due to our deep industry knowledge and global and local partnerships. We get closer to our customers and are more agile to build what they really need into our business software,” he adds.

He also reckons that customers love the simplicity and ‘walk-up-and-use’ navigation of IFS Applications and IFS’ mobile access to key data (both online or offline). IFS has invested heavily in making IFS Applications mobile to all users, whether it is for the business professional needing to access the CRM or approve work orders or do expenses from their mobile device to the heavy user such as a field engineer needing business applications out in the field for service or asset management,” adds Brunaes.

IFS in Singapore

IFS Solutions Asia Pacific in Singapore is the company’s headquarters for the Asia Pacific region. Sridharan Arumugam, IFS’ Vice President for South East Asia, notesthat IFS Singapore has been providing sales, professional services and support to customers since late 1990s.

IFS has a strong position in asset and project intensive sectors such as oil & gas, construction, ship-building, utilities and project-based manufacturing, which is an excellent platform for future growth. “We have strong and deep partnerships within these industries, namely NEC, Mahindra Satyam and Infosys. Each partner provides us with a broad variety of perspectives and attractive potential in our target markets,” says Arumugam.

IFS’ extensive customer references in Singapore include SeaDrill, Technip, Serimax, Jotun, BW Offshore, Trelleborg Offshore Norway, Applikon Biotechnology, Pipeline Engineering and others.

Arumugam reveals that with IFS’ core strengths in project-based industries, and the ability to manage projects inside its ERP system through tightly integrated project management, IFS Applications is a powerful project-based ERP system designed for companies in Singapore and other ASEAN countries.

From an ERP solutions provider, another company that makes its way to success in Singapore is SCCP Group, which has a committment to provide acquirers and merchants with a full business suite and secure m-Commerce solutions. Its flagship product suite Swiff offers Swiff Pay, Swiff mWallet, Swiff Certificate, Swiff Gateway, Swiff Processor and other stand alone products like Swiff Authentication and Swiff Enrollment, to make sure clients use solutions that can be deployed rapidly and cost-effectively.

According to Jérôme Clé, SCCP Group’s CEO, what sets them apart from competitors is the ‘’interoperability of platform, device-agnostic technology and security of proprietary multi-factor
authentication.” He adds that Swiff enables banks to expand merchant services and the card issuing and acceptance rate, therefore enhancing their business.

At the same time, Swiff reduces fraud through a  multi-factor authentication and encryption platform that in turn, boosts performance by minimizing risk.

SCCP’s global clients

SCCP currently has a global scope of big clients, including one of Thailand’s largest banks Bank of Aduyha, Krunsgri. Swiff MPoS platform has enabled Krunsgri to roll out their secure mobile strategy while ensuring the highest standards of service excellence their customers have come to expect.

SCCP also recently linked up with Bank of the Philippine Islands for mobile payments solution. CEO Jérôme Clé says BPI is known for the ease of use with all of their products and the Swiff solution tailored for them delivers on the promise of easy, quick and secure transactions.

“As an emerging market in Asia, the Philippines has many SMEs and independent businesses that previously could not accept credit cards. Mobile payment solutions like Swiff mPoS provide these businesses with ideal opportunities to expand their sales by accepting more forms of payment. As a result, we have enjoyed an enthusiastic reception in the Filipino market and business there is growing exponentially,” comments Jérôme Clé.

In line with widening their horizons to the Middle-East, Russia and Europe, SCCP has just announced an expansion in North America last March. Jérôme Clé says that mPos solutions and security technology are all active in these markets.

“We can continue to follow our international strategy of expansion in all of the Americas. SCCP also has a data center in the US and this has proven critical for our operations with our testing and authentication,” he concludes.

Lastly, we have LAUFEN, a company established in 1892 and has since revolutionized sanitary ware manufacturing. Being the only sanitary ceramic manufacturer producing
exclusively in Europe, the company has greatly raised the standards for sanitary products.

LAUFEN stands out with its products’ Swiss design that unites emotional Italian design from southern Europe with the north European Germanic tradition of design, precision and clarity.

LAUFEN’s promise of quality

According to LAUFEN Senior Managing Director Alberto Magrans, design, cutting-edge technology, innovation and internationality are part of LAUFEN’s Swiss DNA. Therefore LAUFEN is constantly working together with internationally renowned architects on many projects and is inspired by the latest trends in architecture.

“We are working very hard to support project planners and architects and have recently established teams for the main centers of architecture, like London, New York and, of course, Singapore,” adds Magrans.

LAUFEN aims to achieve utmost competence in technology, service, and design to be the leading bathroom brand within the project business and high-end residential market. Apart from a wide range of products and excellent service, LAUFEN redefines bathrooms from being mere sanitary venues to sophisticated ones by cooperating with great designers.

Magrans notes that in the 1990s, LAUFEN brought its first fully equipped designer bathroom onto the market, designed by F.A. Porsche.

“In 2002, we had sensational success with the bathroom concept “ILBAGNOALESSI One” which was developed with the famous Italian design creator Alessi,” reveals Magrans.

The company introduced the Laufen Clean Coat (LCC), a high-tech material with unique surface properties developed with ceramic experts and German universities.

“With LCC we have a dirt-repellent surface finish in our range that facilitates the cleaning of sanitary facilities and significantly improves hygiene. Particles of dirt, limescale, grease and bacteria have virtually no chance on this exceptionally smooth surface which saves both time and costs for the user,” says Magrans.