| |
2002 was a landmark
year for ST Elect. Strategic investments in its core business and
the launch of innovative new products and solutions further strengthened
its position as a leading electronics systems group in Asia.
In addition to winning significant contracts at home, the company
also expanded its operations to cover new territories by gaining
a foothold into the Mexican and Indian markets, and expanding its
presence in China as a provider of intelligent building systems
and home automation products.
ST Elect has three key business groups: Large-Scale Systems Group
(LSG), Communication and Sensor Systems Group (CSG) and Software
Systems Group (SSG). These groups are broadly classified with CSG
having CET Technologies and Agilis Communication Technologies under
its fold, while Singapore Engineering Software (SES) and ST Training
& Simulation (STTS) fall under the SSG.
All three have played a part in shoring up the foundations for ST
Elect's future growth, with the transportation teams achieving
significant milestones by securing a number of important contracts
in the areas of rail and road management.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR A NEW AGE
In the fast-evolving electronics market, ST Elect continued to promote
innovation and drive continual process improvement through customer-focused
relationship management programmes and in-house research and development.
The company also participated actively in a number of industry consortia,
leading new commercial and public sector initiatives.
IINTELLIGENT SYSTEMS RULE
THE DAY
Of particular significance this year were the series of intelligent
rail solutions contracts clinched and completed by ST Elect.
In February, LSG secured a S$192 million contract to supply the
electrical and mechanical systems for Stages 3-5 of the Singapore
Circle Line, bringing the total value of all the stages awarded
to the company to an impressive S$345 million.
In the same month, LSG delivered the Changi Airport Mass Rapid Transit
(MRT) Line to the Singapore MRT Ltd for revenue service. The Sengkang
Light Rail Transit (LRT) System was also completed and delivered
to the appointed operator, SBS Transit Ltd, and it is expected to
be in revenue operation by early 2003. Transys Pte Ltd, a joint-venture
company of ST Elect, was awarded a five-year maintenance contract
worth S$22.5 million for the Automatic Fare Collection Systems for
the North-East and Sengkang/Punggol LRT lines.
Meanwhile in Taiwan, CET was awarded a S$4.5 million contract to
provide communications systems equipment for Taipei's Nankang/Panchiao/Chungho
Rapid Transit System. In December, LSG went on to secure a S$50
million contract from Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation to provide
Platform Screen Doors System for the Kaohsiung MRT Red and Orange
Lines in the Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area, Taiwan. The contract is
scheduled to be completed in 2007.
ST Elect's Intelligent Building solution was selected for the
upgrade of the security systems and facilities for both the Tanah
Merah Prison and Changi Women's Prison in Singapore.
In China, ST Elect is providing an access control alarm and security
system for the prestigious Liaoning Museum, a landmark located in
ShenYang of Liaoning Province which is the largest museum in Liaoning
Province, China. ST Elect's Shanghai office successfully secured
a contract to provide intelligent building systems to the Hangzhou
Modern City Project, marking the company's entry into the increasingly
important and expanding residential intelligent township market.
Agilis made further headway in the Asian region with the delivery
of satellite communications systems to Korea. In addition, Agilis
delivered more than a hundred sets of VSAT terminals to Fortune
500 Company, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd for installation in various
parts of India.
ST Elect achieved a milestone with its successful entry into the
Mexican market when it secured a contract to supply, over a period
of four years, a Multi-channel Multipoint Distribution System (MMDS)
access control down-converters to MVS Multivision S.A. de C.V. In
2002, ST Elect secured approximately S$13 million worth of contracts
from MVS and expects to continue new deliveries in 2003.
Singapore's Land Transport Authority awarded CET a S$13.3 million
contract to implement
"i-Transport", a new intelligent transportation system
which will integrate current systems with surveillance cameras and
public transport information systems into a single, congruent and
evolving data hub to provide accurate real-time traffic information.
Transportation High Tech Inc. of Taipei launched the first phase
of Taiwan's first large-scale automated taxi despatch system
in August 2002. Closely following the successful roll-out of the
first 2,000 taxis, CET has been commissioned to extend the project
to another 2,000 taxis.
STTS secured a maintenance contract for the "CAVE" from
the Singapore Science Centre in 2002. The "CAVE" is based
on a virtual reality system that provides immersive visualisation
to various 3-D contents and edutainment. In addition, it is also
working with the Ministry of Education to design a game that allows
students to apply their knowledge creatively in a quest situation.
The project will be delivered at the end of 2003.
ST Elect has secured some defence projects for the year. These include
the provision of special communications systems and solutions, strategic
manpower programmes, sensor systems, system control and support,
integrated transportation platforms, and the preparation of C4 hardware
for the most rugged of conditions.
In January, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) commissioned the Armour
Gunnery & Tactical Simulator from STTS which will allow the
SAF to carry out interactive training with land, air and sea forces
in a virtual simulated war-game environment. During the year, STTS
also upgraded a flight simulator projection system for the SAF.
In February, the prototype of the Advanced Combat Man System –
a jointly-developed project by CET and Singapore's Ministry of Defence
– was successfully unveiled at the C4I Asia Conference in Singapore
and again at the Army Open House in September.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Investments in focus areas and countries are a key part of ST Elect's
strategy to build its foundation for future growth. In 2002, a number
of strategic investments were announced and new companies set up,
either as direct joint ventures or through subsidiaries.
SES joined hands with Sensis Corporation to offer airport authorities
in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions a new security and
efficiency-enhancing Multi-static Dependent Surveillance solution.
March saw STTS start up a new wholly-owned subsidiary, ST Education
& Training (STET), to provide education and training, management
and consultancy services for the maritime, aerospace and land services
industries. STET has successfully secured two contracts since its
establishment. It has also expanded its visualisation business by
investing in Valens CGV Pte Ltd.
ST Elect's focus on the mobile payment market led it to acquire
a 30 percent stake in Mobile Solutions and Payment Services Pte
Ltd in April.
In June, the company invested in Sino Stride Technology (Holdings)
Limited of China, an intelligent building management systems company
listed on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market. The combined
strength of ST Elect's technical resources and Sino Stride's
marketing resources make this a partnership well-positioned for
success.
In August, CET set up InfoWave Pte Ltd with 43 percent equity to
target the information appliances and wireless connectivity solutions
markets, with special emphasis on the transportation, maintenance
and engineering, healthcare and property industries.
In November, ST Elect took a 22 percent equity stake in RF Korea
Inc. based in Seoul with the objective of working with this strategic
technology partner in the area of providing wireless infocomm solutions
to international markets such as Asia and Latin America.
The company also took up a 70 percent stake in a new company to
enhance its core competencies in the area of land transportation.
Ripple Systems, based in Perth, Australia, was set up to acquire
the assets and business of Mi Australia, to deliver integrated transportation
solutions for rail and road applications.
The SES investment in the Linux Knowledge Centre in 2001 is well
on its way to building a reputation as a one-stop shop for Open
Source solutions and consultancy services. Its services have grown
to encompass high-performance computing, applications porting and
enhancement, enterprise security as well as enterprise storage and
server consolidation.
The culture of innovation fostered by the company also led to the
filing of six patents in 2002, bringing the total to 25 since 1998.
CET through its subsidiary, Datamark, received a patent award in
April for their solution for embedding image, audio and video watermarks
in digital data. Agilis was awarded the patent for Combined Motion
Detection and Shock Sensing Apparatus in October.
ST Elect believes that it is important to invest in its people.
This commitment led to STTS receiving Singapore's People Excellence
Award in December, the highest accolade given to organisations in
Singapore in recognition of their outstanding people development
approach which has contributed significantly to business excellence.
CET had the privilege of being Singapore's only winner in recent
years in the Mentor Graphics 16th Annual PCB Technology Leadership
Awards in the Data Communication Category.
WHERE INNOVATION COMES ALIVE
A constant stream of innovative new products continued to pave the
way for ST Elect's long-term growth.
At Asian Aerospace 2002 held in Singapore, ST Elect launched an
Integrated System for Airport Resource & Security, a comprehensive
communication and security system which provides real-time information
on activities in and around the airport. The system allows airport
operators to allocate resources, respond to crises and monitor happenings
in the airport premises, surrounding areas and the runways.
Another new product, Ubeame, is a one-touch controller for appliances
at home and in the boardroom. It uses infrared technology to synchronise
and operate the desired configuration for electronic appliances.
Agilis launched a new range of high power Block-Up Convertors, Extended
Ku-Band VSAT ODUs and Hybrid RF Transceivers, X-Band and K-Band
Automatic Door Sensors using microwave technology. Other new products
included the Swiftlet flyaway deployable antenna system – ideal
for use in broadcast industries and in disaster recovery. Seahawk
is a new communications systems introduced for the maritime and
oil and gas industries.
In the area of Microwave Radios, Agilis customised a 3.5GHz Microwave
Digital Radio Transceiver (DR) for the China MMDS market. In addition,
Agilis also launched the 7/8/13/15 GHz DR for the world market.
Agilis' microwave sensors, which are marketed under the brand name
AgilSense, command a significant share of the market and
the company is opening up new markets for its satellite network
business.
Agilis has also set up a service centre in Bangalore, India to serve
its customers in that region. More of such centres are being planned
for Europe and the US. Agilis works together with its various business
partners to offer network solutions for the satellite communications
market.
CET launched Ceteon, its new GPRS PCMCIA Modem Card to make the
world of Internet surfing, trading, mobile-payments and banking,
e-learning and remote transactions more accessible than ever before.
CommunicAsia 2002 saw the debut of ST Elect's Mobile Track
& Trace (m-T&T) solution, an end-to-end secure, seamless
and scalable integrated solution for asset, fleet and total logistics
management.
To meet the world's growing demand for security solutions,
ST Elect is using its considerable experience to develop highly
secure systems and solutions to launch a top-of-the-line range of
encryptors for mobile phones and facsimiles.
STTS introduced a number of new simulation training systems this
year. The Air Distributed Mission Trainer made its first appearance
at Asian Aerospace 2002, while the Linux-based Distributed Mission
Fighter Station was unveiled at Africa Aerospace & Defence 2002.
Riding high on its success with the Hong Kong Fire Service Department
contract awarded in 2001, SES is expanding its presence in the public
safety sector in Hong Kong and venturing into China, Taiwan, Australia
and the Gulf countries to offer similar solutions to police and
fire services agencies.
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
ST Elect delivered a healthy bottom line in 2002, but it will continue
to view 2003 with caution as markets become more competitive, margins
erode and economies struggle to recover from the recession.
Strategic alliances with technology partners will enable the company
to grow its overseas presence, gain a foothold in new markets and
win contracts overseas. It will reduce costs by working with outsourcing
partners for non-core activities, while controlling operational
costs wherever possible.
The company will build on its existing strengths, capabilities and
relationships, and focus on the Greater China market, whilst seeking
to expand its credible reference sites for traffic management, intelligent
building systems and intelligent rail systems. It will offer its
intelligent rail and road traffic management systems in Asia and
will take active steps to expand its reach into Asia Pacific, India,
the Middle East, Mexico, Korea and Australia.
In 2003, ST Elect will focus its energies on developing advanced
solutions for a number of growing markets including mobile commerce,
e-learning, microwave digital radio, simulation training and homeland
security.
With a reputation for innovative solutions, ST Elect is well-positioned
to push the current boundaries of intelligent systems capabilities
and create greater value for its customers.
|
|
Strategic
Initiatives For A New Age
Intellingent Systems Rule The Day
Investing In The Future
Where Innovation Comes Alive
From Strength To Strength
1
Armour Gunnery & Tactical Simulator is a roll-in-roll-out multi-vehicular
platform simulator.
2
Payment at retail shops made possible by ST Elect through Mobile
Solutions and Payment Services Pte Ltd.
3
Automatic Fare Collection Gates for some of Singapore's MRT stations.
Chee Yen Yih
Business Development Manager
ELECTRONICS
"Photography allows me to express my feelings and my point of
view in a creative manner. Having taken photos of wildlife and landscape
in Australia, Canada and the US for the National Geographic Society,
what I find especially challenging is photographing wildlife as this
needs a lot of patience and each shot is one of a kind captured in
a lifetime.
In many ways, I can draw a parallel between photography and my work
as both demand creativity, patience and the determination to make
the most of each and every opportunity that presents itself."
|
|
