semiconductor backend sector8. Incorporated in 1989 as a trading company that traded-in equipment and machinery for the semiconductor industry, ELens Manufacturing has evolved to become an industry leader in the design and manufacture of automated wafer inspection systems. The company survived the economic crisis of 2008 and turned around by building collaborations with various industry and government stakeholders, which created opportunities for innovation. One of ELens Manufacturing’s key collaborator is SIMTech, a government R&D agency. Working with SIMTech has helped the company in technology development and provided technical expertise as well as support for the development of its first product. The collaborative relationship requires constant work to build and sustain. Here, understanding each other’s priorities and interests, and the ability to address differences and tensions openly are an important part of innovation. Chris’ leadership has been crucial in helping and guiding his workers to build and sustain this relationship: “Some of my staff feel that SIMTech is not realistic. But when the technology comes over you still have to do work on it yourself, right? So if my staff say, ‘SIMTech just throws everything to me; I cannot work, or I still have to spend a lot of effort’ but let’s face it, okay? Without SIMTech, I would not have launched a new product. So whatever SIMTech is able to provide and support we have to be appreciative. And the Executive Director (of SIMTech) is actually quite supportive, and the researchers are actually quite positive”. A collaborative relationship between organisations initiated and guided by their leaders and sustained by workers is key to innovation that results in new products and services. A collaborative relationship is characterized by an equality of work and perceptions of fairness or a fair deal for the people and organisations involved. Collaboration shifts business conditions from competition to cooperation, and creates opportunities for innovation. However, collaboration or the building of strong ongoing relationships between people, making a concerted effort to achieve a sense of fairness for all parties, and cooperating with rather than competing against each other, requires effort, commitment and resources to develop and sustain. Example #6 from Gan’s Engineering: SMART factory conversion Opportunities for innovation also arise from organisational change or restructuring, factory automation and/or digitalisation. In the case of Gan’s Engineering, the SMART factory project presents a major change to the organisation’s operation. Gan’s Engineering was incorporated in 1982 as a machining company. It started off as a sub-contractor for various MNCs and later became a medical equipment manufacturer with 135 employees and a R&D CT’s product line-up includes wafer inspection and measurement systems and die bonder machines. The company has received accolades for their in-house technology which helps to improve the speed and quality of the inspection process in wafer production. 8
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