THERE are few industrial operations that seem as basic as welding two bits of metal together but Singapore firm Lintech Engineering is finding that innovation can bring forth new opportunities from age-old processes.
The road to welding riches began in 1959 when its founder Lim Tiong Yee entered the industry by joining a company called Metalock.
Back then, he was among the first from Singapore to be sent to Switzerland for a welding technology course, where he was required to perform welding by hand.
More than half a century on, Mr Lim's grandson Yu Jey oversees the robotic welding process at Lintech – a company Mr Lim set up in 1988 after leaving Metalock.
In its early days, Lintech focused on reconditioning diesel engines and other marine and offshore components. In 2002, it diversified into the oil and gas industry, which is the core business of what has become a venerable family affair.
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Three generations helm the fort at Lintech: Patriarch Lim Tiong Yee (centre) is the chairman, his son Hong Fea is the managing director, and grandson Yu Jey is the operating manager.
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Three generations helm the fort at Lintech: Mr Lim Tiong Yee is chairman, his son Hong Fea is managing director and grandson Yu Jey is operating manager.
While the family ties have brought stability, the methods of welding metals, the company's lifeblood, have undergone a paradigm shift over 52 years.
The 1950s' manual welding reigned until the 1970s when new technology allowed the process to be mechanised.
Mechanised welding is still popular and is considered more advanced than traditional methods.
While both these techniques worked for Lintech, managing director Lim Hong Fea toyed with the idea of adopting robotic welding technology after he attended a seminar in Japan in April last year.
"Japan's shipbuilding industry utilises robotic welding to a certain extent... I thought, if we do not look into this trend, we will lag behind," he said, adding that the shift to robotic welding was a world trend.
Lintech's diversification into the energy industry also pushed the firm towards robotic welding technology.
"Today, the oil-drilling industry has developed into more deep-sea drilling... to do this, we had to upgrade our services," said Mr Lim Hong Fea.
"Welding is the most basic and vital sort of repair technique for these oil tools and equipment (which) are very bulky in size and weight.
"So to weld them using traditional methods, manually, is very stressful for the welder."
While robotic welding is common in manufacturing, applying the technology to the repair of parts in the oil and gas industry is difficult due to the sheer size and weight of the parts. For example, a blowout preventer – a special valve used to seal and monitor oil and gas wells – can weigh up to nine tonnes.
"Robotic welding in general is applied in the car industry, but that is a light industry, not like ours... so this is the basic difference in the application that the robot is initially designed (for)," Mr Lim Hong Fea said.
Lintech engaged chartered engineer Leong Kok Toong of QSM Associates to explore the possibility of creating a robotic arm that can carry out work on repair projects.
Mr Leong said Lintech would need to customise the robots to fit in with its operations. "Things like the turntable, application, behaviour of the robots and the programming of robots all had to be further fine-tuned and adjusted to meet (the needs of Lintech's application)."
The innovation aspect was realised when Mr Lim Yu Jey took part in a Spring Singapore business mission to the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston last year.
He pitched the idea of innovating existing robotic welding technology to Spring Singapore while at the event.
"They were interested because it was a first in Singapore to use robotic welding technology for repair usage," he said.
The proposal secured Lintech a grant under Spring's Technology Innovation Programme.
Lintech spent about $300,000 on the innovation exercise to create the welding arm, including the "customisation of toolings and spare parts" that make the device suitable to repair oil and gas components, said Mr Lim Yu Jey.
The Tuas-based company introduced the robotic welding technique earlier this year.
Specifications given to The Straits Times indicate that the robotic arm will be able to cover a distance of 1,000mm to 1,500mm per minute compared with manual welding speeds of only 200mm per minute.
So the high initial cost could bring many benefits, including an estimated 30 per cent reduction in material costs and a 50 per cent reduction in manpower.
Lintech, which employs 90 people, hopes to lift productivity by up to 300 per cent with the use of the new robotic technology.
And there is possibly a more down-to- earth benefit, as managing director Lim Hong Fea quipped: "I also save on tea breaks and lunchtime."