Nordmann in Singapore: Nordmann Singapore Pte. Ltd
The Nordmann company Melrob Singapore Pte. Ltd, which has been called Nordmann Singapore Pte. Ltd since 1st October 2021 as part of Nordmann’s one-brand strategy, was formed in 2012 to manufacture products for the contact lens industry.
The company swiftly outgrew its first two locations and moved into a new facility in 2020. Nordmann Singapore now distributes its products to contact lens producers globally, with many key customers located in Central America, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.
The company is based in Singapore, a young citystate that was founded in 1965. Currently the fourth most expensive city in the world, it has a population of around 5.77 million people living on a total area of just 709km2. Nordmann News spoke to Managing Director Phil Jackson about what it’s like to work and live there.
What is special to you about Singapore?
A striking thing about the country is the diversity of the people who live here, whether they’re Singapore natives or immigrants. With four official languages – English, Malaysian, Tamil and Chinese – multiculturalism is enshrined in Singapore’s constitution. The country is also highly developed; income is high and so is day-to-day living.Singapore is an extremely safe country with no visible crime. The climate also changes little throughout the year, and temperatures usually stay at around 30 degrees Celsius. For us, “variation” often just means whether it’s raining or not.
What are some typically Singaporean customs?
People in Singapore don’t like to eat at home and instead prefer to frequent the so-called “hawker” centers located around the city. Similar to European food courts, these places serve all sorts of different cuisines, and meals are typically priced at under €5 each.Another pecularity is car culture here. The cost of buying a car is extremely high, suppressing demand so that overcrowding can be avoided on the roads. Also, drivers are required to surrender their cars for demolition after the vehicles reach 10 years of age.
What are the dominant industries in Singapore?
Finance is by far the most dominant business sector in Singapore, with all the world’s top banks and financial institutions having representation here. And despite the fact that space is so limited, manufacturing is also thriving – dominated by high-tech industries such as electronics, chemicals and biomedical sciences.
What challenges do you see for the future of your company?
Singapore owes its success over the past 50 years to having a young population and the ability to respond quickly to market conditions, as well as having been able to capitalize on its central location between China, India and Southeast Asia. That said, as the country’s population ages and costs continue to rise, it remains to be seen whether Singapore will be able to continue innovating as quickly as some of its “hungrier” neighbors – particularly those in Southeast Asia.
What characterizes your organization in particular?
We serve the contact lens industry, which is quite demanding in terms of its quality requirements. Nordmann Singapore maintains the flexibility to provide customers with products that match the specifications required, however, which distinguishes us from major players that are unwilling to go the extra mile.
In the middle of last year, you relocated to a new production facility. What’s the story behind the move?
Back in 2018, we saw that our manufacturing facility’s growth was being limited by the space we had available – and so we began looking for a new location. The one we decided on is located in a facility that was purpose-built for specialty chemical companies such as ours. It features a lot of the infrastructure that is so important for smaller operations but that is difficult to find in regular industrial complexes without involving extremely high additional expenditure.
How would you describe your job?
As a chemical engineer, my work is mainly about managing the teams engaged in the production of our company’s specialty chemicals. For me, the most important part of that is ensuring that each worker goes home safely to their family at the end of the day.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
I’m the father of two young boys, aged three and six, so I enjoy spending as much time as I can with my family. With summer lasting a full 365 days a year here in Singapore, you’ll also usually find me in one of Singapore’s many excellent parks, at the beach or down at the pool.
Further information
For detailed product information please contact our experts: sales(at)nordmann.global