Tru-Marine Announces 18-Month Mentorship Programme with Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd

From left: Mr Christopher Mason (Deputy Technical Director, Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre), Dr Bicky Bhangu (Regional Director – SE Asia, Pacific and South Korea, Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte Ltd), Mr Bill Wozniak (Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd), Mr David Loke (Group Managing Director, Tru-Marine Pte Ltd), Mr Ted Tan (Deputy Chief Executive, Industry & Enterprise Development, SPRING Singapore), Mr Sia Kheng Yok (Chief Executive, Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore)), Mr Lim Soon Hock (Board Member & Senior Advisor, Tru-Marine Pte Ltd), Mr Jack Chan (Director, Tru-Marine Pte Ltd), Mr James Loke (Director, Tru-Marine Pte Ltd)

Tru-Marine announces the take-off of its 18-month Mentorship Programme under the wing of Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd (SAESL), known for its best in class aero engine and component repair services for the successful Trent engine family.

The Mentorship Programme is a structured learning journey comprising of regular contact time between mentor and mentee. The substantial learning will allow Tru-Marine to gain comprehension of SAESL’s operational excellence and progressively deliver better value through increased efficiencies.

With Tru-Marine’s reclamation technologies mirroring those of SAESL’s engine overhaul and component repair for the aerospace industry, the Mentorship allows the mentee to cross reference more stringent quality benchmarks so as to elevate its service delivery and exceed current industry expectations.

Technological innovation forms one of Tru-Marine’s pillars of differentiation. Since the early 1990s, the company has embarked on its pursuit of operational capabilities that are in advance of market needs, through in-house research and development (R&D) efforts as well as collaborations with various research agencies and industry partners. Through the years, Tru-Marine has been recognised by numerous industry partners for its technological leadership, such as the SIMTech R&D Partnership Award in 2013. Up until now, Tru-Marine is the only marine small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) which has won the prestigious Singapore Quality Award (2009) for overall high performance in the critical drivers covered in the business excellence framework.

Committing 3% of its sales yearly towards R&D, Tru-Marine has been substantiating its value configuration of innovative reclamation solutions with the introduction of at least one new repair technique every two years. Its latest achievements included 3D printing of a marine turbocharger nozzle ring using metal alloy in 2015, and the most recent launch of its super-coating against component erosion using High Velocity Oxygen Fuel Coating (HVOF) technology in Q3 2017.

Says Mr David Loke, Founding and Group Managing Director, Tru-Marine Group, “To remain relevant in today’s fast-evolving business environment, we need to transform by looking beyond the sectors we serve and challenge our current mind-set and best practices constantly. This Mentorship gives us the rare opportunity where we would be exposed to the world’s pre-eminent engineering service expert, allowing us to discover new disruptive approaches and service innovations. For our clients, this translates into reducing down time and maintenance costs.”

Supporting the Tru-Marine Mentorship Programme as a Technology Resource Partner is Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC). An initiative by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), in partnership with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and industry partners, ARTC collaborates with cross sectorial companies in R&D to fast track the development of advanced remanufacturing and manufacturing solutions.

Celebrating the Mentorship Programme Launch Celebrating the start of the Mentorship Programme, Tru-Marine hosted a Launch reception with attendance of over 100 valued clients, partners and guests. Besides the supporting organisations of SAESL and ARTC, the event was attended by representatives from SPRING Singapore, Association of Aerospace Industries (Singapore), Institute of Technical Education School of Engineering and key clients. The highlight was a champagne toast to the success of the Mentorship, as a model of multinational corporation support to a local SME.