The Member Spotlight Section is a virtual space for member companies to get to know each other better by understanding each others’ business and how we can work together towards building a community within the Chamber. This month, we feature Malaysian based Schmidt Abrasive Blasting Sdn Bhd (Schmidt), Asia-Pacific regional office and facility of Houston based Axxiom Manufacturing. The Schmidt line of abrasive blasting equipment includes the portable blast pot line, the blast pots most common in Asia, but also aftercoolers for drying air, bulk blasters for maximum production, vacuum blasting systems, and finally our recently introduced wet abrasive blasting line.
The Schmidt line of abrasive blasting systems is widely known throughout the world. In fact, there wouldn’t be a shipyard, refinery or construction yard that wouldn’t have some Schmidt equipment on their site. To use a great boxing analogy – for a little engineering company based in Houston – we punch well above our weight.
Schmidt sits within the enormous corrosion prevention and control industry. It is estimated that the total annual cost of corrosion is 3.4% of global GDP. In Malaysia alone that would mean an annual cost of corrosion of 10 billion US dollars.
Over 40 years ago Schmidt Manufacturing (Houston) began operation with a vision to introduce efficient productive equipment to the abrasive blasting industry and to contribute to a smarter, safer workplace environment. Axxiom Manufacturing Inc, and now Schmidt Abrasive Blasting Sdn Bhd, are proud to carry on that tradition.
Schmidt Abrasive Blasting Sdn Bhd began operations in 2012 – this was Axxiom’s first office outside of American. Malaysian was chosen as the regional office for a number of great reasons – such as strategic location, sound commercial law and business practices, access to the Malaysian oil & gas industry, and favourable cost of doing business. From humble beginnings in 2012, Schmidt today employees 18 Malaysian staff in management, support and manufacturing, owns South East Asia’s largest rental fleet of air blast equipment, and our line is now well known and preferred by oil companies and contractors alike.
In 2019, Schmidt Abrasive Blasting celebrated the grand opening of a new facility in Petaling Jaya Section 51A. This facility features 50,000 sqm covered and uncovered space, product showroom, training facilities and much larger warehouse and production area.
Schmidt also represents some of the best surface preparation line from America such as:
- Aqua miser ultra-high pressure water blasting
- Eagle Industries job site containment and dust extraction
- Novatek surface preparation handtools
- DeFelsko testing instruments
- Holdtight 102 for salt removal
- Bullard blast helmets and air filters
- Kennametal high performance and specialty blast nozzles; and
Schmidt also stocks and sells abrasives, such as Blastrite Platinum Grit and ARMEX baking soda.
Schmidt is an active member of AMCHAM since joining in 2017 – attending many networking functions with other like-minded American companies, relevant talks given by Malaysian government officials, visiting American officials and also talks given by other American companies working in Malaysia.
The Minister of Health Y.B. Datuk Seri Dr.Haji Dzulkefly bin Ahmad delivered the keynote address at the 2019 Healthcare Forum held on March 28. The Forum themed around Increasing Access to Healthcare, brought together senior government officials and private businesses for a discourse on the role that the private sector can play in responding to Malaysia’s healthcare opportunities and challenges.
Y.B. Datuk Seri Dr. Haji Dzulkefly bin Ahmad emphasized the important role that the private sector will play in supporting the government’s goal of achieving universal health coverage, and his Ministry’s commitment to enabling public-private collaboration through a supportive policy environment: “To ensure a vibrant collaborative ecosystem, the Ministry of Health will continuously engage the private healthcare sector so as to create a favorable regulatory landscape that promotes innovation and policies that will facilitate investment towards better healthcare delivery. These include better resource allocation, strengthening Intellectual Property, and policies that promote Research & Development.”
Earlier in the morning, to kick off the discussions, the Ministry’s newly-promoted Deputy Director-General (Medical) Datuk Dr. Hj Rohaizat bin Hj. Yon presented an overview of the government’s forward-looking healthcare strategy. Subsequent panel discussions saw representatives from leading American companies such as IBM and Microsoft emphasizing the potential for technological innovations from the private sector to pioneer the advancement of preventative healthcare and free up public funds for projects of maximum public benefit.
A range of experts from think tanks and academia highlighted some of the policy cornerstones that can help to harness these benefits, including a sustainable and equitable model of healthcare financing, data policies that support efficiency improvements, and the development of an investment framework that encourages and rewards innovation while at the same time increases patient access to innovative healthcare solutions.
Senior representatives from MITI, MIDA, MDEC, MyIPO, MDTCA, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Communications & Multimedia and the Medical Device Authority also contributed to the discussion.
Executive Director of AMCHAM, Siobhan Das, said, “Within the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto, the government has set itself the goal of having 7% of GDP (so around RM 100bn per year) invested in healthcare, and for 50% of that to come from the private sector. We brought together this program for a pragmatic discussion on the types of policies and commitments that the government can make so as to enable the private sector to bring their new innovations to Malaysia’s healthcare space and enhance healthcare outcomes for all Malaysians”.
While healthcare is typically viewed by governments as an expense that creates budgetary pressures, speakers at the forum highlighted growing regional and global trends which suggest that healthcare has huge potential to be an engine of growth for countries looking for additional revenues to move up to high-income status.
The Malaysian healthcare industry is currently valued at RM60bn and poised to increase to RM80bn given our growing and aging population, the greater use of new screening technologies and big data in disease prevention, and Malaysia’s potential to harness the economic benefits of medical tourism.
However, to maximize the benefits of this growth potential in Malaysia’s healthcare space, there are critical policies and enablers that need to be activated. A regulatory environment that encourages partnerships and fosters greater collaboration is key, as is the focused development of a talent pool equipped with the skills needed for the era of disruptive new technologies.
Organizations believe succession planning is important for reaching their business objectives but few actually have formal plans, often outdated or forgotten. Organizations that don’t plan for their future leadership needs will be vulnerable to fast-changing technology, economic and social influences.
On March 27th, David Huxley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Simitri Group International shared with our members on how to better prepare themselves to stay ahead with technology. Technology is changing so fast that we need to equip ourselves to stay ahead of the game.
David shared case studies, real-life experiences that the audience could relate to and have a better understanding of the topic at hand. Members appreciated the candid discussion by David and we look forward to having David speak again to our members.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) launched its International IP Index, “Inspiring Tomorrow,” which assesses the intellectual property (IP) environments of 50 world economies. Organized by AMCHAM Malaysia, we were delighted to have Zulkarnain Bin Muhammad, Deputy Director General (Strategic & Technical) of MyIPO to provide an overview on the role of MyIPO followed by Kelly Anderson, Director of International Policy of the U.S. Chamber’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) presenting on the 2019 International IP Index report.
Present at this morning’s launch was the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, Kamala Shirin Lakhdir. Following the presentation was a panel discussion comprising of both our presenters, John Goyer, Senior Director, Southeast Asia from U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hasnul Nadzrin Shah, Director (Government & Regulatory Affairs) from IBM Malaysia, moderated by our very own Siobhan Das, Executive Director of AMCHAM.
It was an interactive and open discussion and we appreciate the questions from the audience. A big thank you to MyIPO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and last but not least our members, guests and representatives from the various ministries for attending this mornings launch.
On March 7, AMCHAM was delighted to welcome Girish Deshpande, Global Surfactants Business Planner & Palm Sustainability Leader from P&G and Dr. Asad Ata, Associate Professor from Malaysian Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) to share about their collaboration to improve the livelihoods of the palm smallholders in their supply chain in Malaysia. Moving forward into their Ambition 2030, their targets are to increase yields from among the suppliers while ensuring that they are complying to the national and international standards under MSPO and RSPO. Our thanks to P&G and MISI for sharing their best practices with us!
AMCHAM would like to invite members and non members to actively participate by placing an advertisement in our 2019 Membership Directory. This is a great opportunity to maximize the exposure of your organization. The Membership Directory is an effective medium to promote the interests of our corporate members – and the AMCHAM organization as a whole.
If you’re interested to buy an advertisement space, kindly indicate your preference when completing the attached commitment form which you may return to Yvonne Miranda at [email protected]. Advertising commitments will be treated on a first-come, first-served basis and the deadline for submission is on April 12, 2019.
Why advertise with AMCHAM?
- We’re an active foreign Chamber in Malaysia with about 1500 members representing over 270 members companies
- You are reaching thousands of high-level American, international and local professionals that are well connected with us
- We offer affordable advertising rates
How does your ad reach our members and guests? Copies will be distributed to the following:
- All members
- The Malaysian and U.S. Government
- AMCHAM’s within ASEAN region and Washington D.C.
- Other International Chambers/ Associations/ Business Councils
For more information, contact Yvonne Miranda, Membership & Engagement Manager at [email protected] or +603 2727 0070.
