Powering Singapore’s digital transformation

For over 200 years, Leica Geosystems, an industry leader in measurement technology and part of Hexagon, has empowered professionals with a comprehensive digital solutions portfolio.

Its core capabilities in sensor, software and autonomous technologies are being applied in various industries including construction, oil and gas, mining, safety and security, aerospace and defence, large-scale infrastructure development, surveying and manufacturing environments—all of which use Leica Geosystems solutions to digitise their business models to strengthen their competitive advantage.

Powering Singapore’s digital transformation 

Formerly known as WILD Singapore, the company's partnership with Singapore dates back to 1971 when it became a center for the far eastern part of the world for the production of precision optical instruments. The company name then changed to Leica Instruments Singapore (LIS) in the 1980s owned jointly by two parent companies, Leica Geosystems and Leica Microsystems. 

Over the decades, Leica Geosystems has continued to invest in its local presence and has evolved as Singapore's partner in progress. 

Today, one of Leica Geosystems' four global Research and Development (R&D) centres and one of its three manufacturing sites are in Singapore. Besides being the competence centre for the development and engineering of digital and optical levelling technologies, LGT Singapore is also the global manufacturing headquarters for levelling products.

Commenting on Leica’s role in enhancing Singapore’s reputation as a global geospatial innovation centre, Mariya Prempeh, General Manager, Leica Geosystems Singapore says, “Geospatial technology goes beyond making maps. It gives us the ability to solve real-world problems holistically. From urban and territorial development to disaster recovery and the management of natural resources, we have sophisticated technologies and solutions needed to support Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative.”

Fuelling a culture of innovation and strengthening Singapore's leadership in global manufacturing

Singapore’s manufacturing ecosystem encourages its research institutes to work directly with companies to develop cutting-edge solutions with global impact. Two of LGT’s R&D projects sponsored by the government through the Economic Development Board (EDB) resulted in a collaboration with research institute SIMTech to develop its sophisticated levelling and alignment equipment, Sprinter Electronic Level. It was followed by the in-house industrial design of the product, which also contributed to EDB’s vision of establishing Singapore as an industrial design hub. 

Thomas Tang, Director for Business Development, LGT says, “We are excited to tap into Singapore's vibrant research and innovation ecosystem and have successfully developed the Leica Sprinter, a reliable, accurate and multilingual digital level for error-free measurements. It increases our global dominance in spatial measurement and enables us to support local skills development. By developing new capabilities, we are building Singapore’s resiliency against business cycles to make job and wage growth more sustainable”.

The global R&D Innovation centre in Singapore leverages the local talented workforce to design and develop high-quality, high-precision products that are used worldwide. These include high-end digital levels, smart accessories, mid and high-end total stations and field controllers.

A robust R&D strategy is crucial to keep pace with rapidly changing customer needs and technological shifts. In 2018, Hexagon, the parent company delivered on its public commitment to invest 12% of its net sales in R&D.

More than half of the growing workforce in Singapore—almost 200—consists of engineering and R&D staff, reflecting Leica Geosystems’ commitment to product development and manufacturing. 

The innovation centre’s strong focus on generating new ideas, exploring new technologies, and a myriad of other activities support and spur innovation for LGT and the broader geospatial community. It enables Singapore to be future-ready and is recognised as yet another milestone in the Leica Geosystems- Singapore partnership.

Stringent quality standards

Leica Geosystems' manufacturing practices conform to Swiss technology standards. The modern manufacturing site is equipped with advanced systems such as electronic adjusting stations, magnetic field testers, walk-in climatic test chambers and a highly precise robotic calibration tool (TPM) that can determine the accuracy of any total station in the world.

To comply with ISO 17123-2 standards, the Q&A testing facility carries out testing on all high-end digital levels with an automated calibration tool that simulates the actual field application result to meet the ISO standard, based on which the product is certified.

Prempeh, says, “At Leica Geosystems, quality forms the basis of our customers' trust in us. Our ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification applies organisation-wide - to our management, production, development and sales. Our products and systems meet the highest demands in precision, combining Swiss accuracy with exceptional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology.”

Singapore Distribution Centre - moving closer to the customer

To complement Leica Geosystems’ presence in Singapore and provide customers with value-added services, the company has invested in a Distribution Centre with a dedicated staff of 20 spanning logistics, operations, customs, compliance and freight. 

Joyce Lee, Director of Logistics, remarks, “The Distribution Centre further builds on Leica Geosystems commitment to the Asia region. By adding specialised know-how and greater capacity, we are shortening delivery cycles and moving closer to our customers."

Leica Geosystems Singapore Distribution Centre is a hub for key Asian suppliers, sales units and distributors in ASEAN. Besides handling stock replenishment and support, it also customises product solutions to meet a variety of demand patterns with reduced delivery times.

More robust customer support with the Asia Services Hub

To further reinforce support to customers across Asia, Leica Geosystems recently set up a service hub in Singapore to provide best-in-class aftermarket service to the customers in the region.

Each Leica Geosystems product has a specific service level concept based on its technical complexity, infrastructure demand and required processes. The Service Hub structure is designed to deliver the highest quality support.

Jeff Zhang, Vice President of Asia operation, “Our team of specialised engineers at the Asia Service Hub play a key role in helping us build and maintain close relationships with our customers. With their expert knowledge and deep understanding of our solutions, they support our customers to keep their equipment running in top condition.”

As more surveying companies become ISO 9001 certified, Leica Geosystems is meeting the increasing demand for confirming the accuracy of equipment by offering internationally acknowledged calibration certificates at different levels: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Blue. 

Leica Geosystems' authorised service centres in Asia provide calibration certificates for total stations, digital levels and GNSS sensors – both for new and used equipment. Gold Calibration Certificates are exclusively issued by Leica Geosystems Accredited Calibration Laboratories in Heerbrugg, Switzerland. 

Pivotal role in boosting Singapore’s global reputation

With its 200-year legacy of creating sophisticated spatial measurement solutions with Swiss technology, Leica Geosystems will continue to play a pivotal role in driving Singapore's integrated digital delivery plan and enhance its reputation as a global geospatial innovation centre.

To learn more about how Leica Geosystems Technologies can accelerate your digital journey, contact us for a discussion.