Industrial workplaces: Going beyond work to building communities

The Woodlands Experimental Zone introduced in 2017 has been offering greater flexibility for businesses to innovate and create more open and collaborative environments. We catch up with Jack Goh, Managing Director (Global Supply), SICK Product Centre Asia, the global producer of sensors and sensor solutions for industrial automation applications, on why locating here has opened new possibilities for the firm.

Tell us more about SICK’s business focus for the Singapore office and why is Singapore chosen as the firm’s headquarters for the region? 

Jack: When we started the office in Singapore in 2009, we only had four engineers including myself. We launched our first product in 2010 and today, we have 250 staff here. The Singapore office is part of the global SICK Group where we develop sensor solutions used in factories for a wide range of industries from consumer goods to electronics, logistics and automative. As SICK’s Regional Product Centre, our Singapore office focuses mainly on research and development (R&D) efforts while our production plant is in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Jack Goh at the SICK office in Woodlands North Coast.

The products that we create here are sold worldwide. Singapore was chosen because it is very easy to do business here. We have access to a strong pool of engineering talents and enjoy good support from the government in connecting us to a larger ecosystem of potential partners and collaborators.  

Why did SICK choose to relocate to the experimental zone in Woodlands at 1 North Coast in 2021? 

Jack: Our production space requirements for prototyping are likely to be quite fixed over the years, but we will continue to grow our R&D, sales services, and other office functions as we deepen our capabilities and expertise in the field. Thus, the Woodlands Experimental Zone which allows for 70 per cent of non-manufacturing activities better supports our business functions and potential future growth. The overall environment at Woodlands North Coast with a new generation of offices as compared to our previous location in an industrial area also offered the opportunity for us to project the right kind of image and atmosphere. This in turn helps to attract and retain our talents.

The North Coast building in the Woodlands experimental zone.

The expansive and flexible space in this new location enabled us to intentionally plan and design for more open and collaborative spaces which is crucial for our business. We could ensure that our R&D teams are located close to each other, together with our product managers for ease of working and better collaborations and synergies. 

In our previous location where we occupied an industrial building zoned as Business 2 from 2014 to 2021, we initially took up 25,000 square feet of space where a large part of the space was for a production plant to develop prototypes and a warehouse for distribution. Each year, we found the need to expand but could not adapt the spaces fully to create open collaborative spaces or to organise and place our different synergistic functions and teams together. Today, we have taken up about 80,000 square feet of space in our current location.

In addition, given the proximity of Woodlands to Johor Bahru in Malaysia, it makes it easier for our engineers to travel to our factories every day. 

How is your current building more conducive in creating a collaborative environment compared to a typical industrial building? 

Jack: For collaboration to take place, people need to feel relaxed. If you are under stress, it can be difficult to be truly creative. In a typical industrial building where production work is located close to other functions, it creates a different kind of vibe where things need to keep running. There is no break, and you hear the booming sounds of production all the time. If you want to encourage a greater exchange of ideas and for people to feel inspired, you need to create the right kind of atmosphere for it. 

One of the rooms SICK staff can use for discussions with a view to its green surroundings.

Here, we have deliberately created different kinds of open, social spaces and creative corners. The atmosphere is very light and calm. People have the freedom to work in any space and do not need to sit at their desk. As the right teams and functions are located close to each other, we are seeing more spontaneous discussions and interactions. If you need some privacy, we have private pods. If you want a different view, we have a creative room with a view to the green surroundings outside. 

Play stations at SICK office that are well-used by its staff. Image: SICK.  

In addition to these social spaces, we have a range of recreational facilities available like a gym and running track. We also tap on nearby facilities like the badminton court in a school close by for staff to use. To foster team building, our staff often play table tennis or table soccer together. Some even discuss their work issues while playing. Such activities foster stronger team bonding, which then help in generating high performance teams. 

What are some shifts in people’s expectations that will influence the way we design and plan for the future of our workplaces? What more do you hope to see in industrial workspaces like yours?

Jack: I think our staff, especially the younger generation, are increasingly expecting more lifestyle and social amenities and options to be offered in their workplaces, whether this is within the building or in the immediate surrounding area. 

For example, some of our staff like to do gardening. Perhaps we can look at turning our rooftop into a garden for our staff to tend to. We could even have a garden as part of the building that can attract staff to hang out here too. Such gardens can really transform the space and how people feel such that the place becomes an industrial garden space and not just an industrial park. It feels more like a living space than just an office space. 

It would be great to explore creating more common public spaces that can be available for the companies to access and use. We could book and use these spaces to hold community and social events. Sometimes, we hold garage sales for our staff and some of these events could also be open to residents living nearby. Having such spaces could encourage companies to reach out to and support local communities in the area. 

In addition to social and lifestyle amenities, what are other elements that are important in supporting your business? 

Jack: It is important to try and build communities of diverse companies around our business and industrial area. Companies these days no longer can exist alone. Having a lively and vibrant community in the vicinity helps to inspire new ideas and collaborations. 

The current climate has now shifted from a competitive focus to a more collaborative strategy. We have active collaborations with companies located close by such as with Accenture and Illumina where we are creating solutions and products of value to our collaborators in addressing their key challenges and problems. 

The Woodlands experimental zone is part of the larger Woodlands Regional Centre in the north, set to become the next-generation manufacturing hub.

About the Woodlands Experimental Zone
The Woodlands Experimental Zone is located within the Woodlands Regional Centre, one of the many regional centres across Singapore planned to provide jobs closer to home as part of the larger decentralisation strategy initiated since the 1990s. The Woodlands North Coast building in the experimental zone is zoned as light industrial. It is the first-of-its-kind pilot managed by JTC that offers more flexible industrial spaces, supporting the co-location of knowledge-intensive and service-oriented activities alongside manufacturing operations. 70 per cent of the industrial space can be used for non-manufacturing, service-oriented activities such as product design, R&D, after sales services, prototyping etc. For other industrial areas zoned either Business 1 for light and clean industrial uses or Business 2 for heavier industries that have greater environmental impact, only 40 per cent of spaces within these industrial zonings can be used for ancillary purposes.