SINGAPORE: After seeing its sales revenue plummet by 40 per cent in 2019 due to protracted international trade tensions, Certact Engineering was bracing for even more pain this year with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The local firm, which was established in 1968, quickly got down to action by redeploying its manpower but the real test came in April when the “circuit breaker” was imposed.“That was when we had to increase production but one of our suppliers handling the secondary process for us was not allowed to operate. So we decided to quickly start our own process and production line.”
“I was very worried initially because of the trade war and then with the pandemic, I thought we will be in deep trouble,” said Ms Eng. With the tourism industry at a standstill, Nam Ho Travel is gearing up to launch virtual tours and an online store for consumers to purchase “trending” snacks and produce from overseas.
Meanwhile, Nam Ho’s inbound travel arm, Nam Ho DMC, has turned more than 10 of its mini vans, which used to ferry tourists around Singapore, into school buses and delivery vans since March. “Our drivers went from sending passengers to picking up school children and doing deliveries for logistics and shopping platforms. Our staff, who used to be marketing travel products, are now sourcing for trending items that we can feature on our online platform, helping with packaging and doing deliveries.