Our History
At the age of 19, Mr. Soo Kok San started venturing into the lathe machine business with his friend(s), back in the year 1973. Mr. Soo set up the business from scratch and made use of his house in Buntong Village as his business premises. Back in those days,though there was a steady and growing market for lathe machines, the market for repairing lathe machines was limited. Mr. Soo’s revenue was far from profitable and had to live from hand to mouth from any daily earnings he got from repairing lathe machines.
Kok San could not afford any mistakes at such a critical stage. It was a difficult time and the only option for survival was to work his utmost best to meet the demands and requirements of his customers and clients. Whether it was repair or production of lathe machines Mr. Soo worked everything to perfection in terms of their strength and quality and held no compromise when it came to the functioning of lathe machines. Had Mr. Soo done anything less or even made any miscalculations and incurred an untimely loss of his clients’ trust as a result, he would not have had the chance today to see his business philosophy of excellence and efforts finally paid off after 36 years.
In 1976, that is 3 years after he started the business with his friend(s), they took the first step in further expanding their business of producing and repairing machinery.
In 1983 he set up Kok San Engineering Works on his own. Although a brief economic crisis loomed between 1984 and 1985, it did not significantly affect the functioning of the company, probably due to the fact that the machinery dealt with were meant for the agricultural sector – a sector which was somewhat recession-proof at that time.
As a direct result, his business improved and Mr. Soo procured a new factory site in Ipoh’s Silibin industrial Area to expand his business. After a new factory was built in 1993, Kok San Engineering Works Sdn. Bhd. was incorporated to prepare for future development. Other than the existing lathe machine business, it ventured into reconstructing machinery and producing greenhouse accessories. These improved changes and efforts have continually bolstered up the company’s development.
One major highlight of the company’s product portfolio is the Coconut Milk Extractor which the company’s unique invention, and serves 4 functions: peeling the coconut’s external fibre; breaking its husk; crushing its kernel; and squeeze the coconut milk. It is made from stainless steel and is a special product of the company. The Sugar Cane Extractor is one of the most sought—after machinery in Malaysia, and it explains why it is one of the items which Mr. Soo has continuously upgraded since he started his career.
Producing greenhouse accessories was another main function of the company. It all began more than 10 years ago when Mr. Soo used to visit Cameron Highlands frequently to install water pumps and electricity generators for the farmers. When he noticed that all the vegetables and flowers were merely planted in open air, he conceived the idea of building green house to improve their yield and quality.
Mr. Soo and his friends went to Taiwan to study and acquire the related knowledge and technique in greenhouse plantation. Upon returning to Malaysia, he improved on these techniques by converting the green house accessories from the former simple structure to the more advanced gutter structure in order to overcome the obstacles in construction. The rest is history.
This new technique proved to be very effective and popular in Cameron Highlands and ultimately brought greater success to the company. Mr. Soo frankly opined that success in the business of producing greenhouse accessories is dependent upon a of combination of factors like opportunity, timing, place and human relations. He said much opportunity and place are owed to Cameron Highlands while human relations may be credited to PCCCl Vice President Mr. Liew Chee Ming, whom Mr. Soo had to thank for his guidance. Mr. Liew found the 5 metre bending machines which caused a big leap in building the green house gutters and led the company to take off to higher ground. It was another major and significant factor which spurred the rapid development of the building process.
Ever since, KSE enjoyed rapid progress and its business was booming. The company had, in fact, been investing heavily in build-up and development of machinery especially computerized CNC lathe machine, until the onset economic crisis in 1997 which had a significantly effect on its bottom line. Steadily, it managed to turn the tide and in 2003 the company finally made its break through a strategic dual investment in machinery repair and trading.
On top of an additional new factory at the original site, a shop house in lpoh old town was purchased for the purpose of direct trading. The major operations of the new company was managed by his son. Under the joint functions of its new business portfolio, namely, engineering repair works and trading, the company expanded rapidly. In 2005, a neighbouring factory lot at the original site was bought and the construction of a fourth factory began the following year.
Kok San has always won the hearts and minds of its clients through its trustworthiness, perseverance and reputation; and these are the same qualities that helped it tide over the economic crisis in 2008. It was opportune that he bought a building at Jalan Lahat to exhibit his food processing machines like soy bean grinder, flour mixer, oven, fish ball foaming machine, noodle processing machine, baking machine, etc.
With the help of his eldest son and second son, Mr. Soo Kam Soon and Mr. Soo Kam Sing respectively, Mr. Soo have successfully pushed the company to new and greater heights and after many years in business, it will have marked another milestone when it finally arrived at the new era of the 2010s, and beyond.