Organization: SnT Global Sdn. Bhd.
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: David Wong, Group CEO & President
Date: August 2006

SnT (SnT Global Sdn. Bhd.) is a Malaysian based e-fulfilment provider that uses its customer contact center along with ground assets to provide one of the few 4th party logistics provider services in South East Asia that integrates both the voice soft and the hard service aspect (3rd party logistics- warehouse and transportation services) of the supply chain seamlessly.

Set up in 1999, David Wong's plan was for SnT Global to be the first Malaysian company to focus on the provision of logistics services for e-commerce companies. The company now aims to establish itself as a leading e-fulfilment hub for ASEAN and has backed its fulfilment solutions with an integrated logistic infrastructure comprising of customer care and fulfillment contact center , trucks and warehouses in Malaysia , Singapore , Thailand and China .

SnT Global is backed by venture capital companies JAFCO Asia , Temasek and AsiaTech Ventures. SnT Global was also the first incubatee accepted into IBM's e-Incubator program for promising technology start-ups. SnT Global's clientele include big names like Dell, Epson, NEC, Samsung , Philips, Malaysian Newsprint ,Sony and CNI.

We have followed SnT Global since 2002 and knew about its humble beginnings starting with 3 people to over 350 employees in 2006. With Malaysia’s economy moving to being more service based, SnT Global is riding the crest of the growing Asian service industry. This is illustrated by being ranked 50th on Deloitte’s 2004 500 fastest growing companies in Asia with 630% growth rate over 3 years.

It’s safe to say SnT Global is a rising star, some may say it is a flying star.

David Wong CEO & President of SnT Global is a B.Com(Hons) graduate of Dalhousie University in Canada and returned to Malaysia in the 1980’s to work. Malaysia is quite unique, and an often-quoted statistic is that over 90% of their overseas graduates return to Malaysia to work, making its labor pool of fluent English speaking graduates quite deep. There are few places like Malaysia that have a Chinese, Indian and English speaking language labor pool, coupled with Western educational backgrounds and experience.

The question in North America is why have we not heard more about Malaysia and its capabilities as an outsourcing, IT or logistics hub? That may change in the near future.

David Wong is also the Deputy Chairman of PIKOM the leading IT organization in Malaysia, as well as one of the principal founders of Outsourcing Malaysia. Outsourcing Malaysia is Malaysia’s answer to India’s NASSCOM. A private sector- driven organization whose mandate is to develop and promote the “supply side” interests of outsourcing companies domestically and abroad.

From a leadership context you have illustrated exceptional leadership qualities in starting various organizations. Along the way were there those that did not “buy” into your vision? What is the best approach for overcoming these challenges?

Its utmost important that the management team shares the same vision and are well equipped with the necessary knowledge and skill to execute the plan. In order to have convincing “vision”, we will validate the plan with right market facts and information . Thereafter , we chart both short and long term strategies to achieve the goals .Vision , goals and strategies have to be well communicated to all levels to be effective .
I do make a lot of decisions based on gut feel too. If such , I normally will seek feedback and concurrence from close associates before I move ahead . .

SnT Global started with 3 employees in 1999 and now has over 350 employees, what were some of the factors or key decisions that you made to achieve this level of growth?

A few key decisions we made which not only enabled us to survive the dot-com bust but to grow and be profitable today are :

- Raising enough funds to execute long term plan . This was one of the main reason many had failed as the tap dried out .
- Change business model . When we realize e-commerce market was not taking off , we transformed ourselves from e-fulfillment ASP model to a full fledge e-fulfillment Outsourcing company targeting at brick & mortars .
- Hiring the right people
- Go Regional

SnT Global operates regionally in Asia. Does SnT Global have any plans in offering its services to the North American market in the future?

80% of worldwide offshore outsourcing demand comes from North America It is a market we cannot ignore . Our strength lies in our fulfillment capabilities in Asia and we intend to promote these services to prospects from North America in future .
4. SnT Global has a number of high profile clients it serves in Asia, such as NEC and Readers Digest. What was the key in winning over high profile clients as a young company?
The key factor in winning a number of such strategic deals are due to our ability to be creative and innovate solutions which brings quantum leap results . We have a strong talent pool backed by solid shareholders to be able to deliver desired results to our customers . Our offerings are also unique and we are very customer driven .For example , our overseas expansion plan is very much driven by customers. .

Outsourcing Malaysia officially launched in April 2006 how does its mandate differ from PIKOM the other IT organization in Malaysia?

PIKOM is an institutional supporter of OM . It is also the secretariat of OM . PIKOM’s mandate covers the entire ICT industry whereas OM is very focus in developing and promoting the SSO(Shared Services and Outsourcing ) industry . SSO had been earmarked as a key industry by the government recently and this is evident from the tremendous support given so far .