GEORGE TOWN: When Chu Jenn Weng was given a used single-lens reflex (SLR) camera for his birthday during his second year studying electrical and electronics engineering at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in the early 1990s, little did he know that it would spur his interest in machine vision and lead to the setting-up of public listed ViTrox Corp Bhd.

Machine vision is a branch of engineering that uses computer vision in manufacturing processes mostly related to precision and quality control. The machine vision system can be programmed to detect processes at micron precision.

Taking to photography like a duck to water, Chu’s fascination grew and he was inspired during his third year when he learnt that cameras could be installed on to machinery to aid precise judgment in manufacturing processes.

That was how a hobby led him into manufacturing. Like the success stories of many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Penang, Chu’s enterprise had humble beginnings.

After leaving USM, he worked as an instrumentation engineer in a multinational company (MNC) where he initiated and led the in-house four-person machine vision team for more than five years. During his stint there, he was involved in the research and development of machine vision systems, system setup and support, and setting objectives and development plans for the team.

It was the first and last salaried job he held. Chu left to start his own venture in machine vision.

His office then was the rented room where he had lived since his student days.  But Chu, who is ViTrox managing director drew inspiration from Hewlett-Packard (HP) — he believed that if a company which started in a garage could become a global giant, he could also succeed with determination, perseverance and willpower.

His first employee who started in 1999 was computer science graduate Siaw Kok Tong, his junior at USM and now an executive director at ViTrox. They were joined by another USM computer science graduate, Yeoh Shih Hoong, who is also an executive director of the company now.

“Each of us came up with some money, even borrowed from friends to raise RM20,000 to buy tools and software to start the business.

“Luckily for us, the same year, there was a local semi-conductorcompany which was looking for a machine vision solution to improve its quality control and gave us the opportunity to prove our worth.

“We worked day and night writing and developing the software which took us more than a month.

“Then we were given only three days to test and install it on their machinery or else we would have to get out.

“We worked till 4am on the production floor with hardly three hours sleep each day for three days, and we persevered.

“On the third day, we managed to make it work,” Chu said.

This led to the company immediately placing an order for a system, and a few months later, another order followed.

The soft-spoken, youthful-looking Chu said this was the breakthrough for the trio and they have not looked back since.

In 2000, an ex-colleague of Chu’s from the MNC who had started an automation company to build semiconductor test handlers used by the electronic, microelectronic and integrated chips (ICs) industries also wanted to install a vision system. This Chu and his partners successfully implemented.

Chu said this ex-colleague and now customer then managed to convince his own customers buying test handlers from him to install the vision system for their machines, something which augured well for Chu and his partners.

The automation house has itself become very successful and is today one of the world leaders in making test handlers, Chu said.

In 2001, a year after starting the business from scratch, sales reached RM3 million. Less than 10 years later in 2010, the company achieved RM87 million in sales. Now, ViTrox’s clientele has grown to encompass not just local companies but electronic manufacturing services companies and MNCs.

From a backroom operation, Chu and his two partners moved to Krystal Point in Bayan Baru in 2000 where they rented a 1,000 sq ft office.

However, the firm soon outgrew the new premises and in 2003, ViTrox moved to a 5,000sq ft-semi-detached factory in Bayan Lepas.

The business continued to prosper and two years later, the company bought a 1.2ha site in Bayan Lepas where the 30,000 sq ft ViTrox Innovation Centre was completed in 2006.

Due to the rapid expansion of the company, even that space proved too small and the business unit had to move out to rented premises nearby.

A four-storey building with 120,000 sq ft built-up area is now under construction at the same site. Once completed in September, it will house ViTrox research and development centre on the first and second floors, with the third floor dedicated to ViTrox learning and development research lab. Manufacturing will be located on the ground floor. The plant and equipment involves investment of RM45 million.

According to Chu, the new facility can house at least 500 employees.

ViTrox, which was listed on Mesdaq in 2005 and Bursa Malaysia in 2009, currently has 180 employees, 80% of whom are engineers from various disciplines.

It also has sales and support offices in China, Taiwan and Thailand and works with sales partners around the world. ViTrox has an R&D centre in Colorado, US, with three employees who work with US and Taiwanese customers.

ViTrox has to date installed more than 8,000 vision systems in 13 countries. Half of its 80 customers are from Malaysia.

From supplying machine vision systems to the semiconductor sector, ViTrox now has clients from numerous industries.

Besides providing complete vision inspection solutions for semiconductor and opto-electronic components tests and packaging operations, it also conducts automated board inspection which offers high-speed inspection of print circuit board assemblies. The company also designs, manufactures and markets electronics communication systems for the machine automation community which use the products for data communication and motion control.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, March 28, 2011.