Kingoya Enterprise launches the EVAC 180 Palm Oil FFB Evacuator at PIPOC Convention in KLCC
08/11/2023
Cultivation of Palm Oil: Industry Challenges, Solutions and Compromises
25/01/2024KINGOYA Enterprise: A Story of Innovation, Partnership and a Passion for Plantations
Written by Girish Nambiar, Edited by Rema Kurup
Beginning January 2024, the IRGA Marketing and Branding Department will feature a series of interviews with the Divisional Heads of the company to give readers a glimpse into the inner workings of the agricultural technology organisation. The series will aim to shed light on the vision that is IRGA Sdn Bhd and how its various operating divisions and their respective heads are coming together to deliver the highest quality of agritech-driven products and services to clients in the agribusiness sector. To spearhead this series, Marketing has selected to highlight and feature KINGOYA Enterprise, the manufacturing division of IRGA Group, and it’s two original founders to drive the momentum of this project, namely Mr. Yama Yeo and Mr. Gopi Nath Nair.
From Roots to Shoots
The KINGOYA Team outside the company's Head Office in Bandar Pinggiran 2, Shah Alam
In 2015, KINGOYA emerged amongst the top 10 winners at the prestigious Enterprise 50 Awards (E50) 2009 in its first attempt at the coveted awards. This is definitely saying something about a company that prides itself on providing “solution-led innovations” and extensive RnD in the main area of their business since its inception in 2000.
Over and above this RnD and innovative manufacturing of agri-tools, with its 25 years of experience servicing agricultural concerns across the equatorial belt, KINGOYA has developed a keen understanding of the needs of workers in the field. This has been what led them to build innovative tools that improve harvester productivity and efficiency as well as being safe and environmentally friendly.
Today it is the fastest growing oil palm harvesting and equipment manufacturer in Malaysia. Founded by Yama Yeo and Gopi Nath Nair in 2000, Kingoya Enterprise set out to assist plantation companies to increase their harvesting efficiency and productivity. To achieve this objective, the company has leveraged and invested in cutting edge technology and continuous research and development. Its core products are its patented harvesting poles, sickle systems, safety products, and wheelbarrows. More recently, the company has ventured into the development of electronic and mechanised equipment in the form of the EVAC 180 and ECUT ACE.
An Innovative Manufacturer of Plantation Tools and Equipment
Starting as a trading company that focused on the import and exports of agricultural equipment for oil palm plantations in Papua New Guinea, KINGOYA soon evolved into manufacturing dedicated harvesting equipment and tools under its own brand, providing innovative solutions to meet the specific needs of oil palm harvesters globally. KINGOYA products are now extensively used in the top 15 palm oil producing nations around the world; covering over 50 markets across Australasia, South-east Asia, Africa, South America, extending back to the home base of Malaysia.
The company has built an image for itself in the industry as an innovator of agricultural tools and equipment. Setting itself apart from the competition, KINGOYA creates products which resolve challenges on plantation operations through specially designed, purpose-built agritools that fill a gap in the industry.
Its Smart Lock Pole System, for instance, allows field workers to easily navigate between different oil palm tree heights without needing to bring the entire pole back down to the ground. A clever offset lock mechanism, designed by Mr Yama, allows the harvester to adjust the pole length to reach the required palm height for effective harvesting, saving precious time and energy. Its compact and sturdy loose fruits collecting basket, on the other hand, enables swift and easy collection of loose fruits from the field and can withstand a great deal of wear and tear. The company has also created its own line of specialised safety equipment which has become an informal industry standard, and which ensures that harvesters are well protected when handling equipment in the field.
The KINGOYA Smart Lock Pole
More recently, with support of its new agritech partner, IRGA, the company has begun venturing into the production of mechanised equipment. Mr Yama and Mr Gopi now lend their considerable experience from their years developing tools for clients in the plantation sector to support IRGA in achieving its vision of delivering end-to-end technologically-driven solutions to the agribusiness sector.
Together with its innovative product comes the promise of delivering top quality and reliable tools and equipment that truly improve the operational efficiency on plantations. Through the efforts of its founding partners, the company has built an image for itself as having a strong ethic of integrity in both its business dealings as well as in the quality of its products. The deliberate efforts made towards ensuring that health and safety targets are achieved is well noted in the industry today, and the company has also become a pioneer of sustainable products, an element that is becoming increasingly looked for by clients in the agricultural sector today.
The Partnership with IRGA
The partnership between IRGA and KINGOYA was officially formed in 2022, when IRGA, a fast-growing agritech enabler, was looking for opportunities to acquire a manufacturing partner to support its product development efforts.
IRGA began with a vision of becoming a globally competitive agritech solutions enabler, one which would deliver technologically-driven agribusiness solutions to clients in the plantations and farming sector. Leveraging on available and emerging technologies in digital and 4IR, the company aims to create a comprehensive ecosystem of solutions for its clients which integrate tools like Digital Data Capture, IoT, Business Analytics, AI, Machine Vision, Robotics and Mechanisation to help clients sustainably boost their operational efficiencies and increase overall productivity levels.
IRGA places a strong emphasis on sustainability and ESG principles, which act as a guiding mechanism underlying all of its product development and service delivery efforts. The company believes that the adoption of the right practices, tools and technologies can help to transition the agricultural sector towards greater levels of operational efficiency, and help to align it with global goals relating to food security and climate change.
The partnership with Kingoya allows IRGA to leverage on the companies 25 years of experience in developing innovative agritools and equipment to clients in the plantation sector. A key factor arising from this relationship, which has formed a core aspect of IRGA’s product development ethos, is to create products that Effectively Resolve Ground Level Challenges in the industry.
In 2018, prior to its acquisition of Kingoya, IRGA Chairman and industry expert M.R. Chandran – during the launch of Kingoya’s new oil palm harvesting electrical cutter system, otherwise known as the ECUT ACE- had urged greater mechanisation of the palm oil sector due to the labour issues plaguing the industry. Chandran, who is also the Advisor to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), had stated that "the writing is on the wall for us to get our act together. The mechanisation of the oil palm sector is not a luxury, but an imperative." As of 2022, there were approximately 382 thousand workers in palm oil plantations in Malaysia, a decrease compared to around 391 thousand workers in the previous year. The oil palm industry in the country experienced labour shortage after the COVID-19 restrictions, which caused the number of foreign workers to decrease. The labour shortage has since eased, however challenges with regards to achieving the necessary productivity levels on plantations to meet global demand for sustainable food sources remain ever present.
Chairman of IRGA, MR Chandran, speaking at the 1st session of the RSPO in 2023
Mechanisation thus plays a significant role in terms of reducing the dependency on foreign labour as well as enhancing the efficiency of agricultural operations and boosting overall productivity. It also holds the potential for supporting the industry to transition towards a high-skilled and high-technology sector, providing employment to Malaysians in a more sophisticated, digitally enabled environment on oil palm plantations.
The IRGA-KINGOYA business strategy thus aims to support these mechanisation needs of the industry by manufacturing products which improve operational activities in myriad ways.
Meet The Founders of KINGOYA Enterprise
The original founders of KINGOYA Enterprise, Mr Yama Yeo and Mr Gopi Nath Nair, have been with the company from its inception, and have been closely involved with its steady growth and evolution over the course of nearly three decades. Mr Yama has been primarily involved in the product development and innovations aspects of the company while Mr Gopi has been more involved with the handling of business concerns and dealings with plantations managers, ground level staff and plantation workers.
We had the opportunity to speak to the two founders, both of whom currently hold positions as Divisional Heads at IRGA after its recent Group-wide consolidation exercise. Mr Yama Yeo is currently the head of IRGA’s Agritools and Trading division while MR Gopi has taken up the positon of Head of Field and After Sales Services at the company. Hailing from a background in advertising and graphics design, Mr Yama's journey into the manufacturing industry began with an initial interest in the trading sector.
We catch up with him at the KINGOYA head office in the industrial district of Shah Alam, to ask him how the company first got off the ground.
Yama Yeo - Head of Agritools Division at IRGA
Considered to be the innovative tinkerer behind the company, Yama Yeo began his career as a graphics designer before venturing into the trade of plantation tools and equipment. We speak to him to find out how his creative inclinations have informed the product development processes at KINGOYA Enterprise and IRGA.
What was your educational background and professional experience prior to working with KINGOYA Enterprise?
After completing my schooling in Melaka in 1969, I moved to Petaling Jaya in 1971 to join Vanto Academy for further studies. At the same time, I was offered a job with Preston Corporation, a publishing company that produced children’s books. Two years later I joined an advertising company as a graphics designer, before joining Longman Malaysia as a Designer-cum-Artist, doing cover and textual designs. I soon started my own advertising agency before splitting with my business partner in 1981 to go into my own desktop publishing & design firm for clients like Longman Malaysia, Oxford University Press and so on.
What are some of your personal interests/passions?
I would say my interests have always circulated mainly around creating and innovating my own designs.
How was KINGOYA Enterprise formed?
Having worked as a graphics designer for several years and after having found some success in that field, I was drawn into the trading sector through the suggestion of a close friend. In 1989, with the encouragement from this friend of mine, and an appetite for exploring new business opportunities, I moved into the new line of work and set up a trading company.
Almost ten years later, in 1998, I named my trading company KINGOYA, after its three partners (Kingston – Gopi – Yama). This Japanese-sounding name was actually influenced by the “Look East Policy” of Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, our Prime Minister, at that time. Also, because the Japanese were noted for being at the top in business and quality.
I credit my partner Kingston with suggesting that our trading company commence the export of agri-related products to Papua New Guinea. That’s more or less when things really started rolling.
I was still operating my design & publishing firm in Petaling Jaya when KINGOYA commenced operations. We started trading with the two big clients which we had in our stables: Hargy Oil Palm and New Britain Oil Palm, receiving orders of RM300 thousand each in billings.
Prior to this, these clients had been purchasing through a third-party Australian company with huge marked-up costs. With KINGOYA, they were only charged a 20-35% mark-up with Credit Terms of 50% upfront and balance 50% upon delivery. But the clients paid in full within two weeks of the order, which came up to a substantial amount, somewhere in excess of RM70,000.
With these first two orders, KINGOYA was able to set up a fully operational manufacturing company. We also subsequently received an official sustainability certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We then put a lot of effort into creating products that strongly emphasised on workers’ health and safety while also ensuring that plantation operators would be able to significantly boost their daily productivity levels.
How did you get your Japanese-sounding name?
Aah! It’s quite an interesting story. Yamaguchi was the shortest Japanese commander-in-chief during the Japanese Occupation in Malaysia. When I was in secondary school, my school principal who taught us mathematics, referred to me as Yamaguchi for being the shortest in my class. That’s how I began using Yama (which means mountain in Japanese) as my pet name.
Yama Yeo working with an administrative staff member at the KINGOYA office in Shah Alam
What is your role at KINGOYA Enterprise?
I was one of the 3 initial partners – Kingston, Gopi and Yama. We worked well together, hinging our efforts by drawing on our individual strengths and expertise – mine being mainly in product innovation as well as securing invaluable contacts for the business.
What are its main product offerings?
KINGOYA started with offering export-import facilities to plantations and agri-related industries. The jobs garnered were, for example, if a plantation customer required 1,300 units of wheelbarrows, KINGOYA would initially source from manufacturers or suppliers in Malaysia and then supply to them. The company has since grown to be a full-fledged manufacturing enterprise. We produce our own custom-built agricultural tools and equipment to service the needs of clients within the plantation sector. We currently have a presence in the top 15 palm oil producing nations globally including Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Sri Lanka, and have served more than 400 plantation companies in 32 countries around the world.
How are KINGOYA’s products unique? What is their competitive advantage?
Our products are designed with the field worker in mind and are built to effectively resolve ground level challenges. I would say there are two main elements we keep in mind when building our products. The first is that they should improve the efficiency of the operation in question, which usually means boosting productivity in some way. The second is that they should be consistently safe and reliable to use.
If you take the EVAC 180 as an example, we found that one of the challenges faced by field workers was in transporting FFB in the field, particularly on inclines and rough terrain, without losing or damaging the fruits, or otherwise exhausting themselves in the process. The EVAC 180, which is essentially a motor-powered wheelbarrow, was therefore designed with a built-in 5-speed motor, which can be triggered with the push of a button, providing an added boost of momentum during the evacuation process.
Product innovation taking place at the IRGA Technology Centre (ITC) in Shah Alam
The increased rate of evacuation and reduced physical burden on the worker greatly support him in carrying out this operation, which through conventional approaches can be incredibly taxing, and lead to extensive periods of downtimes from workers needing to rest. The large carriage and specialised UVPE netting mechanism also effectively support the FFB during transportation, and the large vulcanized tyres allow it to navigate rough terrain. The RnD team spent a considerable amount of time measuring the worker’s heart rates during the evacuation process to ensure that we were in fact enabling a healthier means for carrying out the evacuation process in the field.
Our products are also designed to meet the practical operational needs of our customers as effectively as possible. So, the aforementioned UVPE netting can be replaced without the need to replace the entire product, extending the products overall lifespan considerably. We also adhere to the strictest quality control procedures during manufacturing, using only the highest quality virgin-grade resins for our plastic products, among other considerations.
In order to detract competitors from entering the fray, KINGOYA takes up Patents on all our product inventions. However, by the time the Patents are approved, “Copycats” would still have come in with cheaper, lower quality products which dilute the market. Also, the “Copycats” do not bother to use quality Resin; instead, recycled Resin is used. Naturally, these products come nowhere close to the efficiency and reliability that the genuine article provides.
How has Kingoya Enterprise evolved during your time with the company and how have you been involved with its growth?
Well, you could say in no time, I expanded the company by buying plastic-inject machines within five years and renting two more locations. Additionally, I began patenting of all our products, which contributed to the image the company has created among our clients as being a pioneering innovator of agricultural tools and equipment. More recently, with our consolidation with the agritech solutions company IRGA, we have begun venturing into the production of electrical and mechanised products.
Over the years KINGOYA Enterprise has participated in all the major conferences and events where the key players in the Plantation and Plantation-related industries converge. This is primarily where we have been able to meet new clients and collaborators, and explore new avenues of growth for the company. This has been and, still is, our main strategy which we utilize to garner strong Branding and Market Awareness. As of 2023, our business is 90% overseas based and 10% localised here in Malaysia.
To what extent does innovation drive the company’s product development efforts?
We’ve always placed a strong emphasis on RnD. Over the years, our earnings as a company have been consistently put back towards RnD initiatives so as to continuously improve and upgrade our product offerings. We also closely adhere to Government requirements and specifications during this process. Over time, when it came to the development for our motorised cutters, for instance, we swapped out the engine section which operates on petrol and replaced it with Lithium-Ion batteries, which on top of reducing the vibration of the device and improving its precision, also made our products ESG friendly and sustainable.
I would say that the underlying, creative streak within me constantly drives the innovation and exploration of possibilities to improve our products. The EVAC 180, our electrically powered and motorised wheelbarrow, for instance, was simply the next creative step for the Netbarrow, which itself was built by considering the many ways a simple wheelbarrow design could be improved upon. We have to ask ourselves at every step of the way, “How can this product be improved to most effectively resolve the challenge at hand?” As an example of this, we had to get around the problem of rusting in a wheelbarrow, and when the idea of using a high-quality netting fabric came into play, it was simply the right fit from both a design and engineering standpoint. So, there will always be a consistent attempt and effort to innovate and create as the situation arises.
We also select our materials with great care, balancing quality with the practicalities of engineering, making sure that our products are able to perform to the highest possible level of efficiency. The ECUT ACE is a revolutionary piece of equipment, not just because it harvests from oil palms faster and with greater precision than through conventional harvesting, but it also does this with zero carbon emissions put into the atmosphere. This is something that has been unheard of in the industry thus far.
The KINGOYA ECUT ACE
How does Kingoya Enterprise leverage on digital, mechanised and automation technologies to resolve challenges in the plantation sector?
Our product innovations efforts generally revolve around targeting specific challenges within the industry to be resolved. This means having a firm understanding of what’s happening in the field and on the ground, to gauge how our technologies can best support these operations in terms of improving their efficiency.
As I mentioned, we have been gradually transitioning towards integrating digital and mechanised technologies into our product development initiatives, and exploring the most cost-effective and practical ways in which they can add real value to our clients’ operations.
With the ECUT ACE, we wanted to boost harvesting productivity levels while at the same time lightening the physical burden on the field worker. We also wanted to reduce the environmental impact normally associated with diesel powered machines. So, we built a full electrically powered harvesting cutter using the most durable materials available which features an ergonomic backpack. The device rapidly prunes fronds and harvests FFB, thereby boosting productivity, however it does this without pumping carbon into the atmosphere, thanks to its Lithium-Ion battery. The ergonomic design of the backpack also makes it much easier for workers to handle and manoeuvre the device in the field. And so, what we have is a highly efficient harvesting tool that is also ESG friendly.
The ECUT Electrical Harvesting Cutter being tested in the field by a plantation worker
These are the kinds of advances that we’ve been able to make using the most effective technologies available today. Still, no matter how advanced we get, we always go back to the practicalities of resolving ground level challenges.
Where do you see the company heading with regards to its manufacturing, product development, and R&D initiatives over the next 5-10 years?
I think the direction that we’ve been heading in is towards more efficiency, productivity and sustainability overall. We want to continue to deliver products to our clients which effectively support them in reaching higher productivity targets while making the work physically less demanding for the field worker, and less taxing on the environment.
With the support of IRGA’s engineering capabilities, I think we will see our products moving gradually towards increased levels of automation, and with artificial intelligence and digital connectivity playing a bigger role. We’re currently looking into upgrading our products with more advanced features, adding in machine vision and intelligence components to improve in-field data capture.
A successor to the ECUT ACE which is currently in developmental stages, for instance, will be able to count FFB bunches and grade the quality of crops during harvesting operations. We believe features such as these will go a long way towards improving the efficiency of these operations by synthesising data and using it to make the necessary adjustments.
And of course, we’re always on the lookout for new, innovative ways in which we can improve operational practices on plantations. Something that we currently have in the works is a machine that collects loose fruits from the ground using a pressurized vacuum system. We’re keen to see where this particular innovation cycle will take us moving forwards.
Gopi Nath Nair, Head of Field and After Sales Services at IRGA
Mr. Gopi Nath Nair began his career as a plantation manager, however a chance meeting with Mr Yama gave him the opportunity to embark on his very own business enterprise endeavour. We speak to Mr. Gopi about the experience he’s gained working closely with plantation operators and field workers, and how he has been involved with the growth and development of the company over the past 25 years.
What is your educational background and field of expertise?
I did my tertiary education in England in the Royal Agricultural College, UK. My plantation interest and background started while I was young, with close family members being involved in estates and watching what they did.
How has your career progressed with regards to your involvement in the plantation industry?
On returning from the UK, I joined Harrison and Crossfield in 1981s and watched it getting “Malaysianised”. I worked for fifteen years in Harrison and Crossfield, gaining the required experience. In 1995, I joined SIPEF, a Belgian company in Papua New Guinea and worked there for eight years. It was here that I met Mr. Yama and that’s how our close friendship brought us together to start our own company later down the line.
In 2003 to 2005, the business was moved to Indonesia, starting in Pekan Bahru, Sumatra. Soon, we expanded the business into Kalimantan, getting involved with the forestry plantation sector there, where I started as an Assistant Manager and went on to become a Senior Manager, controlling around twenty to thirty acres of plantations. I eventually rose to the rank of Regional Controller over what you could say was a relatively short span of time.
My interest, however, in terms of working a managerial role on plantations began to wane after some time, which was right around when I Mr Yama and I decided to start our own plantation tools trading company.
Mr. Gopi receiving an award during the signing of an exclusive distributorship with FELDA in 2017
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your time managing plantation operations?
I would say I’ve faced different challenges depending on the particular region I happened to be in. My skills and expertise have tended towards dealing with the management of field workers though primarily, so I suppose I could mention some of the issues I’ve faced in this regard.
Working with different groups of individuals, oftentimes from vastly different cultures, can definitely be both educational and challenging. In Indonesia, for instance, I found that the workers there were generally small built but very knowledgeable. While they weren’t the most physically capable, they were able to learn the necessary skills quickly and were always willing to try a new approach.
Conversely, in places like Africa and Papua New Guinea, the workers were fairly big sized blokes who were able to climb trees with astounding skill and deftness. I had to take a bit more time to train them in the use of the poles, though. The workers in South America tended to be quite a resourceful bunch and picked things up without the need for too much prodding on my part.
So, generally, the process would involve navigating the different intricacies involved with each particular operation and supporting them in better carrying out their daily duties, which requires spending a lot of time with the workers in the field.
How has KINGOYA grown over the past 25 years to be an internationally recognised brand?
In the beginning, Mr. Yama and I managed to garner business from plantations that were sourcing products using third party Australian companies and paying inflated prices. In 1995, when the oil palm trees were due for replanting, we succeeded in getting stocks from Malaysia direct from source at much reduced costs. Mr. Yama had initiated a lot of work in this area during his stint in Sime Darby. Thus, we captured the whole market in Papua New Guinea with good quality products made in Malaysia. This helped in the replanting of whole estates and our business began growing from there.
Mr. Yama and I worked as a team, complimenting each other’s skills and expertise in two different areas of the company’s development: Yama concentrated on Product Development (Tools and Machinery), RnD and Innovation; while I got involved in On-site Plantation Challenges of Workers; specifically, the challenges faced by workers in different, palm oil growing countries along the Equatorial Belt.
Apart from Malaysia, I sourced and expanded the business to Australasia, South America, Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. We currently have a presence in virtually all of the major palm oil producing nations in the world, and our brand is trusted and recognised internationally as a leading producer of innovative plantation tools and equipment.
Mr Gopi demonstrating the use of Kingoya Agritools to field workers on a plantation in Andhra Pradesh, India
How you have been involved in the management of interests with respect to field workers?
The time I’ve spent in the field has allowed me to closely study the life of plantation workers and the challenges they face during work. I happened to be involved in the industry when the previous Indian migrant laborers were leaving Malaysia and Indonesian workers were beginning to replace them on the plantations. Soon, Malaysia passed the requirement to bring in additional workers from Bangladesh, many of whom are still working in the industry today.
The various changes that have taken place have required adjustments to made in terms of managing the workers interests. There is a need to understand their unique circumstances, and accommodate the nuances that come with dealing with their particular countries policies. These can pose considerable challenges, particularly when there isn’t a clear structure in place for international labour exchange between the two countries.
So, as I mentioned, a large portion of my time was dedicated towards understanding the concerns of individual workers and finding ways to help them to improve their work culture and techniques. I did so by mingling with them with as much kindness as I could afford while being strict, but yet, distancing myself and not getting too involved in their private lives. It required a great degree of balance and psychology to handle the various situations in the different countries!
The Estate Managements themselves gave the workers support in terms of housing and quarters, creches, schools and more. Workers were also allocated gardens by the Estate Management to cultivate their own food.
How do the challenges faced by workers in the field inform KINGOYA’s product development efforts?
I was able to support KINGOYA’s product development initiatives by providing the necessary information from the ground as to the challenges faced by workers in the field. This allowed the company to develop tools that made the workers tasks less physically demanding, improving both their health and safety, and enabling them to increase their daily wages in the process.
If you take the Kingoya Smart Lock Pole for instance, we designed it to be able to easily harvest from both tall and short palm trees. A simple offset lock mechanism allows the pole's height to be adjusted mid-harvest, saving plenty of time and energy while increasing the daily rate of harvesting. Similarly, the Kingoya Netbarrow, which is a specialized wheelbarrow that features a unique UVPE netting design, allows the harvester to carry more FFB per load, removing the need for multiple trips to be made. At the same time, the UVPE netting acts as a sieving mechanism, removing unwanted debris from the load which ensures that only clean loose fruits reach the mill for processing. This leads to a much higher quality of palm oil being produced. The netting also prevents the bruising of FFB.
The KINGOYA EVAC 180
Both of these products weigh in the needs of the field worker to a large degree and are built to essentially make the process in questions less cumbersome and taxing, and therefore more efficient.
Then you have the EVAC 180 FFB evacuator. While we designed the EVAC with a built in 5-speed motor to increase the rate of evacuation, we were also cognisant of the physical demand that is put on field workers when transporting FFB around in the field. The motor was installed so that the worker would be able to trigger it to provide a boost of momentum when needed, a feature which is especially handy when pushing loads up steep inclines on estate land.
We took the EVAC through extensive trials, measuring the heart rate of the operator during multiple transportation runs. We wanted to get their heart rates down, because this would mean that they wouldn't get exhausted from the transportation process as easily. Not only does this improve efficiency by reducing the downtimes normally associated with workers needing to rest, but it also improves the overall health and safety standards for workers in the field.
So, it’s fair to say that our products place a strong emphasis on improving the working livelihood of plantation workers. We want them to be comfortable with using our products, because this invariably translates into better performance levels and therefore higher productivity. And it also lends towards the social element of present-day ESG considerations, which is becoming an increasingly prominent concern for plantation operations, particularly in the palm oil industry.
How do you see the company developing over the next 5-10 years?
In the long term, Mr. Yama and I see greater integration of 4IR based software and hardware to further increase productivity and workflow in IRGA, as well as to continue to inform our product development processes.
Many plantations are becoming increasingly interested in investing in robotics and automation to upscale workers. At the moment, drones are used for mapping and very minimally, for fertilizing. In the long run we see these types of technologies playing an increasing role in the field, further supporting workers in the execution of their duties, and transitioning the industry towards a high-technology and high-skilled sector.
Over the next 10 years, we will likely see jobs in the agricultural industry receive greater attention, as digital and hardware solutions become more integrated into operations. The old days of the “Dirty, Dangerous and Demeaning” imagery will be long gone, replaced by a job sector that is looked upon as having a more modern level of value and integrity.
Mr Yama and Mr Gopi at the 2017 PIPOC Convention in KLCC
How does KINGOYA Enterprise support IRGA’s long term goals of achieving global food security and sustainability targets for clients at the international level?
With the current underlying challenges of “Food Security and Climate Change” being prevalent, IRGA has a long-term vision of supporting the industry to better align itself with these outcomes while keeping a firm footing on their business bottom lines. The next 10 years will pose greater challenges to food providers worldwide in this regard, and so I would say that KINGOYA hopes to support these goals through our product development initiatives by delivering products that create an impact in areas where it makes the most difference.
By combining our strengths in developing innovative agritool products that effectively resolve ground level challenges with IRGA’s strong background in research analytics and engineering capabilities, I think we can develop products and solutions that are truly transformative, and really support our clients in in the agribusiness sector to boost the performance levels and meet the growing global demand for high quality food products.
We believe the agricultural sector is headed towards a major transition where it will become a high-tech industry, one where field workers are equipped with advanced skills and technological capabilities which allow them to carry out their jobs with maximum efficiency. KINGOYA intends to support this vision by continuing to develop products that are innovative and revolutionary, and which really move the needle in terms of both higher levels of productivity and better sustainability.
We want to continue to build tools that make it easier for the worker to carry out their daily tasks and improve the operational efficiency on plantation operations. By ensuring that our products adhere to a high standard of health and safety, continuing to leverage on the most effective available technologies to resolve ground level challenges, and maintainting the consistent level of quality that has become snynonymous with our brand, we can help to keep the industry progressing sustainably forward and alligned with evolving food security and climate-change related goals.
As for now, we’ll continue to explore all available avenues for improving our products to better meet the needs of our client’s operational challenges on the ground.
Conclusion
We would like to wish Mr. Yama and Mr. Gopi the utmost success in their ongoing efforts at KINGOYA Enterprise, and are confident they will continue to lend their considerable experience and expertise in supporting IRGA to realise its vision of transforming the agricultural industry in the years to come.
Stay tuned for the next part in this ongoing special IRGA series where we speak to the operational heads of IRGA’s Digital and Engineering division to better understand how they are developing cutting edge hardware and software solutions to revolutionise the plantation sector.
