Hyflux Limited and Water Sustainability - Treading Blue Oceans

In 2009, Hyflux Ltd (Hyflux) was one of Asia's leading environmental water treatment companies with operations in Singapore, China, the Middle East, North Africa and India. Specialising in membrane technologies, Hyflux provided integrated solutions for municipal water treatment, industrial manufacturing processes, recycling of spent oils and solvents, as well as production of bio-based specialty materials. The brainchild of entrepreneur Olivia Lum, who in 1989 left a comfortable job with a multinational pharmaceutical company in Singapore to start a business in water treatment systems, Hyflux was an early mover in the early 1990s into China's nascent industrial water treatment market. After Hyflux moved into the municipal water treatment market in 2000 sales revenue jumped from S$17.7 million that year to S$554 million in 2008. The 2008 global recession affected Hyflux's revenue from the industrial segment but the municipal business remained strong as the company succeeded in securing large-scale high value projects in North Africa. The challenge for Hyflux was to rapidly grow it human capital and organizational capabilities to match its aggressive market penetration strategies. In the past, Hyflux had leveraged on innovative technological development and entrepreneurial drive to grow its business. In 2009, as a player in the global water treatment business Hyflux had to prove that it had what it took to execute these green field municipal projects and that it could compete with other global water treatment companies in these new markets