October 01, 2009

DARREN Chang walks the talk. He says that you must start from ground up to understand a product or industry. His own career started as a lab chemist for a rubber company. On the strength of this 'training', he went on to found Acumen Engineering Pte Ltd, a trading and distribution company, which deals with plastic resins. 'I have always wanted my own company,' he says by way of explanation.

When it was launched in April 2000, Acumen Engineering had a team of two. Today, it has operations in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and Indonesia. The company also has seven sales offices and six warehousing locations while employing more than 30 people in the region.'It takes some time before a business takes off,' says Mr Chang.