Here’s why Earth Arts is one of the most preferred stone suppliers in Singapore

The 18-year-old company has proven its customer-centric philosophy.

As the design business quietly involved in Singapore’s 21st Century journey, Earth Arts, a stone mason, has already nailed significant CBD contracts and enjoys a healthy pipeline. 

The organisation’s ability to weather and survive the economic turmoil of the last fifteen years is due to the business’s customer-centric philosophy, a philosophy that is evidenced by a growing number of industry accolades, the most significant of which are: Enterprise 50 Award, 2013; the Green Mark Gold Award for an Existing Building, 2013; Circle of Excellence Award – Singapore’s Top 5 Building Materials Firm, 2012/2011 (a major feather in the cap, given the competitiveness of Singapore’s cut-throat building and construction sector); Most Promising SME Award, 2007; Singapore SME 1000 Company – Yearly Award; PUB Award – Water Efficiency Building, 2012 and Singapore Health Award – Bronze, 2012.

Customer centricity
“Every customer is important and has different requirements. We try to cater to their needs as much as possible,” says executive director Thomas Tan. “When a customer comes to us with requests that sound difficult or even impossible, we will try our best to find efficient workable solutions. These awards help demonstrate our ability and commitment to creatively solve problems and innovate.”

The overflowing awards’ cabinet proves that the 18-year-old company punches above its weight. The awards are based on a strong foundation — tangible project-based work and involvement in such significant and groundbreaking developments such as Marina Bay Financial Centre, the Singapore Management University and Marina One, in the pipeline. All of these have showcased Earth Arts’ ability to manage and complete projects and deliver outstanding client results. “As a result of this success in high-profile projects, we have become one of the preferred stone suppliers within the construction industry,” says Tan.

When it comes to big ticket projects, Earth Arts backs its reputation with muscle. Problem-solving is the key to the company’s meteoric rise to prominence in the stone mason industry. One example of Tan and his colleagues’ tenacious grip on a seemingly unsolvable problem surrounds a customer request for an intricate design to be carved into the stones of a water feature. “Many suppliers we consulted dismissed the client’s needs as impossible to realise,” recalls Tan. “Undeterred, we developed a sensitive and special piece of machinery that could carve the stones precisely as the client had demanded.”

It takes a special kind of vendor to be a pioneer. Management has to obsessively watch the cost base, fight for revenue and retain good staff, and on the other hand, handle and discharge all manner of client demands, be a trusted and responsible partner, and innovate and ensure that such innovation pays off as a material win. It’s a treacherous and risky see-saw of competing pressures.

Earth Arts founder Ms Celine Teh and her son Thomas faced these challenges and now enjoy the collateral of a well-earned reputation.