“What does RAM E stand for?” A male sheep, with an ‘E’ for his female companion, the Ewe? Or an acronym for Random Access Memory, plus Electronics?
For companies that regularly purchase office and printer supplies, as well as IT products and solutions in Singapore, the RAM E brand name is a symbol of familiarity, reliability, and trust.
“Well, the E stands for ‘Eat,” quips RAM E’s managing director Michael Foo, “There’s ample food in our pantry!”
Other contenders include “E-commerce,” “Enterprise,” or “Entrepreneurship,” and Michael prefers to leave this open to interpretation.
The letters “RAM,” on the other hand, provide a link to RAM E’s early days. Although RAM E recently celebrated its third anniversary in April 2022, its beginnings can be traced back to almost three decades ago.
From Selling Shoes to Printers
Surprisingly, Michael began his career at the well-loved local footwear brand Bata. After racking up 10 years of sales experience, he was eager to start a business of his own.
“At the time, the computer industry was already flourishing,” says Michael. “So I knew this was an industry that I wanted to get into, but there was a wide range of business options. Did I want to sell hardware, or peripherals? Eventually I decided that consumables would be best, because it’s just like food! You need to eat every day, and likewise, a printer needs to print.”
That’s how Michael entered the trade of selling printers, toners, and ink. As a former shoe salesman, he readily admits that he had “no idea” where to obtain his products, or whom to sell to. Without access to today’s Internet resources, Michael’s first challenge was to research his business idea, and he was armed with a gameplan:
“I visited embassies in Singapore, just to look at their Yellow Pages business directories. I would even sit at each embassy for hours, recording notes about who was buying or selling computer peripherals,” he says. “And then I would go home and send out faxes to all these companies and suppliers to find out more. We didn’t have email in those days!”
In 1986, Michael officially set up RAM I Pte Ltd with a partner, to focus on exporting printer products. (RAM represented the founders’ names, while ‘I’ stood for International.) Several years later, they expanded into local sales, serving dealers and wholesalers initially, before branching out to reach end users such as corporate firms. By then, they had also gained enough credibility to clinch major government contracts.
After decades of success, the rumours inevitably began buzzing about how the printing industry was losing its glow, and in 2018, Michael’s business partner decided to bring RAM I to a natural conclusion. While Michael still believed in the opportunities available in the industry, he too felt it was time to retire.
But an unexpected development changed his mind.
“My son Jerome was from the banking industry, but he offered to help me if I wanted to continue in this business,” says Michael. “Also, my brother Anthony, who had been working with me at RAM I, said that he was willing to push on.”
And with that, RAM E was born.
Making the Most of Challenging Times
Like businesses everywhere, the biggest hurdle for the all-new RAM E turned out to be Covid-19.
“This was when the e-commerce space became very disruptive for many businesses,” says Anthony Foo, Michael’s brother and RAM E’s general manager. “We were fortunate to be in the technology business, which would weather the pandemic storm well, but when the crisis first began in 2020, we had zero sales from e-commerce—nothing!”
So it was time to head to the drawing board with the team.
“Developing our e-commerce platform was the only way to go,” says Anthony. “Not knowing what would happen next, we worked hard to list all our products, set the right prices, and get the stocks, which was the most challenging part.”
As this was a brand-new journey for the whole team, it was understood that mistakes would be part of the process—with precious lessons learned. Everyone hoped for the best, but no one was quite prepared for the outcome. “The take-up rate was so high that we ran out of stocks to sell!” reveals Anthony.
While this was cause for celebration, it presented a fresh set of problems. In view of Covid-induced supply chain disruptions, a typical two-week wait for printer supplies to arrive had now stretched into months.
“Instead of keeping a two-week supply of stocks, we now needed three months’ worth of stocks,” explains Michael. “This was a strain on our finances, and it also meant we needed more storage space.”
Yet it was a risk that RAM E was willing to take—and it paid off. As new regulations emerged in Singapore to determine which businesses could continue to operate during lockdowns, RAM E was designated as a provider for essential services, because its customers included Singapore ministries, embassies, and banks. What followed was the news that cargo could only be shipped to essential service providers.
“Whoever needed to buy printer toners and ink during that time came looking for us. And because of word of mouth, their business associates and friends started buying from us too,” says Michael.
Currently, RAM E sees most of its e-commerce sales from third-party platforms such as Lazada and Shopee. The next logical step, according to Michael, is to boost RAM E’s own e-commerce capabilities, to draw in an equally impressive volume of direct sales.
Mixing Business and Family
Although one might consider RAM E a family-run business, the reality is that everybody is treated as family at RAM E.
“The single most important thing for us is that our people are happy and look forward to coming to work,” says Anthony. “We are trying to create a good environment for everyone to learn and excel.”
“Here at RAM E, we never say, ‘You have to respect this hierarchy.’ Anything that comes from the heart, that’s the best, so that we can brainstorm and see how we can improve together, and work towards the same goals.”
And if staff members should ever feel discouraged or demoralised, such as when a customer interaction turns negative, they know that the management will be right behind them. At RAM E, a buddy system ensures that whenever a staff member needs a breather, a teammate will step up to take over the work.
“Looking at their attitude, their support, and the way that they work, I can see that there’s a sense of belonging to the company,” says Michael. “They want the company to do well, and I reciprocate by looking after their welfare.”
“The team has known from Day 1 that I’m just like a friend. You can come to my office at any time and talk to me, and we have dinner together after work,” he adds. “With social distancing, we couldn’t gather too much. But now I think we can!”
Want to connect with a top distributor of IT products and printing consumables in Singapore? Get in touch with RAM E, and let us know how we can help.
