KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 2 -- Innovation rarely occurs because it is one of the many available options. Rather, innovation often happens only when one lacks options.

Easy Pack Machinery, a wholly owned subsidiary of EPB Group Berhad, came about in 1992 due to a similar reason.

The homegrown company is a one-stop provider of food processing and packaging machinery solutions, serving over 600 clients worldwide now.

But, it first took root in a shoplot in Butterworth, Penang. Back then, the company's founder Yeoh Chee Min's family was running a coffee processing factory in Kedah and had to endure frustrating delays each time they required a machine supplier.

Although Malaysia's food industry was already burgeoning by then, very few machine sup...