building businesses of the future
ENABLING ENTERPRISE
NOVEMBER 2017
BUILDING BUSINESSES OF THE FUTURE SHOWCASE
TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU: THE SOUP SPOON
SHOWCASE
A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION IN RETAIL: NGEE SOON JEWELLERY
JUMPSTART
SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS: OTSAW
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NOVEMBER 2017
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CONTENTS
FEATURE STORY
ROADMAPS FOR INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
THE GOVERNMENT’S SECTOR-SPECIFIC GROWTH INITIATIVES HAVE SPURRED FIVE KEY SECTORS IN SINGAPORE TO EMBARK ON EFFORTS TO TRANSFORM EDITORIAL TEAM Marion ABRAHAM ([email protected]) Amelia AW ([email protected]) CHAN U-Gene ([email protected]) Charlotte TAN ([email protected]) CHOW Zhi Ting ([email protected]) Fazilah LATIF ([email protected]) Felicia LEE ([email protected]) Fizzah RAHMAN ([email protected]) ZEE Soh Fun ([email protected]) EDITORIAL & DESIGN NewBase Content thenewbase.com
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SHOWCASE TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION THE RIGHT INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS FINDING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATIVE CLEANING SOLUTIONS CREATING A CONNECTED LOGISTICS ECOSYSTEM JUMPSTART DIGITALISING THE LOGISTICS SUPPLY CHAIN SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS
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2 | November 2017
BUZZ
New skills framework for the logistics sector
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logistics sector. It aims to prepare the logistics workforce to take on new jobs as the sector evolves and becomes more sophisticated. The skills framework is an integral part of the Logistics Industry Transformation Map (ITM). It will support the ITM’s vision of growing the sector’s value-add to S$8.3 billion and adding 2,000 PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) jobs by 2020.
BELOW: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (eighth from left) at the opening of the Supply Chain City in Jurong West.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Communications and Information
new skills framework for the logistics sector was launched by Singapore Economic Development Board, SPRING Singapore, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore on 22 September at the opening of Supply Chain City – a high-tech logistics hub in Jurong West. The framework identifies jobs, training programmes, career pathways, and existing and emerging skills required for the
The centre of retail growth
Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, launching the RCoE at SMU.
Photo courtesy of SMU
The Retail Centre of Excellence (RCoE) – Singapore’s first retail insight-sharing hub – was launched on 10 October by the Singapore Management University (SMU), SPRING Singapore and Singapore Economic Development Board. RCoE aims to empower retailers with the know-how through research and insights, to boost their productivity and innovation levels, and tackle industry challenges. It will also focus on talent development, which will include offering leadership training and internships for SMU students, and master classes for people working in the industry. At the launch of the RCoE, Mr Ted Tan, SPRING’s Deputy Chief Executive, welcomed the centre as a key industry partner. “Through RCoE, retailers will be able to gain deeper insights through retail-centric research, which we hope will enable them to pioneer more innovative concepts and solutions,” he said.
November 2017 | 3
Photo courtesy of FIRC
BUZZ
Shaping the future of food innovation
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memorandum of understanding was signed on 24 October by the Food Innovation & Resource Centre (FIRC) and Japanese consultancy company, ICMG Pte Ltd, to set up a Food Innovation Platform. The platform will enable Singapore and Japan food companies to ideate, test and commercialise food innovation, packaging and automation solutions. It will also allow Japanese companies to showcase their latest food manufacturing and packaging technologies in Singapore through a series of master classes. The classes
will expose local companies to consumer trends in Japan and provide tips on entering the Japanese market. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the FIRC is one of the eight Centres of Innovation supported by SPRING Singapore, and plays a pivotal role in partnering government agencies, food companies and education institutions to enhance the food manufacturing industry. This latest partnership with ICMG supports the Food Manufacturing ITM’s vision to develop Singapore into Asia’s leading food and nutrition hub.
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4 | November 2017
FROM LEFT: Mrs Ngan-Loong Mann Na, FIRC’s Centre Director, and Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister for Trade and Industry, at FIRC’s 10th anniversary exhibition.
FEATURE
ROADMAPS FOR INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
The government’s sector-specific growth initiatives have spurred five key sectors in Singapore to embark on efforts to transform
I
n a globalised economy, businesses need to continuously transform to stay relevant in the long run. In 2016, the government began rolling out Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) to help 23 key sectors ride the wave of digital disruptions. These ITMs guide economic restructuring around four key pillars: innovation, productivity, jobs redesign and upskilling, and internationalisation. SPRING Singapore leads the industry transformation plans for the food services, retail, and food manufacturing ITMs, and works with various agencies to drive transformation in other sectors, including precision engineering and logistics. SPRINGnews speaks to five representatives from the government and trade associations, as well as business owners, to find out how the ITMs have helped businesses.
FOOD SERVICES Mr Vincent Tan Managing Director, Select Group
What are some food services initiatives that Select Group has implemented, and what is the impact? We have seen productivity improvements of more than 10%
this year from using automation equipment and adopting other productivity initiatives in our central kitchens and outlets. Additionally, our food court, Straits Food Village, at Changi Airport Terminal 2, uses digital platforms such as self-ordering and payment kiosks, and queue management systems, which has reduced our manpower reliance by 10 staff. There are three new sites for ‘productive’ coffee shops that are up for tender. We will participate and adopt productive technologies in our new outlets if we are successful in the tender bid.
What support did Select Group receive in its overseas expansion? The Restaurant Association of Singapore organised various overseas trips for learning and business matching. We have participated in these trips as we
are working on expanding our overseas footprint. This year, we opened more restaurants in Malaysia, and just opened our first two outlets in Jakarta, Indonesia. We also plan to open new outlets in Vietnam in 2018.
How does the ITM guide the sector to remain competitive in the face of disruptions? A key aspect of the ITM is innovation, and we have seen an increase in consumer awareness and demand for innovative business formats like ready meals. In response to that, Select Group launched our ready-meals business in March this year. Our ready meals are now retailing in NTUC FairPrice, Giant and Cheers. We are also working with vending machine suppliers to make our ready meals available all around Singapore. Industry-wise, the continuous November 2017 | 5
innovation in business formats, use of lean business models and digitisation of workflow is something exciting to look forward to. Digitisation, especially with the influx of digital payment alternatives, may require some form of consolidation in order to streamline operations at the outlet level. It is important to make sure that staff are well equipped with the right skillset to grow along with the company as more technology is adopted.
RETAIL Ms Kee Ai Nah Group Director, Industry & Enterprise, SPRING Singapore
As the lead agency for the Retail ITM, what initiatives have been developed for businesses? To boost the confidence of retailers that are new to online sales, e-commerce ready-to-go solutions have been developed by SPRING together with partners like Google, Qoo10, and the Singapore Productivity Centre. We have also seen the development of new, innovative retail concepts, which are manpower lean. Some examples include Kalm’s gift -vending machines and Cheers’ “manless” convenience stores.
How have businesses reacted to the initiatives under the ITM? Several retailers have started developing innovative omnichannel experiences for customers. Productivity-wise, more retailers have deployed technology for their back-end processes like inventory management. RFID technology has gained traction too, and smaller retailers like Ngee Soon Jewellery have implemented it at their outlets. At the same time, large retailers are leading the implementation of self-checkouts, 6 | November 2017
cash management systems and electronic shelf labelling.
Productivity-related initiatives like the deployment of technology to ease operations have resulted in significant time and manpower savings. An example is food retailer Food-Joy, which has seen manpower savings of approximately 25% for its cashier functions. The company has also seen a 66% reduction in customer transaction time – from three minutes to about one minute per customer – after implementing its two-in-one (cash and card) self-checkout and cash management solution.
Alibaba’s Tmall and jD.com – two of China’s top e-commerce platforms. Listing our food manufacturers’ products there will help them to enter the Chinese market. In addition, High Pressure Processing (HPP), a resourcesharing facility, was unveiled in May. HPP technology helps food products stay fresh for longer without the use of preservatives, additives or applied heat. This opens up export opportunities for food companies, improves productivity, saves manpower and reduces food waste in the manufacturing process. The Soup Spoon is one company that has benefitted from HPP. (See full story on page 8).
How will SPRING help the sector achieve the goals of the Retail ITM?
How have businesses reacted to the new initiatives under the ITM?
We will continue to raise awareness of new technologies through workshops and seminars, working through multipliers like the Singapore Retailers Association and the Retail Centre of Excellence, and publicising success stories. We will also continue to encourage and facilitate networking among retailers, so that they can discuss ways to improve their operations or, even better, collaborate.
Most businesses have responded positively, especially to the internationalisation strategies. More companies are now keen to join us at our local and overseas trade shows and exhibitions, even those held as far away as Dubai and the Netherlands.
How have the initiatives benefitted businesses?
FOOD MANUFACTURING Mr Thomas Pek, President, Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association (SFMA)
What’s new in the food manufacturing sector since the Food Manufacturing ITM was launched? Regional and global expansion continues to be a key growth strategy for our local food manufacturers, and SFMA has launched the online Singapore Pavilion called “Tasty Singapore” on
How have the initiatives benefitted businesses that have adopted them? Generally, they have been able to expand their product range through innovation, and gain greater international exposure and higher sales beyond the Singapore market. An example is Gold Kili, which has successfully expanded to Japan, the US, Africa and North Korea. Building customer trust and investing in product innovation to maintain the high quality of Singapore-made products are crucial ingredients for the company's success. Through close partnership with IE Singapore, Gold Kili also underwent a branding project targeted at the US market, as well as identified experienced and reliable importers and distributors for its products.
What are SFMA’s future plans to help businesses achieve the ITM’s goals? One upcoming event is the Food Innovation Product Award 2018,
FEATURE where we will match businesses with student teams to create new food products, to spur innovation in the industry. We have also just launched the Singapore Food Gifts Initiative at Changi Airport Terminal 4. This initiative is based on the idea of promoting Singapore food items, which are developed by local brands, to tourists and global consumers. Through this initiative, our members will benefit from greater visibility at the airport and on iShopChangi (online duty-free shopping), and be able to reach an international audience.
PRECISION ENGINEERING Mr Jeremy Fong Immediate Past Chairman, Singapore Precision Engineering Technology Association (SPETA)
Using the ITM as a guide, what initiatives has SPETA has put in place for businesses? SPETA has been working with industry partners to encourage more precision engineering (PE) companies to upgrade their capabilities in the areas of technology adoption, productivity improvement, and business model innovation to stay competitive. One such programme is the Enhanced Operational and Technology Roadmapping (OTR) by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). Companies can tap SIMTech’s expertise in strategic business and technology scanning methodology to generate new ideas and plan for future growth. We have also gathered seven PE companies to form a consortium for 3D additive manufacturing (AM). This alliance helps lower the cost of AM and reduce the time to market by
tapping each other’s expertise. Additionally, we are organising a trade mission for our members to Germany to study Industry 4.0 – a term that refers to the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.
How have the ITM initiatives benefitted businesses? For Fong’s Engineering, adopting automation helped improve their profit margins by at least one fold. JEP Precision Engineering and Feinmetall Singapore – both SPETA members – have implemented Industry 4.0 technologies with support from SIMTech. With this digitalised process, they now have real-time overview of various business operations, and can make timely decisions on the manufacturing process for better control. Sanwa-Intec (Asia), too, improved its productivity through robotics adoption.
What is the challenge facing the sector, and how does SPETA plan to address it? A key challenge for companies is resources, particularly their capability to manage new technologies and the costs involved. Our approach is to integrate and align common interests and needs of our members by forming alliances to address this challenge. This would help companies mitigate risks and be more cost and resource efficient. Through these alliances, they would also have better bargaining power when securing new business opportunities and financial support.
LOGISTICS Mr Dave Ng Chairman, Singapore Transport Association (STA)
What new initiative has STA developed for businesses since the Logistics ITM was launched? We are working with SPRING and JTC Corporation under the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme to form an industry chassis pool, to help local hauliers achieve better resource utilisation and manage rising cost. The chassis pool aims to reduce the day-to-day cost for operators and chassis owners, and improve daily operations.
Are businesses facing any challenges that the ITM has helped alleviate? Most logistics businesses, especially SMEs, have a manpower shortage, and find it difficult to give their staff time off to attend courses to upgrade themselves. STA is actively working with its member SMEs to identify a pool of staff to receive training at local accredited training organisations.
What trend do you see developing in the logistics sector? More businesses are moving towards collaborative partnerships. The challenge is bringing the new, smaller SMEs together to gain economies of scales, and keep up with this trend. Industry incumbents are also pursuing more efficiency through collaborations and sharing business networks. This pattern will lead to greater connectivity within the industry, and reduce the day-to-day operational costs for SMEs.
What are STA’s future plans to achieve the ITM’s goals? We want to attract more talent to the industry. We kickstarted this effort at our first Logistics Day in November. It was held in conjunction with Ngee Ann Polytechnic and SkillsFuture Singapore, to promote workstudy schemes like the Earn and Learn Programme. Through such initiatives, we aim to build a pipeline of talent for the logistics industry and, in the long run, raise the profile of the logistics sector. November 2017 | 7
W
hen The Soup Spoon realised that its customers were buying soups and storing them in styrofoam cup packaging for next-day consumption, it decided to embark on the creation of takehome soup packs in 2003. However, the company discovered a problem with its takehome soup packs – their short twoweek shelf life. “By the time we send the packs to retailers and they send them to their outlets, there are only seven days left before the packs expire. And because stores generally remove food items from their shelves three days before the expiry date, they have only four days to sell the soup packs – so most of them did not want to carry these products,” says Ms Anna Lim (photo, left), Executive Director of The Soup Spoon. The company was also not keen on using preservatives to extend the shelf life of its soup packs as it went against the company’s philosophy of providing food that is not only convenient but also nutritious.
A winning solution
TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU Adopting High Pressure Processing technology has enabled The Soup Spoon to increase the shelf life of its soup products, reduce food wastage and gain more opportunities for growth 8 | November 2017
In 2014, The Soup Spoon came to know about High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology during a work trip to New Zealand. Ms Lim was so impressed with the technology that she calls it the “secret to fresh, flavourful food with longer shelf life”. HPP is a natural, environmentally friendly process that uses high pressure to maintain characteristics like nutrients and flavour of fresh food items. The ultra-high pressure kills food-borne pathogens in packaged refrigerated products, and can double or triple the shelf life of products, depending on their contents, without using chemicals or additives. However, adopting the technology was not without obstacles. “As no one had the HPP machine in Singapore, there was no way of testing if the technology would suit our products,” Ms Lim explains. In 2015, the company took some of its soup packs to Hiperbaric – a world leading manufacturer of HPP
SHOWCASE equipment for the food industry – in Spain, for testing. Satisfied with the outcome of the tests, The Soup Spoon decided to purchase a HPP machine despite its high cost. The company was able to defray part of the cost with assistance from SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant. The soup packs with longer shelf life were rolled out in 2017.
More business growth One of the early adopters of HPP technology in Singapore, Ms Lim believes that the technology and its benefits was worth the journey. “It has helped us increase the shelf life of our soup products, which in turn has opened new doors for us both locally and globally,” says Ms Lim. “With HPP, we can get up to 120 days of shelf life compared to just 14 days previously, without having to tweak our recipes or compromise on taste. This enables us to enter new domestic retail channels and export our soups.” For instance, The Soup Spoon’s soup packs can now be found on the shelves of Citysuper, a premium retail chain in Hong Kong – a result of a deal that the company struck in 2017. Its most recent collaboration is with FairPrice Finest, in addition to partnerships with Cold Storage and Redmart. “Advanced food processing technology has given us a way to grow the business and our distribution channels, and not depend solely on our own F&B stores to generate sales,” says Ms Lim. In 2017, The Soup Spoon saw a 30% increase in the sales of its soup packs.
Innovating with technology The Soup Spoon’s recent success has given it the confidence to expand the HPP technology to its ready meals, such as Thai glass noodles, cauliflower quinoa rice and samsui chicken. With the technology, the ready meals can last up to 28 days, compared to only three days previously. “This is a long time for chilled and preservative-free ready
THE HPP TECHNOLOGY HAS HELPED US INCREASE THE SHELF LIFE OF OUR SOUP PRODUCTS, WHICH IN TURN HAS OPENED NEW DOORS FOR US BOTH LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY.
Cheers, a local convenience food chain. Additionally, The Soup Spoon has partnered with Workforce Singapore to offer master classes on the HPP technology, and promote and extend the use of its facility to other food and beverage firms in Singapore. Besides gaining positive ROI, The Soup Spoon hopes that these collaborations will boost Singapore’s ready meals market and awareness of the advanced food technology and its benefits for the food industry.
MS ANNA LIM
Going places
Executive Director, The Soup Spoon meals, which generally expires in less than a week, and gives us a competitive edge in the market.” In addition, The Soup Spoon has developed an innovative way to generate a positive return on investment (ROI) on the technology – it collaborates with other companies to boost the utilisation rate of its machine and equipment. For instance, the company worked with local fitness centre GymmBoxx in 2017 to increase the shelf life of its protein products. The Soup Spoon is also working with food services company, The Common Good Company, to produce healthy, long shelf-life ready meals for one of its clients,
In the coming months, The Soup Spoon plans to further expand its distribution channels. “We recently attended a trade fair in South Korea to promote our take-home soup packs there. There are not many players in the South Korean market that sell soups in chilled format, with long shelf lives and no preservatives. We are in a unique position to supply these soups,” Ms Lim adds. “We are also planning to expand into China next year.” On why expanding into these markets are important, Ms Lim says that the ready meals market in Singapore will soon become saturated with competition. “That’s why it is important to be open to technology and innovation, to be able to stay competitive in the long run.”
ABOVE: The Soup Spoon's vacuum skin packaging machine, which helps further extend the shelf life of the takehome soup packs.
key takeaways • Food services
companies are encouraged to explore new business formats and technology to stay relevant and competitive.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your company’s technology and innovation journey by visiting www. spring.gov.sg/ CDG.
November 2017 | 9
A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION IN RETAIL Ngee Soon Jewellery uses technology to keep ahead of the competition, reduce stocktaking time and boost sales
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ewellery stores invest big money in their earrings, necklaces and bracelets. They also invest a lot of time in conducting inventory checks each day to make sure every jewellery item is accounted for. Conducting such intensive checks daily was also a process that staff at local retailer Ngee Soon Jewellery underwent. “Our old manual stocktaking process took two to three hours, and required at least two staff. It could take the whole day to address the discrepancy if something went missing,” says Ms Jan Ho, Executive Director, Ngee Soon Jewellery. “When this happened, our staff needed to print out a list and try to find out what’s the missing item. This often meant working extra hours.” In 2014, the local jewellery retailer which employs 20 staff and has three outlets, found a way to reduce this stress with Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking technology, which monitors the movement of each piece of jewellery. Now Ngee Soon Jewellery staff use RFID devices for daily stocktaking – and it takes only an hour. “With just a swipe of the ‘wand’, our staff will know what’s missing,” Ms Ho shares. “Instead of spending a day to look for missing items, they can locate them in less than an hour, and use the rest of their time for higher value activities, such as marketing and customer engagement.” 10 | November 2017
This has helped the retailer save 80% of the time previously needed to locate missing jewellery items. “It’s a big relief for our staff,” she adds.
Improving business outcomes Ms Ho came to know about RFID technology in 2013 from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), which introduced Ngee Soon Jewellery to SPRING Singapore for support in adopting the RFID system. A year later, with assistance from SPRING’s Capability Development Grant (CDG), the jewellery retailer successfully adopted the RFID system. “Securing the CDG helped us convince our board of directors, who did not feel the need to fix something that was not broken,” explains Ms Ho. “Previously, we were a traditional SME but competition
was getting stiffer,” adds Ms Ho. “This technology has helped us improve our productivity, reduce expenses and boost our margins.” Within a year of Ngee Soon Jewellery implementing the system, more than 10 other jewellers expressed their interest to adopt it. However, for Ngee Soon Jewellery, it’s not about having cutting-edge technology to boast about, but rather to help its staff better upsell, cross-sell and improve business outcomes.
Intelligent innovation Ngee Soon Jewellery’s innovation efforts did not stop there; it has also deployed the Intelli-Signage solution at its storefronts in Yishun and Khatib. The innovative digital signage solution developed by local technology provider Anewtech Systems enables Ngee Soon Jewellery to collect consumer insights and therefore improve customer engagement. Comprising a touch screen system, age and gender recognition system, content design software, remote management and data analytics technology, the solution can estimate the user’s age by scanning his or her facial structures and features. In less than five seconds, the IntelliSignage can make a smart guess of the user’s gender and age. With that data, it then displays targeted and relevant advertisements that consumers of that profile would typically look for. Five seconds after consumers have browsed through
SHOWCASE the content, the signage will relay data on their preferences and interaction time to Ngee Soon Jewellery, which will then use it to develop relevant advertisements and content. Using insights collected from the Intelli-Signages, Ngee Soon Jewellery’s in-house design team created advertisements targeted at different age groups – teenagers were greeted by a catalogue of semi-precious stones while middle-aged consumers viewed advertisements featuring
classic gold jewellery. This resulted in a 10% increase in customers and sales.
Keeping up with change Not one to rest on its laurels, Ngee Soon Jewellery is working on an improved version of its RFID system that will go beyond inventory tracking and identification of missing items. “We want our customers to come back,” Ms Ho says. “That’s why we’re working with our RFID vendor to come up with an
improved system that allows us to understand customer behaviour in real-time; something that enables us to drill into the data and harness it for analytics.” Ms Ho hopes that her fellow industry peers and small business owners will join her in exploring further how innovation can boost productivity and revenue. “We need to embrace change, because change is inevitable,” she advises. “And with the funding and support that are available, there are more reasons to try.”
PREVIOUSLY, WE WERE A TRADITIONAL SME BUT COMPETITION WAS GETTING STIFFER. THIS TECHNOLOGY GIVES US A WAY TO IMPROVE OUR PRODUCTIVITY, REDUCE EXPENSES AND BOOST OUR MARGINS. MS JAN HO Executive Director, Ngee Soon Jewellery
key takeaways • Investing in
innovation can lead to productivity and profit gains.
• Visit www.
smeportal.sg/ techdepot to discover relevant technology solutions or find out how the CDG can support larger innovation projects at www. spring.gov.sg/ CDG
November 2017 | 11
THE RIGHT INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS Incorporating innovative technology into its meat products has enabled LM Meat to expand its product offering and build new revenue streams
the company’s Managing Director. However, he explains, while demand for good quality meat is growing, supply is limited as Singapore does not produce meat. Also, the conditions for producing high quality meat require more costs and resources like natural grasslands. This limited supply makes good quality meat more expensive, and so selling it may not be profitable for LM Meat as customers may not be willing to pay such high prices for the meat.
The road to innovation
L
M Meat Pte Ltd, a local retail butchery, is passionate about good quality meat. Set up 11 years ago, the company specialises in providing high-quality meats for Singaporeans. On top of meat products, LM Meat also offers a large selection of affordable, ready-to-heat products 12 | November 2017
from its kitchen, such as beef rendang, chicken collagen soup and chef’s wagyu beef patties. In 2015, the butchery noticed a change in customers’ taste. “We observed a growing preference for healthier food as customers are more health conscious now,” says Mr Loi Teck Heng (photo, above),
Mr Loi has been in the meat processing business for more than 40 years. In 2015, he heard about a locally developed “postharvest” technology called Lacto-Marinate that can be used on meat to improve its quality and reduce its saturated fats and cholesterol content. “We saw that the technology
SHOWCASE can enable us to enhance our meat products and fill the market gap for healthier meats,” says Mr Loi. “We cannot control the meat origin, but with this technology, we can enhance the meat we receive from our suppliers and make it healthier for our consumers,” adds Mr Loi. With this opportunity in mind, the company decided to test the Lacto-Marinate technology on pork – a popular meat choice among its customers. It embarked on a year-long research and development (R&D) process in 2016, which was supported by SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant. The R&D process involved testing the technology during the meatprocessing stage, and assessing how it affects the shelf life and nutritional value of the product.
Marketing it right In 2017, the company was ready to launch M!Pork – a healthier pork product that has been treated with a proprietary marinade, called “lacto-marinate”, which is made up of probiotic organisms. However, introducing M!Pork into the market proved challenging. The company’s initial strategy was to market the probiotic product as a better-tasting meat, compared to regular pork meats. “The Lacto-Marinate technology helps tenderise meat and remove the frozen meat smell, which some people do not like,” says Mr Loi. “But when we sent it to different people to try, we realised that different people have different preferences – some of them actually liked that smell!” Through this sampling exercise, the company realised that taste is subjective, and different customers had different perceptions of what tastes good. “We had to change our approach, and decided to market it as a healthier meat product instead,” says Mr Loi. “That worked better and customers became more receptive of M!Pork products,” he adds. In 2017, M! Pork Mince was awarded the Healthier Choice
WE ARE VERY RELIANT ON MARKET TRENDS AND PRICES, SO WE HAD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INNOVATE AND CREATE PRODUCTS THAT ARE VALUE-ADDED AND UNIQUE. MR LOI TECK HENG Managing Director, LM Meat Pte Ltd
Symbol by the Health Promotion Board. The company has also seen a 20% increase in M!Pork sales. For LM Meat, the Lacto-Marinate technology is its competitive edge. “It is different from what’s available in the market, and gives us an affordable way of providing healthier meat options for our customers,” he explains.
As Lacto-Marinate is a post-harvest technology, the company does not have to rely on organic meat suppliers for healthier meat products. This means LM Meat is able to keep its prices low; the probiotic pork is priced reasonably from $1.33 per 100g.
Innovating for the future The success of M!Pork with customers has given LM Meat the confidence to incorporate the probiotic pork into its ready-toheat food products. The company plans to use M!Pork to create innovative, healthier meals for customers. These meals are set to be launched next year. Eventually, says Mr Loi, LM Meat plans to expand the technology to its beef products. “But this will require different processes and probably more R&D.” When asked about the company’s long-term plans, Mr Loi says, “We want to go into export.” LM Meat is also considering developing a franchise model for its butchery, so that it can expand the business to other countries like China.
LEFT: M!Pork is a healthier pork product that has been treated with a proprietary marinade called "lacto-marinate", which is made up of probiotic organisms.
key takeaways • Embracing
innovation will can give your company a competitive edge.
• Visit www.spring.
gov.sg/CDG to find out how SPRING can help in your innovation efforts.
November 2017 | 13
FINDING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATIVE CLEANING SOLUTIONS The ever-changing business landscape prompted JCS-Echigo to move from developing precision cleaning solutions for the hard disk drive and medical industries, to providing solutions, systems and services for the F&B and logistics sectors
D
uring the 2009 global financial crisis, JCS-Echigo Pte Ltd found itself at a crossroads. The local company, which specialises in designing and fabricating precision cleaning systems for the hard disk drive and medical sectors, received almost no orders from late 2008 to early 2009. The company persevered, and orders began to slowly trickle in after mid-2009, but Ms Elise Hong, JCS-Echigo’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, realised then the importance of expanding and diversifying the company's offerings to survive in the long run. “We started considering going into the F&B industry as we had previously built a cleaning system from scratch for a F&B company,” says Ms Hong. “We would still be in the cleaning business – just a different sector.” Thanks to its strong track record of serving MNC customers with strict requirements and high expectations, the company has a strong expertise in precision cleaning, with solutions and services that do not compromise on compliance or quality. With this strong foundation, it was well-positioned in 2012 to expand into the F&B sector with its own innovative, high-tech dishwashing systems. Today, the company still provides industrial cleaning services and equipment – but also centralised 14 | November 2017
SHOWCASE dishwashing services for the F&B sector. This diversification has helped ensure a consistent stream of revenue for JCS-Echigo.
Dishwashing made easier Food courts, restaurants and catering businesses across Singapore can outsource their entire dishwashing operations to the company. The cost is about the same if these businesses were to do the dishwashing themselves, but JCSEchigo adds value by taking away the entire dishwashing hassle from their customers. The company’s experience with MNC customers has also shaped a mindset of providing top-notch
WE ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE A VISION ABOUT WHAT WE’RE GOING TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME – IN TERMS OF WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS AND HOW THE MARKET IS CHANGING. MS ELISE HONG Executive Director, JCS-Echigo
services that meet the compliance and quality standards for different industries while catering for various client needs. “In 2015, we started getting ready to be certified to ISO 22000 food management system and halal standards, to be able to serve more F&B businesses. We achieved both certifications in 2016,” says Ms Hong. The company also has in-house maintenance teams, which means that there is little to no machine downtime. “With this solution, our customers don’t have to worry about their assigned dishwashing staff being on sick leave or not turning up. Instead, these staff can be redeployed to other valueadded tasks,” she adds. Recently, the company incorporated Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology into its dishwashing system. Tubs that are used for cutleries and crockeries are now RFID tagged, to enable real-time tracking and monitoring of process status of dishes. “We want our customers to feel assured that every item is accounted for. Our workers do not need to count the tubs manually when they get them from customers; all the data is automatically recorded,” says Ms Hong. JCS-Echigo's RFID technology initiative was supported by SPRING Singapore.
Continuous improvement mindset Despite its successes in the F&B sector, JCS-Echigo is not resting on its laurels. It is exploring developing its own industrial robot vacuum to automate the process of cleaning various premises such as food courts. “These robots are not a new concept, but we’re trying to make it economical for more businesses to buy,” says Ms Hong. However, JCS-Echigo first plans to develop an “attachment” that can be fixed to existing manually-operated scrubber machines as a cheaper alternative to buying a new machine. After this is rolled out in 2018, JCS-Echigo will turn its focus to developing the industrial robot vacuum. Additionally, JCS-Echigo is positioning itself to provide innovative cleaning solutions for the transport and aerospace industries. “We are building train cleaning systems for SMRT. This is essentially like a massive car wash for trains,” Ms Hong explains. “We are truly honoured that SMRT has awarded this business opportunity to a local SME like us.” Overall, she believes that perseverance is important for businesses that want to grow into new areas. “We always need to have a vision about what we’re going to be doing in five years’ time – in terms of what the customer wants and how the market is changing.” LEFT: JCSEchigo recently incorporated RFID technology into its dishwashing system.
key takeaways • Grow your
business through innovation and diversification.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your innovation efforts at www.spring. gov.sg/CDG.
November 2017 | 15
CREATING A CONNECTED LOGISTICS ECOSYSTEM blu has developed an integrated logistics solutions system for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers to streamline their processes, and offer customers a seamless shopping experience
T
OPPOSITE PAGE: bluPorts provide an easier way for customers to collect their online purchases. There are now more than 55 bluPorts in Singapore.
16 | November 2017
he e-commerce sector in Singapore has grown tremendously over the last few years. This has led to companies, including startups, stepping forward to provide distribution solutions to solve the last-mile delivery challenge for businesses, and boost the overall shopping experience for end users. Some of these challenges include not being able to make deliveries to customers on time due to a high volume of orders; lack of full, realtime visibility over deliveries; and the high cost of same-day delivery. There’s also the issue of Singapore’s fragmented e-commerce and logistics landscapes, where there are multiple players and no standard platform from which all stakeholders operate. Dealing with these challenges, says Mr Prashant Dadlani, requires investing in a solution – like an endto-end logistics service – that can help businesses efficiently manage their orders, so that they can focus on keeping customers happy. Mr Dadlani is the Founder and CEO of local e-commerce startup blu. “There is an underserved market when it comes to outsourced logistics services for SMEs,” he notes. “There is no one that small businesses can go to for end-to-end logistics services, from order management and warehousing to packing and customer delivery.” Big firms, on the other hand, can usually
SUCCESS FOR US IS ABOUT BEING CUSTOMERCENTRIC AND TURNING THE CONCEPT OF LOGISTICS SERVICES PROVISION INTO AN ECOSYSTEM WHERE EVERYONE FEELS CONNECTED. MR PRASHANT DADLANI Founder and CEO, blu
SHOWCASE afford to have their own logistics department and a fleet of trucks and drivers.
manpower and space for handling extra stock,” says Mr Dadlani.
Improving retail experiences
Mr Dadlani stresses that integration across all levels has been key to the success of blu’s various solutions with retailers. “Ultimately, success for us is about being customer-centric and turning the concept of logistics services provision into an ecosystem where everyone feels connected.” A case in point – and a popular solution with retailers – are bluPorts. When asked how the idea came about, Mr Dadlani explains that with the growing manpower shortage and customers’ on-thego lifestyles, the company realised that doorstep delivery may not be everyone’s preferred or ideal method. “We saw a business opportunity, which led to the creation of bluPorts. These allow customers to pick up their orders anywhere, anytime, at their convenience.” For online retailer Qoolmart.com, the platform offers an integrated and automated workflow, higher speed and accuracy of order fulfilment and delivery, and gives customers a more convenient way of receiving their purchases. The retailer is also now confident in offering more product variety, knowing that maintaining higher stock keeping unit counts can be easily done on the platform. Other retailers on the bluPort network include beauty product
In 2015, blu was established with the aim of helping SME retailers keep up with customer expectations and give customers a fulfilling experience at every stage of the retail supply chain process. It provides a range of integrated retail logistics solutions, such as warehousing, order and inventory management, automated fulfilment and last-mile delivery. Together, these are housed on an integrated platform, which means fewer bottlenecks in the supply chain and a seamless shopping experience. For online retailers, the platform is integrated directly with their websites. This means when a retailer receives online orders, they are automatically transferred to blu’s back-end systems for action – from pick and pack to customer delivery. When a retailer receives an order, blu’s order management system calculates how the order can be most effectively fulfilled. Meanwhile, a robotics mechanism at the warehouse identifies and brings the product to the packing station. “We store retailers’ goods and manage their inventory. Through our cloud-based order and inventory management platform, retailers have a real-time view of their inventory, which not many logistics companies offer,” Mr Dadlani explains. Distribution of orders is done through bluPorts – self-collection locker terminals that are located all over Singapore, including shopping malls, office buildings and convenience stores. All throughout the process, the retailer has a real-time view of inventory and movements. The startup does not cater to only e-commerce businesses; it also helps brick-and-mortar retailers manage their stocks and supply – a task that usually takes up a lot of staff time and shop space. blu’s inventory management platform can help such retailers track product movements and provide a more accurate calculation of the amount of stock they require. “By being able to manage their inventory better, stores can free up their
An effective solution
retailer Kinohimitsu Singapore and SGshop, a shopping agent for Taobao. blu also works with logistics companies like DHL Express.
Plans in the pipeline There are now more than 55 bluPorts in Singapore, which is remarkable considering that the first bluPort was set up only at the end of 2016. However, blu is showing no signs of stopping. In early October, the company launched bluGate, a virtual shipping concierge. Customers who have signed up for a bluGate account will receive a unique virtual address, and can order items from multiple e-commerce sites and have the items shipped to this virtual location. This way, shoppers can purchase items from any website, and have the items delivered to a bluPort of their choice. The same month, blu unveiled a pilot programme, bluChill, at OUE Downtown Gallery. bluChill is a temperature-controlled self-collection terminal, which allows packages to be kept at four different temperature zones: frozen, chilled, ambient and non-chilled. For instance, users at OUE Social Kitchen – a co-cooking space at OUE Downtown Gallery – would be able to use bluChill to store fresh ingredients and products. In the future, says Mr Dadlani, consumers will be able to request for delivery of items such as wines from retailers with bluChill.
key takeaways • Automation
and proper integration of systems can boost your business’ productivity and efficiency.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your business’ automation and integration efforts at www.spring. gov.sg/CDG.
November 2017 | 17
Build Up Your Business with the
Capability Development Grant
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION BRAND & MARKETING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
ENHANCING QUALITY & STANDARDS
PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
BUSINESS STRATEGY INNOVATION
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & FRANCHISING
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Whichever stage of growth your business is at, having the right set of business capabilities will make you more competitive. SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) helps defray up to 70% of qualifying project costs when you enhance your capabilities to grow your business. For more information, visit www.spring.gov.sg/CDG today!
JUMPSTART
DIGITALISING THE LOGISTICS SUPPLY CHAIN
I
magine if you are a distributor of fast-moving goods like toiletries, and have 25 trucks making more than 1,000 deliveries a day to pharmacies and supermarkets. How would these orders be allocated to the individual trucks? “Today, it’s most probably done manually,” says Mr Noam Berda, Co-Founder and CEO of logistics software solutions provider Zyllem. According to him, this is the case with many logistics companies in Singapore, where allocation is still done using pen, paper and a messaging service like WhatsApp. This method is not efficient especially when there are large orders or sudden changes, as things may go awry such as communication getting lost and orders taking longer than usual to be delivered. That’s not the only challenge. There are many players, with different processes, and no standard system in the supply chain network. Hence, data is not effectively transmitted among the players, causing delays in the supply chain. The solution? “You need to digitalise the entire operation to enable a seamless flow of information across all players,” says Mr Berda. In 2016, Zyllem developed a software solution that solves these challenges. It can be customised to any business, so that all the assets and partners
OUR OBJECTIVE AS AN ORGANISATION IS FOR OUR CLIENTS TO BE ABLE TO SAY ‘TOMORROW, WE’LL DELIVER THE GOODS BETWEEN 12PM AND 1PM’ AND BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY FULFIL THAT. MR NOAM BERDA Co-Founder and CEO, Zyllem of a company are connected and managed on one platform. Essentially, says Mr Berda, the platform gives businesses the ability to manage the different aspects of their logistics networks seamlessly, from customs clearance to the final delivery of goods to buyers or sellers. The platform’s plug-and-play design makes it especially useful for retailers with large orders to fulfil every day. “Retailers can key in orders into our system and auto-assign them to different partners. They will have control
over all operations because they can see what’s happening at every stage,” adds Mr Marco De Lorenzo, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Zyllem. According to Mr Berda, auto assignment is done based on geo-zones, postal codes and customs rules. Zyllem’s clients range from retailers and logistics providers to food distributors and e-commerce companies. One of its biggest clients is healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma. In 2016, the startup adopted TR 46 : 2016 for Last Mile Delivery – eCommerce Data Interchange standard, for a seamless exchange of data. TR 46 provides guidelines for companies to adopt a common dataset to boost efficiency by reducing time and minimising errors in the process chain. “Our objective as an organisation is for our clients to be able to say ‘tomorrow, we’ll deliver the goods between 12pm and 1pm’ and be able to actually fulfil that,” says Mr Berda. Zyllem now hopes to encourage more companies to play a part in improving processes in Singapore’s logistics industry. Through SPRING Singapore’s Collaborative Industry Projects (CIP) initiative, Zyllem has brought several local enterprises on board its platform for 12 months. During this period, companies will work with Zyllem to map their logistics processes, as well as configure and integrate the platform with their existing systems. Participating SMEs under the CIP enjoy financial support of up to 70% for their first-year subscription to the platform, for up to a certain number of transactions and depending on the package they signed up for. After the one-year subscription, SMEs can continue the subscription at their own cost. The CIP initiative supports collaborations between enterprises and industry partners to source for solutions to overcome industryspecific business challenges.
LEFT: Mr Noam Berda (left) and Mr Marco De Lorenzo hope to encourage more companies to play a part in improving processes in Singapore's logistics industry.
November 2017 | 19
Upgrading Your Business with Certified Management Consultants SMEs embarking on business upgrading journey and seeking support for consultancy-related costs under SPRING’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) will need to engage management consultants with SPRING-recognised certification. This certification for management consultants helps SMEs select the right partners who meet the minimum competency and ethical requirements to deliver on project outcomes.
Management consultants play a pivotal role in Singapore’s enterprise development landscape. Partnering quality management consultants can help SMEs achieve meaningful business outcomes.
SPRING-Recognised Certification for Management Consultants provides quality assurance to SMEs. Appointed certification bodies for SPRING-recognised certification: • Institute of Management Consultants (Singapore) • Singapore PMC Certification Pte Ltd • TÜV SÜD PSB Pte Ltd SMEs can view the lists of certified management consultants on their websites.
For more information, please refer to www.spring.gov.sg/consultant-quality
JUMPSTART
SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS
A
suspicious person in a shopping mall drifts through the crowd, holding a black bag that he plans to leave at a storefront. However, what he doesn’t know is that a security robot patrolling inside the mall has picked up on his unusual behaviour and forwarded alerts wirelessly and in real time to the mall’s command centre. This allows security staff to quickly attend to any possible danger. Meet Otsaw’s newly developed security robot (photo, right) – the first of its kind in Singapore. Mr Ling Ming Ting, CEO of Otsaw – which was founded in 2015 as a subsidiary of ActiV Technology and specialises in autonomous navigation – envisions the command centre as a central communication system, where all alerts from the robot are received and displayed visually on a dashboard. Based on these real-time alerts, security guards can act instantly to prevent or stop a crime. He emphasises that ultimately, humans are in control; security personnel can override the security robot and manually manoeuvre its movements, if and when necessary. The robot is also able to avoid obstacles while on patrol and self-charge when its energy is running out, and thus it is able to ensure 24/7 monitoring and protection. “This means it can also be used to help organisations optimise manpower for aroundthe-clock work, such as guarding a building,” Mr Ling says. According to him, what’s exciting about autonomous
navigation is its potential applications beyond the security industry. There are possible applications in agriculture and public infrastructure management – for example, transporting vegetables and fruits within large farming properties, and road cleaning. “It’s about retrofitting human-driven machines to be machine-driven,” he explains. However, rather than single-handedly taking on all of these potential applications, Otsaw is working with partners to license out its technology. “Though we have developed the security robot for ourselves, we can’t be builders of all types of machines. We are not experts in every type of machine, but we are experts of autonomous navigation, and that can be used in many different platforms. We developed autopilot navigation black boxes that can be plugged into machines, so there’s no need for someone to physically man the vehicle,” Mr Lin shares. The prototype, which was built with support from SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant, was launched at CommunicAsia in May 2017. Since then, Otsaw has secured partnerships with customers like the Dubai Police Force. The startup plans to roll out the robots in full swing next year. Mr Ling believes that embracing robotics is a step in the right direction. “You cannot run away from artificial intelligence or robotics. Singapore companies can either embrace it fast or miss the boat – and we definitely don’t want to miss the boat,” he adds.
YOU CANNOT RUN AWAY FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR ROBOTICS. SINGAPORE COMPANIES CAN EITHER EMBRACE IT FAST OR MISS THE BOAT – AND WE DEFINITELY DON’T WANT TO MISS THE BOAT. MR LING MING TING Chief Executive Officer, Otsaw November 2017 | 21
CONTACTS SME Infoline
Tel: (65) 6898 1800 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smeportal.sg
SME Centres
SME Centre@ASME Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) 167 Jalan Bukit Merah Tower 4, #03-13 Singapore 150167 Tel: (65) 6513 0388 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-asme.sg SME Centre@SCCCI Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI) 9 Jurong Town Hall Road, #04-01 Trade Association Hub Jurong Town Hall Singapore 609431 Tel: 6337 8381 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-sccci.sg SME Centre@SICCI Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) SICCI Building 31 Stanley Street Singapore 068740 Tel: (65) 6508 0147 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-sicci.sg
SME Centre@SMCCI Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI) 15 Jalan Pinang Singapore 199147 Tel: (65) 6293 3822 Fax: (65) 6293 3905 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-smcci.sg SME Centre@SMF Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) 2985 Jalan Bukit Merah Singapore 159457 Tel: (65) 6826 3020 Fax: (65) 6826 3021 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-smf.sg For assistance, you can visit satellite SME Centres located at the Community Development Councils (CDCs), Changi Simei Community Club and Ang Mo Kio Community Centre.
Sales of Standards
Toppan Leefung Pte Ltd Great World City East Tower 1 Kim Seng Promenade, #18-01 Singapore 237994 Tel: (65) 6826 9691 Fax: (65) 6820 3341 Email: [email protected] Website: www.singaporestandardseshop.sg
Standards Collection
National Library Board Lee Kong Chian Reference Library 100 Victoria Street Level 7 Singapore 188064 Tel: (65) 6332 3255 Email: [email protected] Website: eresources.nlb.gov.sg/standards
SPRING Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, responsible for helping Singapore enterprises grow and building trust in Singapore products and services. As the enterprise development agency, SPRING works with partners to help enterprises with financing, capability and management development, technology and innovation, and access to markets. As the national standards and accreditation body, SPRING develops and promotes an internationally recognised standards and quality assurance infrastructure. SPRING also oversees the safety of general consumer goods in Singapore.
SPRING Singapore 1 Fusionopolis Walk, #01-02 South Tower, Solaris, Singapore 138628 Tel: +65 6278 6666, Fax: +65 6278 6667 www.spring.gov.sg
NOVEMBER 2017
BUILDING BUSINESSES OF THE FUTURE SHOWCASE
TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU: THE SOUP SPOON
SHOWCASE
A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION IN RETAIL: NGEE SOON JEWELLERY
JUMPSTART
SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS: OTSAW
s
G IN R SP be! h tc uTu a W Yo on
w ne
NOVEMBER 2017
5
CONTENTS
FEATURE STORY
ROADMAPS FOR INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
THE GOVERNMENT’S SECTOR-SPECIFIC GROWTH INITIATIVES HAVE SPURRED FIVE KEY SECTORS IN SINGAPORE TO EMBARK ON EFFORTS TO TRANSFORM EDITORIAL TEAM Marion ABRAHAM ([email protected]) Amelia AW ([email protected]) CHAN U-Gene ([email protected]) Charlotte TAN ([email protected]) CHOW Zhi Ting ([email protected]) Fazilah LATIF ([email protected]) Felicia LEE ([email protected]) Fizzah RAHMAN ([email protected]) ZEE Soh Fun ([email protected]) EDITORIAL & DESIGN NewBase Content thenewbase.com
8 10 12 14 16 19 21
SHOWCASE TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION THE RIGHT INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS FINDING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATIVE CLEANING SOLUTIONS CREATING A CONNECTED LOGISTICS ECOSYSTEM JUMPSTART DIGITALISING THE LOGISTICS SUPPLY CHAIN SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS
To subscribe, visit www.spring.gov.sg/springnews For comments and feedback, email [email protected] Watch SPRINGnews at www.youtube.com/SPRINGsingapore
2 | November 2017
BUZZ
New skills framework for the logistics sector
A
logistics sector. It aims to prepare the logistics workforce to take on new jobs as the sector evolves and becomes more sophisticated. The skills framework is an integral part of the Logistics Industry Transformation Map (ITM). It will support the ITM’s vision of growing the sector’s value-add to S$8.3 billion and adding 2,000 PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) jobs by 2020.
BELOW: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (eighth from left) at the opening of the Supply Chain City in Jurong West.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Communications and Information
new skills framework for the logistics sector was launched by Singapore Economic Development Board, SPRING Singapore, SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore on 22 September at the opening of Supply Chain City – a high-tech logistics hub in Jurong West. The framework identifies jobs, training programmes, career pathways, and existing and emerging skills required for the
The centre of retail growth
Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, launching the RCoE at SMU.
Photo courtesy of SMU
The Retail Centre of Excellence (RCoE) – Singapore’s first retail insight-sharing hub – was launched on 10 October by the Singapore Management University (SMU), SPRING Singapore and Singapore Economic Development Board. RCoE aims to empower retailers with the know-how through research and insights, to boost their productivity and innovation levels, and tackle industry challenges. It will also focus on talent development, which will include offering leadership training and internships for SMU students, and master classes for people working in the industry. At the launch of the RCoE, Mr Ted Tan, SPRING’s Deputy Chief Executive, welcomed the centre as a key industry partner. “Through RCoE, retailers will be able to gain deeper insights through retail-centric research, which we hope will enable them to pioneer more innovative concepts and solutions,” he said.
November 2017 | 3
Photo courtesy of FIRC
BUZZ
Shaping the future of food innovation
A
memorandum of understanding was signed on 24 October by the Food Innovation & Resource Centre (FIRC) and Japanese consultancy company, ICMG Pte Ltd, to set up a Food Innovation Platform. The platform will enable Singapore and Japan food companies to ideate, test and commercialise food innovation, packaging and automation solutions. It will also allow Japanese companies to showcase their latest food manufacturing and packaging technologies in Singapore through a series of master classes. The classes
will expose local companies to consumer trends in Japan and provide tips on entering the Japanese market. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the FIRC is one of the eight Centres of Innovation supported by SPRING Singapore, and plays a pivotal role in partnering government agencies, food companies and education institutions to enhance the food manufacturing industry. This latest partnership with ICMG supports the Food Manufacturing ITM’s vision to develop Singapore into Asia’s leading food and nutrition hub.
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ustomers nowadays have shorter attention spans. As a business owner, one way to grab your customers’ attention is through an engaging and interactive digital signage – like Intelli-Signage. Intelli-Signage is an intelligent, touchscreen display solution that comprises an Age and Gender Recognition System, and content design software. The solution is able to estimate a user’s age and gender in less than five seconds, with an accuracy rate of 80%, allowing companies to deliver targeted advertisements and content to users based on their profiles. Users’ demographics, content preference and interaction time are also captured and relayed to companies in real-time, enabling them to develop more relevant marketing content for their customers. Companies can also design, upload and manage content remotely with the solution, thus improving operational efficiency. Visit www.smeportal.sg/techdepot for more information today! ¢
Tech Depot Solution of the Month
4 | November 2017
FROM LEFT: Mrs Ngan-Loong Mann Na, FIRC’s Centre Director, and Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister for Trade and Industry, at FIRC’s 10th anniversary exhibition.
FEATURE
ROADMAPS FOR INDUSTRY TRANSFORMATION
The government’s sector-specific growth initiatives have spurred five key sectors in Singapore to embark on efforts to transform
I
n a globalised economy, businesses need to continuously transform to stay relevant in the long run. In 2016, the government began rolling out Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) to help 23 key sectors ride the wave of digital disruptions. These ITMs guide economic restructuring around four key pillars: innovation, productivity, jobs redesign and upskilling, and internationalisation. SPRING Singapore leads the industry transformation plans for the food services, retail, and food manufacturing ITMs, and works with various agencies to drive transformation in other sectors, including precision engineering and logistics. SPRINGnews speaks to five representatives from the government and trade associations, as well as business owners, to find out how the ITMs have helped businesses.
FOOD SERVICES Mr Vincent Tan Managing Director, Select Group
What are some food services initiatives that Select Group has implemented, and what is the impact? We have seen productivity improvements of more than 10%
this year from using automation equipment and adopting other productivity initiatives in our central kitchens and outlets. Additionally, our food court, Straits Food Village, at Changi Airport Terminal 2, uses digital platforms such as self-ordering and payment kiosks, and queue management systems, which has reduced our manpower reliance by 10 staff. There are three new sites for ‘productive’ coffee shops that are up for tender. We will participate and adopt productive technologies in our new outlets if we are successful in the tender bid.
What support did Select Group receive in its overseas expansion? The Restaurant Association of Singapore organised various overseas trips for learning and business matching. We have participated in these trips as we
are working on expanding our overseas footprint. This year, we opened more restaurants in Malaysia, and just opened our first two outlets in Jakarta, Indonesia. We also plan to open new outlets in Vietnam in 2018.
How does the ITM guide the sector to remain competitive in the face of disruptions? A key aspect of the ITM is innovation, and we have seen an increase in consumer awareness and demand for innovative business formats like ready meals. In response to that, Select Group launched our ready-meals business in March this year. Our ready meals are now retailing in NTUC FairPrice, Giant and Cheers. We are also working with vending machine suppliers to make our ready meals available all around Singapore. Industry-wise, the continuous November 2017 | 5
innovation in business formats, use of lean business models and digitisation of workflow is something exciting to look forward to. Digitisation, especially with the influx of digital payment alternatives, may require some form of consolidation in order to streamline operations at the outlet level. It is important to make sure that staff are well equipped with the right skillset to grow along with the company as more technology is adopted.
RETAIL Ms Kee Ai Nah Group Director, Industry & Enterprise, SPRING Singapore
As the lead agency for the Retail ITM, what initiatives have been developed for businesses? To boost the confidence of retailers that are new to online sales, e-commerce ready-to-go solutions have been developed by SPRING together with partners like Google, Qoo10, and the Singapore Productivity Centre. We have also seen the development of new, innovative retail concepts, which are manpower lean. Some examples include Kalm’s gift -vending machines and Cheers’ “manless” convenience stores.
How have businesses reacted to the initiatives under the ITM? Several retailers have started developing innovative omnichannel experiences for customers. Productivity-wise, more retailers have deployed technology for their back-end processes like inventory management. RFID technology has gained traction too, and smaller retailers like Ngee Soon Jewellery have implemented it at their outlets. At the same time, large retailers are leading the implementation of self-checkouts, 6 | November 2017
cash management systems and electronic shelf labelling.
Productivity-related initiatives like the deployment of technology to ease operations have resulted in significant time and manpower savings. An example is food retailer Food-Joy, which has seen manpower savings of approximately 25% for its cashier functions. The company has also seen a 66% reduction in customer transaction time – from three minutes to about one minute per customer – after implementing its two-in-one (cash and card) self-checkout and cash management solution.
Alibaba’s Tmall and jD.com – two of China’s top e-commerce platforms. Listing our food manufacturers’ products there will help them to enter the Chinese market. In addition, High Pressure Processing (HPP), a resourcesharing facility, was unveiled in May. HPP technology helps food products stay fresh for longer without the use of preservatives, additives or applied heat. This opens up export opportunities for food companies, improves productivity, saves manpower and reduces food waste in the manufacturing process. The Soup Spoon is one company that has benefitted from HPP. (See full story on page 8).
How will SPRING help the sector achieve the goals of the Retail ITM?
How have businesses reacted to the new initiatives under the ITM?
We will continue to raise awareness of new technologies through workshops and seminars, working through multipliers like the Singapore Retailers Association and the Retail Centre of Excellence, and publicising success stories. We will also continue to encourage and facilitate networking among retailers, so that they can discuss ways to improve their operations or, even better, collaborate.
Most businesses have responded positively, especially to the internationalisation strategies. More companies are now keen to join us at our local and overseas trade shows and exhibitions, even those held as far away as Dubai and the Netherlands.
How have the initiatives benefitted businesses?
FOOD MANUFACTURING Mr Thomas Pek, President, Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association (SFMA)
What’s new in the food manufacturing sector since the Food Manufacturing ITM was launched? Regional and global expansion continues to be a key growth strategy for our local food manufacturers, and SFMA has launched the online Singapore Pavilion called “Tasty Singapore” on
How have the initiatives benefitted businesses that have adopted them? Generally, they have been able to expand their product range through innovation, and gain greater international exposure and higher sales beyond the Singapore market. An example is Gold Kili, which has successfully expanded to Japan, the US, Africa and North Korea. Building customer trust and investing in product innovation to maintain the high quality of Singapore-made products are crucial ingredients for the company's success. Through close partnership with IE Singapore, Gold Kili also underwent a branding project targeted at the US market, as well as identified experienced and reliable importers and distributors for its products.
What are SFMA’s future plans to help businesses achieve the ITM’s goals? One upcoming event is the Food Innovation Product Award 2018,
FEATURE where we will match businesses with student teams to create new food products, to spur innovation in the industry. We have also just launched the Singapore Food Gifts Initiative at Changi Airport Terminal 4. This initiative is based on the idea of promoting Singapore food items, which are developed by local brands, to tourists and global consumers. Through this initiative, our members will benefit from greater visibility at the airport and on iShopChangi (online duty-free shopping), and be able to reach an international audience.
PRECISION ENGINEERING Mr Jeremy Fong Immediate Past Chairman, Singapore Precision Engineering Technology Association (SPETA)
Using the ITM as a guide, what initiatives has SPETA has put in place for businesses? SPETA has been working with industry partners to encourage more precision engineering (PE) companies to upgrade their capabilities in the areas of technology adoption, productivity improvement, and business model innovation to stay competitive. One such programme is the Enhanced Operational and Technology Roadmapping (OTR) by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech). Companies can tap SIMTech’s expertise in strategic business and technology scanning methodology to generate new ideas and plan for future growth. We have also gathered seven PE companies to form a consortium for 3D additive manufacturing (AM). This alliance helps lower the cost of AM and reduce the time to market by
tapping each other’s expertise. Additionally, we are organising a trade mission for our members to Germany to study Industry 4.0 – a term that refers to the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.
How have the ITM initiatives benefitted businesses? For Fong’s Engineering, adopting automation helped improve their profit margins by at least one fold. JEP Precision Engineering and Feinmetall Singapore – both SPETA members – have implemented Industry 4.0 technologies with support from SIMTech. With this digitalised process, they now have real-time overview of various business operations, and can make timely decisions on the manufacturing process for better control. Sanwa-Intec (Asia), too, improved its productivity through robotics adoption.
What is the challenge facing the sector, and how does SPETA plan to address it? A key challenge for companies is resources, particularly their capability to manage new technologies and the costs involved. Our approach is to integrate and align common interests and needs of our members by forming alliances to address this challenge. This would help companies mitigate risks and be more cost and resource efficient. Through these alliances, they would also have better bargaining power when securing new business opportunities and financial support.
LOGISTICS Mr Dave Ng Chairman, Singapore Transport Association (STA)
What new initiative has STA developed for businesses since the Logistics ITM was launched? We are working with SPRING and JTC Corporation under the Local Enterprise and Association Development (LEAD) programme to form an industry chassis pool, to help local hauliers achieve better resource utilisation and manage rising cost. The chassis pool aims to reduce the day-to-day cost for operators and chassis owners, and improve daily operations.
Are businesses facing any challenges that the ITM has helped alleviate? Most logistics businesses, especially SMEs, have a manpower shortage, and find it difficult to give their staff time off to attend courses to upgrade themselves. STA is actively working with its member SMEs to identify a pool of staff to receive training at local accredited training organisations.
What trend do you see developing in the logistics sector? More businesses are moving towards collaborative partnerships. The challenge is bringing the new, smaller SMEs together to gain economies of scales, and keep up with this trend. Industry incumbents are also pursuing more efficiency through collaborations and sharing business networks. This pattern will lead to greater connectivity within the industry, and reduce the day-to-day operational costs for SMEs.
What are STA’s future plans to achieve the ITM’s goals? We want to attract more talent to the industry. We kickstarted this effort at our first Logistics Day in November. It was held in conjunction with Ngee Ann Polytechnic and SkillsFuture Singapore, to promote workstudy schemes like the Earn and Learn Programme. Through such initiatives, we aim to build a pipeline of talent for the logistics industry and, in the long run, raise the profile of the logistics sector. November 2017 | 7
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hen The Soup Spoon realised that its customers were buying soups and storing them in styrofoam cup packaging for next-day consumption, it decided to embark on the creation of takehome soup packs in 2003. However, the company discovered a problem with its takehome soup packs – their short twoweek shelf life. “By the time we send the packs to retailers and they send them to their outlets, there are only seven days left before the packs expire. And because stores generally remove food items from their shelves three days before the expiry date, they have only four days to sell the soup packs – so most of them did not want to carry these products,” says Ms Anna Lim (photo, left), Executive Director of The Soup Spoon. The company was also not keen on using preservatives to extend the shelf life of its soup packs as it went against the company’s philosophy of providing food that is not only convenient but also nutritious.
A winning solution
TECHNOLOGY ON THE MENU Adopting High Pressure Processing technology has enabled The Soup Spoon to increase the shelf life of its soup products, reduce food wastage and gain more opportunities for growth 8 | November 2017
In 2014, The Soup Spoon came to know about High Pressure Processing (HPP) technology during a work trip to New Zealand. Ms Lim was so impressed with the technology that she calls it the “secret to fresh, flavourful food with longer shelf life”. HPP is a natural, environmentally friendly process that uses high pressure to maintain characteristics like nutrients and flavour of fresh food items. The ultra-high pressure kills food-borne pathogens in packaged refrigerated products, and can double or triple the shelf life of products, depending on their contents, without using chemicals or additives. However, adopting the technology was not without obstacles. “As no one had the HPP machine in Singapore, there was no way of testing if the technology would suit our products,” Ms Lim explains. In 2015, the company took some of its soup packs to Hiperbaric – a world leading manufacturer of HPP
SHOWCASE equipment for the food industry – in Spain, for testing. Satisfied with the outcome of the tests, The Soup Spoon decided to purchase a HPP machine despite its high cost. The company was able to defray part of the cost with assistance from SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant. The soup packs with longer shelf life were rolled out in 2017.
More business growth One of the early adopters of HPP technology in Singapore, Ms Lim believes that the technology and its benefits was worth the journey. “It has helped us increase the shelf life of our soup products, which in turn has opened new doors for us both locally and globally,” says Ms Lim. “With HPP, we can get up to 120 days of shelf life compared to just 14 days previously, without having to tweak our recipes or compromise on taste. This enables us to enter new domestic retail channels and export our soups.” For instance, The Soup Spoon’s soup packs can now be found on the shelves of Citysuper, a premium retail chain in Hong Kong – a result of a deal that the company struck in 2017. Its most recent collaboration is with FairPrice Finest, in addition to partnerships with Cold Storage and Redmart. “Advanced food processing technology has given us a way to grow the business and our distribution channels, and not depend solely on our own F&B stores to generate sales,” says Ms Lim. In 2017, The Soup Spoon saw a 30% increase in the sales of its soup packs.
Innovating with technology The Soup Spoon’s recent success has given it the confidence to expand the HPP technology to its ready meals, such as Thai glass noodles, cauliflower quinoa rice and samsui chicken. With the technology, the ready meals can last up to 28 days, compared to only three days previously. “This is a long time for chilled and preservative-free ready
THE HPP TECHNOLOGY HAS HELPED US INCREASE THE SHELF LIFE OF OUR SOUP PRODUCTS, WHICH IN TURN HAS OPENED NEW DOORS FOR US BOTH LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY.
Cheers, a local convenience food chain. Additionally, The Soup Spoon has partnered with Workforce Singapore to offer master classes on the HPP technology, and promote and extend the use of its facility to other food and beverage firms in Singapore. Besides gaining positive ROI, The Soup Spoon hopes that these collaborations will boost Singapore’s ready meals market and awareness of the advanced food technology and its benefits for the food industry.
MS ANNA LIM
Going places
Executive Director, The Soup Spoon meals, which generally expires in less than a week, and gives us a competitive edge in the market.” In addition, The Soup Spoon has developed an innovative way to generate a positive return on investment (ROI) on the technology – it collaborates with other companies to boost the utilisation rate of its machine and equipment. For instance, the company worked with local fitness centre GymmBoxx in 2017 to increase the shelf life of its protein products. The Soup Spoon is also working with food services company, The Common Good Company, to produce healthy, long shelf-life ready meals for one of its clients,
In the coming months, The Soup Spoon plans to further expand its distribution channels. “We recently attended a trade fair in South Korea to promote our take-home soup packs there. There are not many players in the South Korean market that sell soups in chilled format, with long shelf lives and no preservatives. We are in a unique position to supply these soups,” Ms Lim adds. “We are also planning to expand into China next year.” On why expanding into these markets are important, Ms Lim says that the ready meals market in Singapore will soon become saturated with competition. “That’s why it is important to be open to technology and innovation, to be able to stay competitive in the long run.”
ABOVE: The Soup Spoon's vacuum skin packaging machine, which helps further extend the shelf life of the takehome soup packs.
key takeaways • Food services
companies are encouraged to explore new business formats and technology to stay relevant and competitive.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your company’s technology and innovation journey by visiting www. spring.gov.sg/ CDG.
November 2017 | 9
A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF INNOVATION IN RETAIL Ngee Soon Jewellery uses technology to keep ahead of the competition, reduce stocktaking time and boost sales
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ewellery stores invest big money in their earrings, necklaces and bracelets. They also invest a lot of time in conducting inventory checks each day to make sure every jewellery item is accounted for. Conducting such intensive checks daily was also a process that staff at local retailer Ngee Soon Jewellery underwent. “Our old manual stocktaking process took two to three hours, and required at least two staff. It could take the whole day to address the discrepancy if something went missing,” says Ms Jan Ho, Executive Director, Ngee Soon Jewellery. “When this happened, our staff needed to print out a list and try to find out what’s the missing item. This often meant working extra hours.” In 2014, the local jewellery retailer which employs 20 staff and has three outlets, found a way to reduce this stress with Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking technology, which monitors the movement of each piece of jewellery. Now Ngee Soon Jewellery staff use RFID devices for daily stocktaking – and it takes only an hour. “With just a swipe of the ‘wand’, our staff will know what’s missing,” Ms Ho shares. “Instead of spending a day to look for missing items, they can locate them in less than an hour, and use the rest of their time for higher value activities, such as marketing and customer engagement.” 10 | November 2017
This has helped the retailer save 80% of the time previously needed to locate missing jewellery items. “It’s a big relief for our staff,” she adds.
Improving business outcomes Ms Ho came to know about RFID technology in 2013 from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), which introduced Ngee Soon Jewellery to SPRING Singapore for support in adopting the RFID system. A year later, with assistance from SPRING’s Capability Development Grant (CDG), the jewellery retailer successfully adopted the RFID system. “Securing the CDG helped us convince our board of directors, who did not feel the need to fix something that was not broken,” explains Ms Ho. “Previously, we were a traditional SME but competition
was getting stiffer,” adds Ms Ho. “This technology has helped us improve our productivity, reduce expenses and boost our margins.” Within a year of Ngee Soon Jewellery implementing the system, more than 10 other jewellers expressed their interest to adopt it. However, for Ngee Soon Jewellery, it’s not about having cutting-edge technology to boast about, but rather to help its staff better upsell, cross-sell and improve business outcomes.
Intelligent innovation Ngee Soon Jewellery’s innovation efforts did not stop there; it has also deployed the Intelli-Signage solution at its storefronts in Yishun and Khatib. The innovative digital signage solution developed by local technology provider Anewtech Systems enables Ngee Soon Jewellery to collect consumer insights and therefore improve customer engagement. Comprising a touch screen system, age and gender recognition system, content design software, remote management and data analytics technology, the solution can estimate the user’s age by scanning his or her facial structures and features. In less than five seconds, the IntelliSignage can make a smart guess of the user’s gender and age. With that data, it then displays targeted and relevant advertisements that consumers of that profile would typically look for. Five seconds after consumers have browsed through
SHOWCASE the content, the signage will relay data on their preferences and interaction time to Ngee Soon Jewellery, which will then use it to develop relevant advertisements and content. Using insights collected from the Intelli-Signages, Ngee Soon Jewellery’s in-house design team created advertisements targeted at different age groups – teenagers were greeted by a catalogue of semi-precious stones while middle-aged consumers viewed advertisements featuring
classic gold jewellery. This resulted in a 10% increase in customers and sales.
Keeping up with change Not one to rest on its laurels, Ngee Soon Jewellery is working on an improved version of its RFID system that will go beyond inventory tracking and identification of missing items. “We want our customers to come back,” Ms Ho says. “That’s why we’re working with our RFID vendor to come up with an
improved system that allows us to understand customer behaviour in real-time; something that enables us to drill into the data and harness it for analytics.” Ms Ho hopes that her fellow industry peers and small business owners will join her in exploring further how innovation can boost productivity and revenue. “We need to embrace change, because change is inevitable,” she advises. “And with the funding and support that are available, there are more reasons to try.”
PREVIOUSLY, WE WERE A TRADITIONAL SME BUT COMPETITION WAS GETTING STIFFER. THIS TECHNOLOGY GIVES US A WAY TO IMPROVE OUR PRODUCTIVITY, REDUCE EXPENSES AND BOOST OUR MARGINS. MS JAN HO Executive Director, Ngee Soon Jewellery
key takeaways • Investing in
innovation can lead to productivity and profit gains.
• Visit www.
smeportal.sg/ techdepot to discover relevant technology solutions or find out how the CDG can support larger innovation projects at www. spring.gov.sg/ CDG
November 2017 | 11
THE RIGHT INGREDIENT FOR SUCCESS Incorporating innovative technology into its meat products has enabled LM Meat to expand its product offering and build new revenue streams
the company’s Managing Director. However, he explains, while demand for good quality meat is growing, supply is limited as Singapore does not produce meat. Also, the conditions for producing high quality meat require more costs and resources like natural grasslands. This limited supply makes good quality meat more expensive, and so selling it may not be profitable for LM Meat as customers may not be willing to pay such high prices for the meat.
The road to innovation
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M Meat Pte Ltd, a local retail butchery, is passionate about good quality meat. Set up 11 years ago, the company specialises in providing high-quality meats for Singaporeans. On top of meat products, LM Meat also offers a large selection of affordable, ready-to-heat products 12 | November 2017
from its kitchen, such as beef rendang, chicken collagen soup and chef’s wagyu beef patties. In 2015, the butchery noticed a change in customers’ taste. “We observed a growing preference for healthier food as customers are more health conscious now,” says Mr Loi Teck Heng (photo, above),
Mr Loi has been in the meat processing business for more than 40 years. In 2015, he heard about a locally developed “postharvest” technology called Lacto-Marinate that can be used on meat to improve its quality and reduce its saturated fats and cholesterol content. “We saw that the technology
SHOWCASE can enable us to enhance our meat products and fill the market gap for healthier meats,” says Mr Loi. “We cannot control the meat origin, but with this technology, we can enhance the meat we receive from our suppliers and make it healthier for our consumers,” adds Mr Loi. With this opportunity in mind, the company decided to test the Lacto-Marinate technology on pork – a popular meat choice among its customers. It embarked on a year-long research and development (R&D) process in 2016, which was supported by SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant. The R&D process involved testing the technology during the meatprocessing stage, and assessing how it affects the shelf life and nutritional value of the product.
Marketing it right In 2017, the company was ready to launch M!Pork – a healthier pork product that has been treated with a proprietary marinade, called “lacto-marinate”, which is made up of probiotic organisms. However, introducing M!Pork into the market proved challenging. The company’s initial strategy was to market the probiotic product as a better-tasting meat, compared to regular pork meats. “The Lacto-Marinate technology helps tenderise meat and remove the frozen meat smell, which some people do not like,” says Mr Loi. “But when we sent it to different people to try, we realised that different people have different preferences – some of them actually liked that smell!” Through this sampling exercise, the company realised that taste is subjective, and different customers had different perceptions of what tastes good. “We had to change our approach, and decided to market it as a healthier meat product instead,” says Mr Loi. “That worked better and customers became more receptive of M!Pork products,” he adds. In 2017, M! Pork Mince was awarded the Healthier Choice
WE ARE VERY RELIANT ON MARKET TRENDS AND PRICES, SO WE HAD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INNOVATE AND CREATE PRODUCTS THAT ARE VALUE-ADDED AND UNIQUE. MR LOI TECK HENG Managing Director, LM Meat Pte Ltd
Symbol by the Health Promotion Board. The company has also seen a 20% increase in M!Pork sales. For LM Meat, the Lacto-Marinate technology is its competitive edge. “It is different from what’s available in the market, and gives us an affordable way of providing healthier meat options for our customers,” he explains.
As Lacto-Marinate is a post-harvest technology, the company does not have to rely on organic meat suppliers for healthier meat products. This means LM Meat is able to keep its prices low; the probiotic pork is priced reasonably from $1.33 per 100g.
Innovating for the future The success of M!Pork with customers has given LM Meat the confidence to incorporate the probiotic pork into its ready-toheat food products. The company plans to use M!Pork to create innovative, healthier meals for customers. These meals are set to be launched next year. Eventually, says Mr Loi, LM Meat plans to expand the technology to its beef products. “But this will require different processes and probably more R&D.” When asked about the company’s long-term plans, Mr Loi says, “We want to go into export.” LM Meat is also considering developing a franchise model for its butchery, so that it can expand the business to other countries like China.
LEFT: M!Pork is a healthier pork product that has been treated with a proprietary marinade called "lacto-marinate", which is made up of probiotic organisms.
key takeaways • Embracing
innovation will can give your company a competitive edge.
• Visit www.spring.
gov.sg/CDG to find out how SPRING can help in your innovation efforts.
November 2017 | 13
FINDING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATIVE CLEANING SOLUTIONS The ever-changing business landscape prompted JCS-Echigo to move from developing precision cleaning solutions for the hard disk drive and medical industries, to providing solutions, systems and services for the F&B and logistics sectors
D
uring the 2009 global financial crisis, JCS-Echigo Pte Ltd found itself at a crossroads. The local company, which specialises in designing and fabricating precision cleaning systems for the hard disk drive and medical sectors, received almost no orders from late 2008 to early 2009. The company persevered, and orders began to slowly trickle in after mid-2009, but Ms Elise Hong, JCS-Echigo’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, realised then the importance of expanding and diversifying the company's offerings to survive in the long run. “We started considering going into the F&B industry as we had previously built a cleaning system from scratch for a F&B company,” says Ms Hong. “We would still be in the cleaning business – just a different sector.” Thanks to its strong track record of serving MNC customers with strict requirements and high expectations, the company has a strong expertise in precision cleaning, with solutions and services that do not compromise on compliance or quality. With this strong foundation, it was well-positioned in 2012 to expand into the F&B sector with its own innovative, high-tech dishwashing systems. Today, the company still provides industrial cleaning services and equipment – but also centralised 14 | November 2017
SHOWCASE dishwashing services for the F&B sector. This diversification has helped ensure a consistent stream of revenue for JCS-Echigo.
Dishwashing made easier Food courts, restaurants and catering businesses across Singapore can outsource their entire dishwashing operations to the company. The cost is about the same if these businesses were to do the dishwashing themselves, but JCSEchigo adds value by taking away the entire dishwashing hassle from their customers. The company’s experience with MNC customers has also shaped a mindset of providing top-notch
WE ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE A VISION ABOUT WHAT WE’RE GOING TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME – IN TERMS OF WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS AND HOW THE MARKET IS CHANGING. MS ELISE HONG Executive Director, JCS-Echigo
services that meet the compliance and quality standards for different industries while catering for various client needs. “In 2015, we started getting ready to be certified to ISO 22000 food management system and halal standards, to be able to serve more F&B businesses. We achieved both certifications in 2016,” says Ms Hong. The company also has in-house maintenance teams, which means that there is little to no machine downtime. “With this solution, our customers don’t have to worry about their assigned dishwashing staff being on sick leave or not turning up. Instead, these staff can be redeployed to other valueadded tasks,” she adds. Recently, the company incorporated Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology into its dishwashing system. Tubs that are used for cutleries and crockeries are now RFID tagged, to enable real-time tracking and monitoring of process status of dishes. “We want our customers to feel assured that every item is accounted for. Our workers do not need to count the tubs manually when they get them from customers; all the data is automatically recorded,” says Ms Hong. JCS-Echigo's RFID technology initiative was supported by SPRING Singapore.
Continuous improvement mindset Despite its successes in the F&B sector, JCS-Echigo is not resting on its laurels. It is exploring developing its own industrial robot vacuum to automate the process of cleaning various premises such as food courts. “These robots are not a new concept, but we’re trying to make it economical for more businesses to buy,” says Ms Hong. However, JCS-Echigo first plans to develop an “attachment” that can be fixed to existing manually-operated scrubber machines as a cheaper alternative to buying a new machine. After this is rolled out in 2018, JCS-Echigo will turn its focus to developing the industrial robot vacuum. Additionally, JCS-Echigo is positioning itself to provide innovative cleaning solutions for the transport and aerospace industries. “We are building train cleaning systems for SMRT. This is essentially like a massive car wash for trains,” Ms Hong explains. “We are truly honoured that SMRT has awarded this business opportunity to a local SME like us.” Overall, she believes that perseverance is important for businesses that want to grow into new areas. “We always need to have a vision about what we’re going to be doing in five years’ time – in terms of what the customer wants and how the market is changing.” LEFT: JCSEchigo recently incorporated RFID technology into its dishwashing system.
key takeaways • Grow your
business through innovation and diversification.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your innovation efforts at www.spring. gov.sg/CDG.
November 2017 | 15
CREATING A CONNECTED LOGISTICS ECOSYSTEM blu has developed an integrated logistics solutions system for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers to streamline their processes, and offer customers a seamless shopping experience
T
OPPOSITE PAGE: bluPorts provide an easier way for customers to collect their online purchases. There are now more than 55 bluPorts in Singapore.
16 | November 2017
he e-commerce sector in Singapore has grown tremendously over the last few years. This has led to companies, including startups, stepping forward to provide distribution solutions to solve the last-mile delivery challenge for businesses, and boost the overall shopping experience for end users. Some of these challenges include not being able to make deliveries to customers on time due to a high volume of orders; lack of full, realtime visibility over deliveries; and the high cost of same-day delivery. There’s also the issue of Singapore’s fragmented e-commerce and logistics landscapes, where there are multiple players and no standard platform from which all stakeholders operate. Dealing with these challenges, says Mr Prashant Dadlani, requires investing in a solution – like an endto-end logistics service – that can help businesses efficiently manage their orders, so that they can focus on keeping customers happy. Mr Dadlani is the Founder and CEO of local e-commerce startup blu. “There is an underserved market when it comes to outsourced logistics services for SMEs,” he notes. “There is no one that small businesses can go to for end-to-end logistics services, from order management and warehousing to packing and customer delivery.” Big firms, on the other hand, can usually
SUCCESS FOR US IS ABOUT BEING CUSTOMERCENTRIC AND TURNING THE CONCEPT OF LOGISTICS SERVICES PROVISION INTO AN ECOSYSTEM WHERE EVERYONE FEELS CONNECTED. MR PRASHANT DADLANI Founder and CEO, blu
SHOWCASE afford to have their own logistics department and a fleet of trucks and drivers.
manpower and space for handling extra stock,” says Mr Dadlani.
Improving retail experiences
Mr Dadlani stresses that integration across all levels has been key to the success of blu’s various solutions with retailers. “Ultimately, success for us is about being customer-centric and turning the concept of logistics services provision into an ecosystem where everyone feels connected.” A case in point – and a popular solution with retailers – are bluPorts. When asked how the idea came about, Mr Dadlani explains that with the growing manpower shortage and customers’ on-thego lifestyles, the company realised that doorstep delivery may not be everyone’s preferred or ideal method. “We saw a business opportunity, which led to the creation of bluPorts. These allow customers to pick up their orders anywhere, anytime, at their convenience.” For online retailer Qoolmart.com, the platform offers an integrated and automated workflow, higher speed and accuracy of order fulfilment and delivery, and gives customers a more convenient way of receiving their purchases. The retailer is also now confident in offering more product variety, knowing that maintaining higher stock keeping unit counts can be easily done on the platform. Other retailers on the bluPort network include beauty product
In 2015, blu was established with the aim of helping SME retailers keep up with customer expectations and give customers a fulfilling experience at every stage of the retail supply chain process. It provides a range of integrated retail logistics solutions, such as warehousing, order and inventory management, automated fulfilment and last-mile delivery. Together, these are housed on an integrated platform, which means fewer bottlenecks in the supply chain and a seamless shopping experience. For online retailers, the platform is integrated directly with their websites. This means when a retailer receives online orders, they are automatically transferred to blu’s back-end systems for action – from pick and pack to customer delivery. When a retailer receives an order, blu’s order management system calculates how the order can be most effectively fulfilled. Meanwhile, a robotics mechanism at the warehouse identifies and brings the product to the packing station. “We store retailers’ goods and manage their inventory. Through our cloud-based order and inventory management platform, retailers have a real-time view of their inventory, which not many logistics companies offer,” Mr Dadlani explains. Distribution of orders is done through bluPorts – self-collection locker terminals that are located all over Singapore, including shopping malls, office buildings and convenience stores. All throughout the process, the retailer has a real-time view of inventory and movements. The startup does not cater to only e-commerce businesses; it also helps brick-and-mortar retailers manage their stocks and supply – a task that usually takes up a lot of staff time and shop space. blu’s inventory management platform can help such retailers track product movements and provide a more accurate calculation of the amount of stock they require. “By being able to manage their inventory better, stores can free up their
An effective solution
retailer Kinohimitsu Singapore and SGshop, a shopping agent for Taobao. blu also works with logistics companies like DHL Express.
Plans in the pipeline There are now more than 55 bluPorts in Singapore, which is remarkable considering that the first bluPort was set up only at the end of 2016. However, blu is showing no signs of stopping. In early October, the company launched bluGate, a virtual shipping concierge. Customers who have signed up for a bluGate account will receive a unique virtual address, and can order items from multiple e-commerce sites and have the items shipped to this virtual location. This way, shoppers can purchase items from any website, and have the items delivered to a bluPort of their choice. The same month, blu unveiled a pilot programme, bluChill, at OUE Downtown Gallery. bluChill is a temperature-controlled self-collection terminal, which allows packages to be kept at four different temperature zones: frozen, chilled, ambient and non-chilled. For instance, users at OUE Social Kitchen – a co-cooking space at OUE Downtown Gallery – would be able to use bluChill to store fresh ingredients and products. In the future, says Mr Dadlani, consumers will be able to request for delivery of items such as wines from retailers with bluChill.
key takeaways • Automation
and proper integration of systems can boost your business’ productivity and efficiency.
• Find out how
SPRING can support your business’ automation and integration efforts at www.spring. gov.sg/CDG.
November 2017 | 17
Build Up Your Business with the
Capability Development Grant
TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION BRAND & MARKETING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
ENHANCING QUALITY & STANDARDS
PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
BUSINESS STRATEGY INNOVATION
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & FRANCHISING
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Whichever stage of growth your business is at, having the right set of business capabilities will make you more competitive. SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) helps defray up to 70% of qualifying project costs when you enhance your capabilities to grow your business. For more information, visit www.spring.gov.sg/CDG today!
JUMPSTART
DIGITALISING THE LOGISTICS SUPPLY CHAIN
I
magine if you are a distributor of fast-moving goods like toiletries, and have 25 trucks making more than 1,000 deliveries a day to pharmacies and supermarkets. How would these orders be allocated to the individual trucks? “Today, it’s most probably done manually,” says Mr Noam Berda, Co-Founder and CEO of logistics software solutions provider Zyllem. According to him, this is the case with many logistics companies in Singapore, where allocation is still done using pen, paper and a messaging service like WhatsApp. This method is not efficient especially when there are large orders or sudden changes, as things may go awry such as communication getting lost and orders taking longer than usual to be delivered. That’s not the only challenge. There are many players, with different processes, and no standard system in the supply chain network. Hence, data is not effectively transmitted among the players, causing delays in the supply chain. The solution? “You need to digitalise the entire operation to enable a seamless flow of information across all players,” says Mr Berda. In 2016, Zyllem developed a software solution that solves these challenges. It can be customised to any business, so that all the assets and partners
OUR OBJECTIVE AS AN ORGANISATION IS FOR OUR CLIENTS TO BE ABLE TO SAY ‘TOMORROW, WE’LL DELIVER THE GOODS BETWEEN 12PM AND 1PM’ AND BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY FULFIL THAT. MR NOAM BERDA Co-Founder and CEO, Zyllem of a company are connected and managed on one platform. Essentially, says Mr Berda, the platform gives businesses the ability to manage the different aspects of their logistics networks seamlessly, from customs clearance to the final delivery of goods to buyers or sellers. The platform’s plug-and-play design makes it especially useful for retailers with large orders to fulfil every day. “Retailers can key in orders into our system and auto-assign them to different partners. They will have control
over all operations because they can see what’s happening at every stage,” adds Mr Marco De Lorenzo, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Zyllem. According to Mr Berda, auto assignment is done based on geo-zones, postal codes and customs rules. Zyllem’s clients range from retailers and logistics providers to food distributors and e-commerce companies. One of its biggest clients is healthcare services provider Zuellig Pharma. In 2016, the startup adopted TR 46 : 2016 for Last Mile Delivery – eCommerce Data Interchange standard, for a seamless exchange of data. TR 46 provides guidelines for companies to adopt a common dataset to boost efficiency by reducing time and minimising errors in the process chain. “Our objective as an organisation is for our clients to be able to say ‘tomorrow, we’ll deliver the goods between 12pm and 1pm’ and be able to actually fulfil that,” says Mr Berda. Zyllem now hopes to encourage more companies to play a part in improving processes in Singapore’s logistics industry. Through SPRING Singapore’s Collaborative Industry Projects (CIP) initiative, Zyllem has brought several local enterprises on board its platform for 12 months. During this period, companies will work with Zyllem to map their logistics processes, as well as configure and integrate the platform with their existing systems. Participating SMEs under the CIP enjoy financial support of up to 70% for their first-year subscription to the platform, for up to a certain number of transactions and depending on the package they signed up for. After the one-year subscription, SMEs can continue the subscription at their own cost. The CIP initiative supports collaborations between enterprises and industry partners to source for solutions to overcome industryspecific business challenges.
LEFT: Mr Noam Berda (left) and Mr Marco De Lorenzo hope to encourage more companies to play a part in improving processes in Singapore's logistics industry.
November 2017 | 19
Upgrading Your Business with Certified Management Consultants SMEs embarking on business upgrading journey and seeking support for consultancy-related costs under SPRING’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) will need to engage management consultants with SPRING-recognised certification. This certification for management consultants helps SMEs select the right partners who meet the minimum competency and ethical requirements to deliver on project outcomes.
Management consultants play a pivotal role in Singapore’s enterprise development landscape. Partnering quality management consultants can help SMEs achieve meaningful business outcomes.
SPRING-Recognised Certification for Management Consultants provides quality assurance to SMEs. Appointed certification bodies for SPRING-recognised certification: • Institute of Management Consultants (Singapore) • Singapore PMC Certification Pte Ltd • TÜV SÜD PSB Pte Ltd SMEs can view the lists of certified management consultants on their websites.
For more information, please refer to www.spring.gov.sg/consultant-quality
JUMPSTART
SECURING THE FUTURE WITH ROBOTICS
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suspicious person in a shopping mall drifts through the crowd, holding a black bag that he plans to leave at a storefront. However, what he doesn’t know is that a security robot patrolling inside the mall has picked up on his unusual behaviour and forwarded alerts wirelessly and in real time to the mall’s command centre. This allows security staff to quickly attend to any possible danger. Meet Otsaw’s newly developed security robot (photo, right) – the first of its kind in Singapore. Mr Ling Ming Ting, CEO of Otsaw – which was founded in 2015 as a subsidiary of ActiV Technology and specialises in autonomous navigation – envisions the command centre as a central communication system, where all alerts from the robot are received and displayed visually on a dashboard. Based on these real-time alerts, security guards can act instantly to prevent or stop a crime. He emphasises that ultimately, humans are in control; security personnel can override the security robot and manually manoeuvre its movements, if and when necessary. The robot is also able to avoid obstacles while on patrol and self-charge when its energy is running out, and thus it is able to ensure 24/7 monitoring and protection. “This means it can also be used to help organisations optimise manpower for aroundthe-clock work, such as guarding a building,” Mr Ling says. According to him, what’s exciting about autonomous
navigation is its potential applications beyond the security industry. There are possible applications in agriculture and public infrastructure management – for example, transporting vegetables and fruits within large farming properties, and road cleaning. “It’s about retrofitting human-driven machines to be machine-driven,” he explains. However, rather than single-handedly taking on all of these potential applications, Otsaw is working with partners to license out its technology. “Though we have developed the security robot for ourselves, we can’t be builders of all types of machines. We are not experts in every type of machine, but we are experts of autonomous navigation, and that can be used in many different platforms. We developed autopilot navigation black boxes that can be plugged into machines, so there’s no need for someone to physically man the vehicle,” Mr Lin shares. The prototype, which was built with support from SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant, was launched at CommunicAsia in May 2017. Since then, Otsaw has secured partnerships with customers like the Dubai Police Force. The startup plans to roll out the robots in full swing next year. Mr Ling believes that embracing robotics is a step in the right direction. “You cannot run away from artificial intelligence or robotics. Singapore companies can either embrace it fast or miss the boat – and we definitely don’t want to miss the boat,” he adds.
YOU CANNOT RUN AWAY FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR ROBOTICS. SINGAPORE COMPANIES CAN EITHER EMBRACE IT FAST OR MISS THE BOAT – AND WE DEFINITELY DON’T WANT TO MISS THE BOAT. MR LING MING TING Chief Executive Officer, Otsaw November 2017 | 21
CONTACTS SME Infoline
Tel: (65) 6898 1800 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smeportal.sg
SME Centres
SME Centre@ASME Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) 167 Jalan Bukit Merah Tower 4, #03-13 Singapore 150167 Tel: (65) 6513 0388 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-asme.sg SME Centre@SCCCI Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI) 9 Jurong Town Hall Road, #04-01 Trade Association Hub Jurong Town Hall Singapore 609431 Tel: 6337 8381 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-sccci.sg SME Centre@SICCI Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) SICCI Building 31 Stanley Street Singapore 068740 Tel: (65) 6508 0147 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-sicci.sg
SME Centre@SMCCI Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SMCCI) 15 Jalan Pinang Singapore 199147 Tel: (65) 6293 3822 Fax: (65) 6293 3905 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-smcci.sg SME Centre@SMF Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) 2985 Jalan Bukit Merah Singapore 159457 Tel: (65) 6826 3020 Fax: (65) 6826 3021 Email: [email protected] Website: www.smecentre-smf.sg For assistance, you can visit satellite SME Centres located at the Community Development Councils (CDCs), Changi Simei Community Club and Ang Mo Kio Community Centre.
Sales of Standards
Toppan Leefung Pte Ltd Great World City East Tower 1 Kim Seng Promenade, #18-01 Singapore 237994 Tel: (65) 6826 9691 Fax: (65) 6820 3341 Email: [email protected] Website: www.singaporestandardseshop.sg
Standards Collection
National Library Board Lee Kong Chian Reference Library 100 Victoria Street Level 7 Singapore 188064 Tel: (65) 6332 3255 Email: [email protected] Website: eresources.nlb.gov.sg/standards
SPRING Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, responsible for helping Singapore enterprises grow and building trust in Singapore products and services. As the enterprise development agency, SPRING works with partners to help enterprises with financing, capability and management development, technology and innovation, and access to markets. As the national standards and accreditation body, SPRING develops and promotes an internationally recognised standards and quality assurance infrastructure. SPRING also oversees the safety of general consumer goods in Singapore.
SPRING Singapore 1 Fusionopolis Walk, #01-02 South Tower, Solaris, Singapore 138628 Tel: +65 6278 6666, Fax: +65 6278 6667 www.spring.gov.sg
